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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sidonia the Sorceress V1, by William Meinhold
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Sidonia the Sorceress V1
+
+Author: William Meinhold
+
+Posting Date: June 16, 2013 [EBook #6700]
+Release Date: October, 2004
+First Posted: January 17, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIDONIA THE SORCERESS V1 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from
+images generously made available by the CWRU Preservation
+Department Digital Library
+
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED DESTROYER OF THE WHOLE REIGNING DUCAL HOUSE OF
+POMERANIA
+
+TRANSLATED BY LADY WILDE
+
+MARY SCHWEIDLER
+
+
+THE AMBER WITCH
+
+BY
+
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I.
+
+1894
+
+
+
+DEDICATION OF THE GERMAN EDITION.
+
+TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
+
+_LADY LUCY DUFF GORDON,_
+
+THE
+
+YOUNG AND GIFTED TRANSLATOR
+
+OF
+
+_"THE AMBER WITCH,"_
+
+THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Amongst all the trials for witchcraft with which we are
+acquainted, few have attained so great a celebrity as that of the
+Lady Canoness of Pomerania, Sidonia von Bork. She was accused of
+having by her sorceries caused sterility in many families,
+particularly in that of the ancient reigning house of Pomerania,
+and also of having destroyed the noblest scions of that house by
+an early and premature death. Notwithstanding the intercessions
+and entreaties of the Prince of Brandenburg and Saxony, and of the
+resident Pomeranian nobility, she was publicly executed for these
+crimes on the 19th of August 1620, on the public scaffold, at
+Stettin; the only favour granted being, that she was allowed to be
+beheaded first and then burned.
+
+This terrible example caused such a panic of horror, that
+contemporary authors scarcely dare to mention her name, and, even
+then, merely by giving the initials. This forbearance arose partly
+from respect towards the ancient family of the Von Borks, who
+then, as now, were amongst the most illustrious and wealthy in the
+land, and also from the fear of offending the reigning ducal
+family, as the Sorceress, in her youth, had stood in a very near
+and tender relation to the young Duke Ernest Louis von
+Pommern-Wolgast.
+
+These reasons will be sufficiently comprehensible to all who are
+familiar with the disgust and aversion in which the paramours of
+the evil one were held in that age, so that even upon the rack
+these subjects were scarcely touched upon.
+
+The first public, judicial, yet disconnected account of Sidonia's
+trial, we find in the Pomeranian Library of Dähnert, fourth
+volume, article 7, July number of the year 1755.
+
+Dähnert here acknowledges, page 241, that the numbers from 302 to
+1080, containing the depositions of the witnesses, were not
+forthcoming up to his time, but that a priest in Pansin, near
+Stargard, by name Justus Sagebaum, pretended to have them in his
+hands, and accordingly, in the fifth volume of the above-named
+journal (article 4, of April 1756), some very important extracts
+appear from them.
+
+The records, however, again disappeared for nearly a century,
+until Barthold announced, some short time since, [Footnote:
+"History of Rugen and Pomerania," vol. iv. p. 486.] that he had at
+length discovered them in the Berlin Library; but he does not say
+which, for, according to Schwalenberg, who quotes Dähnert, there
+existed two or three different copies, namely, the _Protocollum
+Jodoci Neumarks,_ the so-called _Acta Lothmanni,_ and that
+of _Adami Moesters,_ contradicting each other in the most
+important matters. Whether I have drawn the history of my Sidonia
+from one or other of the above-named sources, or from some
+entirely new, or, finally, from that alone which is longest known,
+I shall leave undecided.
+
+Every one who has heard of the animadversions which "The Amber
+Witch" excited, many asserting that it was only dressed-up
+history, though I repeatedly assured them it was simple fiction,
+will pardon me if I do not here distinctly declare whether Sidonia
+be history or fiction.
+
+The truth of the material, as well as of the formal contents, can
+be tested by any one by referring to the authorities I have named;
+and in connection with these, I must just remark, that in order to
+spare the reader any difficulties which might present themselves
+to eye and ear, in consequence of the old-fashioned mode of
+writing, I have modernised the orthography, and amended the
+grammar and structure of the phrases. And lastly, I trust that all
+just thinkers of every party will pardon me for having here and
+there introduced my supernatural views of Christianity. A man's
+principles, as put forward in his philosophical writings, are in
+general only read by his own party, and not by that of his
+adversaries. A Rationalist will fly from a book by a
+Supernaturalist as rapidly as this latter from one by a Friend of
+Light. But by introducing my views in the manner I have adopted,
+in place of publishing them in a distinct volume, I trust that all
+parties will be induced to peruse them, and that many will find,
+not only what is worthy their particular attention, but matter for
+deep and serious reflection.
+
+I must now give an account of those portraits of Sidonia which are
+extant.
+
+As far as I know, three of these (besides innumerable sketches)
+exist, one in Stettin, the other in the lower Pomeranian town
+Plathe, and a third at Stargard, near Regenwalde, in the castle of
+the Count von Bork. I am acquainted only with the last-named
+picture, and agree with many in thinking that it is the only
+original.
+
+Sidonia is here represented in the prime of mature beauty--a gold
+net is drawn over her almost golden yellow hair, and her neck,
+arms, and hands are profusely covered with jewels. Her bodice of
+bright purple is trimmed with costly fur, and the robe is of azure
+velvet. In her hand she carries a sort of pompadour of brown
+leather, of the most elegant form and finish. Her eyes and mouth
+are not pleasing, notwithstanding their great beauty--in the
+mouth, particularly, one can discover an expression of cold
+malignity.
+
+The painting is beautifully executed, and is evidently of the
+school of Louis Kranach.
+
+Immediately behind this form there is another looking over the
+shoulder of Sidonia, like a terrible spectre (a highly poetical
+idea), for this spectre is Sidonia herself painted as a Sorceress.
+It must have been added, after a lapse of many years, to the
+youthful portrait, which belongs, as I have said, to the school of
+Kranach, whereas the second figure portrays unmistakably the
+school of Rubens. It is a fearfully characteristic painting, and
+no imagination could conceive a contrast more shudderingly awful.
+The Sorceress is arrayed in her death garments--white with black
+stripes; and round her thin white locks is bound a narrow band of
+black velvet spotted with gold. In her hand is a kind of a
+work-basket, but of the simplest workmanship and form.
+
+Of the other portraits I cannot speak from my own personal
+inspection; but to judge by the drawings taken from them to which
+I have had access, they appear to differ completely, not only in
+costume, but in the character of the countenance, from the one I
+have described, which there is no doubt must be the original, not
+only because it bears all the characteristics of that school of
+painting which approached nearest to the age in which Sidonia
+lived--namely, from 1540 to 1620--but also by the fact that a
+sheet of paper bearing an inscription was found behind the
+painting, betraying evident marks of age in its blackened colour,
+the form of the letters, and the expressions employed. The
+inscription is as follows:--
+
+"This Sidonia von Bork was in her youth the most beautiful and the
+richest of the maidens of Pomerania. She inherited many estates
+from her parents, and thus was in her own right a possessor almost
+of a county. So her pride increased, and many noble gentlemen who
+sought her in marriage were rejected with disdain, as she
+considered that a count or prince alone could be worthy of her
+hand. For these reasons she attended the Duke's court frequently,
+in the hopes of winning over one of the seven young princes to her
+love. At length she was successful; Duke Ernest Louis von Wolgast,
+aged about twenty, and the handsomest youth in Pomerania, became
+her lover, and even promised her his hand in marriage. This
+promise he would faithfully have kept if the Stettin princes, who
+were displeased at the prospect of this unequal alliance, had not
+induced him to abandon Sidonia, by means of the portrait of the
+Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, the most beautiful princess in all
+Germany. Sidonia thereupon fell into such despair, that she
+resolved to renounce marriage for ever, and bury the remainder of
+her life in the convent of Marienfliess, and thus she did. But the
+wrong done to her by the Stettin princes lay heavy upon her heart,
+and the desire for revenge increased with years; besides, in place
+of reading the Bible, her private hours were passed studying the
+_Amadis_, wherein she found many examples of how forsaken
+maidens have avenged themselves upon their false lovers by means
+of magic. So she at last yielded to the temptations of Satan, and
+after some years learned the secrets of witchcraft from an old
+woman. By means of this unholy knowledge, along with several other
+evil deeds, she so bewitched the whole princely race that the six
+young princes, who were each wedded to a young wife, remained
+childless; but no public notice was taken until Duke Francis
+succeeded to the duchy in 1618. He was a ruthless enemy to
+witches; all in the land were sought out with great diligence and
+burned, and as they unanimously named the Abbess of Marienfliess
+[Footnote: Sidonia never attained this dignity, though Micraelius
+and others gave her the title.] upon the rack, she was brought to
+Stettin by command of the Duke, where she freely confessed all the
+evil wrought by her sorceries upon the princely race.
+
+"The Duke promised her life and pardon if she would free the other
+princes from the ban; but her answer was that she had enclosed the
+spell in a padlock, and flung it into the sea, and having asked
+the devil if he could restore the padlock again to her, he
+replied, 'No; that was forbidden to him;' by which every one can
+perceive that the destiny of God was in the matter.
+
+"And so it was that, notwithstanding the intercession of all the
+neighbouring courts, Sidonia was brought to the scaffold at
+Stettin, there beheaded, and afterwards burned.
+
+"Before her death the Prince ordered her portrait to be painted,
+in her old age and prison garb, behind that which represented her
+in the prime of youth. After his death, Bogislaff XIV., the last
+Duke, gave this picture to my grandmother, whose husband had also
+been killed by the Sorceress. My father received it from her, and
+I from him, along with the story which is here written down.
+
+"HENRY GUSTAVUS SCHWALENBERG."
+
+[Footnote: The style of this "Inscription" proves it to have been
+written in the beginning of the preceding century, but it is first
+noticed by Dähnert. I have had his version compared with the
+original in Stargord--through the kindness of a friend, who
+assures me that the transcription is perfectly correct, and yet
+can he be mistaken? for Horst (Magic Library, vol. ii. p. 246),
+gives the conclusion thus: "From whom my father received it, and I
+from him, along with the story precisely as given here by H. G.
+Schwalenberg." By this reading, which must have escaped my friend,
+a different sense is given to the passage; by the last reading it
+would appear that the "I" was a Bork, who had taken the tale from
+Schwalenberg's history of the Pomeranian Dukes, a work which
+exists only in manuscript, and to which I have had no access; but
+if we admit the first reading, then the writer must be a
+Schwalenberg. Even the "grandmother" will not clear up the matter,
+for Sidonia, when put to the torture, confessed, at the seventh
+question, that she had caused the death of Doctor Schwalenberg (he
+was counsellor in Stettin then), and at the eleventh question,
+that her brother's son, Otto Bork, had died also by her means. Who
+then is this "I"? Even Sidonia's picture, we see, utters
+mysteries.
+
+In my opinion the writer was Schwalenberg, and Horst seems to have
+taken his version from Paulis's "General History of Pomerania,"
+vol. iv. p. 396, and not from the original of Dähnert.
+
+For the picture at that early period was not in the possession of
+a Bork, but belonged to the Count von Mellin in Schillersdorf, as
+passages from many authors can testify. This is confirmed by
+another paper found along with that containing the tradition, but
+of much more modern appearance, which states that the picture was
+removed by successive inheritors, first from Schillersdorf to
+Stargord, from thence to Heinrichsberg (there are three towns in
+Pomerania of this name), and finally from Heinrichsberg, in the
+year 1834, was a second time removed to Stargord by the last
+inheritor.
+
+This Schillersdorf lies between Gartz and Stettin on the Oder.
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD.]
+
+
+LETTER OF DR. THEODORE PLÖNNIES
+
+TO BOGISLAFF THE FOURTEENTH, THE LAST DUKE OF POMERANIA.
+
+MOST EMINENT PRINCE AND GRACIOUS LORD,--Serene Prince, your
+Highness gave me a commission in past years to travel through all
+Pomerania, and if I met with any persons who could give me certain
+"information" respecting the notorious and accursed witch Sidonia
+von Bork, to set down carefully all they stated, and bring it
+afterwards into _connexum_ for your Highness. It is well
+known that Duke Francis, of blessed memory, never would permit the
+accursed deeds of this woman to be made public, or her confession
+upon the rack, fearing to bring scandal upon the princely house.
+But your Serene Highness viewed the subject differently, and said
+that it was good for every one, but especially princes, to look
+into the clear mirror of history, and behold there the faults and
+follies of their race. For this reason may no truth be omitted
+here.
+
+To such princely commands I have proved myself obedient,
+collecting all information, whether good or evil, and concealing
+nothing. But the greater number who related these things to me
+could scarcely speak for tears, for wherever I travelled
+throughout Pomerania, as the faithful servant of your Highness,
+nothing was heard but lamentations from old and young, rich and
+poor, that this execrable Sorceress, out of Satanic wickedness,
+had destroyed this illustrious race, who had held their lands from
+no emperor, in feudal tenure, like other German princes, but in
+their own right, as absolute lords, since five hundred years, and
+though for twenty years it seemed to rest upon five goodly
+princes, yet by permission of the incomprehensible God, it has now
+melted away until your Highness stands the last of his race, and
+no prospect is before us that it will ever be restored, but with
+your Highness (God have mercy upon us!) will be utterly
+extinguished, and for ever. "Woe to us, how have we sinned!"
+(Lament, v. 16). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff
+XIV.-"In tuas manus commendo spiritum meum, quia tu me redemisti
+fide deus,"]
+
+I pray therefore the all-merciful God, that He will remove me
+before your Highness from this vale of tears, that I may not
+behold the last hour of your Highness or of my poor fatherland.
+Rather than witness these things, I would a thousand times sooner
+lie quiet in my grave.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS.
+
+BOOK I.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UNTIL HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM._
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the education of Sidonia.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that befell
+there.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law, Vidante
+von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor Gerschovius
+comforts him out of God's Word.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how Clara
+von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How Sidonia wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how she
+whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness was
+celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back to
+Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia resolved
+on there.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and how
+in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+_FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UP TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians, and
+how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and locks
+him up in the Red Sea.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Of Otto Bork's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to wed
+her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of Stettin
+received her.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at Wollin,
+and what happened there.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann Appelmann.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure at Alten Damm--Item, of
+their reception by the robber-band.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night--Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the castle.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann by
+the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the great
+mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on her
+coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon, and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the young
+Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and of the
+sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of Pomerania.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of Marienfliess--Item,
+how their Princely and Electoral Graces of Pomerania, Brandenburg,
+and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to Wolgast, and of the divers
+pastimes of the journey.
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably.
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how Sidonia
+meets him as she is gathering bilberries--Item, of the unnatural
+witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir refuses,
+in consequence, to succeed him.
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired præbenda--Item, of her
+arrival at the convent of Marienfliess.
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS
+UP TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19TH, 1620._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and extols
+her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairy-woman, and
+how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails through a
+mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she bewitched the
+whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the grievous sorrow
+of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto this day.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I.
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UNTIL
+HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM.
+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the education of Sidonia._
+
+
+The illustrious and high-born prince and lord, Bogislaff,
+fourteenth Duke of Pomerania, Prince of Cassuben, Wenden, and
+Rugen, Count of Güzkow, Lord of the lands of Lauenburg and Butow,
+and my gracious feudal seigneur, having commanded me, Dr. Theodore
+Plönnies, formerly bailiff at the ducal court, to make search
+throughout all the land for information respecting the world-famed
+sorceress, Sidonia von Bork, and write down the same in a book, I
+set out for Stargard, accompanied by a servant, early one Friday
+after the _Visitationis Mariæ_, 1629; for, in my opinion, in
+order to form a just judgment respecting the character of any one,
+it is necessary to make one's self acquainted with the
+circumstances of their early life; the future man lies enshrined
+in the child, and the peculiar development of each individual
+nature is the result entirely of education. Sidonia's history is a
+remarkable proof of this. I visited first, therefore, the scenes
+of her early years; but almost all who had known her were long
+since in their graves, seeing that ninety years had passed since
+the time of her birth. However, the old inn-keeper at Stargard,
+Zabel Wiese, himself very far advanced in years (whom I can
+recommend to all travellers--he lives in the Pelzerstrasse), told
+me that the old bachelor, Claude Uckermann of Dalow, an aged man
+of ninety-two years old, was the only person who could give me the
+information I desired, as in his youth he had been one of the many
+followers of Sidonia. His memory was certainly well nigh gone from
+age, still all that had happened in the early period of his life
+lay as fresh as the Lord's Prayer upon his tongue. Mine host also
+related some important circumstances to me myself, which shall
+appear in their proper place.
+
+I accordingly proceeded to Dalow, a little town half a mile from
+Stargard, and visited Claude Uckermann. I found him seated by the
+chimney corner, his hair as white as snow. "What did I want? He
+was too old to receive strangers; I must go on to his son Wedig's
+house, and leave him in quiet," &c. &c. But when I said that I
+brought him a greeting from his Highness, his manner changed, and
+he pushed the seat over for me beside the fire, and began to chat
+first about the fine pine-trees, from which he cut his
+firewood--they were so full of resin; and how his son, a year
+before, had found an iron pot in the turf moor under a tree, full
+of bracelets and earrings, which his little grand-daughter now
+wore.
+
+When he had tired himself out, I communicated what his Highness
+had so nobly commanded to be done, and prayed him to relate all he
+knew and could remember of this detestable sorceress, Sidonia von
+Bork. He sighed deeply, and then went on talking for about two
+hours, giving me all his recollections just as they started to his
+memory. I have arranged what he then related, in proper order. It
+was to the following effect:--
+
+Whenever his father, Philip Uckermann, attended the fair at
+Stramehl, a town belonging to the Bork family, he was in the habit
+of visiting Otto von Bork at his castle, who, being very rich,
+gave free quarters to all the young noblemen of the vicinity, so
+that from thirty to forty of them were generally assembled at his
+castle while the fair lasted; but after some time his father
+discontinued these visits, his conscience not permitting him
+further intercourse. The reason was this. Otto von Bork, during
+his residence in Poland, had joined the sect of the enthusiasts,
+[Footnote: Probably the sect afterwards named Socinians; for we
+find that Laelius Socinus taught in Poland, even before
+Melancthon's death (1560).] and had lost his faith there, as a
+young maiden might her honour. He made no secret of his new
+opinions, but openly at Martinmas fair, 1560, told the young
+nobles at dinner that Christ was but a man like other people, and
+ignorance alone had elevated Him to a God; which notion had been
+encouraged by the greed and avarice of the clergy. They should
+therefore not credit what the hypocritical priests chattered to
+them every Sunday, but believe only what reason and their five
+senses told them was truth, and that, in fine, if he had his will,
+he would send every priest to the devil.
+
+All the young nobles remained silent but Claude Zastrow, a feudal
+retainer of the Borks, who rose up (it was an evil moment to him)
+and made answer: "Most powerful feudal lord, were the holy
+apostles then filled with greed and covetousness, who were the
+first to proclaim that Christ was God, and who left all for His
+sake? Or the early Christians who, with one accord, sold their
+possessions, and gave the price to the poor?" Claude had before
+this displeased the knight, who now grew red with anger at the
+insolence of his vassal in thus answering him, and replied: "If
+they were not preachers for gain, they were at least stupid
+fellows." Hereupon a great murmur arose in the hall, but the
+aforesaid Zastrow is not silenced, and answered: "It is
+surprising, then, that the twelve stupid apostles performed more
+than twelve times twelve Greek or Roman philosophers. The knight
+might rage until he was black in the face, and strike the table.
+But he had better hold his tongue and use his understanding;
+though, after all, the intellect of a man who believed nothing but
+what he received through his five senses was not worth much; for
+the brute beasts were his equals, inasmuch as they received no
+evidence either but from the senses."
+
+Then Otto sprang up raging, and asked him what he meant; to which
+the other answered: "Nothing more than to express his opinion that
+man differed from the brute, not through his understanding, but by
+his faith, for that animals had evidently understanding, but no
+trace of faith had ever yet been discovered in them." [Footnote:
+This axiom is certainly opposed to modern ontology, which denies
+all ideas to the brute creation, and explains each proof of their
+intellectual activity by the unintelligible word "instinct." The
+ancients held very different opinions, particularly the new
+Platonists, one of whom (Porphyry, liber ii. _De
+abstinentia_) treats largely of the intellect and language of
+animals. Since Cartesius, however, who denied not only
+understanding, but even feeling, to animals, and represented them
+as mere animated machines (_De passionib. Pars i. Artic. iv. et
+de Methodo,_ No. 5, page 29, &c.), these views upon the
+psychology of animals produced the most mischievous results; for
+they were carried out until if not feeling, at least intellect,
+was denied to all animals more or less; and modern philosophy at
+length arrived at denying intelligence even to God, in whom and by
+whom, as formerly, man no longer attains to consciousness, but it
+is by man and through man that God arrives to a conscious
+intelligent existence. Some philosophers of our time, indeed, are
+condescending enough to ascribe _Understanding_ to animals
+and _Reason_ to man as the generic difference between the
+two. But I cannot comprehend these new-fashioned distinctions; for
+it seems to me absurd to split into the two portions of reason and
+understanding one and the same spiritual power, according as the
+object on which it acts is higher or lower; just as if we adopted
+two names for the same hand that digs up the earth and directs the
+telescope to heaven, or maintained that the latter was quite a
+different hand from the former. No. There is but one understanding
+for man and beasts, as but one common substance for their material
+forms. The more perfect the form, so much the more perfect is the
+intellect; and human and animal intellects are only dynamically
+different in human and animal bodies.
+
+And even if, among animals of the more perfect form, understanding
+has been discovered, yet in man alone has been found the innate
+feeling of connection with the supernatural, or _Faith_. If
+this, as the generic sign of difference, be called _Reason_,
+I have nothing to object, except that the word generally conveys a
+different meaning. But _Faith_ is, in fact, the pure Reason,
+and is found in all men, existing alike in the lowest
+superstitions as well as in the highest natures.]
+
+Otto's rage now knew no bounds, and he drew his dagger, roaring,
+"What! thou insolent knave, dost thou dare to compare thy feudal
+lord to a brute?" And before the other had time to draw his
+poignard to defend himself, or the guests could in any way
+interfere to prevent him, Otto stabbed him to the heart as he sat
+there by the table. (It was a blessed death, I think, to die for
+his Lord Christ.) And so he fell down upon the floor with
+contorted features, and hands and feet quivering with agony. Every
+one was struck dumb with horror at such a death; but the knight
+laughed loudly, and cried, "Ha! thou base-born serf, I shall teach
+thee how to liken thy feudal lord to a brute," and striding over
+his quivering limbs, he spat upon his face.
+
+Then the murmuring and whispering increased in the hall, and those
+nearest the door rushed out and sprang upon their horses; and
+finally all the guests, even old Uckermann, fled away, no one
+venturing to take up the quarrel with Otto Bork. After that, he
+fell into disrepute with the old nobility, for which he cared
+little, seeing that his riches and magnificence always secured him
+companions enough, who were willing to listen to his wisdom, and
+were consoled by his wine.
+
+And when I, Dr. Theodore Plönnies, inquired from the old bachelor
+if his Serene Highness had not punished the noble for his shameful
+crime, he replied that his wealth and powerful influence protected
+him. At least it was whispered that justice had been blinded with
+gold; and the matter was probably related to the prince in quite a
+different manner from the truth; for I have heard that a few years
+after, his Highness even visited this godless knight at his castle
+in Stramehl.
+
+As to Otto, no one observed any sign of repentance in him. On the
+contrary, he seemed to glory in his crime, and the neighbouring
+nobles related that he frequently brought in his little daughter
+Sidonia, whom he adored for her beauty, to the assembled guests,
+magnificently attired; and when she was bowing to the company, he
+would say, "Who art thou, my little daughter?" Then she would
+cease the salutations which she had learned from her mother, and
+drawing herself up, proudly exclaim, "I am a noble maiden, dowered
+with towns and castles!" Then he would ask, if the conversation
+turned upon his enemies--and half the nobles were so--"Sidonia,
+how does thy father treat his enemies?" Upon which the child would
+straighten her finger, and running at her father, strike it into
+his heart, saying, "_Thus_ he treats them." At which Otto
+would laugh loudly, and tell her to show him how the knave looked
+when he was dying. Then Sidonia would fall down, twist her face,
+and writhe her little hands and feet in horrible contortions. Upon
+which Otto would lift her up, and kiss her upon the mouth. But it
+will be seen how the just God punished him for all this, and how
+the words of the Scriptures were fulfilled: "Err not, God is not
+mocked; for what a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
+
+The parson of Stramehl, David Dilavius, related also to old
+Uckermann another fact, which, though it hardly seems credible,
+the bachelor reported thus to me:--
+
+This Dilavius was a learned man whom Otto had selected as
+instructor to his young daughter; "but only teach her," he said,
+"to read and write, and the first article of the Ten Commandments.
+The other Christian doctrines I can teach her myself; besides, I
+do not wish the child to learn so many dogmas."
+
+Dilavius, who was a worthy, matter-of-fact, good, simple
+character, did as he was ordered, and gave himself no further
+trouble until he came to ask the child to recite the first article
+of the creed out of the catechism for him. There was nothing wrong
+in that; but when he came to the second article, he crossed
+himself, not because it concerned the Lord Christ, but her own
+father, Otto von Bork, and ran somewhat thus:--
+
+"And I believe in my earthly father, Otto von Bork, a
+distinguished son of God, born of Anna von Kleist, who sitteth in
+his castle at Stramehl, from whence he will come to help his
+children and friends, but to slay his enemies and tread them in
+the dust."
+
+The third article was much in the same style, but he had partly
+forgotten it, neither could he remember if Dilavius had called the
+father to any account for his profanity, or taught the daughter
+some better Christian doctrine. In fine, this was all the old
+bachelor could tell me of Sidonia's education. Yes--he remembered
+one anecdote more. Her father had asked her one day, when she was
+about ten or twelve years old, "What kind of a husband she would
+like?" and she replied, "One of equal birth." _Ille:_
+[Footnote: In dialogue the author makes use of the Latin pronouns,
+_Ille_, he; _Illa_, she, to denote the different
+characters taking part in it; and sometimes _Hic_ and
+_Hæc_, for the same purposes. _Summa_ he employs in the
+sense of "to sum up," or "in short."] "Who is her equal in the
+whole of Pomerania?" _Illa:_ "Only the Duke of Pomerania, or
+the Count von Ebersburg." _Ille:_ "Right! therefore she must
+never marry any other but one of these."
+
+It happened soon after, old Philip Uckermann, his father, riding
+one day through the fields near Stramehl, saw a country girl
+seated by the roadside, weeping bitterly. "Why do you weep?" he
+asked. "Has any one injured you?" "Sidonia has injured me," she
+replied. "What could she have done? Come dry your tears, and tell
+me." Whereupon the little girl related that Sidonia, who was then
+about fourteen, had besought her to tell her what marriage was,
+because her father was always talking to her about it. The girl
+had told her to the best of her ability; but the young lady beat
+her, and said it was not so, that long Dorothy had told her quite
+differently about marriage, and there she went on tormenting her
+for several days; but upon this evening Sidonia, with long
+Dorothy, and some of the milkmaids of the neighbourhood, had taken
+away one of the fine geese which the peasants had given her in
+payment of her labour. They picked it alive, all except the head
+and neck, then built up a large fire in a circle, and put the
+goose and a vessel of water in the centre. So the fat dripped down
+from the poor creature alive, and was fried in a pan as it fell,
+just as the girls eat it on their bread for supper. And the goose,
+having no means of escape, still went on drinking the water as the
+fat dripped down, whilst they kept cooling its head and heart with
+a sponge dipped in cold water, fastened to a stick, until at last
+the goose fell down when quite roasted, though it still screamed,
+and then Sidonia and her companions cut it up for their amusement,
+living as it was, and ate it for their supper, in proof of which,
+the girl showed him the bones and the remains of the fire, and the
+drops of fat still lying on the grass.
+
+Then she wept afresh, for Sidonia had promised to take away a
+goose every day, and destroy it as she had done the first. So my
+father consoled her by giving her a piece of gold, and said, "If
+she does so again, run by night and cloud, and come to Dalow by
+Stargard, where I will make thee keeper of my geese." But she
+never came to him, and he never heard more of the maiden and her
+geese.
+
+So far old Uckermann related to me the first evening, promising to
+tell me of many more strange doings upon the following morning,
+which he would try to think over during the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that
+befell there._
+
+
+The following morning, by seven o'clock, the old man summoned me
+to him, and on entering I found him seated at breakfast by the
+fire. He invited me to join him, and pushed a seat over for me
+with his crutch, for walking was now difficult to him. He was very
+friendly, and the eyes of the old man burned as clear as those of
+a white dove. He had slept little during the night, for Sidonia's
+form kept floating before his eyes, just as she had looked in the
+days when he paid court to her. Alas! he had once loved her
+deeply, like all the other young nobles who approached her, from
+the time she was of an age to marry. In her youth she had been
+beautiful; and old and young declared that for figure, eyes,
+bosom, walk, and enchanting smile, there never had been seen her
+equal in all Pomerania.
+
+"Nothing shall be concealed from you," he said, "of all that
+concerns my foolish infatuation, that you and your children may
+learn how the all-wise God deals best with His servants when He
+uses the rod and denies that for which they clamour as silly
+children for a glittering knife." Here he folded his withered
+hands, murmured a short prayer, and proceeded with his story.
+
+"You must know that I was once a proud and stately youth, upon
+whom a maiden's glance in no wise rested indifferently, trained in
+all knightly exercise, and only two years older than Sidonia. It
+happened in the September of 1566, that I was invited by Caspar
+Roden to see his eel-nets, as my father intended laying down some
+also at Krampehl [Footnote: A little river near Dalow] and along
+the coast. When we returned home weary enough in the evening, a
+letter arrived from Otto von Bork, inviting him the following day
+to a bear-hunt; as he intended, in honour of the nuptials of his
+eldest daughter Clara, to lay bears' heads and bears' paws before
+his guests, which even in Pomerania would have been a rarity, and
+desiring him to bring as many good huntsmen with him as he
+pleased. So I accompanied Caspar Roden, who told me on the way
+that Count Otto had at first looked very high for his daughter
+Clara, and scorned many a good suitor, but that she was now
+getting rather old, and ready, like a ripe burr, to hang on the
+first that came by. Her bridegroom was Vidante von Meseritz, a
+feudal vassal of her father's, upon whom, ten years before, she
+would not have looked at from a window. Not that she was as proud
+as her young sister Sidonia. However, their mother was to blame
+for much of this; but she was dead now, poor lady, let her rest in
+peace.
+
+So in good time we reached the castle of Stramehl, where thirty
+huntsmen were already assembled, all noblemen, and we joined them
+in the grand state hall, where the morning meal was laid out.
+Count Otto sat at the head of the table, like a prince of
+Pomerania, upon a throne whereon his family arms were both carved
+and embroidered. He wore a doublet of elk-skin, and a cap with a
+heron's plume upon his head. He did not rise as we entered, but
+called to us to be seated and join the feast, as the party must
+move off soon. Costly wines were sent round; and I observed that
+on each of the glasses the family arms were cut. They were also
+painted upon the window of the great hall, and along the walls,
+under the horns of all the different wild animals killed by Otto
+in the chase--bucks, deers, harts, roes, stags, and elks--which
+were arranged in fantastical groups.
+
+After a little while his two daughters, Clara and Sidonia,
+entered. They wore green hunting-dresses, trimmed with
+beaver-skin, and each had a gold net thrown over her hair. They
+bowed, and bid the knights welcome. But we all remained breathless
+gazing upon Sidonia, as she lifted her beautiful eyes first on
+one, and then on another, inviting us to eat and drink; and she
+even filled a small wine-glass herself, and prayed us to pledge
+her. As for me, unfortunate youth, from the moment I beheld her I
+breathed no more through my lungs, but through my eyes alone, and,
+springing up, gave her health publicly. A storm of loud, animated,
+passionate voices soon responded to my words with loud vivas. The
+guests then rose, for the ladies were impatient for the hunt, and
+found the time hang heavily.
+
+So we set off with all our implements and our dogs, and a hundred
+beaters went before us. It happened that my host, Caspar Roden,
+and I found an excellent sheltered position for a shot near a
+quarry, and we had not long been there (the beaters had not even
+yet begun their work) when I spied a large bear coming down to
+drink at a small stream not twenty paces from me. I fired; but she
+retired quickly behind an oak, and, growling fiercely, disappeared
+amongst the bushes. Not long after, I heard the cries of women
+almost close to us; and running as fast as possible in the
+direction from whence they came, I perceived an old bear trying to
+climb up to the platform where Clara and Sidonia stood. There was
+a ruined chapel here--which, in the time of papacy, had contained
+a holy image--and a scaffolding had been erected round it, adorned
+with wreaths of evergreen and flowers, from which the ladies could
+obtain an excellent view of the hunt, as it commanded a prospect
+of almost the entire wood, and even part of the sea. Attached to
+this scaffolding was a ladder, up which Bruin was anxiously trying
+to ascend, in order to visit the young ladies, who were now
+assailed by two dangers--the bear from below, and a swarm of bees
+above, for myriads of these insects were tormenting them, trying
+to settle upon their golden hair-nets; and the young ladies,
+screaming as if the last day had come, were vainly trying to beat
+them off with their girdles, or trample them under their feet. A
+huntsman who stood near fired, indeed, at Bruin, but without
+effect, and the bees assailing his hands and face at the same
+time, he took to flight and hid himself, groaning, in the quarry.
+
+In the meantime I had reached the chapel, and Sidonia stretched
+forth her beautiful little hands, crying, along with her sister,
+"Help! help! He will eat us. Will you not kill him?" But the bear,
+as if already aware of my intention, began now to descend the
+ladder. However, I stepped before him, and as he descended, I
+ascended. Luckily for me, the interval between each step was very
+small, to accommodate the ladies' little feet, so that when Bruin
+tried to thrust his snout between them to get at me, he found it
+rather difficult work to make it pass. I had my dagger ready; and
+though the bees which he brought with him in his fur flew on my
+hands, I heeded them not, but watching my opportunity, plunged it
+deep into his side, so that he tumbled right down off the ladder;
+and though he raised himself up once and growled horribly, yet in
+a few seconds he lay dead before our eyes. How the ladies now
+tripped down the ladder, not two or three, but four or five steps
+at a time! and what thanks poured forth from their lips! I rushed
+first to Sidonia, who laid her little head upon my breast, while I
+endeavoured to remove the bees which had got entangled in her
+hair-net. The other lady went to call the huntsman, who was hiding
+in the quarry, and we were left alone. Heavens! how my heart
+burned, more than my inflamed hands all stung by the bees, as she
+asked, how could she repay my service. I prayed her for one kiss,
+which she granted. She had escaped with but one sting from the
+bees, who could not manage to get through her long, thick,
+beautiful hair, and she advanced joyfully to meet her father and
+the hunting-train, who had heard the cries of the ladies. When
+Count Otto heard what had happened, and saw the dead bear, he
+thanked me heartily, praying me to attend his daughter Clara's
+wedding, which was to be celebrated next week at the castle, and
+to remain as his guest until then. There was nothing in the world
+I could have desired beyond this, and I gratefully accepted his
+offer. Alas! I suffered for it after, as the cat from poisoned
+dainties.
+
+But to return to our hunt. No other bear was killed that day, but
+plenty of other game, as harts, stags, roes, boars--more than
+enough. And now we discovered what an old hunter had conjectured,
+that the dead bear was the father, who had been alarmed by the
+growls of his partner, at whom I had fired whilst he was
+endeavouring to carry off the honey from a nest of wild bees in a
+neighbouring tree. For looking around us, we saw, at the distance
+of about twenty paces, a tall oak-tree, about which clouds of bees
+were still flying, in which he had been following his occupation.
+No one dared to approach it, to bring away the honeycombs which
+still lay beneath, by reason of the bees, and, moreover, swarms of
+ants, by which they were covered. At length Otto Bork ordered the
+huntsman to sound the return; and after supper I obtained another
+little kiss from Sidonia, which burned so like fire through my
+veins that I could not sleep the whole night. I resolved to ask
+her hand in marriage from her father.
+
+Stupid youth as I was, I then believed that she looked upon me
+with equal love; and although I knew all about the mode in which
+she had been brought up, and many other things beside, which have
+now slipped from my memory, yet I looked on them but as idle
+stories, and was fully persuaded that Sidonia was sister to the
+angels in beauty, goodness, and perfection. In a few days,
+however, I had reason to change my opinion.
+
+Next day the two young ladies were in the kitchen, overseeing the
+cooking of the bear's head, and, as I passed by and looked in,
+they began to titter, which I took for a good omen, and asked,
+might I not be allowed to enter. They said, "Yes, I might come in,
+and help them to cleave the head." So I entered, and they both
+began to give me instructions, with much laughter and merry
+jesting. First, the bear's head had to be burned with hot irons;
+and when I said to Sidonia that thus she burned my heart, she
+nearly died of laughter. Then I cut some flesh off the mouth,
+broke the nose, and handed it all over to the maidens, who set it
+on the fire with water, wine, and vinegar. As I now played the
+part of kitchen-boy, they sent me to the castle garden for thyme,
+sage, and rosemary, which I brought, and begged them for a taste
+of the head; but they said it was not fit to eat yet--must be
+cooled in brine first; so in place of it I asked one little kiss
+from each of the maidens, which Sidonia granted, but her sister
+refused. However, I was not in the least displeased at her
+refusal, seeing it was only the little sister I cared for.
+
+But judge of my rage and jealousy, that same day a cousin arrived
+at the castle, and I observed that Sidonia allowed him to kiss her
+every moment. She never even appeared to offer any resistance, but
+looked over at me languishingly every time to see what I would
+say. What could I say? I became pale with jealousy, but said
+nothing. At last I rushed from the hall, mute with despair, when I
+observed him finally draw her on his knee. I only heard the peal
+of laughter that followed my exit, and I was just near leaving the
+whole wedding-feast, and Stramehl for ever, when Sidonia called
+after me from the castle gates to return. This so melted my heart,
+that the tears came into my eyes, thinking that now indeed I had a
+proof of her love. Then she took my hand, and said, "I ought not
+to be so unkind. That was her manner with all the young nobles.
+Why should she refuse a kiss when she was asked? Her little mouth
+would grow neither larger nor smaller for it." But I stood still
+and wept, and looked on the ground. "Why should I weep?" she
+asked. Her cousin Clas had a bride of his own already, and only
+took a little pastime with her, and so she must cure me now with
+another little kiss.
+
+I was now again a happy man, thinking she loved me; and the
+heavens seemed so propitious, that I determined to ask her hand.
+But I had not sufficient courage as yet, and resolved to wait
+until after her sister's marriage, which was to take place next
+day. What preparations were made for this event it would be
+impossible adequately to describe. All the country round the
+castle seemed like a royal camp. Six hundred horses were led into
+the stables next day to be fed, for the Duke himself arrived with
+a princely retinue. Then came all the feudal vassals to offer
+homage for their fiefs to Lord Otto. But as the description is
+well worth hearing, I shall defer it for another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law,
+Vidante von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast._
+
+
+Next morning the stir began in the castle before break of day, and
+by ten o'clock all the nobles, with their wives and daughters, had
+assembled in the great hall. Then the bride entered, wearing her
+myrtle wreath, and Sidonia followed, glittering with diamonds and
+other costly jewels. She wore a robe of crimson silk with a cape
+of ermine, falling from her shoulders, and looked so beautiful
+that I could have died for love, as she passed and greeted me with
+her graceful laugh. But Otto Bork, the lord of the castle, was
+sore displeased because his Serene Highness the Prince was late
+coming, and the company had been waiting an hour for his presence.
+A platform had been erected at the upper end of the hall covered
+with bearskin; on this was placed a throne, beneath a canopy of
+yellow velvet, and here Otto was seated dressed in a crimson
+doublet, and wearing a hat half red and half black, from which
+depended plumes of red and black feathers that hung down nearly to
+his beard, which was as venerable as a Jew's. Every instant he
+despatched messengers to the tower to see if the prince were at
+hand, and as the time hung heavy, he began to discourse his
+guests. "See how this turner's apprentice [Footnote: So this
+prince was called from his love of turning and carving dolls.]
+must have stopped on the road to carve a puppet. God keep us from
+such dukes!" For the prince passed all his leisure hours in
+turning and carving, particularly while travelling, and when the
+carriage came to bad ground, where the horses had to move slowly,
+he was delighted, and went on merrily with his work; but when the
+horses galloped, he grew ill-tempered and threw down his tools.
+
+At length the warder announced from the tower that the duke's six
+carriages were in sight, and the knight spoke from his throne: "I
+shall remain here, as befits me, but Clara and Sidonia, go ye
+forth and receive his Highness; and when he has entered, the
+kinsman [Footnote: This was the feudal term for the next relation
+of a deceased vassal, upon whom it devolved to do homage for the
+lands to the feudal lord.] in full armour shall ride into the hall
+upon his war-horse, bearing the banner of his house in his hand,
+and all my retainers shall follow on horses, each bearing his
+banner also, and shall range themselves by the great window of the
+hall; and let the windows be open, that the wind may play through
+the banners and make the spectacle yet grander."
+
+Then all rushed out to meet the Duke, and I, too, went, for truly
+the courtyard presented a gorgeous sight--all decorated as it was,
+and the pride and magnificence of Lord Otto were here fully
+displayed; for from the upper storey of the castle floated the
+banner of the Emperor, and just beneath it that of Lord Otto (two
+crowned wolves with golden collars on a field or for the shield),
+and the crest, a crowned red-deer springing. Beneath this banner,
+but much inferior to it in size and execution, waved that of the
+Dukes of Pomerania; and lowest of all, hung the banner of Otto's
+feudal vassals--but they themselves were not visible. Neither did
+the kinsman appear to receive and greet his Highness. Otto knew
+well, it seems, that he could defy the Duke (however, I think if
+my gracious Lord of Wolgast had been there, he would not have
+suffered such insults, but would have taken Otto's banner and
+flung it in the mud). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff,
+"And so would I."] Be this as it may, Duke Barnim never appeared
+to notice anything except Otto's two daughters. He was a little
+man with a long grey beard, and as he stepped slowly out of the
+carriage held a little puppet by the arm, which he had been
+carving to represent Adam. It was intended for a present to the
+convent at Kobatz. His _superintendens generalis_, Fabianus
+Timæus (a dignified-looking personage), accompanied him in the
+carriage, for his Highness was going on the same day to attend the
+diet at Treptow, and only meant to pay a passing visit here. But
+Lord Otto concealed this fact, as it hurt his pride. The other
+carriages contained the equerries and pages of his Highness, and
+then followed the heavy waggons with the cooks, valets, and
+stewards.
+
+When the Prince entered the state hall, Lord Otto rose from his
+throne and said: "Your Highness is welcome, and I trust will
+pardon me for not having gone forth with my greetings; but those
+of a couple of young damsels were probably more agreeable than the
+compliments of an old knight like myself, who besides, as your
+Grace perceives, is engaged here in the exercise of his duty. And
+now, I pray your Highness to take this seat at my right hand."
+Whereupon he pointed to a plain chair, not in the least raised
+from the ground, and altogether as common a seat as there was to
+be found in the hall; but his Highness sat down quietly (at which
+every one wondered in silence) and took the little puppet in his
+lap, only exclaiming in low German, "What the devil, Otto! you
+make more of yourself, man, than I do;" to which the knight
+replied, "Not more than is necessary."
+
+"And now," continued the old man, "the ceremony of offering homage
+commenced, which is as fresh in my memory as if all had happened
+but yesterday, and so I shall describe it that you may know what
+were the usages of our fathers, for the customs of chivalry are,
+alas! fast passing away from amongst us.
+
+When Otto Bork gave the sign with his hand, six trumpets sounded
+without, whereupon the doors of the hall were thrown wide open as
+far as they could go, and the kinsman Vidante von Meseritz entered
+on a black charger, and dressed in complete armour, but without
+his sword. He carried the banner of his house (a pale gules with
+two foxes running), and riding straight up to Lord Otto, lowered
+it before him. Otto then demanded, "Who art thou, and what is thy
+request?" to which he answered, "Mighty feudal Lord, I am kinsman
+of Dinnies von Meseritz, and pray you for the fief." "And who are
+these on horseback who follow thee?" "They are the feudal vassals
+of my Lord, even as my father was." And Otto said, "Ride up, my
+men, and do as your fathers have done." Then Frederick Ubeske rode
+up, lowered his banner (charged with a sun and peacock's tail)
+before the knight, then passed on up to the great windows of the
+hall, where he took his place and drew his sword, while the wind
+played through the folds of his standard.
+
+Next came Walter von Locksted--lowered his banner (bearing a
+springing unicorn), rode up to the window, and drew his sword.
+After him, Claud Drosedow, waving his black eagle upon a white and
+red shield, rode up to the window and drew his sword; then Jacob
+Pretz, on his white charger, bearing two spears transverse through
+a fallen tree on his flag; and Dieterich Mallin, whose banner fell
+in folds over his hand, so that the device was not visible; and
+Lorenz Prechel, carrying a leopard gules upon a silver shield; and
+Jacob Knut, with a golden becker upon an azure field, and three
+plumes on the crest; and Tesmar von Kettler, whose spurs caught in
+the robe of a young maiden as he passed, and merry laughter
+resounded through the hall, many saying it was a good omen, which,
+indeed, was the truth, for that evening they were betrothed; and
+finally came Johann Zastrow, bearing two buffaloes' horns on his
+banner, and a green five-leaved bush, rode up to the window after
+the others, and drew his sword.
+
+There stood the nine, like the muses at the nuptials of Peleus,
+[Footnote: The nine muses were present at the marriage of Peleus
+and Thetis.--_See Pindar, pyth._. 3, 160] and the wind played
+through their banners. Then Lord Otto spoke--
+
+"True, these are my leal vassals. And now, kinsman of Meseritz,
+dismount and pay homage, as did thy father, ere thou canst ride up
+and join them." So the young man dismounted, threw the reins of
+his horse to a squire, and ascended the platform. Then Otto,
+holding up a sword, spoke again--
+
+"Behold, kinsman, this is the sword of thy father; touch it with
+me, and pronounce the feudal oath." Here all the vassals rode up
+from the window, and held their swords crosswise over the
+kinsman's head, while he spake thus--
+
+"I, Vidante von Meseritz, declare, vow, and swear to the most
+powerful, noble, and brave Otto von Bork, lord of the lands and
+castles of Labes, Pansin, Stramehl, Regenwalde, and others, and my
+most powerful feudal lord, and to his lawful heirs, a right loyal
+fealty, to serve him with all duty and obedience, to warn him of
+all evil, and defend him from all injury, to the best of my
+ability and power."
+
+Then he kissed the knight's hand, who girded his father's sword on
+him, and said--
+
+"Thus I acknowledge thee for my vassal, as my father did thy
+father."
+
+Then turning to his attendants he cried, "Bring hither the camp
+furniture." Hereupon the circle of spectators parted in two, and
+the pages led up, first, Vidante's horse, upon which he sprung;
+then others followed, bearing rich garments and his father's
+signet, and laid them down before him, saying, "Kinsman, the
+garments and the seal of thy father." A third and a fourth bore a
+large couch with a white coverlet, set it down before him, and
+said, "Kinsman, a couch for thee and thy wife." Then came a great
+crowd, bearing plates and dishes, and napkins, and table-covers,
+besides eleven tin cans, a fish-kettle, and a pair of iron
+pot-hooks; in short, a complete camp furniture; all of which they
+set down before the young man, and then disappeared.
+
+During this entire time no one noticed his Highness the Duke,
+though he was indeed the feudal head of all. Even when the
+trumpets sounded again, and the vassals passed out in procession,
+they lowered their standards only before Otto, as if no princely
+personage were present. But I think this proud Lord Otto must have
+commanded them so to do, for such an omission or breach of respect
+was never before seen in Pomerania. Even his Highness seemed, at
+last, to feel displeasure, for he drew forth his knife, and began
+to cut away at the little wooden Adam, without taking further
+notice of the ceremony.
+
+At length when the vassals had departed, and many of the guests
+also, who wished to follow them, had left the hall, the Duke
+looked up with his little glittering eyes, scratched the back of
+his head with the knife, and asked his Chancellor, Jacob Kleist,
+who had evidently been long raging with anger, "Jacob, what dost
+thou think of this _spectaculo?_" who replied, "Gracious
+lord, I esteem it a silly thing for an inferior to play the part
+of a prince, or for a prince to be compelled to play the part of
+an inferior." Such a speech offended Otto mightily, who drew
+himself up and retorted scornfully, "Particularly a poor inferior
+who, as you see, is obliged to draw the plough by turns with his
+serfs." Hereupon the Chancellor would have flung back the scorn,
+but his Highness motioned with the hand that he should keep
+silence, saying, "Remember, good Jacob, that we are here as
+guests; however, order the carriages, for I think it is time that
+we proceed on our journey."
+
+When Otto heard this, he was confounded, and, descending from his
+throne, uttered so many flattering things, that his Highness at
+length was prevailed upon to remain (I would not have consented,
+to save my soul, had I been the Prince--no, not even if I had to
+pass the night with the bears and wolves in the forest before I
+could reach Treptow); so the good old Prince followed him into
+another hall, where breakfast was prepared, and all the lords and
+ladies stood there in glittering groups round the table,
+particularly admiring the bear's head, which seemed to please his
+Highness mightily also. Then each one drained a large goblet of
+wine, and even the ladies sipped from their little wine-glasses,
+to drink themselves into good spirits for the dance.
+
+Otto now related all about the hunt, and presented me to his
+Grace, who gave me his hand to kiss, saying, "Well done, young
+man--I like this bravery. Were it not for you, in place of a
+wedding, and a bear's head in the dish, Lord Otto might have had a
+funeral and two human heads in a coffin." His Grace then pledged
+me in a silver becker of wine; and afterwards the bride and
+bridegroom, who had sat till then kissing and making love in a
+corner; but they now came forward and kissed the hand of the Duke
+with much respect. The bridegroom had on a crimson doublet, which
+became him well; but his father's jack-boots, which he wore
+according to custom, were much too wide, and shook about his legs.
+The bride was arrayed in a scarlet velvet robe, and bodice furred
+with ermine. Sidonia carried a little balsam flask, depending from
+a gold chain which she wore round her neck. (She soon needed the
+balsam, for that day she suffered a foretaste of the fate which
+was to be the punishment for her after evil deeds.) And now, as we
+set forward to the church, a group of noble maidens distributed
+wreaths to the guests; but the bride presented one to the Duke,
+and Sidonia (that her hand might have been withered) handed one to
+me, poor love-stricken youth.
+
+It was the custom then, as now, in Pomerania, for all the
+bride-maidens, crowned with beautiful wreaths, to precede the
+bride and bridegroom to church. The crowd of lords, and ladies,
+and young knights pouring out of the castle gates, in order to see
+them, separated Sidonia from this group, and she was left alone
+weeping. Now the whole population of the little town were running
+from every street leading to the church; and it happened that a
+courser [Footnote: A man who courses greyhounds.] of Otto Bork's
+came right against Sidonia with such violence, that, with a blow
+of his head, he knocked her down into the puddle (she was to lie
+there really in after-life). Her little balsam-flask was of no use
+here. She had to go back, dripping, to the castle, and appeared no
+more at her sister's nuptials, but consoled herself, however, by
+listening to the bellowing of the huntsman, whom they were beating
+black and blue by her orders beneath her window.
+
+I would willingly have returned with her, but was ashamed so to
+do, and therefore followed the others to church. All the common
+people that crowded the streets were allowed to enter. Then the
+bridegroom and his party, of whom the Duke was chief, advanced up
+to the right of the altar, and the bride and her party, of which
+Fabianus Timæus was the most distinguished, arrayed themselves on
+the left.
+
+I had now an opportunity of hearing the learned and excellent
+parson Dilavius myself; for he represented his patron (who was not
+present at the feast, but apologised for his absence by alleging
+that he must remain at the castle to look after the preparations)
+almost as an angel, and the young ladies, especially the bride,
+came in for even a larger share of his flattery; but he was so
+modest before these illustrious personages, that I observed,
+whenever he looked up from the book, he had one eye upon the Duke
+and another on Fabianus.
+
+When we returned to the castle, Sidonia met the bridemaidens again
+with joyous smiles. She now wore a white silk robe, laced with
+gold, and dancing-slippers with white silk hose. The diamonds
+still remained on her head, neck, and arms. She looked beautiful
+thus; and I could not withdraw my eyes from her. We all now
+entered the bridechamber, as the custom is, and there stood an
+immense bridal couch, with coverlet and draperies as white as
+snow; and all the bridemaids and the guests threw their wreaths
+upon it. Then the Prince, taking the bridegroom by the hand, led
+him up to it, and repeated an old German rhyme concerning the
+duties of the holy state upon which he had entered.
+
+When his Highness ceased, Fabianus took the bride by the hand, who
+blushed as red as a rose, and led her up in the same manner to the
+nuptial couch, where he uttered a long admonition on her duties to
+her husband, at which all wept, but particularly the
+bride-maidens. After this we proceeded to the state hall, where
+Otto was seated on his throne waiting to receive them, and when
+his children had kissed his hand the dancing commenced. Otto
+invited the Prince to sit near him, and all the young knights and
+maidens who intended to dance ranged themselves on costly carpets
+that were laid upon the floor all round by the walls. The trumpets
+and violins now struck up, and a band was stationed at each end of
+the hall, so that while the dancers were at the top one played,
+and when at the lower end the other.
+
+I hastened to Sidonia, as she reclined upon the carpet, and
+bending low before her, said, "Beautiful maiden! will you not
+dance?" [Footnote: It will interest my fair readers to know that
+this was, word for word, the established form employed in those
+days for an invitation to dance.] Upon which she smilingly gave me
+her little hand, and I raised her up, and led her away.
+
+I have said that I was a proficient in all knightly exercises, so
+that every one approached to see us dance. When Sidonia was tired
+I led her back, and threw myself beside her on the carpet. But in
+a little while three other young nobles came and seated themselves
+around her, and began to jest, and toy, and pay court to her. One
+played with her left hand and her rings, another with the gold net
+of her hair, while I held her right hand and pressed it. She
+coquettishly repelled them all--sometimes with her feet, sometimes
+with her hands. And when Hans von Damitz extolled her hair, she
+gave him such a blow on the nose with her head that it began to
+bleed, and he was obliged to withdraw. Still one could see that
+all these blows, right and left, were not meant in earnest. This
+continued for some time until an Italian dance began, which she
+declined to join, and as I was left alone with her upon the
+carpet, "Now," thought I, "there can be no better time to decide
+my fate;" for she had pressed my hand frequently, both in the
+dance and since I had lain reclining beside her.
+
+"Beautiful Sidonia!" I said, "you know not how you have wounded my
+heart. I can neither eat nor sleep since I beheld you, and those
+five little kisses which you gave me burn through my frame like
+arrows."
+
+To which she answered, laughing, "It was your pastime, youth. It
+was your own wish to take those little kisses."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I said, "it was my will; but give me more now and make
+me well."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, "you desire more kisses? Then will your
+pain become greater, if, as you say, with every kiss an arrow
+enters your heart, so at last they would cause your death."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I answered, "unless you take pity on me, and promise to
+become my wife, they will indeed cause my death." As I said this,
+she sprang up, tore her hand away from me, and cried with mocking
+laughter, "What does the knave mean? Ha! ha! the poor, miserable
+varlet!"
+
+I remained some moments stupefied with rage, then sprung to my
+feet without another word, left the hall, took my steed from the
+stable, and turned my back on the castle for ever. You may imagine
+how her ingratitude added to the bitterness of my feelings, when I
+considered that it was to me she owed her life. She afterwards
+offered herself to me for a wife, but she was then dishonoured,
+and I spat out at her in disgust. I never beheld her again till
+she was carried past my door to the scaffold.
+
+All this the old man related with many sighs; but his
+after-meeting with her shall be related more _in extenso_ in
+its proper place. I shall now set down what further he
+communicated about the wedding-feast.
+
+You may imagine, he said, that I was curious to know all that
+happened after I left the castle, and my friend, Bogislaff von
+Suckow of Pegelow, told me as follows.
+
+After my departure, the young lords grew still more free and
+daring in their manner to Sidonia, so that when not dancing she
+had sufficient exercise in keeping them off with her hands and
+feet, until my friend Bogislaff attracted her whole attention by
+telling her that he had just returned from Wolgast, where the
+ducal widow was much comforted by the presence of her son, Prince
+Ernest Ludovick, whom she had not seen since he went to the
+university. He was the handsomest youth in all Pomerania, and
+played the lute so divinely that at court he was compared to the
+god Apollo.
+
+Sidonia upon this fell into deep thought. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that his Highness old Duke Barnim was greatly struck by
+her beauty, and wished to get near her upon the carpet; for his
+Grace was well known to be a great follower of the sex, and many
+stories are whispered about a harem of young girls he kept at St.
+Mary's--but these things are allowable in persons of his rank.
+
+However, Fabianus Timæus, who sat by him, wished to prevent him
+approaching Sidonia, and made signs, and nudged him with his
+elbow; and finally they put their heads together and had a long
+argument.
+
+At last the Prince started up, and stepping to Otto, asked him,
+Would he not dance? "Yes," he replied, "if your Grace will dance
+likewise." "Good," said the Prince, "that can be soon arranged,"
+and therewith he solicited Sidonia's hand. At this Fabianus was so
+scandalised that he left the hall, and appeared no more until
+supper. After the dance, his Highness advanced to Otto, who was
+reseated on his throne, and said, "Why, Otto, you have a beautiful
+daughter in Sidonia. She must come to my court, and when she
+appears amongst the other ladies, I swear she will make a better
+fortune than by staying shut up here in your old castle."
+
+On which Otto replied, sarcastically smiling, "Ay, my gracious
+Prince, she would be a dainty morsel for your Highness, no doubt;
+but there is no lack of noble visitors at my castle, I am proud to
+say." Jacob Kleist, the Chancellor, was now so humbled at the
+Duke's behaviour that he, too, left the hall and followed
+Fabianus. Even the Duke changed colour; but before he had time to
+speak, Sidonia sprang forward, and having heard the whole
+conversation, entreated her father to accept the Duke's offer, and
+allow her either to visit the court at Wolgast or at Old Stettin.
+What was she to do here? When the wedding-feast was over, no one
+would come to the castle but huntsmen and such like.
+
+So Otto at last consented that she might visit Wolgast, but on no
+account the court at Stettin.
+
+Then the young Sidonia began to coax and caress the old Duke,
+stroking his long beard, which reached to his girdle, with her
+little white hands, and prayed that he would place her with the
+princely Lady of Wolgast, for she longed to go there. People said
+that it was such a beautiful place, and the sea was not far off,
+which she had never been at in all her life. And so the Duke was
+pleased with her caresses, and promised that he would request his
+dear cousin, the ducal widow of Wolgast, to receive her as one of
+her maids of honour. Sidonia then further entreated that there
+might be no delay, and he answered that he would send a note to
+his cousin from the Diet at Treptow, by the Grand Chamberlain of
+Wolgast, Ulrich von Schwerin, and that she would not have to wait
+long. But she must go by Old Stettin, and stop at his palace for a
+while, and then he would bring her on himself to Wolgast, if he
+had time to spare.
+
+While Sidonia clapped her hands and danced about for joy, Otto
+looked grave, and said, "But, gracious Lord, the nearest way to
+Wolgast is by Cammin. Sidonia must make a circuit if she goes by
+Old Stettin."
+
+The conversation was now interrupted by the lacqueys, who came to
+announce that dinner was served.
+
+Otto requested the Duke to take a place beside him at table, and
+treated him with somewhat more distinction than he had done in the
+morning; but a hot dispute soon arose, and this was the cause. As
+Otto drank deep in the wine-cup, he grew more reckless and daring,
+and began to display his heretical doctrines as openly as he had
+hitherto exhibited his pomp and magnificence, so that every one
+might learn that pride and ungodliness are twin brothers. May God
+keep us from both!
+
+And one of the guests having said, in confirmation of some fact,
+"The Lord Jesus knows I speak the truth!" the godless knight
+laughed scornfully, exclaiming, "The Lord Jesus knows as little
+about the matter as my old grandfather, lying there in his vault,
+of our wedding-feast to-day."
+
+There was a dead silence instantly, and the Prince, who had just
+lifted up some of the bear's paw to his lips, with mustard sauce
+and pastry all round it, dropped it again upon his plate, and
+opened his eyes as wide as they could go; then, hastily wiping his
+mouth with the salvet, exclaimed in low German, "What the devil,
+Otto! art thou a freethinker?" who replied, "A true nobleman may,
+in all things, be a freethinker, and neither do all that a prince
+commands nor believe all that a pope teaches." To which the Duke
+answered, "What concerns me I pardon, for I do not believe that
+you will ever forget your duty to your Prince. The times are gone
+by when a noble would openly offer violence to his sovereign; but
+for what concerns the honour of our Lord Christ, I must leave you
+in the hands of Fabianus to receive proper chastisement."
+
+Now Fabianus, seeing that all eyes were fixed on him, grew red and
+cleared his throat, and set himself in a position to argue the
+point with Lord Otto, beginning--"So you believe that Christ the
+Lord remained in the grave, and is not living and reigning for all
+eternity?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; that is my opinion."
+
+_Hic_.--"What do you believe, then? or do you believe in
+anything?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; I believe firmly in an all-powerful and
+omniscient God."
+
+_Hic_.--"How do you know He exists?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Because my reason tells me so."
+
+_Hic_.--"Your reason does not tell you so, good sir. It
+merely tells you that something supermundane exists, but cannot
+tell you whether it be one God or two Gods, or a hundred Gods, or
+of what nature are these Gods--whether spirits, or stars, or
+trees, or animals, or, in fine, any object you can name, for
+paganism has imagined a Deity in everything, which proves what I
+assert. You only believe in _one_ God, because you sucked in
+the doctrine with your mother's milk." [Footnote: The history of
+all philosophy shows that this is psychologically true. Even
+Lucian satirises the philosophers of his age who see God or Gods
+in numbers, dogs, geese, trees, and other things. But monotheistic
+Christianity has preserved us for nearly 2000 years from these
+aberrations of philosophy. However, as the authority of
+Christianity declined, the pagan tendency again became visible;
+until at length, in the Hegelian school, we have fallen back
+helplessly into the same pantheism which we left 2000 years ago.
+In short, what Kant asserts is perfectly true: that the existence
+of God cannot be proved from reason. For the highest objects of
+all cognition--God, Freedom, and Immortality--can as little be
+evolved from the new philosophy as beauty from the disgusting
+process of decomposition. And yet more impossible is it to imagine
+that this feeble Hegelian pantheism should ever become the crown
+and summit of all human thought, and final resting-place for all
+human minds. Reason, whether from an indwelling instinct, or from
+an innate causality-law, may assert that something supermundane
+exists, but can know nothing more and nothing further. So we see
+the absurdity of chattering in our journals and periodicals of the
+progress of reason. The advance has been only _formal_, not
+_essential_. The formal advance has been in printing,
+railroads, and such like, in which direction we may easily suppose
+progression will yet further continue. But there has been no
+essential advance whatever. We know as little now of our own
+being, of the being of God, or even of that of the smallest
+infusoria, as in the days of Thales and Anaximander. In short,
+when life begins, begins also our feebleness; "Therefore," says
+Paul, "we walk by faith, not by sight." Yet these would-be
+philosophers of our day will only walk by sight, not by faith,
+although they cannot see into anything--not even into themselves.]
+
+_Ille_.--"How did it happen, then, that Abraham arrived at
+the knowledge of the _one_ God, and called on the name of the
+Lord?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Do you compare yourself with Abraham? Have you ever
+studied Hebrew?"
+
+_Ille_.--"A little. In my youth I read through the book of
+Genesis."
+
+_Hic_.--"Good! then you know that the Hebrew word for
+_name_ is _Shem_?"
+
+_Ille_.-"Yes; I know that."
+
+_Hic_.--"Then you know that from the time of Enos the
+_name_ [Footnote: In order to understand the argument, the
+reader must remember that the _name_ here is taken in the
+sense of the Greek logos, and is considered as referring
+especially to Christ.] was preached (Genesis iv. 26), showing that
+the pure doctrine was known from the beginning. This doctrine was
+darkened and obscured by wise people like you, so that it was
+almost lost at the time of Abraham, who again preached the
+_name_ of the Lord to unbelievers."
+
+_Ille_.--"What did this primitive doctrine contain?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Undoubtedly not only a testimony of the one living
+God of heaven and earth, but also clearly of Christ the Messiah,
+as He who was promised to our fallen parents in paradise (Genesis
+iii. 15)."
+
+_Ille_.--"Can you prove that Abraham had the witness of
+Christ?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Yes; from Christ's own words (John viii.
+56):--'Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw
+it, and was glad.' Item: Moses and all the Prophets have witnessed
+of Him, of whom you say that He lies dead in the grave."
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh, that is just what the priests say."
+
+_Hic_.--"And Christ Himself, Luke xxvi. 25 and 27. Do you not
+see, young man, that you mock the Prince of Life, whom God, that
+cannot lie, promised before the world began--Titus i. 2--ay, even
+more than you mocked your temporal Prince this day? Poor sinner,
+what does it help you to believe in one God?"
+
+"Even the devils believe and tremble," added Jacob Kleist the
+Chancellor. "No, there is no other name given under heaven by
+which you can be saved; and will you be more wise than Abraham,
+and the Prophets, and the Apostles, and all holy Christian
+Churches up to this day? Shame on you, and remember what St. Paul
+says: 'Thinking themselves wise, they became fools.' And in 1st
+Cor. xv. 17: 'If Christ be not risen, than is your faith vain, and
+our preaching also vain. Ye are yet in your sins, and they who
+sleep in Christ are lost.'" [Footnote: This proof of Christ's
+divinity from the Old Testament was considered of the highest
+importance in the time of the Apostles; but Schleiermacher, in his
+strange system, which may be called a mystic Rationalism,
+endeavours to shake the authority of the Old Testament in a most
+unpardonable and incomprehensible manner. This appears to me as if
+a man were to tear down a building from the sure foundation on
+which it had rested for 1000 years, and imagine it could rest in
+true stability only on the mere breath of his words.]
+
+So Otto was silenced and coughed, for he had nothing to answer,
+and all the guests laughed; but, fortunately, just then the
+offering-plate was handed round, and the Duke laid down two
+ducats, at which Otto smiled scornfully, and flung in seven
+rix-dollars, but laughed outright when Fabianus put down only four
+groschen.
+
+This seemed to affront his Highness, for he whispered to his
+Chancellor to order the carriages, and rose up from table with his
+attendants. Then, offering his hand to Otto, said, "Take care,
+Otto, or the devil will have you one day in hell, like the rich
+man in Scripture." To which Otto replied, bowing low, "Gracious
+Lord, I hope at least to meet good company there. Farewell, and
+pardon me for not attending you to the castle gates, but I may not
+leave my guests."
+
+Then all the nobles rose up, and the young knights accompanied his
+Highness, as did also Sidonia, who now further entreated his Grace
+to remove her from her father's castle, since he saw himself how
+lightly God's Word was held there. Fabianus was infinitely pleased
+to hear her speak in this manner, and promised to use all his
+influence towards having her removed from this Egypt.
+
+Here ended all that old Uckermann could relate of Sidonia's youth;
+so I determined to ride on to Stramehl, and learn there further
+particulars if possible.
+
+Accordingly, next day I took leave of the good old man, praying
+God to give him a peaceful death, and arrived at Stramehl with my
+servant. Here, however, I could obtain no information; for even
+the Bork family pretended to know nothing, just as if they never
+had heard of Sidonia (they were ashamed, I think, to acknowledge
+her), and the townspeople who had known her were all dead. The
+girl, indeed, was still living whose goose Sidonia had killed, but
+she was now an old woman in second childhood, and fancied that I
+was myself Sidonia, who had come to take away another goose from
+her. So I rode on to Freienwald, where I heard much that shall
+appear in its proper place; then to Old Stettin; and, after
+waiting three days for a fair wind, set sail for Wolgast,
+expecting to obtain much information there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there._
+
+
+In Wolgast I met with many persons whose fathers had known
+Sidonia, and what they related to me concerning her I have summed
+up into connection for your Highness as follows.
+
+When Duke Barnim reached the Diet at Treptow, he immediately made
+known Sidonia's request to the Grand Chamberlain of Wolgast,
+Ulrich von Schwerin, who was also guardian to the five young
+princes. But he grumbled, and said--"The ducal widow had maids of
+honour enough to dam up the river with if she chose; and he wished
+for no more pet doves to be brought to court, particularly not
+Sidonia; for he knew her father was ambitious, and longed to be
+called 'your Grace.'"
+
+Even Fabianus could not prevail in Sidonia's favour. So the Duke
+and he returned home to Stettin; but scarcely had they arrived
+there, when a letter came from the ducal widow of Wolgast, saying,
+that on no account would she receive Sidonia at her court. The
+Duke might therefore keep her at his own if he chose.
+
+So the Duke took no further trouble. But Sidonia was not so easily
+satisfied; and taking the matter in her own hands she left her
+father's castle without waiting his permission, and set off for
+Stettin.
+
+On arriving, she prayed the Duke to bring her to Wolgast without
+delay, as she knew there was an honourable, noble lady there who
+would watch over her, as indeed she felt would be necessary at a
+court. And Fabianus supported her petition; for he was much
+edified with her expressed desire to crucify the flesh, with the
+affections and lusts.
+
+Ah! could he have known her!
+
+So the kind-hearted Duke embarked with her immediately, without
+telling any one; and having a fair wind, sailed up directly to the
+little water-gate, and anchored close beneath the Castle of
+Wolgast.
+
+Here they landed; the Duke having Sidonia under one arm, and a
+little wooden puppet under the other. It was an Eve, for whom
+Sidonia had served as the model; and truly she was an Eve in sin,
+and brought as much evil upon the land of Pomerania as our first
+mother upon the whole world. Sidonia was enveloped in a black
+mantle, and wore a hood lined with fur covering her face. The Duke
+also had on a large wrapping cloak, and a cap of yellow leather
+upon his head.
+
+So they entered the private gate, and on through the first and
+second courts of the castle, without her Grace hearing a word of
+their arrival. And they proceeded on through the gallery, until
+they reached the private apartments of the princess, from whence
+resounded a psalm which her Grace was singing with her ladies
+while they spun, and which psalm was played by a little musical
+box placed within the Duchess's own spinning-wheel. Duke Barnim
+had made it himself for her Grace, and it was right pleasant to
+hear.
+
+After listening some time, the Duke knocked, and a maid of honour
+opened the door. When they entered, her Grace was so confounded
+that she dropped her thread and exclaimed, "Dear uncle! is this
+maiden, then, Sidonia?" examining her from head to foot while she
+spoke. The Duke excused himself by saying that he had promised her
+father to bring her here; but her Grace cut short his apologies
+with "Dear uncle, Dr. Martin Luther told me on my wedding-day that
+he never allowed himself to be interrupted at his prayers, because
+it betokened the presence of something evil. And you have now
+broken in on our devotions; therefore sit down with the maiden and
+join our psalm, if you know it." Then her Grace took up the reel
+again, and having set the clock-work going with her foot, struck
+up the psalm once more, in a clear, loud voice, joined by all her
+ladies. But Sidonia sat still, and kept her eyes upon the ground.
+
+When they had ended, her Grace, having first crossed herself,
+advanced to Sidonia, and said, "Since you arrived at my court, you
+may remain; but take care that you never lift your eyes upon the
+young men. Such wantons are hateful to my sight; for, as the
+Scripture says, 'A fair woman without discretion is like a circlet
+of gold upon a swine's head.'"
+
+Sidonia changed colour at this; but the Duke, who held quite a
+different opinion about such women, entreated her Grace not to be
+always so gloomy and melancholy--that it was time now for her to
+forget her late spouse, and think of gayer subjects. To which she
+answered, "Dear uncle, I cannot forget my Philip, particularly as
+my fate was foreshadowed at my bridal by a most ominous
+occurrence."
+
+Now, the Duke had heard this story of the bridal a hundred times;
+yet to please her he asked, "And what was it, dear cousin?"
+
+"Listen," she replied. "When Dr. Martin Luther exchanged our
+rings, mine fell from his hand to the ground; at which he was
+evidently troubled, and taking it up, he blew on it; then turning
+round, exclaimed--'Away with thee, Satan! away with thee, Satan!
+Meddle not in this matter!' And so my dear lord was taken from me
+in his forty-fifth year, and I was left a desolate widow." Here
+she sobbed and put her kerchief to her eyes.
+
+"But, cousin," said the Duke, "remember you have a great blessing
+from God in your five fine sons. And that reminds me--where are
+they all now?"
+
+This restored her Grace, and she began to discourse of her
+children, telling how handsome was the young Prince Ernest, and
+that he and the little Casimir were only with her now.
+
+Here Sidonia, as the other ladies remarked, moved restlessly on
+her chair, and her eyes flashed like torches, so that it was
+evident some plan had struck her, for she was strengthening day by
+day in wickedness.
+
+"Ay, cousin," cried the Duke, "it is no wonder a handsome mother
+should have handsome sons. And now what think you of giving us a
+jolly wedding? It is time for you to think of a second husband,
+methinks, after having wept ten years for your Philip. The best
+doctor, they say, for a young widow, is a handsome lover. What
+think you of myself, for instance?" And he pulled off his leather
+cap, and put his white head and beard up close to her Grace.
+
+Now, though her Grace could not help laughing at his position and
+words, yet she grew as sour as vinegar again immediately; for all
+the ladies tittered, and, as to Sidonia, she laughed outright.
+
+"Fie! uncle," said her Grace, "a truce to such folly; do you not
+know what St. Paul says--'Let the widows abide even as I'?"
+
+"Ay, true, dear cousin; but, then, does he not say, too, 'I will
+that the younger widows marry'?"
+
+"Ah, but, dear uncle, I am no longer young."
+
+"Why, you are as young and active as a girl; and I engage, cousin,
+if any stranger came in here to look for the widow, he would find
+it difficult to make her out amongst the young maidens; don't you
+think so, Sidonia?"
+
+"Ah, yes," she replied; "I never imagined her Grace was so young.
+She is as blooming as a rose."
+
+This appeared to please the Princess, for she smiled slightly and
+then sighed; but gave his Grace a smart slap when he attempted to
+seize her hand and kiss it, saying--"Now, uncle, I told you to
+leave off this foolery."
+
+At this moment the band outside struck up Duke Bogislaff's
+march--the same that was played before him in Jerusalem when he
+ascended the Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha; for it was the custom
+here to play this march half-an-hour before dinner, in order to
+gather all the household, knights, squires, pages, and even grooms
+and peasants, to the castle, where they all received
+entertainment. And ten rooms were laid with dinner, and all stood
+open, so that any one might enter under the permission of the
+Court Marshal. All this I must notice here, because Sidonia
+afterwards caused much scandal by these means. The music now
+rejoiced her greatly, and she began to move her little feet, not
+in a pilgrim, but in a waltz measure, and to beat time with them,
+as one could easily perceive by the motion underneath her mantle.
+
+The Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, now entered, and
+having looked at Sidonia with much surprise, advanced to kiss the
+hand of the Duke and bid him welcome to Wolgast. Then, turning to
+her Grace, he inquired if the twelve pages should wait at table to
+do honour to the Duke of Stettin. But the Duke forbade them,
+saying he wished to dine in private for this day with the Duchess
+and her two sons; the Grand Chamberlain, too, he hoped would be
+present, and Sidonia might have a seat at the ducal table, as she
+was of noble blood; besides, he had taken her likeness as Eve, and
+the first of women ought to sit at the first table. Hereupon the
+Duke drew forth the puppet, and called to Ulrich--"Here! you have
+seen my Adam in Treptow; what think you now of Eve? Look, dear
+cousin, is she not the image of Sidonia?"
+
+At this speech both looked very grave. Ulrich said nothing; but
+her Grace replied, "You will make the girl vain, dear uncle." And
+Ulrich added, "Yes, and the image has such an expression, that if
+the real Eve looked so, I think she would have left her husband in
+the lurch and run with the devil himself to the devil."
+
+While the last verse of the march was playing--"To Zion comes
+Pomerania's Prince"--they proceeded to dinner--the Duke and the
+Princes leading, while from every door along the corridor the
+young knights and pages peeped out to get a sight of Sidonia, who,
+having thrown off her mantle, swept by them in a robe of crimson
+velvet laced with gold.
+
+When they entered the dining-hall, Prince Ernest was leaning
+against one of the pillars wearing a black Spanish mantle,
+fastened with chains of gold. He stepped forward to greet the
+Duke, and inquire after his health.
+
+The Duke was well pleased to see him, and tapped him on the cheek,
+exclaiming--
+
+"By my faith, cousin, I have not heard too much of you. What a
+fine youth you have grown up since you left the university."
+
+But how Sidonia's eyes sparkled when (for his misfortune) she
+found herself seated next him at table. The Duchess now called
+upon Sidonia to say the "gratias;" but she blundered and
+stammered, which many imputed to modesty, so that Prince Ernest
+had to repeat it in her stead. This seemed to give him courage;
+for when the others began to talk around the table, he ventured to
+bid her welcome to his mother's court.
+
+When they rose from table, Sidonia was again commanded to say
+grace; but being unable, the Prince came to her relief and
+repeated the words for her. And now the evil spirit without doubt
+put it into the Duke's head, who had drunk rather freely, to say
+to her Grace--
+
+"Dear cousin, I have introduced the Italian fashion at my court,
+which is, that every knight kisses the lady next him on rising
+from dinner--let us do the same here." And herewith he first
+kissed her Grace and then Sidonia. Ulrich von Schwerin looked
+grave at this and shook his head, particularly when the Duke
+encouraged Prince Ernest to follow his example; but the poor youth
+looked quite ashamed, and cast down his eyes. However, when he
+raised them again Sidonia's were fixed on him, and she murmured,
+"Will you not learn?" with such a glance accompanying the words,
+that he could no longer resist to touch her lips. So there was
+great laughing in the hall; and the Duke then, taking his puppet
+under one arm and Sidonia under the other, descended with her to
+the castle gardens, complaining that he never got a good laugh in
+this gloomy house, let him do what he would.
+
+And the next day he departed, though the Prince sent his equerry
+to know would his Grace desire to hunt that day; or, if he
+preferred fishing, there were some excellent carp within the
+domain. But the Duke replied, that he would neither ride nor fish,
+but sail away at ten of the clock, if the wind were favourable.
+
+So many feared that his Grace was annoyed; and therefore the
+Duchess and Prince Ernest, along with the Grand Chamberlain,
+attended him to the gate; and even to please him, Sidonia was
+allowed to accompany them. The Pomeranian standard also was
+hoisted to do him honour, and finally he bade the illustrious
+widow farewell, recommending Sidonia to her care. But the fair
+maiden herself he took in his arms, she weeping and sobbing, and
+admonished her to be careful and discreet; and so, with a fair
+wind, set sail from Wolgast, and never once looked back.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast._
+
+
+Next day, Sunday, her Grace was unable to attend divine service in
+the church, having caught cold by neglecting to put on her mantle
+when she accompanied the Duke down to the water-gate. However,
+though her Grace could not leave her chamber, yet she heard the
+sermon of the preacher all the same; for an ear-tube descended
+from her apartment down on the top of the pulpit, by which means
+every word reached her, and a maid of honour always remained in
+attendance to find out the lessons of the day, and the other
+portions of the divine service, for her Grace, who thus could
+follow the clergyman word for word. Sidonia was the one selected
+for the office on this day.
+
+But, gracious Heavens! when the Duchess said, Find me out the
+prophet Isaiah, Sidonia looked in the New Testament; and when she
+said, Open the Gospel of St. John, Sidonia looked in the Old
+Testament. At first her Grace did not perceive her blunders; but
+when she became aware of them, she started up, and tearing the
+Bible out of her hands, exclaimed, "What! are you a heathen?
+Yesterday you could not repeat a simple grace that every child
+knows by heart, and to-day you do not know the difference between
+the Old and New Testaments. For shame! Alas! what an ill weed I
+have introduced into my house."
+
+So the cunning wench began to weep, and said, her father had never
+allowed her to learn Christianity, though she wished to do so
+ardently, but always made a mock of it, and for this reason she
+had sought a refuge with her Grace, where she hoped to become a
+truly pious and believing Christian. The Duchess was quite
+softened by her tears, and promised that Dr. Dionysius Gerschovius
+should examine her in the catechism, and see what she knew. He was
+a learned man from Daber [Footnote: A small town in Lower
+Pomerania.], and her Grace's chaplain. The very idea of the doctor
+frightened Sidonia so much, that her teeth chattered, and she
+entreated her Grace, while she kissed her hand, to allow her at
+least a fortnight for preparation and study before the doctor
+came.
+
+The Duchess promised this, and said, that Clara von Dewitz,
+another of her maidens, would be an excellent person to assist her
+in her studies, as she came from Daber also, and was familiar with
+the views and doctrines held by Dr. Gerschovius. This Clara we
+shall hear more of in our history. She was a year older than
+Sidonia, intelligent, courageous, and faithful, with a quiet,
+amiable disposition, and of most pious and Christian demeanour.
+She wore a high, stiff ruff, out of which peeped forth her head
+scarcely visible, and a long robe, like a stole, sweeping behind
+her. She was privately betrothed to her Grace's Master of the
+Horse, Marcus Bork by name, a cousin of Sidonia's; for, as her
+Grace discouraged all kinds of gallantry or love-making at her
+court, they were obliged to keep the matter secret, so that no
+one, not even her Grace, suspected anything of the engagement.
+
+This was the person appointed to instruct Sidonia in Christianity;
+and every day the fair pupil visited Clara in her room for an
+hour. But, alas! theology was sadly interrupted by Sidonia's folly
+and levity, for she chattered away on all subjects: first about
+Prince Ernest--was he affianced to any one? was he in love? had
+Clara herself a lover? and if that old proser, meaning the
+Duchess, looked always as sour? did she never allow a feast or a
+dance? and then she would toss the catechism under the bed, or
+tear it and trample on it, muttering, with much ill-temper, that
+she was too old to be learning catechisms like a child.
+
+Poor Clara tried to reason with her mildly, and said--"Her Grace
+was very particular on these points. The maids of honour were
+obliged to assemble weekly once in the church and once in her
+Grace's own room, to be examined by Dr. Gerschovius, not only in
+the Lutheran Catechism, which they all knew well, but also in that
+written by his brother, Dr. Timothy Gerschovius of Old Stettin; so
+Sidonia had better first learn the _Catechismum Lutheri_, and
+afterwards the _Catechismum Gerschovii_." At last Sidonia
+grew so weary of catechisms that she determined to run away from
+court.
+
+But Satan had more for her to do; so he put a little syrup into
+the wormwood draught, and thus it was. One day passing along the
+corridor from Clara's room, it so happened that Prince Ernest
+opened his door, just as she came up to it, to let out the smoke,
+and then began to walk up and down, playing softly on his lute.
+Sidonia stood still for a few minutes with her eyes thrown up in
+ecstasy, and then passed on; but the Prince stepped to the door,
+and asked her did she play.
+
+"Alas! no," she answered. "Her father had forbidden her to learn
+the lute, though music was her passion, and her heart seemed
+almost breaking with joy when she listened to it. If his Highness
+would but play one little air over again for her."
+
+"Yes, if you will enter, but not while you are standing there at
+my door."
+
+"Ah, do not ask me to enter, that would not be seemly; but I will
+sit down here on this beer-barrel in the corridor and listen;
+besides, music is improved by distance."
+
+And she looked so tenderly at the young Prince that his heart
+burned within him, and he stepped out into the corridor to play;
+but the sound reaching the ears of her Grace, she looked out, and
+Sidonia jumped up from the beer-barrel and fled away to her own
+room.
+
+When Sunday came again, all the maids of honour were assembled, as
+usual, in her Grace's apartment, to be examined in the catechism;
+and probably the Duchess had lamented much to the doctor over
+Sidonia's levity and ignorance, for he kept a narrow watch on her
+the whole day. At four of the clock Dr. Gerschovius entered in his
+gown and bands, looking very solemn; for it was a saying of his
+"that the devil invented laughter; and that it were better for a
+man to be a weeping Heraclitus than a laughing Democritus." After
+he had kissed the hand of her Grace, he said they had better now
+begin with the Commandments; and, turning to Sidonia, asked her,
+"What is forbidden by the seventh commandment?"
+
+Now Sidonia, who had only learned the Lutheran Catechism, did not
+understand the question in this form out of the Gerschovian
+Catechism, and remained silent.
+
+"What!" said the doctor, "not know my brother's catechism! You
+must get one directly from the court bookseller--the Catechism of
+Doctor Timothy Gerschovius--and have it learned by next Sunday."
+Then turning to Clara, he repeated the question, and she, having
+answered, received great praise.
+
+Now it happened that just at this time the ducal horse were led up
+to the horse-pond to water, and all the young pages and knights
+were gathered in a group under the window of her Grace's
+apartment, laughing and jesting merrily. So Sidonia looked out at
+them, which the doctor no sooner perceived than he slapped her on
+the hand with the catechism, exclaiming, "What! have you not heard
+just now that all sinful desires are forbidden by the seventh
+commandment, and yet you look forth upon the young men from the
+window? Tell me what are sinful desires?"
+
+But the proud girl grew red with indignation, and cried, "Do you
+dare to strike me?" Then, turning to her Grace, she said, "Madam,
+that sour old priest has struck me on the fingers. I will not
+suffer this. My father shall hear of it."
+
+Hereupon her Grace, and even the doctor, tried to appease her, but
+in vain, and she ran crying from the apartment. In the corridor
+she met the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who hated the doctor
+and all his rigid doctrines. So she complained of the treatment
+which she had received, and pressed his hand and stroked his
+beard, saying, would he permit a castle and land dowered maiden to
+be scolded and insulted by an old parson because she looked out at
+a window? That was worse than in the days of Popery. Now
+Zitsewitz, who had a little wine in his head, on hearing this, ran
+in great wrath to the apartment of her Grace, where soon a great
+uproar was heard.
+
+For the treasurer, in the heat of his remonstrance with the
+priest, struck a little table violently which stood near him, and
+overthrew it. On this had Iain the superb escritoire of her
+Highness, made of Venetian glass, in which the ducal arms were
+painted; and also the magnificent album of her deceased lord, Duke
+Philip. The escritoire was broken, the ink poured forth upon the
+album, from thence ran down to the costly Persian carpet, a
+present from her brother, the Prince of Saxony, and finally
+stained the velvet robe of her Highness herself, who started up
+screaming, so that the old chamberlain rushed in to know what had
+happened, and then he fell into a rage both with the priest and
+the treasurer. At length her Grace was comforted by hearing that a
+chemist in Grypswald could restore the book, and mend the glass
+again as good as new; still she wept, and exclaimed, "Alas! who
+could have thought it? all this was foreshadowed to her by Dr.
+Martinus dropping her ring."
+
+Here the treasurer, to conciliate her Grace, pretended that he
+never had heard the story of the betrothal, and asked, "What does
+your Grace mean?" Whereupon drying her eyes she answered, "O
+Master Jacob, you will hear a strange story"--and here she went
+over each particular, though every child in the street had it by
+heart. So this took away her grief, and every one got to rights
+again, for that day. But worse was soon to befall.
+
+I have said that half-an-hour before dinner the band played to
+summon all within the castle and the retainers to their respective
+messes, as the custom then was; so that the long corridor was soon
+filled with a crowd of all conditions--pages, knights, squires,
+grooms, maids, and huntsmen, all hurrying to the apartments where
+their several tables were laid. Sidonia, being aware of this, upon
+the first roll of the drum skipped out into the corridor, dancing
+up and down the whole length of it to the music, so that the
+players declared they had never seen so beautiful a dancer, at
+which her heart beat with joy; and as the crowd came up, they
+stopped to admire her grace and beauty. Then she would pause and
+say a few pleasing words to each, to a huntsman, if he were
+passing--"Ah, I think no deer in the world could escape you, my
+fine young peasant;" or if a knight, she would praise the colour
+of his doublet and the tie of his garter; or if a laundress, she
+would commend the whiteness of her linen, which she had never seen
+equalled; and as to the old cook and butler, she enchanted them by
+asking, had his Grace of Stettin ever seen them, for assuredly, if
+he had, he would have taken their fine heads as models for Abraham
+and Noah. Then she flung largess amongst them to drink the health
+of the Duchess. Only when a young noble passed, she grew timid and
+durst not venture to address him, but said, loud enough for him to
+hear, "Oh, how handsome! Do you know his name?" Or, "It is easy to
+see that he is a born nobleman"--and such like hypocritical
+flatteries.
+
+The Princess never knew a word of all this, for, according to
+etiquette, she was the last to seat herself at table. So Sidonia's
+doings were not discovered until too late, for by that time she
+had won over the whole court, great and small, to her interests.
+
+Amongst the cavaliers who passed one day were two fine young men,
+Wedig von Schwetzkow, and Johann Appelmann, son of the burgomaster
+at Stargard. They were both handsome; but Johann was a dissolute,
+wild profligate, and Wedig was not troubled with too much sense.
+Still he had not fallen into the evil courses which made the other
+so notorious. "Who is that handsome youth?" asked Sidonia as
+Johann passed; and when they told her, "Ah, a gentleman!" she
+exclaimed, "who is of far higher value in my eyes than a
+nobleman."
+
+_Summa:_ they both fell in love with her on the instant; but
+all the young squires were the same more or less, except her
+cousin Marcus Bork, seeing that he was already betrothed. Likewise
+after dinner, in place of going direct to the ladies' apartments,
+she would take a circuitous route, so as to go by the quarter
+where the men dined, and as she passed their doors, which they
+left open on purpose, what rejoicing there was, and such running
+and squeezing just to get a glimpse of her--the little putting
+their heads under the arms of the tall, and there they began to
+laugh and chat; but neither the Duchess nor the old chamberlain
+knew anything of this, for they were in a different wing of the
+castle, and besides, always took a sleep after dinner.
+
+However, old Zitsewitz, when he heard the clamour, knew well it
+was Sidonia, and would jump up from the marshal's table, though
+the old marshal shook his head, and run to the gallery to have a
+chat with her himself, and she laughed and coquetted with him, so
+that the old knight would run after her and take her in his arms,
+asking her where she would wish to go. Then she sometimes said, to
+the castle garden to feed the pet stag, for she had never seen so
+pretty a thing in all her life; and she would fetch crumbs of
+bread with her to feed it. So he must needs go with her, and
+Sidonia ran down the steps with him that led from the young men's
+quarter to the castle court, while they all rose up to look after
+her, and laugh at the old fool of a treasurer. But in a short time
+they followed too, running up and down the steps in crowds, to see
+Sidonia feeding the stag and caressing it, and sometimes trying to
+ride on it, while old Zitsewitz held the horns.
+
+Prince Ernest beheld all this from a window, and was ready to die
+with jealousy and mortification, for he felt that Sidonia was gay
+and friendly with every one but him. Indeed, since the day of the
+lute-playing, he fancied she shunned him and treated him coldly.
+But as Sidonia had observed particularly, that whenever the young
+Prince passed her in the gallery he cast down his eyes and sighed,
+she took another way of managing him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum._
+
+
+The day preceding that on which Sidonia was to repeat the
+Catechism of Doctor Gerschovius (of which, by the way, she had not
+learned one word), the young Duke suddenly entered his mother's
+apartment, where she and her maidens were spinning, and asked her
+if she remembered anything about a Laplander with a drum, who had
+foretold some event to her and his father whilst they were at
+Penemunde some years before; for he had been arrested at Eldena,
+and was now in Wolgast.
+
+"Alas!" said her Grace, "I perfectly remember the horrible
+sorcerer. One spring I was at the hunt with your father near
+Penemunde, when this wretch suddenly appeared driving two cows
+before him on a large ice-field. He pretended that while he was
+telling fortunes to the girls who milked the cows, a great storm
+arose, and drove him out into the wide sea, which was a terrible
+misfortune to him. But your father told him in Swedish, which
+language the knave knew, that it had been better to prophesy his
+own destiny. To which he replied, a man could as little foretell
+his own fate as see the back of his own head, which every one can
+see but himself. However, if the Duke wished, he would tell him
+his fortune, and if it did not come out true, let all the world
+hold him as a liar for his life long.
+
+"Alas! your father consented. Whereupon the knave began to dance
+and play upon his drum like one frenzied; so that it was evident
+to see the spirit was working within him. Then he fell down like
+one dead, and cried, 'Woe to thee when thy house is burning! Woe
+to thee when thy house is burning!'
+
+"Therefore be warned, my son; have nothing to do with this fellow,
+for it so happened even as he said. On the 11th December '57, our
+castle was burned, and your poor father had a rib broken in
+consequence. Would that I had been the rib broken for him, so that
+he might still reign over the land; and this was the true cause of
+his untimely death. Therefore dismiss this sorcerer, for it is
+Satan himself speaks in him."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite pale, and dropped the thread, as if taken
+suddenly ill. Then she prayed the Duchess to excuse her, and
+permit her to retire to her own room.
+
+The moment the Duchess gave permission, Sidonia glided out; but,
+in place of going to her chamber, she threw herself in a languid
+attitude upon a seat in the corridor, just where she knew Prince
+Ernest must pass, and leaned her head upon her hand. He soon came
+out of his mother's room, and seeing Sidonia, took her hand
+tenderly, asking, with visible emotion--
+
+"Dear lady, what has happened?"
+
+"Ah," she answered, "I am so weak that I cannot go on to my little
+apartment. I know not what ails me; but I am so afraid----"
+
+"Afraid of what, dearest lady?"
+
+"Of that sour old priest. He is to examine me to-morrow in the
+Catechism of Gerschovius, and I cannot learn a word of it, do what
+I will. I know Luther's Catechism quite well" (this was a
+falsehood, we know), "but that does not satisfy him, and if I
+cannot repeat it he will slap my hands or box my ears, and my lady
+the Duchess will be more angry than ever; but I am too old now to
+learn catechisms."
+
+Then she trembled like an aspen-leaf, and fixed her eyes on him
+with such tenderness that he trembled likewise, and drawing her
+arm within his, supported her to her chamber. On the way she
+pressed his hand repeatedly; but with each pressure, as he
+afterwards confessed, a pang shot through his heart, which might
+have excited compassion from his worst enemy.
+
+When they reached her chamber, she would not let him enter, but
+modestly put him back, saying, "Leave me--ah! leave me, gracious
+Prince. I must creep to my bed; and in the meantime let me entreat
+you to persuade the priest not to torment me to-morrow morning."
+
+The Prince now left her, and forgetting all about the Lapland
+wizard whom he had left waiting in the courtyard, he rushed over
+the drawbridge, up the main street behind St. Peter's, and into
+the house of Dr. Gerschovius.
+
+The doctor was indignant at his petition.
+
+"My young Prince," he said, "if ever a human being stood in need
+of God's Word, it is that young maiden." At last, however, upon
+the entreaties of Prince Ernest, he consented to defer her
+examination for four weeks, during which time she could fully
+perfect herself in the catechism of his learned brother.
+
+He then prayed the Prince not to allow his eyes to be dazzled by
+this fair, sinful beauty, who would delude him as she had done all
+the other men in the castle, not excepting even that old sinner
+Zitsewitz.
+
+When the Prince returned to the castle, he found a great crowd
+assembled round the Lapland wizard, all eagerly asking to have
+their fortunes told, and Sidonia was amongst them, as merry and
+lively as if nothing had ailed her. When the Prince expressed his
+surprise, she said, that finding herself much relieved by lying
+down, she had ventured into the fresh air, to recreate herself,
+and have her fortune told. Would not the Prince likewise wish to
+hear his?
+
+So, forgetting all his mother's wise injunctions, he advanced with
+Sidonia to the wizard. The Lapland drum, which lay upon his knees,
+was a strange instrument; and by it we can see what arts Satan
+employs to strengthen his kingdom in all places and by all means.
+For the Laplanders are Christians, though they in some sort
+worship the devil, and therefore he imparts to them much of his
+own power. This drum which they use is made out of a piece of
+hollow wood, which must be either fir, pine, or birch, and which
+grows in such a particular place that it follows the course of the
+sun; that is, the pectines, fibræ, and lineæ in the annual rings
+of the wood must wind from right to left. Having hollowed out such
+a tree, they spread a skin over it, fastened down with little
+pegs; and on the centre of the skin is painted the sun, surrounded
+by figures of men, beasts, birds, and fishes, along with Christ
+and the holy Apostles. All this is done with the rind of the
+elder-tree, chewed first beneath their teeth. Upon the top of the
+drum there is an index in the shape of a triangle, from which hang
+a number of little rings and chains. When the wizard wishes to
+propitiate Satan and receive his power, he strikes the drum with a
+hammer made of the reindeer's horn, not so much to procure a sound
+as to set the index in motion with all its little chains, that it
+may move over the figures, and point to whatever gives the
+required answer. At the same time the magician murmurs
+conjurations, springs sometimes up from the ground, screams,
+laughs, dances, reels, becomes black in the face, foams, twists
+his eyes, and falls to the ground at last in an ecstasy, dragging
+the drum down upon his face.
+
+Any one may then put questions to him, and all will come to pass
+that he answers. All this was done by the wizard; but he desired
+strictly that when he fell upon the ground, no one should touch
+him with the foot, and secondly, that all flies and insects should
+be kept carefully from him. So after he had danced, and screamed,
+and twisted his face so horribly that half the women fainted, and
+foamed and raged until the demon seemed to have taken full
+possession of him, he fell down, and then every one put questions
+to him, to which he responded; but the answers sometimes produced
+weeping, sometimes laughing, according as some gentle maiden heard
+that her lover was safe, or that he had been struck by the mast on
+shipboard and tumbled into the sea. And all came out true, as was
+afterwards proved.
+
+Sidonia now invited the Prince to try his fortune; and so,
+forgetting the admonitions of the Duchess, he said, "What dost
+thou prophesy to me?"
+
+"Beware of a woman, if you would live long and happily," was the
+answer.
+
+"But of what woman?"
+
+"I will not name her, for she is present."
+
+Then the Prince turned pale and looked at Sidonia, who grew pale
+also, but made no answer, only laughed, and advancing asked, "What
+dost thou prophesy to me?" But immediately the wizard shrieked,
+"Away! away! I burn, I burn! thou makest me yet hotter than I am!"
+
+Many thought these exclamations referred to Sidonia's beauty,
+particularly the young lords, who murmured, "Now every one must
+acknowledge her beauty, when even this son of Satan feels his
+heart burning when she approaches." And Sidonia laughed merrily at
+their gallantries.
+
+Just then the Grand Chamberlain came by, and having heard what had
+happened, he angrily dismissed the crowd, and sending for the
+executioner, ordered the cheating impostor to be whipped and
+branded, and then sent over the frontier.
+
+The wizard, who had been lying quite stiff, now cried out (though
+he had never seen the Chamberlain before)--"Listen, Ulrich! I will
+prophesy something to thee: if it comes not to pass, then punish
+me; but if it does, then give me a boat and seven loaves, that I
+may sail away to-morrow to my own country."
+
+Ulrich refused to hear his prophecy; but the wizard cried
+out--"Ulrich, this day thy wife Hedwig will die at Spantekow."
+
+Ulrich grew pale, but only answered, "Thou liest! how can that
+be?" He replied, "Thy cousin Clas will visit her; she will descend
+to the cellar to fetch him some of the Italian wine for which you
+wrote, and which arrived yesterday; a step of the stairs will
+break as she is ascending; she will fall forward upon the flask,
+which will cut her throat through, and so she will die."
+
+When he ceased, the alarmed Ulrich called loudly to the chief
+equerry, Appelmann, who just then came by--"Quick! saddle the best
+racer in the stables, and ride for life to Spantekow, for it may
+be as he has prophesied, and let us outwit the devil. Haste,
+haste, for the love of God, and I will never forget it to thee!"
+
+So the equerry rode without stop or stay to Spantekow, and he
+found the cousin Clas in the house; but when he asked for the Lady
+Hedwig, they said, "She is in the cellar." So no misfortune had
+happened then; but as they waited and she appeared not, they
+descended to look for her, and lo! just as the wizard had
+prophesied, she had fallen upon the stairs while ascending, and
+there lay dead.
+
+The mournful news was brought by sunset to Wolgast, and Ulrich, in
+his despair and grief, wished to burn the Laplander; but Prince
+Ernest hindered him, saying, "It is more knightly, Ulrich, to keep
+your word than to cool your vengeance." So the old man stood
+silent a long space, and then said, "Well, young man, if you
+abandon Sidonia, I will release the Laplander."
+
+The Prince coloured, and the Lord Chamberlain thought that he had
+discovered a secret; but as the prophecy of the wizard came again
+into Prince Ernest's mind, he said--
+
+"Well, Ulrich, I will give up the maiden Sidonia. Here is my
+hand."
+
+Accordingly, next morning the wizard was released from prison and
+given a boat, with seven loaves and a pitcher of water, that he
+might sail back to his own country. The wind, however, was due
+north, but the people who crossed the bridge to witness his
+departure were filled with fear when they saw him change the wind
+at his pleasure to suit himself; for he pulled out a string full
+of knots, and having swung it about, murmuring incantations, all
+the vanes on the towers creaked and whirled right about, all the
+windmills in the town stopped, all the vessels and boats that were
+going up the stream became quite still, and their sails flapped on
+the masts, for the wind had changed in a moment from north to
+south, and the north waves and the south waves clashed together.
+
+As every one stood wondering at this, the sailors and fishermen in
+particular, the wizard sprang into his boat and set forth with a
+fair wind, singing loudly, "Jooike Duara! Jooike Duara!"
+[Footnote: This is the beginning of a magic rhyme, chanted even by
+the distant Calmucks--namely, _Dschie jo eie jog_.] and soon
+disappeared from sight, nor was he ever again seen in that
+country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor
+Gerschovius comforts him out of God's Word._
+
+
+This affair with the Lapland wizard much troubled the Grand
+Chamberlain, and his faith suffered sore temptations. So he
+referred to Dr. Gerschovius, and asked him how the prophets of God
+differed from those of the devil. Whereupon the doctor recommended
+him to meditate on God's Word, wherein he would find a source of
+consolation and a solution of all doubts.
+
+So the mourning Ulrich departed for his castle of Spantekow,
+trusting in the assistance of God. And her Grace, with all her
+court, resolved to attend the funeral also, to do him honour. They
+proceeded forth, therefore, dressed in black robes, their horses
+also caparisoned with black hangings, and the Duchess ordered a
+hundred wax lights for the ceremony. Sidonia alone declined
+attending, and gave out that she was sick in bed. The truth,
+however, was, that as Duke Ernest was obliged to remain at home to
+take the command of the castle, and affix his signature to all
+papers, she wished to remain also.
+
+The mourning cortège, therefore, had scarcely left the court, when
+Sidonia rose and seated herself at the window, which she knew the
+young Prince must pass along with his attendants on their way to
+the office of the castle. Then taking up a lute, which she had
+purchased privately, and practised night and morning in place of
+learning the catechism, she played a low, soft air, to attract
+their attention. So all the young knights looked up; and when
+Prince Ernest arrived he looked up also, and seeing Sidonia,
+exclaimed, with surprise, "Beautiful Sidonia, how have you learned
+the lute?" At which she blushed and answered modestly, "Gracious
+Prince, I am only self-taught. No one here understands the lute
+except your Highness."
+
+"Does this employment, then, give you much pleasure?"
+
+"Ah, yes! If I could only play it well; I would give half my life
+to learn it properly. There is no such sweet enjoyment upon earth,
+I think, as this."
+
+"But you have been sick, lady, and the cold air will do you an
+injury."
+
+"Yes, it is true I have been ill, but the air rather refreshes me;
+and besides, I feel the melancholy of my solitude less here."
+
+"Now farewell, dear lady; I must attend to the business of the
+castle."
+
+This little word--"dear lady"--gave Sidonia such confidence, that
+by the time she expected Prince Ernest to pass again on his
+return, she was seated at the window awaiting him with her lute,
+to which she now sang in a clear, sweet voice. But the Prince
+passed on as if he heard nothing--never even once looked up, to
+Sidonia's great mortification. However, the moment he reached his
+own apartment, he commenced playing a melancholy air upon his
+lute, as if in response to hers. The artful young maiden no sooner
+heard this than she opened her door. The Prince at the same
+instant opened his to let out the smoke, and their eyes met, when
+Sidonia uttered a feeble cry and fell fainting upon the floor. The
+Prince, seeing this, flew to her, raised her up, and trembling
+with emotion, carried her back to her room and laid her down upon
+the bed. Now indeed it was well for him that he had given that
+promise to Ulrich. When Sidonia after some time slowly opened her
+eyes, the Prince asked tenderly what ailed her; and she said, "I
+must have taken cold at the window, for I felt very ill, and went
+to the door to call an attendant; but I must have fainted then,
+for I remember nothing more." Alas! the poor Prince, he believed
+all this, and conjured her to lie down until he called a maid, and
+sent for the physician if she desired it; but, no--she refused,
+and said it would pass off soon. (Ah, thou cunning maiden! it may
+well pass off when it never was on.)
+
+However, she remained in bed until the next day, when the Princess
+and her train returned home from the funeral. Her Grace had
+assisted at the obsequies with all princely state, and even laid a
+crown of rosemary with her own hand upon the head of the corpse,
+and a little prayer-book beside it, open at that fine hymn "Pauli
+Sperati" (which also was sung over the grave). Then the husband
+laid a tin crucifix on the coffin, with the inscription from I
+John iii. 8--"The Son of God was manifested that He might destroy
+the works of the devil." After which the coffin was lowered into
+the grave with many tears.
+
+Some days after this, being Sunday, Doctor Gerschovius and the
+Grand Chamberlain were present at the ducal table. Ulrich indeed
+ate little, for he was filled with grief, only sipped a little
+broth, into which he had crumbled some reindeer cheese, not to
+appear ungracious; but when dinner was over, he raised his head,
+and asked Doctor Gerschovius to inform him now in what lay the
+difference between the prophets of God and those of the devil. The
+Duchess was charmed at the prospect of such a profitable
+discourse, and ordered a cushion and footstool to be placed for
+herself, that she might remain to hear it. Then she sent for the
+whole household--maidens, squires, and pages--that they too might
+be edified, and learn the true nature of the devil's gifts. The
+hall was soon as full, therefore, as if a sermon were about to be
+preached; and the doctor, seeing this, stroked his beard, and he
+begun as follows: [Footnote: Perhaps some readers will hold the
+rationalist doctrine that no prophecy is possible or credible, and
+that no mortal can under any circumstances see into futurity; but
+how then can they account for the wonderful phenomena of animal
+magnetism, which are so well authenticated? Do they deny all the
+facts which have been elicited by the great advance made recently
+in natural and physiological philosophy? I need not here bring
+forward proofs from the ancients, showing their universal belief
+in the possibility of seeing into futurity, nor a cloud of
+witnesses from our modern philosophers, attesting the truth of the
+phenomena of somnambulism, but only observe that this very Academy
+of Paris, which in 1784 anathematised Mesmer as a quack, a cheat,
+and a charlatan or fool, and which in conjunction with all the
+academies of Europe (that of Berlin alone excepted) reviled his
+doctrines and insulted all who upheld them, as witches had been
+reviled in preceding centuries, and compelled Mesmer himself to
+fly for protection to Frankfort--this very academy, I say, on the
+12th February 1826, rescinded all their condemnatory verdicts, and
+proclaimed that the wonderful phenomena of animal magnetism had
+been so well authenticated that doubt was no longer possible. This
+confession of faith was the more remarkable, because the members
+of the commission of inquiry had been carefully selected, on
+purpose, from physicians who were totally adverse to the doctrines
+of Mesmer.
+
+There are but two modes, I think, of explaining these
+extraordinary phenomena--either by supposing them effected by
+supernatural agency, as all seers and diviners from antiquity,
+through the Middle Ages down to our somnambulists, have pretended
+that they really stood in communication with spirit; or, by
+supposing that there is an innate latent divining element in our
+own natures, which only becomes evident and active under certain
+circumstances, and which is capable of revealing the _future_
+with more or less exactitude just as the mind can recall the
+_past_. For _past_ and _future_ are but different
+forms of our own subjective intuition of time, and because this
+internal intuition represents no figure, we seek to supply the
+defect by an analogy. For time exists _within_ us, not
+_without_ us; it is not something which subsists of itself,
+but it is the form only of our internal sense.
+
+These two modes of explaining the phenomena present, I know, great
+difficulties; the latter especially. However, the pantheistical
+solution of the Hegelian school adopted by Kieser, Kluge, Wirth,
+Hoffman, pleases me still less. I even prefer that of
+Jung-Stilling and Kerner--but at all events one thing is certain,
+the _facts_ are there; only ignorance, stupidity, and
+obstinacy can deny them. The _cause_ is still a subject of
+speculation, doubt, and difficulty. It is only by a vast induction
+of facts, as in natural philosophy, that we can ever hope to
+arrive at the knowledge of a general law. The crown of all
+creation is _man_; therefore while we investigate so acutely
+all other creatures, let us not shrink back from the strange and
+unknown depths of our own nature which magnetism has opened to
+us.]
+
+I am rejoiced to treat of this subject now, considering how lately
+that demon Lapp befooled ye all. And I shall give you many signs,
+whereby in future a prophet of God may be distinguished from a
+prophet of the devil. 1st, Satan's prophets are not conscious of
+what they utter; but God's prophets are always perfectly
+conscious, both of the inspiration they receive and the
+revelations they make known. For as the Laplander grew frenzied,
+and foamed at the mouth, so it has been with all false prophets
+from the beginning. Even the blind heathen called prophesying
+_mania_, or the wisdom of _madness_. The secret of
+producing this madness was known to them; sometimes it was by the
+use of roots or aromatic herbs, or by exhalations, as in the case
+of the Pythoness, whose incoherent utterances were written by the
+priests of Apollo, for when the fit was over, all remembrance of
+what she had prophesied vanished too. In the Bible we find all
+false prophets described as frenzied. In Isaiah xliv. 25--"God
+maketh the diviners mad." In Ezekiel xiii. 3--"Woe to the foolish
+prophets." Hosea ix. 7--"The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man
+is mad." And Isaiah xxviii. 7 explains fully how this madness was
+produced.
+
+Namely, by wine and the strong drink _Sekar_. [Footnote: It
+is doubtful of what this drink was composed. Hieronymus and Aben
+Ezra imagine that it was of the nature of strong beer. Probably it
+resembled the potion with which the mystery-men amongst the
+savages of the present day produce this divining frenzy. We find
+such in use throughout Tartary, Siberia, America, and Africa, as
+if the usage had descended to them from one common tradition.
+Witches, it is well known, made frequent use of potions, and as
+all somnambulists assert that the seat of the soul's greatest
+activity is in the stomach, it is not incredible what Van Helmont
+relates, that having once tasted the root _napellus_, his
+intellect all at once, accompanied by an unusual feeling of
+ecstasy, seemed to remove from his brain to his stomach.] Further
+examples of this madness are given in the Bible, as Saul when
+under the influence of the evil spirit flung his spear at the
+innocent David; and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal,
+who leaped upon the altar, and screamed, and cut themselves with
+knives and lancets until the blood flowed; and the maiden with the
+spirit of divination, that met Paul in the streets of Philippi;
+with many others.
+
+But all this is an abomination in the sight of God. For as the
+Lord came not to His prophet Elijah in the strong wind, nor in the
+earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice, so does
+He evidence Himself in all His prophets; and we find no record in
+Scripture, either of their madness, or of their having forgotten
+the oracles they uttered, like the Pythoness and others inspired
+by Satan. [Footnote: It is well known that somnambulists never
+remember upon their recovery what they have uttered during the
+crisis. Therefore phenomena of this class appear to belong, in
+some things, to that of the divining frenzy, though in others to
+quite a different category of the divining life.] Further, you may
+observe that the false prophets can always prophesy when they
+choose, Satan is ever willing to come when they exorcise him; but
+the true prophets of God are but instruments in the hand of the
+Lord, and can only speak when He chooses the spirit to enter into
+them. So we find them saying invariably--"This is the word which
+came unto me," or "This is the word which the Lord spake unto me."
+For the Lord is too high and holy to come at the bidding of a
+creature, or obey the summons of his will. St. Peter confirms
+this, 2 Pet. i. 21, that no prophecy ever came at the will of man.
+
+Again, the false prophets were persons of known infamous
+character, and in this differed from the prophets of God, who were
+always righteous men in word and deed. Diodorus informs us of the
+conduct of the Pythoness and the priests of Apollo, and also that
+all oracles were bought with gold, and the answer depended on the
+weight of the sack. As Ezekiel notices, xiii. 19; and Micah iii.
+8. Further, the holy prophets suffered all manner of persecution
+for the sake of God, as Daniel, Elias, Micah, yet remained
+faithful, with but one exception, and were severely punished if
+they fell into crime, and the gift of prophecy taken from them;
+for God cannot dwell in a defiled temple, but Satan can dwell in
+no other.
+
+Also, Satan's prophets speak only of temporal things, but God's
+people of spiritual things. The heathen oracles, for instance,
+never foretold any events but those concerning peace or war, or
+what men desire in riches, health, or advancement--in short,
+temporal matters alone. Whereas God's people, in addition to
+temporal concerns, preached repentance and holiness to the Jewish
+people, and the coming of Christ's kingdom, in whom all nations
+should be blessed. For as the soul is superior to the body, so are
+God's prophets superior to those of the Prince of this world.
+
+And in conclusion, observe that Satan's seers abounded with lies,
+as all heathen history testifies, or their oracles were capable of
+such different interpretations that they became a subject of
+mockery and contempt to the wise amongst the ancient philosophers.
+But be not surprised if they sometimes spoke truth, as the Lapland
+wizard has done, for the devil's power is superior to man's, and
+he can see events which, though close at hand, are yet hidden from
+us, as a father can foretell an approaching storm, though his
+little son cannot do so, and therefore looks upon his father's
+wisdom as supernatural. [Footnote: The somnambulists also can
+prophesy of those events which are near at hand, but never of the
+distant.] But the devil has not the power to see into futurity,
+nor even the angels of God, only God Himself.
+
+The prophets of God, on the contrary, are given power by Him to
+look through all time at a glance, as if it were but a moment; for
+a thousand years to Him are but as a watch of the night; and
+therefore they all from the beginning testified of the Saviour
+that was to come, and rejoiced in His day as if they really beheld
+Him, and all stood together as brothers in one place, and at the
+same time in His blessed presence. But what unanimity and feeling
+has ever been observed by the seers of Satan, when the
+contradictions amongst their oracles were notorious to every one?
+
+And as the eyes of all the holy prophets centred upon Christ, so
+the eyes of the greatest of all prophets penetrated the furthest
+depths of futurity. Not only His own life, sufferings, death, and
+resurrection were foretold by Him, but the end of the Jewish
+kingdom, the dispersion of their race, the rise of His Church from
+the grain of mustard-seed to the wide, world-spreading tree; and
+all has been fulfilled. Be assured, therefore, that this eternal
+glory, which He promised to those who trust in Him, will be
+fulfilled likewise when He comes to judge all nations. So, my
+worthy Lord Ulrich, cease to weep for your spouse who sleeps in
+Jesus, for a greater Prophet than the Lapland wizard has said, "I
+am the resurrection and the life, whosoever believeth in Me shall
+never die." [Footnote: In addition to the foregoing distinctions
+between the Satanic and the holy prophets, I may add the
+following--that almost all the diviners amongst the heathen were
+_women_. For instance, Cassandra, the Pythia in Delphi,
+Triton and Peristhæa in Dodona, the Sybils, the Velleda of
+Tacitus, the Mandragoras, and Druidesses, the witches of the
+Reformation age; and in fine, the modern somnambules are all women
+too. But throughout the whole Bible we find that the prophetic
+power was exclusively conferred upon _men_, with two
+exceptions--namely, Deborah, Judges iv. 4, and Hilda, 2 Chron.
+xxxiv. 22--for there is no evidence that Miriam had a seer spirit;
+she was probably only God-inspired, though classed under the
+general term prophet. We find, indeed, that woe was proclaimed
+against the divining women who prophesy out of their own head,
+Ezekiel xiii. 17-23; so amongst the people of God the revelation
+of the future was confined to _men_, amongst the heathen to
+_women_, or if men are mentioned in these pagan rites, it is
+only as assistants and inferior agents, like animals, metals,
+roots, stones, and such like. See Cicero, _De Divinatione_,
+i. 18.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom._
+
+
+When the discourse had ended, her Grace retired to her apartment
+and Ulrich to his, for it was their custom, as I have said, to
+sleep after dinner. Doctor Gerschovius returned home, and the
+young Prince descended to the gardens with his lute. Now was a
+fine time for the young knights, for they had been sadly disturbed
+in their carouse by that godly prophesying of the doctor's, and
+they now returned to their own quarter to finish it, headed by the
+old treasurer Zitsewitz. Then a merry uproar of laughing, singing,
+and jesting commenced, and as the door lay wide open as usual,
+Sidonia heard all from her chamber; so stepping out gently with a
+piece of bread in her hand, she tripped along the corridor past
+their door. No sooner was she perceived than a loud storm of
+cheers greeted her, which she returned with smiles and bows, and
+then danced down the steps to the courtyard. Several rose up to
+pursue her, amongst whom Wedig and Appelmann were the most eager.
+
+But they were too late, and saw nothing but the tail of her dress
+as she flew round the corner into the second court. Just then an
+old laundress, bringing linen to the castle for her Highness,
+passed by, and told the young men that the young lady had been
+feeding the tame stag with bread, and then jumped on its back
+while she held the horns, and that the animal had immediately
+galloped off like lightning into the second court; so that the
+young knights and squires rushed instantly after her, fearing that
+some accident might happen, and presently they heard her scream
+twice. Appelmann was the first to reach the outer court, and there
+beheld poor Sidonia in a sad condition, for the stag had flung her
+off. Fortunately it was on a heap of soft clay, and there she lay
+in a dead faint.
+
+Had the stag thrown her but a few steps further, against the
+manger for the knights' horses, she must have been killed. But
+Satan had not yet done with her, and therefore, no doubt, prepared
+this soft pillow for her head.
+
+When Appelmann saw that she was quite insensible, he kneeled down
+and kissed first her little feet, then her white hands, and at
+last her lips, while she lay at the time as still as death, poor
+thing. Just then Wedig came up in a great passion; for the
+castellan's son, who was playing ball, had flung the ball right
+between his legs, out of tricks, as he was running by, and nearly
+threw him down, whereupon Wedig seized hold of the urchin by his
+thick hair to punish him, for all the young knights were laughing
+at his discomfiture; but the boy bit him in the hip, and then
+sprang into his father's house, and shut the door. How little do
+we know what will happen! It was this bite which caused Wedig's
+lamentable death a little after.
+
+But if he was angry before, what was his rage now when he beheld
+the equerry, Appelmann, kissing the insensible maiden.
+
+"How now, peasant," he cried, "what means this boldness? How dare
+this tailor's son treat a castle and land dowered maiden in such a
+way? Are noble ladies made for his kisses?" And he draws his
+poignard to rush upon Appelmann, who draws forth his in return,
+and now assuredly there would have been murder done, if Sidonia
+had not just then opened her eyes, and starting up in amazement
+prayed them for her sake to keep quiet. She had been quite
+insensible, and knew nothing at all of what had happened. The old
+treasurer, with the other young knights, came up now, and strove
+to make peace between the two rivals, holding them apart by force;
+but nothing could calm the jealous Wedig, who still cried, "Let me
+avenge Sidonia!--let me avenge Sidonia!" So that Prince Ernest,
+hearing the tumult in the garden, ran with his lute in his hand to
+see what had happened. When they told him, he grew as pale as a
+corpse that such an indignity should have been offered to Sidonia,
+and reprimanded his equerry severely, but prayed that all would
+keep quiet now, as otherwise the Duchess and the Lord Chamberlain
+would certainly be awakened out of their after-dinner sleep, and
+then what an afternoon they would all have. This calmed every one,
+except the jealous Wedig, who, having drunk deeply, cried out
+still louder than before, "Let me go. I will give my life for the
+beautiful Sidonia. I will avenge the insolence of this peasant
+knave!"
+
+When Sidonia observed all this, she felt quite certain that a
+terrible storm was brewing for all of them, and so she ran to
+shelter herself through the first open door that came in her way,
+and up into the second corridor; but further adventures awaited
+her here, for not being acquainted with this part of the castle,
+she ran direct into an old lumber-room, where she found, to her
+great surprise, a young man dressed in rusty armour, and wearing a
+helmet with a serpent crest upon his head. This was Hans von
+Marintzky, whose brain Sidonia had turned by reading the Amadis
+with him in the castle gardens, and as she had often sighed, and
+said that she, too, could have loved the serpent knight, the poor
+love-stricken Hans, taking this for a favourable sign, determined
+to disguise himself as described in the romance, and thus secure
+her love.
+
+So when her beautiful face appeared at the door, Hans screamed for
+joy, like a young calf, and falling on one knee,
+exclaimed--"Adored Princess, your serpent knight is here to claim
+your love, and tender his hand to you in betrothal, for no other
+wife do I desire but thee; and if the Princess Rosaliana herself
+were here to offer me her love, I would strike her on the face."
+
+Sidonia was rather thunderstruck, as one may suppose, and
+retreated a few steps, saying, "Stand up, dear youth; what ails
+you?"
+
+"So I am dear to you," he cried, still kneeling; "I am then really
+dear to you, adored Princess? Ah! I hope to be yet dearer when I
+make you my spouse."
+
+Sidonia had not foreseen this termination to their romance
+reading, but she suppressed her laughter, remembering how she had
+lost her lover Uckermann by showing scorn; so she drew herself up
+with dignity, and said, with as grave a face as a chief mourner--
+
+"If you will not rise, sir knight, I must complain to her
+Highness; for I cannot be your spouse, seeing that I have resolved
+never to marry." (Ah! how willingly, how willingly you would have
+taken any husband half a year after.) "But if you will do me a
+service, brave knight, run instantly to the court, where Wedig and
+Appelmann are going to murder each other, and separate them, or my
+gracious lady and old Ulrich will awake, and then we shall all be
+punished."
+
+The poor fool jumped up instantly, and exclaiming, "Death for my
+adored princess!" he sprung down the steps, though rather
+awkwardly, not being accustomed to the greaves; and rushing into
+the middle of the crowd, with his vizor down, and the drawn sword
+in his hand, he began making passes at every one that came in his
+way, crying, "Death for my adored princess! Long live the
+beautiful Sidonia! Knaves, have done with your brawling, or I
+shall lay you all dead at my feet."
+
+At first every one stuck up close by the wall when they saw the
+madman, to get out of reach of his sword, which he kept whirling
+about his head; but as soon as he was recognised by his voice,
+Wedig called out to him--
+
+"Help, brother, help! Will you suffer that this peasant boor
+Appelmann should kiss the noble Sidonia as she lay there faint and
+insensible? Yet I saw him do this. So help me, relieve me, that I
+may brand this low-born knave for his daring."
+
+"What? My adored princess!" exclaimed the serpent knight. "This
+valet, this groom, dared to kiss her? and I would think myself
+blessed but to touch her shoe-tie;" and he fell furiously upon
+Appelmann.
+
+The uproar was now so great that it might have aroused the Duchess
+and Ulrich even from their last sleep, had they been in the
+castle.
+
+But, fortunately, some time before the riot began, both had gone
+out by the little private gate, to attend afternoon service at St.
+Peter's Church, in the town. For the archdeacon was sick, and
+Doctor Gerschovius was obliged to take his place there. No one,
+therefore, was left in the castle to give orders or hold command;
+even the castellan had gone to hear service; and no one minded
+Prince Ernest, he was so young, besides being under tutelage; and
+as to old Zitsewitz, he was as bad as the worst of them himself.
+
+The Prince threatened to have the castle bells rung if they were
+not quiet; and the uproar had indeed partially subsided just at
+the moment the serpent knight fell upon Appelmann. The Prince then
+ordered his equerry to leave the place instantly, under pain of
+his severe displeasure, for he saw that both had drunk rather
+deeply.
+
+So Appelmann turned to depart as the Prince commanded, but Wedig,
+who had been relieved by Hans the serpent, sprung after him with
+his dagger, limping though, for the bite in his hip made him
+stiff. Appelmann darted through the little water-gate and over the
+bridge; the other pursued him; and Appelmann, seeing that he was
+foaming with rage, jumped over the rails into a boat. Wedig
+attempted to do the same, but being stiff from the bite, missed
+the boat, and came down plump into the water.
+
+As he could not swim, the current carried him rapidly down the
+stream before the others had time to come up; but he was still
+conscious, and called to Hans, "Comrade, save me!" So Hans,
+forgetting his heavy cuirass, plunged in directly, and soon
+reached the drowning man. Wedig, however, in his death-struggles,
+seized hold of him with such force that they both instantly
+disappeared. Then every one sprang to the boats to try and save
+them; but being Sunday, the boats were all moored, so that by the
+time they were unfastened it was too late, and the two unfortunate
+young men had sunk for ever.
+
+What calamities may be caused by the levity and self-will of a
+beautiful woman! From the time of Helen of Troy up to the present
+moment, the world has known this well; but, alas! this was but the
+beginning of that tragedy which Sidonia played in Pomerania, as
+that other wanton did in Phrygia.
+
+Let us hear the conclusion, however. Prince Ernest, now being
+truly alarmed, despatched a messenger to the church for her
+Highness; but as Doctor Gerschovius had not yet ended his
+exordium, her Grace would by no means be disturbed, and desired
+the messenger to go to Ulrich, who no sooner heard the tidings
+than he rushed down to the water-gate. There he found a great
+crowd assembled, all eagerly trying, with poles and hooks, to fish
+out the bodies of the two young men; and one fellow even had tied
+a piece of barley bread to a rope, and flung it into the water--as
+the superstition goes that it will follow a corpse in the stream,
+and point to where it lies. And the women and children were
+weeping and lamenting on the bridge; but the old knight pushed
+them all aside with his elbows, and cried--"Thousand devils! what
+are ye all at here?"
+
+Every one was silent, for the young men had agreed not to betray
+Sidonia. Then Ulrich asked the Prince, who replied, that
+Marintzky, having put on some old armour to frighten the others,
+as he believed, they pursued him in fun over the bridge, and he
+and another fell over into the water. This was all he knew of the
+matter, for he was playing on the lute in the garden when the
+tumult began.
+
+"Thousand devils!" cries Ulrich; "I cannot turn my back a moment
+but there must be a riot amongst the young fellows. Listen! young
+lord--when it comes to your turn to rule land and people, I
+counsel you, send all the young fellows to the devil. Away with
+them! they are a vain and dissolute crew. Get up the bodies, if
+you can; but, for my part, I would care little if a few more were
+baptized in the same way. Speak! some of you: who commenced this
+tavern broil? Speak! I must have an answer."
+
+This adjuration had its effect, for a man answered--"Sidonia made
+the young men mad, and so it all happened." It was her own cousin,
+Marcus Bork, who spoke, for which reason Sidonia never could
+endure him afterwards, and finally destroyed him, as shall be
+related in due time.
+
+When Ulrich found that Sidonia was the cause of all, he raged with
+fury, and commanded them to tell him all. When Marcus had related
+the whole affair, he swore by the seven thousand devils that he
+would make her remember it, and that he would instantly go up to
+her chamber.
+
+But Prince Ernest stepped before him, saying, "Lord Ulrich, I have
+made you a promise--you must now make one to me: it is to leave
+this maiden in peace; she is not to blame for what has happened."
+But Ulrich would not listen to him.
+
+"Then I withdraw my promise," said the Prince. "Now act as you
+think proper."
+
+"Thousand devils! she had better give up that game," exclaimed
+Ulrich. However, he consented to leave her undisturbed, and
+departed with vehement imprecations on her head, just as the
+Duchess returned from church, and was seen advancing towards the
+crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how
+Clara von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways._
+
+
+It may be easily conjectured what a passion her Grace fell into
+when the whole story was made known to her, and how she stormed
+against Sidonia. At last she entered the castle; but Prince
+Ernest, rightly suspecting her object, slipped up to the corridor,
+and met her just as she had reached Sidonia's chamber. Here he
+took her hand, kissed it, and prayed her not to disgrace the young
+maiden, for that she was innocent of all the evil that had
+happened.
+
+But she pushed him away, exclaiming--"Thou disobedient son, have I
+not heard of thy gallantries with this girl, whom Satan himself
+has sent into my royal house? Shame on thee! One of thy noble
+station to take the part of a murderess!"
+
+"But you have judged harshly, my mother. I never made love to the
+maiden. Leave her in peace, and do not make matters worse, or all
+the young nobles will fight to the death for her."
+
+"Ay, and thou, witless boy, the first of all. Oh, that my beloved
+spouse, Philippus Primus, could rise from his grave--what would he
+say to his lost son, who, like the prodigal in Scripture, loves
+strange women and keeps company with brawlers!" (Weeping.)
+
+"Who has said that I am a lost son?"
+
+"Doctor Gerschovius and Ulrich both say it."
+
+"Then I shall run the priest through the body, and challenge the
+knight to mortal combat, unless they both retract their words."
+
+"No! stay, my son," said the Duchess; "I must have mistaken what
+they said. Stay, I command you!"
+
+"Never! Unless Sidonia be left in peace, such deeds will be done
+to-day that all Pomerania will ring with them for years."
+
+In short, the end of the controversy was, that the Duchess at last
+promised to leave Sidonia unmolested; and then retired to her
+chamber much disturbed, where she was soon heard singing the 109th
+psalm, with a loud voice, accompanied by the little spindle clock.
+
+Sidonia, who was hiding in her room, soon heard of all that had
+happened, through the Duchess's maid, whom she kept in
+pay;--indeed, all the servants were her sworn friends, in
+consequence of the liberal largess she gave them; and even the
+young lords and knights were more distractedly in love with her
+than ever after the occurrences of the day, for her cunning turned
+everything to profit.
+
+So next morning, having heard that Prince Ernest was going to
+Eldena to receive the dues, she watched for him, probably through
+the key-hole, knowing he must pass her door. Accordingly, just as
+he went by, she opened it, and presented herself to his eyes
+dressed in unusual elegance and coquetry, and wearing a short robe
+which showed her pretty little sandals. The Prince, when he saw
+the short robe, and that she looked so beautiful, blushed, and
+passed on quickly, turning away his head, for he remembered the
+promise he had given to Ulrich, and was afraid to trust himself
+near her.
+
+But Sidonia stepped before him, and flinging herself at his feet,
+began to weep, murmuring, "Gracious Prince and Lord, accept my
+gratitude, for you alone have saved me, a poor young maiden, from
+destruction."
+
+"Stand up, dear lady, stand up."
+
+"Never until my tears fall upon your feet." And then she kissed
+his yellow silk hose ardently, continuing, "What would have become
+of me, a helpless, forlorn orphan, without your protection?"
+
+Here the young Prince could no longer restrain his emotions; if he
+had pledged his word to the whole world, even to the great God
+Himself, he must have broken it. So he raised her up and kissed
+her, which she did not resist; only sighed, "Ah! if any one saw us
+now, we would both be lost." But this did not restrain him, and he
+kissed her again and again, and pressed her to his heart, when she
+trembled, and murmured scarcely audibly, "Oh! why do I love you
+so! Leave me, my lord, leave me; I am miserable enough."
+
+"Do you then love me, Sidonia? Oh! let me hear you say it once
+more. You love me, enchanting Sidonia!"
+
+"Alas!" she whispered, while her whole frame trembled, "what have
+I foolishly said? Oh! I am so unhappy."
+
+"Sidonia! tell me once again you love me. I cannot credit my
+happiness, for you are even more gracious with the young nobles
+than with me, and often have you martyred my heart with jealousy."
+
+"Yes; I am courteous to them all, for so my father taught me, and
+said it was safer for a maiden so to be--but----"
+
+"But what? Speak on."
+
+"Alas!" and here she covered her face with her hands; but Prince
+Ernest pressed her to his heart, and kissed her, asking her again
+if she really loved him; and she murmured a faint "yes;" then as
+if the shame of such a confession had killed her, she tore herself
+from his arms, and sprang into her chamber. So the young Prince
+pursued his way to Eldena, but took so little heed about the dues
+that Ulrich shook his head over the receipts for half a year
+after.
+
+When mid-day came, and the band struck up for dinner, Sidonia was
+prepared for a similar scene with the young knights, and, as she
+passed along the corridor, she gave them her white hand to kiss,
+glittering with diamonds, thanking them all for not having
+betrayed her, and praying them to keep her still in their favour,
+whereat they were all wild with ecstasy; but old Zitsewitz, not
+content with her hand, entreated for a kiss on her sweet ruby
+lips, which she granted, to the rage and jealousy of all the
+others, while he exclaimed, "O Sidonia, thou canst turn even an
+old man into a fool!"
+
+And his words came true; for in the evening a dispute arose as to
+which of them Sidonia liked best, seeing that she uttered the same
+sweet things to all; and to settle it, five of them, along with
+the old fool Zitsewitz, went to Sidonia's room, and each in turn
+asked her hand in marriage; but she gave them all the same
+answer--that she had no idea then of marriage, she was but a
+young, silly creature, and would not know her own mind for ten
+years to come.
+
+One good resulted from Sidonia's ride upon the stag: her
+promenades were forbidden, and she was restricted henceforth
+entirely to the women's quarter of the castle. Her Grace and she
+had frequent altercations; but with Clara she kept upon good
+terms, as the maiden was of so excellent and mild a disposition.
+
+This peace, however, was destined soon to be broken; for though
+her Grace was silent in the presence of Sidonia, yet she never
+ceased complaining in private to the maids of honour of this
+artful wench, who had dared to throw her eyes upon Prince Ernest.
+So at length they asked why her Highness did not dismiss the girl
+from her service.
+
+"That must be done," she replied, "and without delay. For that
+purpose, indeed, I have written to Duke Barnim, and also to the
+father of the girl, at Stramehl, acquainting them with my
+intention."
+
+Clara now gently remonstrated, saying that a little Christian
+instruction might yet do much for the poor young sinner, and that
+if she did not become good and virtuous under the care of her
+Grace, where else could she hope to have her changed?
+
+"I have tried all Christian means," said her Grace, "but in vain.
+The ears of the wicked are closed to the Word of God."
+
+"But let her Grace recollect that this poor sinner was endowed
+with extraordinary beauty, and therefore it was no fault of hers
+if the young men all grew deranged for love of her."
+
+Here a violent tumult, and much scornful laughing, arose amongst
+the other maids of honour; and one Anna Lepels exclaimed--"I
+cannot imagine in what Sidonia's wonderful beauty consists. When
+she flatters the young men, and makes free with them as they are
+passing to dinner, what marvel if they all run after her? Any girl
+might have as many lovers if she chose to adopt such manners."
+
+Clara made no reply, but turning to her Grace, said with her
+permission she would leave her spinning for a while, to visit
+Sidonia in her room, who perhaps would hearken to her advice, as
+she meant kindly to her.
+
+"You may go," said her Grace; "but what do you mean to do? I tell
+you, advice is thrown away on her."
+
+"Then I will threaten her with the Catechism of Doctor
+Gerschovius, which she must repeat on Sunday, for I know that she
+is greatly afraid of that and the clergyman."
+
+"And you think you will frighten her into giving up running after
+the young men?"
+
+"Oh yes, if I tell her that she will be publicly reprimanded
+unless she can say it perfectly."
+
+So her Grace allowed her to depart, but with something of a weak
+faith.
+
+Although Sidonia had absented herself from the spinning, on the
+pretext of learning the catechism quietly in her own room, yet,
+when Clara entered, no one was there except the maid, who sat upon
+the floor at her work. She knew nothing about the young lady; but
+as she heard a great deal of laughter and merriment in the court
+beneath, it was likely Sidonia was not far off. On stepping to the
+window, Clara indeed beheld Sidonia.
+
+In the middle of the court was a large horse-pond built round with
+stones, to which the water was conducted by metal pipes
+communicating with the river Peene. In the middle of the pond was
+a small island, upon which a bear was kept chained. A plank was
+now thrown across the pond to the island; upon this Sidonia was
+standing feeding the bear with bread, which Appelmann, who stood
+beside her, first dipped into a can of syrup, and several of the
+young squires stood round them laughing and jesting.
+
+The idle young pages were wont to take great delight in shooting
+at the bear with blunt arrows, and when it growled and snarled,
+then they would calm it again by throwing over bits of bread
+steeped in honey or syrup. So Sidonia, waiting to see the fun, had
+got upon the plank ready to give the bread just as the bear had
+got to the highest pitch of irritation, when he would suddenly
+change his growling into another sort of speech after his fashion.
+All this amused Sidonia mightily, and she laughed and clapped her
+hands with delight.
+
+When the modest Clara beheld all this, and how Sidonia danced up
+and down on the plank, while the water splashed over her robe, she
+called to her--"Dear Lady Sidonia, come hither: I have somewhat to
+tell thee." But she answered tartly--"Dear Lady Clara, keep it
+then: I am too young to be told everything." And she danced up and
+down on the plank as before.
+
+After many vain entreaties, Clara had at length to descend and
+seize the wild bird by the wing--I mean thereby the arm--and carry
+her off to the castle. The young men would have followed, but they
+were engaged to attend his Highness on a fishing excursion that
+afternoon, and were obliged to go and see after their nets and
+tackle. So the two maidens could walk up and down the corridor
+undisturbed; and Clara asked if she had yet learned the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"No; I have no wish to learn it."
+
+_Hæc_.--"But if the priest has to reprimand you publicly from
+the pulpit?"
+
+_Illa_.--"I counsel him not to do it."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Why, what would you do to him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He will find that out."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Dear Sidonia, I wish you well; and therefore let me
+tell you that not only the priest, but our gracious lady, and all
+the noble maidens of the court, are sad and displeased that you
+should make so free with the young men, and entice them to follow
+you, as I have seen but too often myself. Do it not, dear Sidonia
+I mean well by you;--do it not. It will injure your reputation."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ha! you are jealous now, you little pious
+housesparrow, that the young men do not run after you too. How can
+I help it?"
+
+_Hæc_.--"Every maiden can help it; were she as beautiful as
+could be seen, she can help it. Leave off, Sidonia, or evil will
+come of it, particularly as her Grace has heard that you are
+seeking to entice our young lord the Prince. See, I tell you the
+pure truth, that it may turn you from your light courses. Tell me,
+what can you mean by it?--for when noble youths demand your hand
+in marriage, you reject them, and say you never mean to marry. Can
+you think that our gracious Prince, a son of Pomerania, will make
+thee his duchess--thou who art only a common nobleman's daughter?"
+
+_Illa_.--"A common nobleman's daughter!--that is good from
+the peasant-girl. You are common enough and low enough, I warrant;
+but my blood is as old as that of the Dukes of Pomerania, and
+besides, I am a castle and land dowered maiden. But who are you?
+who are you? Your forefathers were hunted out of Mecklenburg, and
+only got footing here in Pomerania out of charity."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Do not be angry, dear lady--you say true; yet I must
+add that my forebears were once Counts in Mecklenburg, and from
+their loyalty to the Dukes of Pomerania were given possessions
+here in Daber, where they have been lords of castles and lands for
+two hundred and fifty years. Yet I will confess that your race is
+nobler than mine; but, dear child, I make no boast of my ancestry,
+nor is it fitting for either of us to do so. The right royal
+Prince, who is given as an example and model to us all--who is
+Lord, not over castle and land, but of the heavens and the
+earth--the Saviour, Jesus Christ--He took no account of His arms
+or His ancestry, though the whole starry universe was His banner.
+He was as humble to the little child as to the learned doctors in
+the temple--to the chiefs among the people, as to the trembling
+sinner and the blind beggar Bartimæus. Let us take, then, this
+Prince for our example, and mind our life long what He says--'Come
+unto Me, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.' Will
+you not learn of Him, dear lady? I will, if God give me grace."
+
+And she extended her hand to Sidonia, who dashed it away,
+crying--"Stuff! nonsense! you have learned all this twaddle from
+the priest, who, I know, is nephew to the shoe-maker in Daber, and
+therefore hates any one who is above him in rank."
+
+Clara was about to reply mildly; but they happened now to be
+standing close to the public flight of steps, and a peasant-girl
+ran up when she saw them, and flung herself at Clara's feet,
+entreating the young lady to save her, for she had run away from
+Daber, where they were going to burn her as a witch. The pious
+Clara recoiled in horror, and desiring her to rise, said--"Art
+thou Anne Wolde, some time keeper of the swine to my father? How
+fares it with my dearest father and my mother?"
+
+They were well when she ran away, but she had been wandering now
+for fourteen days on the road, living upon roots and wild berries,
+or what the herds gave her out of their knapsacks for charity.
+
+_Hæc_.--"What crime wast thou suspected of, girl, to be
+condemned to so terrible a death?"
+
+_Illa_.--"She had a lover named Albert, who followed her
+everywhere, but as she would not listen to him he hated her, and
+pretended that she had given him a love-drink."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed aloud, and asked if she knew how to brew the
+love-drink?
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; she learned from her elder sister how to make
+it, but had never tried it with any one, and was perfectly
+innocent of all they charged her with."
+
+Here Clara shook her head, and wished to get rid of the
+witch-girl; for she thought, truly if Sidonia learns the brewing
+secret, she will poison and destroy the whole castleful, and we
+shall have the devil bodily with us in earnest. So she pushed away
+the girl, who still clung to her, weeping and lamenting. Hereupon
+Sidonia grew quite grave and pious all of a sudden, and said--
+
+"See the hypocrite she is! She first sets before me the example of
+Christ, and then treats this poor sinner with nothing but cross
+thorns! Has not Christ said, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy'? But only see how this bigot can have Christ
+on her tongue, but not in her heart!"
+
+The pious Clara grew quite ashamed at such talk, and raising up
+the wretch who had again fallen on her knees, said--
+
+"Well, thou mayest remain; so get thee to my maid, and she will
+give thee food. I shall also write to my father for thy pardon,
+and meanwhile ask leave from her Grace to allow thee to remain
+here until it arrives; but if thou art guilty, I cannot promise
+thee my protection any longer, and thou wilt be burned here, in
+place of at Daber."
+
+So the witch-girl was content, and importuned them no further.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How Sidonia Wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince._
+
+
+When Prince Ernest returned home after an absence of some days,
+Sidonia had changed her tactics, for now she never lifted up her
+eyes when they met, but passed on blushing and confused, and in
+place of speaking, as formerly, only sighed. This turned his head
+completely, and sent the blood so quickly through his veins that
+he found it a hard matter to conceal his feelings any longer. For
+this reason he determined to visit Sidonia in her own room as soon
+as he could hit upon a favourable opportunity, and bring her then
+a beautiful lute, inlaid with gold and silver, which he had
+purchased for her at Grypswald.
+
+Now, it happened soon after, that her Grace and Clara went away
+one day into the town to purchase a jerkin for the little Prince
+Casimir, who accompanied them. Sidonia was immediately informed of
+their absence, and sought out Clara's maid without delay, put a
+piece of gold into her hand, and said--
+
+"Send the strange girl from Daber to my room for a few minutes;
+she can perhaps give me some tidings of my dear father and family,
+for Daber is only a little way from Stramehl. But mind," she
+added, "keep this visit a secret, as well from her Grace as from
+your mistress Clara; otherwise we shall all be scolded."
+
+So the maid very willingly complied, and brought the witch-girl
+directly to Sidonia's little apartment, and then ran to Clara's
+room to watch for the return of her Grace in time to give notice.
+
+The witch-girl was quite confounded (as she afterwards confessed
+upon the rack) when Sidonia began--
+
+"Thou knowest, Anne, that my entreaties alone obtained thee a
+shelter here, for I pitied thee from the first; and from what I
+hear, it is certain that her Grace means to deal no better with
+thee than thy judges at Daber, therefore my advice is--escape if
+thou canst."
+
+_Illa_, weeping.--"Where can I go? I shall die of hunger, or
+they will arrest me again as an evil-minded witch, and carry me
+back to Daber."
+
+"But do not tell them, stupid goose, that thou hast come from
+Daber."
+
+_Illa_.--"But what could she say? Besides, she had no money,
+and so must be lost and ruined for ever."
+
+"Well, I shall give thee gold enough to get thee through all
+dangers. I give it, mind, out of pure Christian charity; but now
+tell me honestly--canst thou really make a love-drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; her sister had taught her."
+
+"Is the drink of equal power for men and women?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; without doubt, it would make either mad with
+love."
+
+"Has it ever an injurious effect upon them? does it take away
+their strength?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; they fall down like flies. Some lose their
+memory, others become blind or lame."
+
+"Has she ever tried its effects upon any one herself?"
+
+_Illa_.--"But will the lady betray me?"
+
+"Out, fool! When I have promised thee gold enough to insure thy
+escape! I betray thee!"
+
+_Illa_.--"Then she will tell the lady the whole truth. She
+did give a love-drink to Albert, because he grew cross, and spent
+the nights away from her, and complained if she idled a little, so
+that her master beat her. Therefore she determined to punish him,
+and a rash came out over his whole body, so that he could neither
+sit nor lie for six weeks, and at night he had to be tied to a
+post with a hand-towel; but all this time his love for her grew so
+burning, that although he had previously hated and beaten her, yet
+now if she only brought him a drink of cold water, for which he
+was always screaming, he would kiss her hands and feet even though
+she spat in his face, and he would certainly have died if his
+relations had not found out an old woman who unbewitched him;
+whereupon his love came to an end, and he informed against her."
+
+That must be a wonderful drink. Would the girl teach her how to
+brew it?
+
+But just then our Lord God sent yet another warning to Sidonia,
+through His angel, to turn her from her villainy, for as the girl
+was going to answer, a knock was heard at the chamber-door. They
+both grew as white as chalk; but Sidonia bethought herself of a
+hiding-place, and bid the other creep under the bed while she went
+to the door to see who knocked, and as she opened it, so there
+stood Prince Ernest bodily before her eyes, with the lute in his
+hand.
+
+"Ah, gracious Prince, what brings you here? I pray your Highness,
+for the sake of God, to leave me. What would be said if any one
+saw you here?"
+
+"But who is to see us, my beautiful maiden? My gracious mother has
+gone out to drive; and now, just look at this lute that I have
+purchased for you in Grypswald. Will it please thee, sweet one?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas, gracious Prince, of what use will it be to
+me, when I have no one to teach me how to play?"
+
+"I will teach thee, oh, how willingly, but--thou knowest what I
+would say."
+
+_Illa_.--"No, no, I dare not learn from your Highness. Now
+go, and do not make me more miserable."
+
+"What makes thee miserable, enchanting Sidonia?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, if your Highness could know how this heart
+burns within me like a fire! What will become of me? Would that I
+were dead--oh, I am a miserable maiden! If your Highness were but
+a simple noble, then I might hope--but now. Woe is me! I must go!
+Yes, I must go!"
+
+"Why must thou go, my own sweet darling? and why dost thou wish me
+to be only a simple noble? Canst thou not love a duke better than
+a noble?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Gracious Prince, what is a poor count's daughter to
+your princely Highness? and would her Grace ever consent? Ah no, I
+must go--I must go!"
+
+Here she sobbed so violently, and covered her eyes with her hands,
+that the young Duke could no longer restrain his feelings. He
+seized her passionately in his arms, and was kissing away the
+crocodile tears, when lo, another knock came to the door, and
+Sidonia grew paler even than the first time, for there was no
+place to hide the Prince in, as the witch-wench was already under
+the bed, and not even quite hidden, for some of her red petticoat
+was visible round the post, and one could easily see by the way it
+moved that some living body was in it, for the girl was trembling
+with the most horrible fear and fright. But the Prince was too
+absorbed in love either to notice all this or to mind the knock at
+the door.
+
+Sidonia, however, knew well that it was over with them now, and
+she pushed away the young Prince, just as the door opened and
+Clara entered, who grew quite pale, and clasped her hands together
+when she saw the Duke and Sidonia together; then the tears fell
+fast from her eyes, and she could utter nothing but--"Ah, my
+gracious Prince--my poor innocent Prince--what has brought you
+here?" but neither of them spoke a word. "You are lost," exclaimed
+Clara; "the Duchess is coming up the corridor, and has just
+stopped to look at her pet cat and the kittens there by the page's
+room. Hasten, young Prince--hasten to meet her before she comes a
+step further."
+
+So the young lord darted out of the chamber, and found his
+gracious mother still examining her kittens, whereupon he prayed
+her then to descend with him to the courtyard and look also at his
+fine hounds, to which she consented.
+
+The moment Prince Ernest disappeared, Clara commenced upbraiding
+Sidonia for her evil ways, which could not be any longer
+denied--for had she not seen all with her own eyes?--and she now
+conjured her by the living God to turn away from the young Duke,
+and select some noble of her own rank as her husband. This could
+easily be done when so many loved her; but as to the Prince, as
+long as her Grace and Ulrich lived, or even one single branch of
+the princely house of Pomerania, this marriage would never be
+permitted, let the young lord do or say what he chose.
+
+"Ah, thou pious old priest in petticoats," exclaimed Sidonia, "who
+told thee I wanted to marry the Prince? How can I help if he
+chooses to come in here and, though I weep and resist, takes me in
+his arms and kisses me? So leave off thy preaching, and tell me
+rather what brings thee spying to my room?"
+
+Then Clara remembered what had really been her errand, although
+the love-scene had put everything else out of her head until now,
+and replied--"I was seeking the witch-girl from Daber, for when I
+went out with her Grace, I left her in charge of my maid; but as
+we returned home by the little garden gate, I slipped up to my
+room by the private stairs without any one seeing me, and found my
+maid looking out of the window, but no girl was to be seen. When I
+asked what had become of her, the maid answered she knew not, the
+girl must have slipped away while her back was turned, so I came
+here to ask if you had seen the impudent hussy, for I fear if her
+wings are not clipped she will do harm to some one."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite indignant--what could she know of a vile
+witch-wench? Besides, she had not been ten minutes there in the
+room.
+
+"But perchance the bird has found herself a nest somewhere," said
+Clara, looking towards the bed; "methinks, indeed, I see some of
+the feathers, for surely a red gown never trembled that way under
+a bed unless there was something living inside of it." When the
+witch-girl heard this her fright increased, so that, to make
+matters worse, she pulled her gown in under the bed, upon which
+Clara kneeled down, lifted the coverlet, and found the owl in its
+nest. Now she had to creep out weeping and howling, and promised
+to tell everything.
+
+But Sidonia gave her a look which she understood well, and
+therefore when she stood up straight by the bed, begged piteously
+that the Lady Clara would not scold her for having tried to
+escape, because she herself had threatened her with being burned
+there as well as at Daber, so not knowing where to hide, and
+seeing the Lady Sidonia's door open, she crept in there and got
+under the bed, intending to wait till night came and then ask her
+aid in effecting her flight, for the Lady Sidonia was the only one
+in the castle who had shown her Christian compassion.
+
+Hereat Sidonia rose up as if in great rage, and said, "Ha! thou
+impudent wench, how darest thou reckon on my protection!" and
+seizing her by the hand--in which, however, she pressed a piece of
+gold--pushed her violently out of the door.
+
+Now Clara, thinking that this was the whole truth, fell weeping
+upon Sidonia's neck, and asked forgiveness for her suspicions.
+"There, that will do," said Sidonia,--"that will do, old preacher;
+only be more cautious in future. What! am I to poke under my bed
+to see if any one is hiding there? You may go, for I suppose you
+have often hidden a lover there, your eyes turn to it so
+naturally."
+
+As Clara grew red with shame, Sidonia drew the witch-girl again
+into the room, and giving her a box on the ear that made her teeth
+chatter--"Now, confess," said she, "what I said to the young lord
+without knowing that you were listening." So the poor girl
+answered weeping, "Nothing but what was good did you say to him,
+namely, that he should go away; and then you pushed him so
+violently when he attempted to kiss you, that he stumbled over
+against the bed."
+
+"See, now, my pious preacher," said Sidonia, "this girl confirms
+exactly what I told you; so now go along with you, you hussy, or
+mayhap you will come off no better than she has done."
+
+Hereupon Clara went away humbly with the witch-girl to her own
+room, and never uttered another word. Nevertheless the affair did
+not seem quite satisfactory to her yet. So she conferred with her
+betrothed, Marcus Bork, on the subject. For when he carried books
+for her Highness from the ducal library, it was his custom to
+scrape with his feet in a peculiar manner as he passed Clara's
+door; then she knew who it was, and opened it. And as her maid was
+present, they conversed together in the Italian tongue; for they
+were both learned, not only in God's Word, but in all other
+knowledge, so that people talk about them yet in Pomeranian land
+for these things.
+
+Clara therefore told him the whole affair in Italian, before her
+maid and the witch-girl--of the visit of the young Prince, and how
+the girl was lying hid under the bed, and asked him was it not
+likely that Sidonia had brought her there to teach her how to brew
+the love-drink, with which she would then have bewitched the
+Prince and all the men-folk in the castle, and ought she not to
+warn her Grace of the danger.
+
+But Marcus answered, that if the witch-girl had been at the castle
+weeks before, he might have supposed that Sidonia had received the
+secret of the love-potion from her, since every man, old and
+young, was mad for love of her--but now he must needs confess that
+Sidonia's eyes and deceiving mouth were magic sufficient; and that
+it was not likely she would bring a vile damsel to her room to
+teach her that which she knew already so perfectly. So he thought
+it better not to tell her Highness anything on the subject.
+Besides, if the wench were examined, who knows what she might tell
+of Sidonia and the young lord that would bring shame on the
+princely house of Wolgast, since she had been hid under the bed
+all the time, and perhaps only kept silence through fear. It were
+well therefore on every account not to let the matter get wind,
+and to shut up the wench safely in the witches' tower until the
+answer came from Daber. If she were pronounced really guilty, it
+would then be time enough to question her on the rack about the
+love-drink and the conversation between the young lord and
+Sidonia.
+
+So this course was agreed on. It is, however, much to be regretted
+that Clara did not follow the promptings of her good angel, and
+tell all to her Grace and old Ulrich; for then much misfortune and
+scandal would have been spared to the whole Pomeranian land. But
+she followed her bride-groom's advice, and kept all secret. The
+witch-girl, however, was locked up that very day in the witches'
+tower, to guard against future evil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how
+she whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness._
+
+
+The Sunday came at last when Sidonia was to be examined publicly
+in the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius. Her Grace was filled with
+anxiety to see how all would terminate, for every one suspected
+(as indeed was the case) that not one word of it would she be able
+to repeat. So the church was crowded, and all the young men
+attended without exception, knowing what was to go forward, and
+fearing for Sidonia, because this Dr. Gerschovius was a stern,
+harsh man; but she herself seemed to care little about the matter,
+for she entered her Grace's closet as usual (which was right
+opposite the pulpit), and threw herself carelessly into a corner.
+However, when the doctor entered the pulpit she became more grave,
+and finally, when his discourse was drawing near to the close, she
+rose up quietly and glided out of the closet, intending to descend
+to the gardens. Her Grace did not perceive her movement, in
+consequence of the hat with the heron's plume which she wore, for
+the feathers drooped down at the side next Sidonia, and the other
+ladies were too much alarmed to venture to draw her attention to
+the circumstance. But the priest from the pulpit saw her well, and
+called out--"Maiden! maiden! Whither go you? Remember ye have to
+repeat your catechism!"
+
+Then Sidonia grew quite pale, for her Grace and all the
+congregation fixed their eyes on her. So when she felt quite
+conscious that she was looking pale, she said, "You see from my
+face that I am not well; but if I get better, doubt not but that I
+shall return immediately." Here all the maids of honour put up
+their kerchiefs to hide their laughter, and the young nobles did
+the same.
+
+So she went away; but they might wait long enough, I think, for
+her to come back. In vain her Grace watched until the priest left
+the pulpit, and then sent two of her ladies to look for the
+hypocrite; but they returned declaring that she was nowhere to be
+seen.
+
+_Summa_.--The whole service was ended, and her Grace looked
+as angry as the doctor; and when the organ had ceased, and the
+people were beginning to depart, she called out from her closet--
+
+"Let every one come this way, and accompany me to Sidonia's
+apartment. There I shall make her repeat the catechism before ye
+all. Messengers shall be despatched in all directions until they
+find out her hiding-place."
+
+This pleased the doctor and Ulrich well. So they all proceeded to
+Sidonia's little room; for there she was, to their great surprise,
+seated upon a chair with a smelling-bottle in her hand. Whereupon
+her Grace demanded what ailed her, and why she had not stayed to
+repeat the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she was so weak, she would certainly have
+fainted, if she had not descended to the garden for a little fresh
+air. She was so distressed that her Grace had been troubled
+sending for her, of which she was not aware until now."
+
+"Are you better now?" asked her Grace.
+
+_Illa_.--"Rather better. The fresh air had done her good."
+
+"Then," quoth her Grace, "you shall recite the catechism here for
+the doctor; for, in truth, Christianity is as necessary to you as
+water to a fish."
+
+The doctor now cleared his throat to begin; but she stopped him
+pertly, saying--
+
+"I do not choose to say my catechism here in my room, like a
+little child. Grown-up maidens are always heard in the church."
+
+Howbeit, her Grace motioned to him not to heed her. So to his
+first question she replied rather snappishly, "You have your
+answer already."
+
+No wonder the priest grew black with rage. But seeing a book lying
+open on a little table beside her bed, and thinking it was the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius which she had been studying, he
+stepped over to look. But judge his horror when he found that it
+was a volume of the _Amadis de Gaul_, and was lying open at
+the eighth chapter, where he read--"How the Prince Amadis de Gaul
+loved the Princess Rosaliana, and was beloved in return, and how
+they both attained to the accomplishment of their desires."
+
+He dashed the book to the ground furiously, stamped upon it, and
+cried--
+
+"So, thou wanton, this is thy Bible and thy catechism! Here thou
+learnest how to make young men mad! Who gave thee this infamous
+book? Speak! Who gave it to thee?"
+
+So Sidonia looked up timidly, and said, weeping, "It was his
+Highness Duke Barnim who gave it to her, and told her it was a
+merry book, and good against low spirits."
+
+Here the Duchess, who had lifted up her hand to give her a box on
+the ear, let it fall again with a deep sigh when she heard of the
+old Prince having given her such an infamous book, and lamented
+loudly, crying--
+
+"Who will free me from this shameless wanton, who makes all the
+court mad? Truly says Scripture, 'A beautiful woman without
+discretion is like a circlet of gold upon a swine's head.' Ah! I
+know that now. But I trust my messengers will soon return whom I
+have despatched to Stettin and Stramehl, and then I shall get rid
+of thee, thou wanton, for which God be thanked for evermore."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room with old Ulrich, who only shook
+his head, but remained as mute as a fish. Doctor Gerschovius,
+however, stayed behind with Sidonia, in order to exhort her to
+virtue; but as she only wept and did not seem to hear him, he grew
+tired, and finally went his way, also with many sighs and
+uplifting of his hands.
+
+A little after, as Sidonia was howling just out of pure
+ill-temper, for, in my opinion, nothing ailed her, the little
+Prince Casimir ran in to look for his mamma--she had gone to hear
+Sidonia her catechism, they told him.
+
+"What did he want with his lady mamma?"
+
+"His new jerkin hurt him, he wanted her to tie it another way for
+him; but is it really true, Sidonia, that you do not know your
+catechism? I can say it quite well. Just come now and hear me say
+it."
+
+It is probable that her Grace and the doctor had devised this plan
+in order to shame Sidonia, by showing her how even a little child
+could repeat it; but she took it angrily, and, calling him over,
+said, "Yes; come--I will hear you your catechism." And as the
+little boy came up close beside her, she slung him across her
+knee, pulled down his hose, and--oh, shame!--whipped his Serene
+Highness upon his princely _podex_, that it would have melted
+the heart of a stone. How this shows her cruel and evil
+disposition--to revenge on the child what she had to bear from the
+mother. Fie on the maiden!
+
+And here my gracious Prince will say--"O Theodore, this matter
+surely might have been passed over, since it brings a disrespect
+upon my princely house."
+
+I answer--"Gracious Lord and Prince, my most humble services are
+due to your Grace, but truth must be still truth, however it may
+displease your Highness. Besides, by no other act could I have so
+well proved the infernal evil in this woman's nature; for if she
+could dare to lay her godless hand upon one of your illustrious
+race, then all her future acts are perfectly comprehensible.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--This is true, and
+therefore I consent to let it remain; and I remember that Prince
+Casimir told me long afterwards that the scene remained indelibly
+impressed on his memory. "For," he said, "the wild eyes and the
+terrible voice of the witch frightened me more even than her cruel
+hand; as if even there I detected the devil in her, though I was
+but a little boy at the time."] When the malicious wretch let the
+boy go, he darted out of the room and ran down the whole corridor,
+screaming out that he would tell his mamma about Sidonia; but
+Zitsewitz met him, and having heard the story, the amorous old
+fool took him up in his arms, and promised him heaps of beautiful
+things if he would hold his tongue and not say a word more to any
+one, and that he would give Sidonia a good whipping himself, in
+return for what she had done to him. So, in short, her Grace never
+heard of the insult until after Sidonia's departure from court."
+
+Had her Highness been in her apartment, she must have heard the
+child scream; but it so happened that just then she was walking up
+and down the ducal gardens, whither she had gone to cool her
+anger.
+
+Soon after a stately ship was seen sailing down the river from
+Penemunde, [Footnote: A town in Pomerania.] which attracted all
+eyes in the castle, for on the deck stood a noble youth, with a
+heron's plume waving from his cap, and he held a tame sea-gull
+upon his hand, which from time to time flew off and dived into the
+water, bringing up all sorts of fish, great and small, in its
+beak, with which it immediately flew back to the handsome youth.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Clara, "there must be the sons of our gracious
+Princess! for to-morrow is her birthday, and here comes the noble
+bishop, Johann Frederick of Camyn, and his brother, Duke Bogislaff
+XIII., to pay their respects to their gracious mother."
+
+Her Grace, however, would scarcely credit that the handsome youth
+who was fishing after so elegant a manner was indeed her own
+beloved son; but Clara clapped her hands now, crying, "Look! your
+Grace--look! there is the flag hoisted!" And indeed there
+fluttered from the mast now the bishop's own arms. So the warder
+blew his horn, which was answered by the warder of St. Peter's in
+the town, and the bells in all the towers rang out, and the
+castellan ordered the cannon in the courtyard to be fired off.
+
+Her Grace was now thoroughly convinced, and weeping for joy, ran
+down to the little water-gate, where old Ulrich already stood
+waiting to receive the princes. As the vessel approached, however,
+they discovered that the handsome youth was not the bishop, but
+Duke Bogislaff, who had been staying on a visit at his brother's
+court at Camyn, along with several high prelates. The bishop,
+Johann Frederick, did not accompany him, for he was obliged to
+remain at home, in order to receive a visit from the Prince of
+Brandenburg.
+
+When the Duke stepped on shore he embraced his weeping mother
+joyfully, and said he came to offer her his congratulations on her
+birthday, and that she must not weep but laugh, for there should
+be a dance in honour of it, and a right merry feast at the castle
+on the morrow.
+
+Then he tumbled out on the bridge all the fish which the bird had
+caught; and her Grace wondered greatly, and stroked it as it sat
+upon the shoulder of the Prince. So he asked if the bird pleased
+her Grace, and when she answered "Yes," he said, "Then, dearest
+mother, let it be my birthday gift to you. I have trained it
+myself, and tried it here, as you see, upon the river. So any
+afternoon that you and your ladies choose to amuse yourselves with
+a sail, this bird will fish for you as long as you please, while
+you row down the river."
+
+Ah, what a good son was this handsome young Duke!--and when I
+think that Sidonia murdered them all--all--even this noble Prince,
+my heart seems to break, and the pen falls from my fingers.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Et quid mihi, misero
+filio? Domine in manus tuas commando spiritum meum, quia tu me
+redemisti fide Deus! (And what remains to me, wretched son? Lord,
+into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me,
+Thou God of truth.)--When one thinks that it was the general
+belief in that age that the whole ducal race had been destroyed
+and blasted by Sidonia's sorceries, it is impossible not to be
+affected by these melancholy yet resigned and Christian words of
+the last orphaned and childless representative of the ancient and
+illustrious house of Wolgast.]
+
+But to continue. The Duchess embraced the fine young Prince, who
+still continued talking of the dance they must have next day. It
+was time now for his gracious mother to give up mourning for her
+deceased lord, he said.
+
+But her Grace would not hear of a dance; and replied that she
+would continue to mourn for her dear lord all the rest of her
+life, to whom she had been wedded by Doctor Martinus. However, the
+Duke repeated his entreaties, and all the young nobles added
+theirs, and finally Prince Ernest besought her Grace not to deny
+them permission to have a festival on the morrow, as it was to
+honour her birthday. So she at last consented; but old Ulrich
+shook his head, and took her Grace aside to warn her of the
+scandal which would assuredly arise when the young nobles had
+drunk and grew excited by Sidonia. Hereupon her Grace made answer
+that she would take care Sidonia should cause no scandal--"As she
+has refused to learn her catechism, she must not appear at the
+feast. It will be a fitting punishment to keep her a prisoner for
+the whole day, and therefore I shall lock her up myself in her own
+room, and put the key in my pocket."
+
+So Ulrich was well pleased, and all separated for the night with
+much contentment and hopes of enjoyment on the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness
+was celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby._
+
+
+Before I proceed further, it will be necessary to state what
+happened a few days before concerning Prince Ernest's chief
+equerry, Johann Appelmann, otherwise many might doubt the facts I
+shall have to relate, though God knows I speak the pure truth.
+
+One came to his lordship the Grand Chamberlain--he was a shoemaker
+of the town--and complained to him of Appelmann, who had been
+courting his daughter for a long while, and running after her
+until finally he had disgraced her in the eyes of the whole town,
+and brought shame and scandal into his house. So he prayed Lord
+Ulrich to make the shameless profligate take his daughter to wife,
+as he had fairly promised her marriage long ago.
+
+Now Ulrich had long suspected the knave of bad doings, for many
+pearls and jewels had lately been missing from her Grace's
+shabrack and horse-trappings, and the groom, who always laid them
+on her Grace's white palfrey, knew nothing about them, though he
+was even put to the torture; but as Appelmann had all these things
+in his sole keeping, it was natural to think that he was not quite
+innocent. Besides, three hundred sacks of oats were missing on the
+new year, and no one knew what had become of them.
+
+Therefore Ulrich sent for the cheating rogue, and upbraided him
+with his profligate courses, also telling him that he must wed the
+shoemaker's daughter immediately. But the cunning knave knew
+better, and swore by all the saints that he was innocent, and
+finally prevailed upon Prince Ernest to intercede for him, so that
+Ulrich promised to give him a little longer grace, but then
+assuredly he would bring him to a strict account.
+
+And Appelmann drove the Prince that same day to Grypswald, to find
+out more musicians for the castle band, as the march of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great was to be played by eighty drums and forty
+trumpets in the grand ducal hall, to honour the birthday of her
+Highness.
+
+One can imagine what Sidonia felt when the Duchess announced that
+as she had refused to learn the catechism, and was neither
+obedient to God nor her Grace, she should remain a strict prisoner
+in her own room during the festival, as a signal punishment for
+her ungodly behaviour. But her maid might bring her food of all
+that she chose from the feast.
+
+Sidonia first prayed her Grace to forgive her for the love of God,
+and she would learn the whole catechism by heart. But as this had
+no effect, then she wept and lamented loudly, and at length fell
+down upon her knees before her Grace, who would, however, be
+neither moved nor persuaded; and when Sidonia threatened at last
+to leave her room, the Duchess went out, locked the door, and put
+the key in her pocket. The prisoner howled enough then, I warrant.
+
+But what did she do now, the cunning minx? She gave her maid a
+piece of gold, and told her to go up and down the corridor, crying
+and wringing her hands, and when any one asked what was the
+matter, to say, "That her beautiful young lady was dying of grief,
+because the Duchess had locked her up, like a little school-girl,
+in her own room, and all for not knowing the catechism of Dr.
+Gerschovius, which indeed was not taught in her part of the
+country, but another, which she had learned quite well in her
+childhood. And so for this, her poor young lady was not to be
+allowed to dance at the festival." The maid was to say all this in
+particular to Prince Ernest; or if he did not pass through the
+corridor, she was to stop weeping and groaning at his
+chamber-door, until he came out to ask what was the matter.
+
+The maid followed the instructions right well, and in less than an
+hour every soul in the castle, down to the cooks and washerwomen,
+knew what had happened, and everywhere the Duchess went she was
+assailed by old and young, great and small, with petitions of
+pardon for Sidonia.
+
+Her Grace, however, bid them all be silent, and threatened if they
+made such shameless requests to forbid the festival altogether.
+But when Prince Ernest likewise petitioned in her favour, she was
+angry, and said, "He ought to be ashamed of himself. It was now
+plain what a fool the girl had made of him. Her maternal heart
+would break, she knew it would--and this day would be one of
+sorrow in place of joy to her; all on account of this girl."
+
+So the young Prince had to hold his peace for this time; but he
+sent a message, nevertheless, to Sidonia, telling her not to fret,
+for that he would take her out of her room and bring her to the
+dance, let what would happen.
+
+Next morning, by break of day, the whole castle and town were
+alive with preparations for the festival. It was now seven
+years--that is, since the death of Duke Philip--since any one had
+danced in the castle except the rats and mice, and even yet the
+splendour of this festival is talked of in Wolgast; and many of
+the old people yet living there remember it well, and gave me many
+curious particulars thereof, which I shall set down here, that it
+may be known how such affairs were conducted in old time at our
+ducal courts.
+
+In the morning, by ten of the clock, the young princes, nobles,
+clergy, and the honourable counsellors of the town, assembled in
+the grand ducal hall, built by Duke Philip after the great fire,
+and which extended up all through the three stories of the castle.
+At the upper end of the hall was the grand painted window, sixty
+feet high, on which was delineated the pilgrimage of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great to Jerusalem, all painted by Gerard Homer;
+[Footnote: A Frieslander, and the most celebrated painter on glass
+of his time.] and round on the walls banners, and shields, and
+helmets, and cuirasses, while all along each side, four feet from
+the ground, there were painted on the walls figures of all the
+animals found in Pomerania: bears, wolves, elks, stags, deer,
+otters, &c., all exquisitely imitated.
+
+When all the lords had assembled, the drums beat and trumpets
+sounded, whereupon the Pomeranian marshal flung open the great
+doors of the hall, which were wreathed with flowers from the
+outside, and the princely widow entered with great pomp, leading
+the little Casimir by the hand. She was arrayed in the Pomeranian
+costume--namely, a white silk under-robe, and over it a surcoat of
+azure velvet, brocaded with silver, and open in front. A long
+train of white velvet, embroidered in golden laurel wreaths, was
+supported by twelve pages dressed in black velvet cassocks with
+Spanish ruffs. Upon her head the Duchess wore a coif of scarlet
+velvet with small plumes, from which a white veil, spangled with
+silver stars, hung down to her feet. Round her neck she had a
+scarlet velvet band, twisted with a gold chain; and from it
+depended a balsam flask, in the form of a greyhound, which rested
+on her bosom.
+
+As her Serene Highness entered with fresh and blushing cheeks, all
+bowed low and kissed her hand, glittering with diamonds. Then each
+offered his congratulations as best he could.
+
+Amongst them came Johann Neander, Archdeacon of St. Peter's, who
+was seeking preferment, considering that his present living was
+but a poor one; and so he presented her Grace with a printed
+_tractatum_ dedicated to her Highness, in which the question
+was discussed whether the ten virgins mentioned in Matt. xxv. were
+of noble or citizen rank. But Doctor Gerschovius made a mock of
+him for this afterwards, before the whole table. [Footnote: Over
+these exegetical disquisitions of a former age we smile, and with
+reason; but we, pedantic Germans, have carried our modern
+exegetical mania to such absurd lengths, that we are likely to
+become as much a laughing-stock to our contemporaries, as well as
+to posterity, as this Johannes Neander. In fact, our exegetists
+are mostly pitiful schoolmasters--word-anatomists--and one could
+as little learn the true spirit of an old classic poet from our
+pedantic philologists, as the true sense of holy Scripture from
+our scholastic theologians. What with their grammar twistings,
+their various readings, their dubious punctuations, their
+mythical, and who knows what other meanings, their
+hair-splittings, and prosy vocable tiltings, we find at last that
+they are willing to teach us everything but that which really
+concerns us, and, like the Danaides, they let the water of life
+run through the sieve of their learning. We may apply to them
+truly that condemnation of our Lord's (Matt, xxiii. 24)--"Ye blind
+guides; ye strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."]
+
+Now, when all the congratulations were over, the Duchess asked
+Prince Ernest if the water-works in the courtyard had been
+completed, [Footnote: The Prince took much interest in hydraulics,
+and built a beautiful and costly aqueduct for the town of
+Wolgast.] and when he answered "Yes," "Then," quoth her Grace,
+"they shall run with Rostock beer to-day, if it took fifty tuns;
+for all my people, great and small, shall keep festival to-day;
+and I have ordered my court baker to give a loaf of bread and a
+good drink to every one that cometh and asketh. And now, as it is
+fitting, let us present ourselves in the church."
+
+So the bells rung, and the whole procession swept through the
+corridor and down the great stairs, with drums and trumpets going
+before. Then followed the marshal with his staff, and the Grand
+Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, wearing his beautiful hat (a
+present from her Highness), looped up with a diamond aigrette, and
+spangled with little golden stars. Then came the Duchess,
+supported on each side by the young princes, her sons; and the
+nobles, knights, pages, and others brought up the rear, according
+to their rank and dignity.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's room, she began to beat the door and cry
+like a little spoiled child; but no one minded her, and the
+procession moved on to the courtyard, where the soldatesca fired a
+salute, not only from their muskets, but also from the great
+cannon called "the Old Aunt," which gave forth a deep joy-sigh.
+From all the castle windows hung banners and flags bearing the
+arms of Pomerania and Saxony, and the pavement was strewed with
+flowers.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's window she opened it, and appeared
+magnificently attired, and glittering with pearls and diamonds,
+but also weeping bitterly. At this sight old Ulrich gnashed his
+teeth for rage, but all the young men, and Prince Ernest in
+particular, felt their hearts die in them for sorrow. So they
+passed on through the great north gate out on the castle wall,
+from whence the whole town and harbour were visible. Here the
+flags fluttered from the masts and waved from the towers, and the
+people clapped their hands and cried "Huzza!" (for in truth they
+had heard about the beer, to my thinking, before the Princess came
+out upon the walls). _Summa_: There was never seen such joy;
+and after having service in church, they all returned to the
+castle in the same order, and set themselves down to the banquet.
+
+I got a list of the courses at the table of the Duchess from old
+Küssow, and I shall here set it down, that people may see how our
+fathers banqueted eighty years ago in Pomerania; but, God help us!
+in these imperial days there is little left for us to grind our
+teeth upon. So smell thereat, and you will still get a delicious
+savour from these good old times.
+
+_First Course_.--1. A soup; 2. An egg-soup, with saffron,
+peppercorns, and honey thereon; 3. Stewed mutton, with onions
+strewed thereon; 4. A roasted capon, with stewed plums.
+
+_Second Course_.--1. Ling, with oil and raisins; 2. Beef,
+baked in oil; 3. Eels, with pepper; 4. Dried fish, with Leipsic
+mustard.
+
+_Third Course_.--1. A salad, with eggs; 2. Jellies strewed
+with almond and onion seed; 3. Omelettes, with honey and grapes;
+4. Pastry, and many other things besides.
+
+_Fourth Course_.--1. A roast goose with red beet-root,
+olives, capers, and cucumbers; 2. Little birds fried in lard, with
+radishes; 3. Venison; 4. Wild boar, with the marrow served on
+toasted rolls. In conclusion, all manner of pastry, with fritters,
+cakes, and fancy confectionery of all kinds.
+
+So her Grace selected something from each dish herself, and
+despatched it to Sidonia by her maid; but the maiden would none of
+them, and sent all back with a message that she had no heart to
+gormandise and feast; but her Grace might send her some bread and
+water, which was alone fitting for a poor prisoner to receive.
+
+The young men could bear this no longer, their patience was quite
+exhausted, and their courage rose as the wine-cups were emptied.
+So at length Prince Ernest whispered to his brother Bogislaus to
+put in a good word for Sidonia. He refused, however, and Prince
+Ernest was ashamed to name her himself; but some of the young
+pages who waited on her Grace were bold enough to petition for her
+pardon, whereupon her Grace gave them a very sharp reproof.
+
+After dinner the Duchess and Prince Bogislaus went up the stream
+in a pleasure-boat to try the tame sea-gull, and her Grace
+requested Lord Ulrich to accompany them. But he answered that he
+was more necessary to the castle that evening than a night-watch
+in a time of war, particularly if the young Prince was to have
+Rostock beer play from the fountains in place of water.
+
+And soon his words came true, for when the Duchess had sailed away
+the young men began to drink in earnest, so that the wine ran over
+the threshold down the great steps, and the peasants and boors who
+were going back and forward with dried wood to the ducal kitchen,
+lay down flat on their faces, and licked up the wine from the
+steps (but the Almighty punished them for this, I think, for their
+children now are glad enough to sup up water with the geese).
+
+Meanwhile many of the youths sprang up, swearing that they would
+free Sidonia; others fell down quite drunk, and knew nothing more
+of what happened. Then old Ulrich flew to the corridor, and
+marched up and down with his drawn dagger in his hand, and swore
+he would arrest them all if they did not keep quiet; that as to
+those who were lying dead drunk like beasts, he must treat them
+like other beasts--whereupon he sends to the castle fountain for
+buckets of cold water, and pours it over them. Ha! how they sprang
+up and raged when they felt it; but he only laughed and said--if
+they would not hold their peace he would treat them still worse;
+they ought to be ashamed of their filthiness and debauchery.
+[Footnote: Almost all writers of that age speak of the excesses to
+which intoxication was carried in all the ducal courts, but
+particularly that of Pomerania.]
+
+But now to the uproar within was added one from without, for when
+the fountains began to play with Rostock beer, all the town ran
+thither, and drank like leeches, while they begged the
+serving-wenches to bring them loaves to eat with it. How the old
+shoemaker threw up his cap in the air, and shouted--"Long live her
+Grace! no better Princess was in the whole world--they hoped her
+Grace might live for many years and celebrate every birthday like
+this!" Then they would pray for her right heartily, and the women
+chattered and cackled, and the children screamed so that no one
+could hear a word that was saying, and Sidonia tried for a long
+time in vain to make them hear her. At last she waved a white
+kerchief from the window, when the noise ceased for a little, and
+she then began the old song, namely, "Would they release her?"
+
+Now there were some brave fellows among them to whom she had given
+drink-money, or purchased goods from, and they now ran to fetch a
+ladder and set it up against the wall; but old Ulrich got wind of
+this proceeding, and dispersed the mob forthwith, menacing
+Sidonia, before their faces, that if she but wagged a finger, and
+did not instantly retire from the window, and bear her
+well-merited punishment patiently, he would have her carried
+straightway through the guard-room, and locked up in the bastion
+tower. This threat succeeded, and she drew in her head. Meantime
+the Duchess returned from fishing, but when she beheld the crowd
+she entered through the little water-gate, and went up a winding
+stair to her own apartment, to attire herself for the dance.
+
+The musicians now arrived from Grypswald, and all the knights and
+nobles were assembled except Zitsewitz, who lay sick, whether from
+love or jealousy I leave undecided; so the great affair at length
+began, and in the state hall the band struck up Duke Bogislaus'
+march, played, in fact, by eighty drums and forty-three trumpets,
+so that it was as mighty and powerful in sound as if the great
+trumpet itself had played it, and the plaster dropped off from the
+ceiling, and the picture of his Highness the Duke, in the north
+window, was so disturbed by the vibration, that it shook and
+clattered as if it were going to descend from the frame and dance
+with the guests in the hall, and not only the folk outside danced
+to the music, but down in the town, in the great market-place, and
+beyond that, even in the horse-market, the giant march was heard,
+and every one danced to it whether in or out of the house, and
+cheered and huzzaed. Now the Prince could no longer repress his
+feelings, for, besides that he had taken a good Pomeranian draught
+that day, and somewhat rebelled against his lady mother, he now
+flung the fourth commandment to the winds (never had he done this
+before), and taking three companions with him, by name Dieterich
+von Krassow, Joachim von Budde, and Achim von Weyer, he proceeded
+with them to the chamber of Sidonia, and with great violence burst
+open the door. There she lay on the bed weeping, in a green velvet
+robe, laced with gold, and embroidered with other golden
+ornaments, and her head was crowned with pearls and diamonds, so
+that the young Prince exclaimed, "Dearest Sidonia, you look like a
+king's bride. See, I keep my word; come now, and we shall dance
+together in the hall."
+
+Here he would willingly have kissed her, but was ashamed because
+the others were by, so he said, "Go ye now to the hall and see if
+the dance is still going on. I will follow with the maiden."
+Thereat the young men laughed, because they saw well that the
+Prince did not just then desire their company, and they all went
+away, except Joachim von Budde, the rogue, who crept behind the
+door, and peeped through the crevice.
+
+Now, the young lord was no sooner left alone with Sidonia than he
+pressed her to his heart--"Did she love him? She must say yes once
+again." Whereupon she clasped his neck with her little hands, and
+with every kiss that he gave her she murmured, "Yes, yes, yes!"
+"Would she be his own dear wife?" "Ah, if she dared. She would
+have no other spouse, no, not even if the Emperor came himself
+with all the seven electors. But he must not make her more
+miserable than she was already. What could they do? he never would
+be allowed to marry her." "He would manage that." Then he pressed
+her again to his heart, with such ardour that the knave behind the
+door grew jealous, and springing up, called out--"If his Highness
+wishes for a dance he must come now."
+
+When they both entered the hall, her Grace was treading a measure
+with old Ulrich, but he caught sight of them directly, and without
+making a single remark, resigned the hand of her Grace to Prince
+Bogislaus, and excused himself, saying that the noise of the music
+had made his head giddy, and that he must leave the hall for a
+little. He ran then along the corridor down to the courtyard, from
+thence to the guard, and commanded the officer with his troop,
+along with the executioner and six assistants, to be ready to rush
+into the hall with lighted matches, the moment he waved his hat
+with the white plumes from the window.
+
+When he returns, the dance is over, and my gracious lady,
+suspecting nothing as yet, sits in a corner and fans herself. Then
+Ulrich takes Sidonia in one hand and Prince Ernest in the other,
+brings them up straight before her Highness, and asks if she had
+herself given permission for the Prince and Sidonia to dance
+together in the hall. Her Highness started from her chair when she
+beheld them, her cheeks glowing with anger, and exclaimed, "What
+does this mean? Have you dared to release Sidonia?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; for this noble maiden has been treated worse
+than a peasant-girl by my lady mother."
+
+_Illa_.--"Oh, woe is me! this is my just punishment for
+having forgotten my Philip so soon, and even consenting to tread a
+measure in the hall." So she wept, and threw herself again upon
+the seat, covering her face with both hands.
+
+Now old Ulrich began. "So, my young Prince, this is the way you
+keep the admonitions that your father, of blessed memory, gave you
+on his death-bed! Fie--shame on you! Did you not give your promise
+also to me, the old man before you? Sidonia shall return to her
+chamber, if my word has yet some power in Pomerania. Speak,
+gracious lady, give the order, and Sidonia shall be carried back
+to her room."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she laid her white hand, all covered with
+jewels, upon the old man's arm, and looked up at him with
+beseeching glances, and stroked his beard after her manner,
+crying, with tears of anguish, "Spare a poor young maiden! I will
+learn anything you tell me; I will repeat it all on Sunday. Only
+do not deal so hardly with me." But the little hands for once had
+no effect, nor the tears, nor the caresses; for Ulrich, throwing
+her off, gave her such a slap in the face that she uttered a loud
+cry and fell to the ground.
+
+If a firebrand had fallen into a barrel of gunpowder, it could not
+have caused a greater explosion in the hall than that cry; for
+after a short pause, in which every one stood silent as if
+thunderstruck, there arose from all the nobles, young and old, the
+terrible war-cry--"Jodute! Jodute! [Footnote: The learned have
+puzzled their heads a great deal over the etymology of this
+enigmatical word, which is identical in meaning with the terrible
+"_Zettergeschrei_" of the Reformation era. It is found in the
+Swedish, Gothic, and Low German dialects, and in the Italian
+_Goduta_. One of the best essays on the subject--which,
+however, leads to no result--the lover of antiquarian researches
+will find in Hakeus's "Pomeranian Provincial Papers," vol. v. p.
+207.] to arms, to arms!" and the cry was re-echoed till the whole
+hall rung with it. Whoever had a dagger or a sword drew it, and
+they who had none ran to fetch one. But the Prince would at once
+have struck old Ulrich to the heart, if his brother Bogislaus had
+not sprung on him from behind and pinioned his arms. Then Joachim
+von Budde made a pass at the old knight, and wounded him in the
+hand. So Ulrich changed his hat from the right hand to the left,
+and still kept retreating till he could gain the window and give
+the promised sign to the guard, crying as he fought his way
+backward, step by step, "Come on now--come on, Ernest. Murder the
+old grey-headed man whom thy father called friend--murder him, as
+thou wilt murder thy mother this night."
+
+Then reaching the window, he waved his hat until the sign was
+answered; then sprang forward again, seized Sidonia by the hand,
+crying, "Out, harlot!" Hereupon young Lord Ernest screamed still
+louder, "Jodute! Jodute! Down with the grey-headed villain! What!
+will not the nobles of Pomerania stand by their Prince? Down with
+the insolent grey-beard who has dared to call my princely bride a
+harlot!" And so he tore himself from his brother's grasp, and
+sprang upon the old man; but her Grace no sooner perceived his
+intention than she rushed between them, crying, "Hold! hold! hold!
+for the sake of God, hold! He is thy second father." And as the
+young Prince recoiled in horror, she seized Sidonia rapidly, and
+pushing her before Ulrich towards the door, cried, "Out with the
+accursed harlot!" But Joachim Budde, who had already wounded the
+Grand Chamberlain, now seizing a stick from one of the drummers,
+hit her Grace such a blow on the arm therewith that she had to let
+go her hold of Sidonia. When old Ulrich beheld this, he screamed,
+"Treason! treason!" and rushed upon Budde. But all the young
+nobles, who were now fully armed, surrounded the old man, crying,
+"Down with him! down with him!" In vain he tried to reach a bench
+from whence he could defend himself against his assailants; in a
+few moments he was overpowered by numbers and fell upon the floor.
+Now, indeed, it was all over with him, if the soldatesca had not
+at that instant rushed into the hall with fierce shouts, and
+Master Hansen the executioner, in his long red cloak, with six
+assistants accompanying them.
+
+"Help! help!" cried her Grace; "help for the Lord Chamberlain!"
+
+So they sprang to the centre of the hall where he was lying,
+dashed aside his assailants, and lifted up the old man from the
+floor with his hand all bleeding.
+
+But Joachim Budde, who was seated on the very same bench which
+Ulrich had in vain tried to reach, began to mock the old knight.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked if it were he who had struck her Grace with
+the drumstick. "Ay," quoth he, laughing, "and would that she had
+got more of it for treating that darling, sweet, beautiful Sidonia
+no better than a kitchen wench. Where is the old hag now? I will
+teach her the catechism with my drumstick, I warrant you."
+
+And he was going to rise, when Ulrich made a sign to the
+executioner, who instantly dropped his red cloak, under which he
+had hitherto concealed his long sword, and just as Joachim looked
+up to see what was going on, he whirled the sword round like a
+flash of lightning, and cut Budde's head clean off from the
+shoulders, so that not even a quill of his Spanish ruff was
+disturbed, and the blood spouted up like three horse-tails to the
+ceiling (for he drank so much that all the blood was in his head),
+and down tumbled his gay cap, with the heron's plume, to the
+ground, and his head along with it.
+
+In an instant all was quietness; for though some of the ladies
+fainted, amongst whom was her Grace, and others rushed out of the
+hall, still there was such a silence that when the corpse fell
+down at length heavily upon the ground the clap of the hands and
+feet upon the floor was quite audible.
+
+When Ulrich observed that his victory was complete, he waved his
+hat in the air, exclaiming, "The princely house of Pomerania is
+saved! and, as long as I live, its honour shall never be tarnished
+for the sake of a harlot! Remove Prince Ernest and Sidonia to
+separate prisons. Let the rest go their ways;--this devil's
+festival is at an end, and with my consent, there shall never be
+another in Wolgast."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence._
+
+
+Now the Grand Chamberlain was well aware that no good would result
+from having Sidonia brought to a public trial, because the whole
+court was on her side.
+
+Therefore he called Marcus Bork, her cousin, to him in the night,
+and bid him take her and her luggage away next morning before
+break of day, and never stop or stay until they reached Duke
+Barnim's court at Stettin. The wind was half-way round now, and
+before nightfall they might reach Oderkruge. He would first just
+write a few lines to his Highness; and when Marcus had made all
+needful preparation, let him come here to his private apartment
+and receive the letter. He had selected him for the business
+because he was Sidonia's cousin, and also because he was the only
+young man at the castle whom the wanton had not ensnared in her
+toils.
+
+But that night Ulrich had reason to know that Sidonia and her
+lovers were dangerous enemies; for just as he had returned to his
+little room, and seated himself down at the table, to write to his
+Grace of Stettin the whole business concerning Sidonia, the window
+was smashed, and a large stone came plump down upon the ink-bottle
+close beside him, and stained all the paper. As Ulrich went out to
+call the guard, Appelmann, the equerry, came running up to him,
+complaining that his lordship's beautiful horse was lying there in
+the stable groaning like a human creature, for that some wretches
+had cut its tail clean off.
+
+_Ille_.--"Were any of the grooms in the stable lately? or had
+he seen any one go by the window?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; it was impossible to see any one, on account of
+the darkness; but he thought he had heard some one creeping along
+by the wall."
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him come then, fetch a lantern, and summon all
+the grooms; he would give it to the knaves. Had he heard anything
+of her Highness recently?"
+
+_Hic_.--"A maid told him that her Grace was better, and had
+retired to rest."
+
+_Ille_.--"Thank God. Now they might go."
+
+But as they proceeded along the corridor, which was now almost
+quite dark, the old knight suddenly received such a blow upon his
+hat that the beautiful aigrette was broken, and he himself thrown
+against the wall with such violence that he lay a quarter of an
+hour insensible; then he shook his grey head. What could that
+mean? Had Appelmann seen any one?
+
+_Hic_.--"Ah! no; but he thought he heard steps, as if of some
+one running away."
+
+So they went on to the ducal stables, but nothing was to be seen
+or heard. The grooms knew nothing about the matter--the guard knew
+nothing. Then the old knight lamented over his beautiful horse,
+and told Appelmann to ride next morning, with Marcus Bork and
+Sidonia, to the Duke's castle at Stettin, and purchase the piebald
+mare for him from his Grace, about which they had been bargaining
+some time back; but he must keep all this secret, for the young
+nobles were to know nothing of the journey.
+
+Ah, what fine fun this is for the cunning rogue. "If his lordship
+would only give him the purse, he would bring him back a far finer
+horse than that which some knaves had injured." Whereupon the old
+knight went down to reckon out the rose-nobles--but, lo! a stone
+comes whizzing past him close to his head, so that if it had
+touched him, methinks the old man would never have spoken a word
+more. In short, wherever he goes, or stops, or stands, stones and
+buffets are rained down upon him, so that he has to call the guard
+to accompany him back to his chamber; but he lays the saddle on
+the right horse at last, as you shall hear in another place.
+
+After some hours everything became quiet in the castle, for the
+knaves were glad enough to sleep off their drunkenness. And so,
+early in the morning before dawn, while they were all snoring in
+their beds, Sidonia was carried off, scream as she would along the
+corridor, and even before the young knight's chamber; not a soul
+heard her. For she had not been brought to the prison tower, as at
+first commanded, but to her own little chamber, likewise the young
+lord to his; for the Grand Chamberlain thought afterwards this
+proceeding would not cause such scandal.
+
+But there truly was great grief in the castle when they all rose,
+and the cry was heard that Sidonia was gone; and some of the
+murderous lords threatened to make the old man pay with his blood
+for it. _Item_, no sooner was it day than Dr. Gerschovius ran
+in, crying that some of the young profligates had broken all his
+windows the night before, and turned a goat into the rectory, with
+the catechism of his dear and learned brother tied round his neck.
+
+Then old Ulrich's anger increased mightily, as might be imagined,
+and he brought the priest with him to the Duchess, who had got but
+little rest that night, and was busily turning her wheel with the
+little clock-work, and singing to it, in a loud, clear voice, that
+beautiful psalm (120th)--"In deep distress I oft have cried." She
+paused when they entered, and began to weep. "Was it not all
+prophesied? Why had she been persuaded to throw off her mourning,
+and slight the memory of her loved Philip? It was for this the
+wrath of God had come upon her house; for assuredly the Lord would
+avenge the innocent blood that had been shed."
+
+Then Ulrich answered that, as her Grace knew, he had earnestly
+opposed this festival; but as to what regarded, the traitor whose
+head he had chopped off, he was ready to answer for that blood,
+not only to man but before God. For had not the coward struck his
+own sovereign lady the Princess with the drumstick? _Item_,
+was he not in the act of rising to repeat the blow, as the whole
+nobility are aware, only he lost his head by the way; and if this
+had not been done, all order and government must have ceased
+throughout the land, and the mice and the rats rule the cats,
+which was against the order of nature and contrary to God's will.
+But his gracious lady might take consolation, for Sidonia had been
+carried from the castle that morning by four of the clock, and, by
+God's grace, never should set foot in it again. But there was
+another _gravamen_, and that concerned the young nobles, who,
+no doubt, would become more daring after the events of last
+evening. Then he related what had happened to the priest.
+"_Item_, what did my gracious lady mean to do with those
+drunken libertines? If her Grace had kept up the huntings and the
+fishings, as in the days of good Duke Philip, mayhap the young men
+would have been less given to debauchery; but her Grace kept an
+idle house, and they had nothing to do but drink and brew
+mischief. If her Grace had no fitting employment for these young
+fellows, then he would pack them all off to the devil the very
+next morning, for they brought nothing but disrespect upon the
+princely house of Wolgast."
+
+So her Grace rejoiced over Sidonia's departure, but could not
+consent to send away the young knights. Her beloved husband and
+lord, Philippus Primus, always kept a retinue of such young
+nobles, and all the princely courts did the same. What would her
+cousin of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg say, when they heard that
+she had no longer knights or pages at her court? She feared her
+princely name would be mentioned with disrespect.
+
+So Ulrich replied, that at all events, this set of young
+boisterers must be sent off, as they had grown too wild and
+licentious to be endured any longer; and that he would select a
+new retinue for her Grace from the discreetest and most
+sober-minded young knights of the court. Marcus Bork, however,
+might remain; he was true, loyal, and brave--not a wine-bibber and
+profligate like the others.
+
+So her Grace at last consented, seeing that no good would come of
+these young men now; on the contrary, they would be more daring
+and riotous than ever from rage, when they found that Sidonia had
+been sent away; and that business of the window-smashing and the
+goat demanded severe punishment. So let Ulrich look out for a new
+household; these gay libertines would be sent away.
+
+While she was speaking, the door opened, and Prince Ernest entered
+the chamber, looking so pale and haggard, that her Grace clasped
+her hands together, and asked him, with terror, what had happened.
+
+_Ille._--"Did she ask what had happened, when all Pomerania
+rung with it?--when nobles were beheaded before her face as if
+they were nothing more than beggars' brats?--when the delicate and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, who had been entrusted to her care by Duke
+Barnim himself, was turned out of the castle in the middle of the
+night as if she were a street-girl, because, forsooth, she would
+not learn her catechism? The world would scarcely credit such
+scandalous acts, and yet they were all true. But to-morrow (if
+this weakness which had come over him allowed of it) he would set
+off for Stettin, also to Berlin and Schwerin, and tell the princes
+there, his cousins, what government they held in Wolgast. He would
+soon be twenty, and would then take matters into his own hands;
+and he would pray his guardian and dear uncle, Duke Barnim, to
+pronounce him at once of age; then the devil might take Ulrich and
+his government, but he would rule the castle his own way."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"But what did he complain of? What ailed him?
+She must know this first, for he was looking as pale as a corpse."
+
+_Ille_.--"Did she not know, then, what ailed him? Well, since
+he must tell her, it was anger-anger that made him so pale and
+weak."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Anger, was it? Anger, because the false
+wanton, Sidonia, had been removed by her orders from her princely
+castle? Ah! she knew now what the wanton had come there for; but
+would he kill his mother? She nearly sank upon the ground last
+night when he called the impudent wench his bride. But she forgave
+him; it must have been the wine he drank made him so forget
+himself; or was it possible that he spoke in earnest?"
+
+_Ille_ (sighing).--"The future will tell that." "Oh, woe is
+me! what must I live to hear? If thy father could look up from his
+grave, and see thee disgracing thy princely blood by a marriage
+with a bower maiden!--. thou traitorous, disobedient son, do not
+lie to me. I know from thy sighs what thy purpose is--for this
+thou art going to Stettin and Berlin."
+
+The Prince is silent, and looks down upon the ground.
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Oh, shame on thee! shame on thee for the sake
+of thy mother! shame on thee for the sake of this servant of God,
+thy second father, this old man here! What! a vile knave strike
+thy mother, before the face of all the court, and thou condemnest
+him because he avenged her! Truly thou art a fine, brave son, to
+let thy mother be struck before thy face, for the sake of a
+harlot. Canst thou deny it? I conjure thee by the living God, tell
+me is it thy true purpose to take this harlot to thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He could give but one answer, the future would
+decide."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"Oh, she was reserved for all
+misfortunes! Why did Doctor Martinus let her ring fall? All, all
+has followed from that! If he had chosen a good, humble, honest
+girl, she would say nothing; but this wanton, this light maiden,
+that ran after every carl and let them court her!"
+
+Here the young Prince was seized with such violent convulsions
+that he fell upon the floor, and her Grace raised him up with loud
+lamentations. He was carried in a dead faint to his chamber, and
+the court physician, Doctor Pomius, instantly summoned. Doctor
+Pomius was a pompous little man (for my father knew him well), dry
+and smart in his words, and with a face like a pair of
+nutcrackers, for his front teeth were gone, so that his lips
+seemed dried on his gums, like the skin of a mummy. He was withal
+too self-conceited and boastful, and malicious, full of gossip and
+ill-nature, and running down every one that did not believe that
+he (Doctor Pomius) was the only learned physician in the world.
+Following the celebrated rules laid down by Theophrastus
+Paracelsus, he cured everything with trash--and asses' dung was
+his infallible panacea for all complaints. This pharmacopoeia was
+certainly extremely simple, easily obtained, and universal in its
+application. If the dung succeeded, the doctor drew himself up,
+tossed his head, and exclaimed, "What Doctor Pomius orders always
+succeeds." But if the wretched patient slipped out of his hands
+into the other world, he shook his head and said, "There is an
+hour for every man to die; of course his had come--physicians
+cannot work miracles."
+
+Pomius hated every other doctor in the town, and abused them so
+for their ignorance and stupidity, that finally her Grace believed
+that no one in the world knew anything but Doctor Pomius, and that
+a vast amount of profound knowledge was expressed, if he only put
+his finger to the end of his nose, as was his habit.
+
+So, as I have said, she summoned him to attend the young lord; and
+after feeling his pulse and asking some questions respecting his
+general health, the doctor laid his finger, as usual, to his nose,
+and pronounced solemnly--"The young Prince must immediately take a
+dose of asses' dung stewed in wine, with a little of the
+_laudanum paracelsi_ poured in afterwards--this will restore
+him certainly."
+
+But it was all in vain; for the young Prince still continued day
+and night calling for Sidonia, and neither the Duchess nor Doctor
+Gerschovius could in any wise comfort him. This afflicted her
+Grace almost to the death; and by Ulrich's advice, she despatched
+her second son, Duke Barnim the younger, and Dagobert von
+Schwerin, to the court of Brunswick, to solicit in her name the
+hand of the young Princess Sophia Hedwig, for her son Ernest
+Ludovicus. Now, in the whole kingdom, there was no more beautiful
+princess than Sophia of Brunswick; and her Grace was filled with
+hope that, by her means, the influence of the detestable Sidonia
+over the heart of the young lord would be destroyed for ever.
+
+In due time the ambassadors returned, with the most favourable
+answer. Father, mother, and daughter all gave consent; and the
+Duke of Brunswick also forwarded by their hands an exquisite
+miniature of his beautiful daughter for Prince Ernest.
+
+This miniature her Grace now hung up beside his bed. Would he not
+look at the beautiful bride she had selected for him? Could there
+be a more lovely face in all the German empire? What was Sidonia
+beside her, but a rude country girl!--would he not give her up at
+last, this light wench? While, on the contrary, this illustrious
+princess was as virtuous as she was beautiful, and this the whole
+court of Brunswick could testify.
+
+But the young lord would give no heed to her Grace, and spat out
+at the picture, and cried to take away the daub--into the fire
+with it--anywhere out of his sight. Unless his dear, his beautiful
+Sidonia came to tend him, he would die--he felt that he was dying.
+
+So her Grace took counsel with old Ulrich, and Doctor Pomius, and
+the priest, what could be done now. The doctor mentioned that he
+must have been witch-struck. Then more doctors were sent for from
+the Grypswald, but all was in vain--no one knew what ailed him;
+and from day to day he grew worse.
+
+Clara von Dewitz now bitterly reproached herself for having
+concealed her suspicions about the love-drink from her
+Grace--though indeed she did so by desire of her betrothed, Marcus
+Bork. But now, seeing that the young Prince lay absolutely at the
+point of death, she could no longer hold her peace, but throwing
+herself on her knees before her Grace, told her the whole story of
+the witch-girl whom she had sheltered in the castle, and of her
+fears that Sidonia had learned from her how to brew a
+love-philtre, which she had afterwards given to the Prince.
+
+Her Grace was sore displeased with Clara for having kept all this
+a secret, and said that she would have expected more wisdom and
+discretion from her, seeing that she had always counted her the
+most worthy amongst her maidens; then she summoned Ulrich, and
+laid the evil matter before him. He shook his head; believed that
+they had hit on the true cause now. Such a sickness had nothing
+natural about it--there must be magic and witchwork in it; but he
+would have the whole land searched for the girl, and make her give
+the young lord some potion that would take off the spell.
+
+Now the witch-girl had been pardoned a few days before that, and
+sent back to Usdom, near Daber; but bailiffs were now sent in all
+directions to arrest her, and bring her again to Wolgast without
+delay.
+
+So the wretched creature was discovered, before long, in Kruge,
+near Mahlzow, where she had hired herself as a spinner for the
+winter, and brought before Ulrich and her Grace. She was there
+admonished to tell the whole truth, but persisted in asseverating
+that Sidonia had never learned from her how to make a love-drink.
+Her statement, however, was not believed; and Master Hansen was
+summoned, to try and make her speak more. The affair, indeed,
+appeared so serious to Ulrich, that he himself stood by while she
+was undergoing the torture, and carried on the _protocollum_,
+calling out to Master Hansen occasionally not to spare his
+squeezes. But though the blood burst from her finger-ends, and her
+hip was put out of joint, so that she limped ever after, she
+confessed nothing more, nor did she alter the statement which she
+had first made.
+
+_Item_, her Grace, and the priest, and all the bystanders
+exhorted her in vain to confess the truth (for her Grace was
+present at the torture). At last she cried out, "Yes, I know
+something that will cure him! Mercy! mercy! and I will tell it."
+
+So they unbound her, and she was going straightway to make her
+witch-potion, but old Ulrich changed his mind. Who could know
+whether this devil's fiend was telling them the truth? May be she
+would kill the young lord in place of curing him. So they gave her
+another stretch upon the rack. But as she still held by all her
+assertions, they spared her any further torture.
+
+But, in my opinion, the young lord must have obtained something
+from her, otherwise he could not have recovered all at once the
+moment that Sidonia was brought back, as I shall afterwards
+relate.
+
+_Sum total_.--The young Prince screamed day and night for
+Sidonia, and told her Grace that he now felt he was dying, and
+requested, as his last prayer upon this earth, to be allowed to
+see her once more. The maiden was an angel of goodness; and if she
+could but close his dying eyes, he would die happy.
+
+It can be easily imagined with what humour her Grace listened to
+such a request, for she hated Sidonia like Satan himself; but as
+nothing else could satisfy him, she promised to send for her, if
+Prince Ernest would solemnly swear, by the corpse of his father,
+that he would never wed her, but select some princess for his
+bride, as befitted his exalted rank--the Princess Hedwig, or some
+other--as soon as he had recovered sufficiently to be able to quit
+his bed. So he quickly stretched forth his thin, white hand from
+the bed, and promised his dearly beloved mother to do all she had
+asked, if she would only send horsemen instantly to Stettin, for
+the journey by water was insecure, and might be tedious if the
+wind were not favourable.
+
+Hereupon a great murmur arose in the castle; and young Duke
+Bogislaus fell into such a rage that he took his way back again to
+Camyn, and his younger brother, Barnim, accompanied him. But the
+anger of the Grand Chamberlain no words can express. He told her
+Grace, in good round terms, that she would be the mock of the
+whole land. The messengers had only just returned who had carried
+away Sidonia from the castle under the greatest disgrace; and now,
+forsooth, they must ride back again to bring her back with all
+honour.
+
+"Oh, it was all true, quite true; but then, if her dearest son
+Ernest were to die--"
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him die. Better lose his life than his honour."
+
+_Hæc_.--"He would not peril his honour, for he had sworn by
+the corpse of his father never to wed Sidonia."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, he was quick enough in promising, but
+performing was a different thing. Did her Grace think that the
+passion of a man could be controlled by promises, as a tame horse
+by a bridle? Never, never. Passion was a wild horse, that no bit,
+or bridle, or curb could guide, and would assuredly carry his
+rider to the devil."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Still she could not give up her son to death;
+besides, he would repent and see his folly. Did not God's Word
+tell us how the prodigal son returned to his father, and would not
+her son return likewise?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, when he has kept swine. After that he may
+return, but not till then. The youngster was as great a fool about
+women as he had ever come across in his life."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"He was too harsh on the young man.
+Had she not sent away the girl at his command; and now he would
+let her own child die before her eyes, without hope or
+consolation?"
+
+_Ille_.--"But if her child is indeed dying, would she send
+for the devil to attend him in his last moments? Her Grace should
+be more consistent. If the young lord is dying, let him die; her
+Grace has other children, and God will know how to comfort her.
+Had he not been afflicted himself? and let her ask Dr. Gerschovius
+if the Lord had not spoken peace unto him."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Ah, true; but then neither of them are
+mothers. Her son is asking every moment if the messengers have
+departed, and what shall she answer him? She cannot lie, but must
+tell the whole bitter truth."
+
+_Ille_.--"He saw the time had come at last for him to follow
+the young princes. He was of no use here any longer. Her Grace
+must give him permission to take his leave, for he would sail off
+that very day for his castle at Spantekow, and then she might do
+as she pleased respecting the young lord."
+
+So her Grace besought him not to leave her in her sore trouble and
+perplexity. Her two sons had sailed away, and there was no one
+left to advise and comfort her.
+
+But Ulrich was inflexible. "She must either allow her son quietly
+to leave this miserable life, or allow him to leave this miserable
+court service."
+
+"Then let him go to Spantekow. Her son should be saved. She would
+answer before the throne of the Almighty for what she did. But
+would he not promise to return, if she stood in any great need or
+danger? for she felt that both were before her; still she must
+peril everything to save her child."
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes, he would be ready on her slightest summons;
+and he doubted not but that Sidonia would soon give her trouble
+and sorrow enough. But he could not remain now, without breaking
+his knightly oath to Duke Philip, his deceased feudal seigneur of
+blessed memory, and standing before the court and the world as a
+fool."
+
+So after many tears her Grace gave him his dismissal, and he rode
+that same day to Spantekow, promising to return if she were in
+need, and also to send her a new retinue and household
+immediately.
+
+This last arrangement displeased Marcus Bork mightily, for he had
+many friends amongst the knights who were now to be dismissed, and
+so he, too, prayed her Grace for leave to resign his office and
+retire from court. He had long looked upon Clara von Dewitz with a
+holy Christian love, and, if her Grace permitted, he would now
+take her home as his dear loving wife.
+
+Her Grace replied that she had long suspected this
+betrothal--particularly from the time that Clara told her of his
+advice respecting the concealment of the witch-girl's visit to
+Sidonia; and as he had acted wrongly in that business, he must now
+make amends by not deserting her in her greatest need. Her sons
+and old Ulrich had already left her; some one must remain in whom
+she could place confidence. It would be time enough afterwards to
+bring home his beloved wife Clara, and she would wish them God's
+blessing on their union.
+
+_Ille_.--"True, he had been wrong in concealing that business
+with the witch-girl, but her Grace must pardon him. He never
+thought it would bring the young lord to his dying bed. Whatever
+her Grace now commanded he would yield obedience to."
+
+"Then," said her Grace, "do you and Appelmann mount your horses
+instantly, ride to Stettin, and bring back Sidonia. For her dearly
+beloved son had sworn that he could not die easy unless he beheld
+Sidonia once more, and that she attended him in his last moments."
+
+It may be easily imagined how the good knight endeavoured to
+dissuade her Highness from this course, and even spoke to the
+young Prince himself, but in vain. That same day he and Appelmann
+were obliged to set off for Stettin, and on their arrival
+presented the following letter to old Duke Barnim:--
+
+"MARIA, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, BORN DUCHESS OF SAXONY, &c.
+
+"ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND MY DEAR UNCLE,--It has not been concealed
+from your Highness how our clear son Ernest Ludovicus, since the
+departure of Sidonia, has fallen, by the permission of God, into
+such a state of bodily weakness that his life even stands in
+jeopardy.
+
+"He has declared that nothing will restore him but to see Sidonia
+once more. We therefore entreat your Highness, after admonishing
+the aforesaid maiden severely upon her former light and unseemly
+behaviour, to dismiss her with our messengers, that they may
+return and give peace and health to our dearly beloved son.
+
+"If your Highness would enjoy a hunt or a fishing with a tame
+sea-gull, it would give us inexpressible pleasure.
+
+"We commend you lovingly to God's holy keeping.
+
+"Given from our Castle of Wolgast, this Friday, April 15, 1569.
+
+"MARIA."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back
+to Wolgast._
+
+
+When his Highness of Stettin had finished the perusal of her
+Grace's letter, he laughed loudly, and exclaimed--
+
+"This comes of all their piety and preachings. I knew well what
+this extravagant holiness would make of my dear cousin and old
+Ulrich. If people would persist in being so wonderfully religious,
+they would soon become as sour as an old cabbage head; and Sidonia
+declared, that, for her part, a hundred horses should not drag her
+back to Wolgast, where she had been lectured and insulted, and all
+because she would not learn her catechism like a little
+school-girl."
+
+Nor would Otto Bork hear of her returning. (He was waiting at
+Stettin to conduct her back to Stramehl.) At last, however, he
+promised to consent, on condition that his Highness would grant
+him the dues on the Jena.
+
+Now the Duke knew right well that Otto wanted to revenge himself
+upon the people of Stargard, with whom he was at enmity; but he
+pretended not to observe the cunning knight's motives, and merely
+replied--
+
+"They must talk of the matter at Wolgast, for nothing could be
+decided upon without having the opinion of his cousin the
+Duchess."
+
+So the knight taking this as a half-promise, and Sidonia having at
+last consented, they all set off on Friday with a good south wind
+in their favour, and by that same evening were landed by the
+little water-gate at Wolgast. His Highness was received with
+distinguished honours--the ten knights of her Grace's new
+household being in waiting to receive him as he stepped on shore.
+
+So they proceeded to the castle, the Duke having Sidonia upon one
+arm, and a Cain under the other, which he had been carving during
+the passage, for the Eve had long since been finished. Otto
+followed; and all the people, when they beheld Sidonia, uttered
+loud cries of joy that the dear young lady had come back to them.
+
+This increased her arrogance, so that when her Grace received her,
+and began a godly admonishment upon her past levities, and
+conjured her to lead a modest, devout life for the future, Sidonia
+replied indiscreetly--"She knew not what her Grace and her parson
+meant by a modest, devout life, except it were learning the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius; from such modesty and devoutness she
+begged to be excused, she was no little school-girl now--she
+thought her Grace had got rid of all her whims and caprices, by
+sending for her after having turned her out of the castle without
+any cause whatever--but it was all the old thing over again."
+
+Her Grace coloured up with anger at this bitter speech, but held
+her peace. Then Otto addressed her, and begged leave to ask her
+Grace what kind of order was held at her court, where a priest was
+allowed to slap the fingers of a noble young maiden, and a
+chamberlain to smite her on the face? Had he known that such were
+the usages at her court of Wolgast, the Lady Sidonia (such he
+delighted to call her, as though she were of princely race) never
+should have entered it, and he would now instantly take her back
+to Stramehl, if her Grace would not consent to give him up the
+dues on the Jena.
+
+Now her Grace knew nothing about the dues, and therefore said,
+turning to the Duke--"Dear uncle, what does this arrogant knave
+mean? I do not comprehend his insolent speech." Hereupon Otto
+chafed with rage, that her Grace had named him with such contempt,
+and cried--"Then was your husband a knave, too! for my blood is as
+noble and nobler than your own, and I am lord of castles and
+lands. Come, my daughter; let us leave the robbers' den, or mayhap
+thy father will be struck even as thou wert."
+
+Now her Grace knew not what to do, and she lamented loudly--more
+particularly because at this moment a message arrived from Prince
+Ernest, praying her for God's sake to bring Sidonia to him, as he
+understood that she had been in the castle now a full quarter of
+an hour. Then old Otto laughed loudly, took his daughter by the
+hand, and cried again, "Come--let us leave this robber hole. Come,
+Sidonia!"
+
+This plunged her Grace into despair, and she exclaimed in anguish,
+"Will you not have pity on my dying child?" but Otto continued,
+"Come, Sidonia! come, Sidonia!" and he drew her by the hand.
+
+Here Duke Barnim rose up and said, "Sir Knight, be not so
+obstinate. Remember it is a sorrowing mother who entreats you. Is
+it not true, Sidonia, you will remain here?"
+
+Then the cunning hypocrite lifted her kerchief to her eyes, and
+replied, "If I did not know the catechism of Doctor Gerschovius,
+yet I know God's Word, and how the Saviour said, 'I was sick and
+ye visited Me,' and James also says, 'The prayer of faith shall
+save the sick.' No, I will not let this poor young lord die, if my
+visit and my prayer can help him."
+
+"No, no," exclaimed Otto, "thou shall not remain, unless the dues
+of the Jena be given up to me." And as at this moment another page
+arrived from Prince Ernest, with a similar urgent request for
+Sidonia to come to him, her Grace replied quickly, "I promise all
+that you desire," without knowing what she was granting; so the
+knight said he was content, and let go his daughter's hand.
+
+Now the good town of Stargard would have been ruined for ever by
+this revengeful man, if his treacherous designs had not been
+defeated (as we shall see presently) by his own terrible death. He
+had long felt a bitter hatred to the people of Stargard, because
+at one time they had leagued with the Greifenbergers and the Duke
+of Pomerania to ravage his town of Stramehl, in order to avenge an
+insult he had offered to the old burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann,
+father of the chief equerry, Johann Appelmann. In return for this
+outrage, Otto determined, if possible, to get the control of the
+dues of the Jena into his own hands, and when the Stargardians
+brought their goods and provisions up the Jena, and from thence
+prepared to enter the river Haff, he would force them to pay such
+exorbitant duty upon everything, that the merchants and the
+people, in short, the whole town, would be ruined, for their whole
+subsistence and merchandise came by these two rivers, and all this
+was merely to gratify his revenge. But the just God graciously
+turned away the evil from the good town, and let it fall upon
+Otto's own head, as we shall relate in its proper place.
+
+So, when the old knight had let go his daughter's hand, her Grace
+seized it, and went instantly with Sidonia to the chamber of the
+young lord, all the others following. And here a moving scene was
+witnessed, for as they entered, Prince Ernest extended his thin,
+pale hands towards Sidonia, exclaiming, "Sidonia, ah, dearest
+Sidonia, have you come at last to nursetend me?" then he took her
+little hand, kissed it, and bedewed it with his tears, still
+repeating, "Sidonia, dearest Sidonia, have you come to nursetend
+me?"
+
+So the artful hypocrite began to weep, and said--. "Yes, my
+gracious Prince, I have come to you, although your priest struck
+me on the fingers, and your mother and old Ulrich called me a
+harlot, before all the court, and lastly, turned me out of the
+castle by night, as if I had been a swine-herd; but I have not the
+heart to let your Highness surfer, if my poor prayers and help can
+abate your sickness; therefore let them strike me, and call me a
+harlot again, if they wish."
+
+This so melted the heart of my gracious Prince Ernest, that he
+cried out, "O Sidonia, angel of goodness, give me one kiss, but
+one little kiss upon my mouth, Sidonia! bend down to me--but one,
+one kiss!" Her Grace was dreadfully scandalised at such a speech,
+and said he ought to be ashamed of such words. Did he not remember
+what he had sworn by the corpse of his father at St. Peter's? But
+old Duke Barnim cried out, laughing--"Give him a kiss, Sidonia;
+that is the best plaster for his wounds; 'a kiss in honour brings
+no dishonour,' says the proverb."
+
+However, Sidonia still hesitated, and bending down to the young
+man, said, "Wait, gracious Prince, until we are alone."
+
+If the Duchess had been angry before, what was it to her rage
+now--"Alone! she would take good care they were never to be
+alone!"
+
+Otto took no notice of this speech, probably because he saw that
+matters were progressing much to his liking between the Prince and
+his daughter; but Duke Barnim exclaimed, "How now, dearest cousin,
+are you going to spoil all by your prudery? You brought the girl
+here to cure him, and what other answer could she give? Bend thee
+down, Sidonia, and give him one little kiss upon the lips--I, the
+Prince, command thee; and see, thou needst not be ashamed, for I
+will set thee an example with his mother. Come, dear cousin, put
+off that sour face, and give me a good, hearty kiss; your son will
+get well the sooner for it:" but as he attempted to seize hold of
+her Grace, she cried out, and lifted up her hands to Heaven,
+lamenting in a loud voice--"Oh, evil and wicked world! may God
+release me from this wicked world, and lay me down this day beside
+my Philip in the grave!" Then weeping and wringing her hands, she
+left the chamber, while the old knight, and--God forgive
+him!--even Duke Barnim, looked after her, laughing.
+
+"Come, Otto," said his Grace, "let us go too, and leave this pair
+alone; I must try and pacify my dear cousin." So they left the
+room, and on the way Otto opened his mind to the Duke about this
+love matter, and asked his Grace, would he consent to the union,
+if Prince Ernest, on his recovery, made honourable proposals for
+his daughter Sidonia.
+
+But his Grace was right crafty, and merely answered--"Time enough
+to settle that, Otto, when he is recovered; but methinks you will
+have some trouble with his mother unless you are more civil to
+her; so if you desire her favour, bear yourself more humbly, I
+advise you, as befits a subject."
+
+This the knight promised, and the conversation ceased, as they
+came up with the Duchess just then, who was waiting for them in
+the grand corridor. No sooner did she perceive that Sidonia was
+not with them than she cried out, "So my son is alone with the
+maiden!" and instantly despatched three pages to watch them both.
+
+Otto had now changed his tone, and instead of retorting, thanked
+her Grace for the praiseworthy and Christian care she took of his
+daughter. He did not believe this at first, but now he saw it with
+his own eyes. Alas, it was too true, the world was daily growing
+worse and worse, and the devil haunted us with his temptations,
+like our own flesh and blood. Then he sighed and kissed her hand,
+and prayed her Grace to pardon him his former bold language--but,
+in truth, he had felt displeased at first to see her Grace so
+harsh to Sidonia, when every one else at the castle received her
+with rapture; but he saw now that she only meant kindly and
+motherly by the girl.
+
+Then the Duke asked, her pardon for his little jest about the
+kissing. She knew well that he meant no harm; and also that it was
+not in his nature to endure any melancholy or lamentable faces
+around him.
+
+So her Grace was reconciled to both, and when the Duke announced
+that he and the knight proposed visiting Barth [Footnote: Barth, a
+little town; and Eldena was at that time a richly endowed convent
+near Greifswald.] and Eldena, from whence they would return in a
+few days, to take their leave of her, she said that if her dearest
+son Ernest grew any better, she would have a grand _battue_
+in honour of his Highness Duke Barnim, upon their return.
+
+Accordingly, after having amused themselves for a little fishing
+with the tame sea-gull, the Duke and Otto rode away, and her Grace
+went to the chamber of the young Prince, to keep watch there
+during the night. She would willingly have dismissed Sidonia, but
+he forbade her; and Sidonia herself declared that she would watch
+day and night by the bedside of the young lord. So she sat the
+whole night by his bed, holding his hand in hers, and told him
+about her journey, and how shamefully she had been smuggled away
+out of the castle by old Ulrich, because she would not learn the
+catechism; and of her anguish when the messengers arrived, and
+told of their young lord's illness. She was quite certain Ulrich
+must have given him something to cause it, as a punishment for
+having released her from prison, for if he could strike a maiden,
+it was not surprising that he would injure even his future
+reigning Prince to gratify his malice. It was well the old
+malignant creature was away now, as she was told, and if his Grace
+did right he would play him a trick in return, and set fire to his
+castle at Spantekow as soon as he was able to move.
+
+Her Grace endured all this in silence, for her dear son's sake,
+though in truth her anger was terrible. The young lord, however,
+grew better rapidly, and the following day was even able to creep
+out of bed for a couple of hours, to touch the lute. And he taught
+Sidonia all, and placed her little fingers himself on the strings,
+that she might learn the better. Then, for the first time, he
+called for something to eat, and after that fell into a profound
+sleep which lasted forty-eight hours. During this time he lay like
+one dead, and her Grace would have tried to awaken him, but the
+physician prevented her. At length, when he awoke, he cried out
+loudly, first for Sidonia, and then for some food.
+
+At last, to the great joy of her Grace, he was able, on the fourth
+day, to walk in the castle garden, and arranged to attend the hunt
+with his dear uncle upon his return to Wolgast. The Duke, on his
+arrival, rejoiced greatly to find the young lord so well, and said
+with his usual gay manner, "Come here, Sidonia; I have been rather
+unwell on the journey: come here and give me a kiss too, to make
+me better!" and Sidonia complied. Whereupon her Grace looked
+unusually sour, but said nothing, for fear of disturbing the
+general joy. Indeed, the whole castle was in a state of jubilee,
+and her Grace promised that she and her ladies would attend the
+hunt on the following day.
+
+About this time the castle was troubled by a strange
+apparition--no other than the spectre of the serpent knight, who
+had been drowned some time previously. It was reported that every
+night the ghost entered the castle by the little water-gate,
+though it was kept barred and bolted, traversed the whole length
+of the corridor, and sunk down into the earth, just over the place
+where the ducal coaches and sleighs were kept.
+
+Every one fled in terror before the ghost, and scarcely a
+lansquenet could be found to keep the night watch. What this
+spectre betokened shall be related further on in this little
+history, but at present I must give an account of the grand
+_battue_ which took place according to her Grace's orders,
+and of what befell there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia
+resolved on there._
+
+
+The preparations for the hunt commenced early in the morning, and
+the knights and nobles assembled in the hall of fishes (so called
+because the walls were painted with representations of all the
+fishes that are indigenous to Pomerania). Here a superb breakfast
+was served, and pages presented water in finger-basins of silver
+to each of the princely personages. Then costly wines were handed
+round, and Duke Barnim, having filled to the brim a cup bearing
+the Pomeranian arms, rose up and said, "Give notice to the warder
+at St. Peter's." And immediately, as the great bell of the town
+rang out, and resounded through the castle and all over the town,
+his Grace gave the health of Prince Ernest, who pledged him in
+return. Afterwards they all descended to the courtyard, and his
+Grace entered the ducal mews himself, to select a horse for the
+day. Now these mews were of such wonderful beauty, that I must
+needs append a description of them here.
+
+First there was a grand portico, and within a corridor with ranges
+of pillars on each side, round which were hung antlers and horns
+of all the animals of the chase. This led to the pond with the
+island in the centre, where the bear was kept, as I have already
+described. When Duke Barnim and the old knight emerged from the
+portico to enter the stable, they were met by Johann Appelmann,
+the chief equerry, who spread before the feet of his Highness a
+scarlet horse-cloth, embroidered with the ducal arms, whereon he
+laid a brush and a riding-whip; and then demanded his
+_Trinkgeld_.
+
+On entering, they observed numerous stalls filled with Pomeranian,
+Hungarian, Frisian, Danish, and Turkish horses--each race by
+itself, and each horse standing ready saddled and bridled since
+the morning. _Item_, all along the walls were ranged enormous
+brazen lions' heads, which conveyed water throughout the building,
+and cleansed the stables completely every day.
+
+Otto wondered much at all this magnificence, and asked his Grace
+what could her Highness want with all these horses.
+
+"They eat their oats in idleness, for the most part," replied the
+Duke. "No one uses them but the pages and knights of the
+household, who may select any for riding that pleases them; but
+her Highness would never diminish any of the state maintained by
+her deceased lord, Duke Philip. So there has been always, since
+that time, particular attention paid to the ducal stables at
+Wolgast."
+
+Now the train began to move towards the hunt, in all about a
+hundred persons, and in front rode her Grace upon an ambling
+palfrey, dressed in a riding-habit of green velvet, and wearing a
+yellow hat with plumes. Her little Casimir rode by her side on a
+Swedish pony; then followed her ladies-in-waiting, amongst whom
+rode Sidonia, all likewise dressed in green velvet
+hunting-dresses, fastened with golden clasps; but in place of
+yellow, they wore scarlet hats, with gilded herons' plumes. Duke
+Barnim and Prince Ernest rode along with her Grace; and though
+none but those of princely blood were allowed to join this group,
+yet Otto strove to keep near them, as if he really belonged to the
+party, just as the sacristan strives to make the people think he
+is as good as the priest by keeping as close as he can to him
+while the procession moves along the streets.
+
+After these came the marshal, the castellan, and then the
+treasurer, with the office-bearers, knights, and esquires of the
+household. Then the chief equerry, with the master of the hounds
+and the principal huntsmen. But the beaters, pages, lacqueys,
+drummers, coursers, and runners had already gone on before a good
+way; and never had the Wolgastians beheld such a stately hunt as
+this since the death of good Duke Philip. So the whole town ran
+together, and followed the procession for a good space, up to the
+spot where blue tents were erected for her Grace and her ladies.
+The ground all round was strewed with flowers and evergreens, and
+before the tents palisades were erected, on which lay loaded
+rifles, ready to discharge at any of the game that came that way;
+and for two miles round the master of the hunt had laid down nets,
+which were all connected together at a point close to the princely
+tent.
+
+When the beaters and their dogs had started the animals, he left
+the tent to reconnoitre, and if the sport promised to be
+plentiful, he ordered the drums to beat, in order to give her
+Highness notice. Then she took a rifle herself, and brought down
+several head, which was easily accomplished, when they passed upon
+each other as thick as sheep. Sidonia, who had often attended the
+hunts at Stramehl, was a most expert shot, and brought down ten
+roes and stags, whereon she had much jesting with the young lords,
+who had not been half so successful. And let no one imagine that
+there was danger to her Highness and her ladies in thus firing at
+the wild droves from her tent, for it was erected upon a
+scaffolding raised five feet from the ground, and surrounded by
+palisades, so that it was impossible the animals could ever reach
+it.
+
+On that day, there were killed altogether one hundred and fifty
+stags, one hundred roes, five hundred hares, three hundred foxes,
+one hundred wild boars, seven wolves, five wild-cats, and one
+bear, which was entangled in the net and then shot. And at last
+the right hearty pleasure of the day began.
+
+For it was the custom at the ducal court for each huntsman, from
+the master of the hunt down, to receive a portion of the game; and
+her Grace took much pleasure now in seeing the mode in which the
+distribution was made. It was done in this wise: each man received
+the head of the animal, and as much of the neck as he could cover
+with the ears, by dragging them down with all his might.
+
+So the huntsmen stood now toiling and sweating, each with one foot
+firmly planted against a stone and the other on the belly of the
+beast, dragging down the ears with all his force to the very
+furthest point they could go, when another huntsman, standing by,
+cut off the head at that point with his hunting-knife.
+
+Then each man let his dog bite at the entrails of a stag, while
+they repeated old charms and verses over them, such as:--
+
+  "Diana, no better e'er track'd a wood;
+  There's many a huntsman not half so good."
+
+Or, in Low German:--
+
+  "Wasser, if ever the devil you see,
+  Bite his leg for him, or he will bite me."
+
+These old rhymes pleased the young Casimir mightily: if his lady
+mother would only lend him a ribbon, he would lead up little
+Blaffert his dog to them, and have a rhyme said over him. So her
+Grace consented, and broke off her sandal-tie to fasten in the
+little dog's collar, because in her hurry she could find no other
+string, and left the tent herself with the child to conduct him to
+the huntsmen.
+
+Now the moment her Grace had taken her eyes off Sidonia, and that
+all the other ladies had left the tent to follow her and the
+little boy, who was laughing and playing with his dog, the young
+maiden, looking round to see that no one was observing her,
+slipped out and ran in amongst the bushes, and my lord, Prince
+Ernest, slipped after her. No one observed them, for all eyes were
+turned upon the princely child, who sprang to a huntsman and
+begged of him to say a rhyme or two over his little dog Blaffert.
+The carl rubbed his forehead, and at last gave out his psalm, as
+follows, in Low German:--
+
+  "Blaffert, Blaffert, thou art fat!
+    If my lord would only feed
+  All his people like to that
+    'Twould be well for Pommern's need."
+
+ [Footnote: Pomerania.]
+
+All the bystanders laughed heartily, and then the hounds were
+given their dinner according to the usage, which was this:--A
+number of oak and birch trees were felled, and over every two and
+two there was spread a tablecloth--that is, the warm skin of a
+deer or wild-boar; into this, as into a wooden trencher, was
+poured the warm blood of the wild animals, which the hounds lapped
+up, while forty huntsmen played a march with drums and trumpets,
+which was re-echoed from the neighbouring wood, to the great
+delight of all the listeners. When the hounds had lapped up all
+the blood, they began to eat up the tablecloths likewise; but as
+these belonged to the huntsmen, a great fight took place between
+them and the dogs for the skins, which was right merry to behold,
+and greatly rejoiced the ducal party and all the people.
+
+In the meantime, as I said, Sidonia had slipped into the wood, and
+the young lord after her. He soon found her resting under the
+shadow of a large nut-tree, and the following conversation took
+place between them, as he afterwards many times related:--
+
+"Alas, gracious Prince, why do you follow me? if your lady mother
+knew of this we should both suffer. My head ached after all that
+firing, and therefore I came hither to enjoy a little rest and
+quietness. Leave me, leave me, my gracious lord."
+
+"No, no, he would not leave her until she told him whether she
+still loved him; for his lady mother watched him day and night,
+like the dragon that guarded the Pomeranian arms, and until this
+moment he had never seen her alone."
+
+"But what could he now desire to say? Had he not sworn by the
+corpse of his father never to wed her?"
+
+"Yes; in a moment of anguish he had sworn it, because he would
+have died if she had not been brought back to the castle."
+
+"But still he must hold by his word to his lady mother, would he
+not?"
+
+"Impossible! all impossible! He would sooner renounce land and
+people for ever than his beautiful Sidonia. How he felt, for the
+first time, the truth of the holy words, 'Love is strong as
+death.'" [Footnote: Song of Solomon viii. 6.] Then he throws his
+arms round her and kissed her, and asked, would she be his?
+
+Here Sidonia covered her face with both hands, and sinking down
+upon the grass, murmured, "Yours alone, either you or death."
+
+The Prince threw himself down beside her, and besought her not to
+weep. "He could not bear to see her tears; besides, there was good
+hope for them yet, for he had spoken to old Zitsewitz, who wished
+them both well, and who had given him some good advice."
+
+_Sidonia_ (quickly removing her hands).--"What was it?"
+
+"To have a private marriage. Then the devil himself could not
+separate them, much less the old bigot Ulrich. There was a priest
+in the neighbourhood, of the name of Neigialink. He lived in
+Crummyn, [Footnote: A town near Wolgast.] with a nun whom he had
+carried off from her convent and married; therefore he would be
+able to sympathise with lovers, and would help them."
+
+"But his Highness should remember his kingly state, and not bring
+misery on them both for ever."
+
+"He had considered all that, they should therefore keep this
+marriage private for a year; she could live at Stramehl during
+that period, and receive his visits without his mother knowing of
+the matter. At the end of that year he would be of age, and his
+own master."
+
+_Sidonia_ (embracing him).--"Ah, if he really loved her so,
+then the sooner the better to the church. But let him take care
+that evil-minded people would not separate them for ever, and
+bring her to an early grave. Had the priest been informed that he
+would be required to wed them?"
+
+"Not yet; but if he continued as strong as he felt to-day, he
+would ride over to Crummyn himself (for it was quite near to
+Wolgast) the moment Duke Barnim and her father quitted the
+castle."
+
+"But how would she know the result of his visit? his mother
+watched her day and night. Could he send a page or a serving-maid
+to her?--though indeed there were none now he could trust, for
+Ulrich had dismissed all her good friends. And if he came himself
+to her room, evil might be spoken of it."
+
+"He had arranged all that already. There was the bear, as she
+remembered, chained upon the little island in the horse-pond, just
+under her window. Now when he returned from Crummyn, he would go
+out by seven in the morning, before his lady mother began her
+spinning, and commence shooting arrows at the bear, by way of
+sport; then, as if by chance, he would let fly an arrow at her
+window and shiver the glass, but the arrow would contain a little
+note, detailing his visit to the priest at Crummyn, and the
+arrangement he had made for carrying her away secretly from the
+castle. She must take care, however, to move away her seat from
+the window, and place it in a corner, lest the arrow might strike
+herself."
+
+But then a loud "Sidonia! Sidonia!" resounded through the wood,
+and immediately after, "Ernest! Ernest!"
+
+So she sprang up, and cried, "Run, dearest Prince, run as fast as
+you are able, to the other side, where the huntsmen are gathering,
+and mix with them, so that her Grace may not perceive you." This
+he did, and began to talk to the huntsmen about their dogs and the
+sweep of the chase, and as her Grace continued calling "Ernest!
+Ernest!" he stepped slowly towards her out of the crowd, and asked
+what was her pleasure? So she suspected nothing, and grew quite
+calm again.
+
+Duke Barnim now began to complain of hunger, and asked her Grace
+where she meant to serve them a collation, for he could never hold
+out until they reached Wolgast, and his friend Otto also was
+growing as ravenous as a wolf.
+
+Her Grace answered, the collation was laid in the Cisan tower,
+close beside them, and as the weather was good, his Grace could
+amuse himself with the _tubum opticum_, which a Pomeranian
+noble had bought in Middelburg from one Johann Lippersein,
+[Footnote: An optician, and the probable inventor of the
+telescope, which was first employed about the end of the sixteenth
+and the beginning of the seventeenth century.] and presented to
+her. By the aid of this telescope he would see as far as his own
+town of Stettin. Neither the Duke nor Otto Bork believed it
+possible to see Stettin, at the distance of thirteen or fourteen
+miles, with any instrument. But her Grace, who had heard of Otto's
+godless infidelity, rebuked him gravely, saying, "You will soon be
+convinced, sir knight; so we often hold that to be impossible in
+spiritual matters, which becomes not only possible, but certain,
+when we look through the telescope which the Holy Spirit presents
+to us, weak and short-sighted mortals. God give to every infidel
+such a _tubum opticum_!" The Duke, fearing now that her Grace
+would continue her sermon indefinitely, interrupted her in his
+jesting way--"Listen, dear cousin! I will lay a wager with you. If
+I cannot see Stettin, as you promise, you shall give me a kiss;
+but if I see it and recognise it clearly, then I shall give you a
+kiss."
+
+Her Grace was truly scandalised, as one may imagine, and replied
+angrily--"Good uncle! if you attempt to offer such indignities to
+me, the princely widow, I must pray your Grace to leave my court
+with all speed, and never to return!" This rebuke made every one
+grave until they reached the Cisan tower. This building lay only
+half a mile from the hunting-ground, and was situated on the
+summit of the Cisanberg, from whence its name. It was built of
+wood, and contained four stories, besides excellent stabling for
+horses. The apartments were light, airy, and elegant, so that her
+Grace frequently passed a portion of the summer time there. The
+upper story commanded a view of the whole adjacent country. At the
+foot of the hill ran the little river Cisa into the Peen, and many
+light, beautiful bridges were thrown over it at different points.
+The hill itself was finely wooded with pines and other trees, and
+the tower was made more light and airy than that which Duke Johann
+Frederick afterwards erected at Friedrichswald, and commanded a
+far finer prospect, seeing that the Cisanberg is the highest hill
+in Pomerania.
+
+While the party proceeded to the tower, Sidonia rode along by her
+father, and to judge from her animation and gestures, she was, no
+doubt, communicating to him all that the young lord had promised,
+and her hopes, in consequence, that a very short period would
+elapse before he might salute her as Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+When they reached the tower, all admired the view even from the
+lower window, for they could see the Peen, the Achterwasser, and
+eight or nine towns, besides the sea in the distance. I say
+nothing of Wolgast, which seemed to lie just beneath their feet,
+with its princely castle and cathedral perfectly distinct, and all
+its seats laid out like a map, where they could even distinguish
+the people walking. Then her Grace bade them ascend to the upper
+story, and look out for Stettin, but they sought for it in vain
+with their unassisted eyes; then her Grace placed the _tubum
+opticum_ before the Duke, and no sooner had he looked through
+it than he cried out, "As I live, Otto, there is my strong tower
+of St. James's, and my ducal castle to the left, lying far behind
+the Finkenwald mountain." But the unbelieving Thomas laughed, and
+only answered, "My gracious Prince! do not let yourself be so
+easily imposed upon."
+
+Hereupon the Duke made him look through the telescope himself; and
+no sooner had he applied his eye to the glass than he jumped back,
+rubbed his eyes, looked through a second time, and then
+exclaimed--
+
+"Well, as true as my name is Otto Bork, I never could have
+believed this."
+
+"Now, sir knight," said her Grace, "so it is with you as concerns
+spiritual things. How if you should one day find that to be true
+which your infidelity now presumptuously asserts to be false? Will
+not your repentance then be bitter? If you have found my words
+true--the words of a poor, weak, sinful woman, will you not much
+more find those of the holy Son of God? Yes, to your horror and
+dismay, you will find His words to be truth, of whom even His
+enemies testified that He never lied--Matt. xxii. 16. Tremble, sir
+knight, and bethink you that what often seems impossible to man is
+possible to God."
+
+The bold knight was now completely silenced, and the good-natured
+Duke, seeing that he had not a word to say in reply, advanced to
+his rescue, and changed the conversation by saying--
+
+"See, Otto, the wind seems so favourable just now, that I think we
+had better say '_Vale_' to our gracious hostess in the
+morning, and return to Stettin."
+
+Not a word did his Grace venture to say more about the wager of
+the kisses, for his dear cousin's demeanour restrained even his
+hilarity. Otto had nothing to object to the arrangement; and her
+Grace said, if they were not willing longer to abide at her
+widowed court, she would bid them both Godspeed upon their
+journey. "And you, sir knight, may take back your daughter
+Sidonia, for our dear son, as you may perceive, is now quite
+restored, and no longer needs her nursing. For the good deed she
+has wrought in curing him, I shall recompense her as befits me.
+But at my court the maiden can no longer abide."
+
+The knight was at first so thunderstruck by these words that he
+could not speak; but at last drawing himself up proudly, he said,
+"Good; I shall take the Lady Sidonia back with me to my castle;
+but as touching the recompense, keep it for those who need it."
+Sidonia, however, remained quite silent, as did also the young
+lord.
+
+But hear what happened. The festival lasted until late in the
+night, and then suddenly such a faintness and bodily weakness came
+over the young Prince Ernest that all the physicians had to be
+sent for; and they with one accord entreated her Grace, if she
+valued his life, not to send away Sidonia.
+
+One can imagine what her Grace felt at this news. Nothing would
+persuade her to believe but that Sidonia had given him some
+witch-drink, such as the girl out of Daber had taught her to make.
+
+No one could believe either that his Highness affected this
+sickness, in order to force his mother to keep Sidonia at the
+court; indeed, he afterwards strongly asseverated, and this at a
+time when he would have killed Sidonia with a look, if it had been
+possible, that this weakness came upon him suddenly like an ague,
+and that it could not have been caused by anything she had given
+him, for he had eaten nothing, except at the banquet at the Cisan
+tower.
+
+In short, the young Prince became as bad as ever; but Sidonia
+never heeded him, only busied herself packing up her things, as if
+she really intended going away with Otto, and finally, as eight
+o'clock struck the next morning, she wrapped herself in her mantle
+and hood, and went with her father and Duke Barnim to take leave
+of her Grace. She looked as bitter and sour as a
+vinegar-cruet--nothing would tempt her to remain even for one day
+longer. What was her Grace to do? the young lord was dying, and
+had already despatched two pages to her, entreating for one sight
+of Sidonia! She must give the artful hypocrite good words--but
+they were of no avail--Sidonia insisted on leaving the castle that
+instant with her father; then turning to Duke Barnim, she
+exclaimed with bitter tears, "Now, gracious Prince, you see
+yourself how I am treated here."
+
+Neither would the cunning Otto permit his daughter to remain on
+any account, unless, indeed, her Grace gave him a written
+authority to receive the dues on the Jena. Such shameless knavery
+at last enraged the old Duke Barnim to such a degree that he cried
+out--"Listen, Otto, my illustrious cousin here has no more to do
+with the dues on the Jena than you have; they belong to me alone,
+and I can give no promise until I lay the question before my
+council and the diet of the Stettin dukedom: be content,
+therefore, to wait until then." One may easily guess what was the
+termination of the little drama got up by Otto and his fair
+daughter--namely, that Otto sailed away with the Duke, and that
+Sidonia remained at the court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+
+So Sidonia was again seated by the couch of the young Prince, with
+her hand in his hand; but her Grace, as may well be imagined, was
+never very far off from them; and this annoyed Sidonia so much,
+that she did not scruple to treat the mourning mother and princely
+widow with the utmost contempt; at last disdaining even to answer
+the questions addressed to her by her Grace. All this the Duchess
+bore patiently for the sake of her dear son. But even Prince
+Ernest felt, at length, ashamed of such insolent scorn being
+displayed towards his mother, and said--
+
+"What, Sidonia, will you not even answer my gracious mother?"
+
+Hereupon the hypocrite sighed, and answered--
+
+"Ah, my gracious Prince! I esteem it better to pray in silence
+beside your bed than to hold a loud chattering in your ears.
+Besides, when I am speaking to God I cannot, at the same time,
+answer your lady mother."
+
+This pleased the young man, and he pressed her little hand, and
+kissed it. And very shortly after, his strength returned to him
+wonderfully, so that her Grace and Sidonia only watched by him one
+night. The next day he fell into a profound sleep, and awoke from
+it perfectly recovered.
+
+In the meantime, the ghost became so daring and troublesome, that
+all the house stood in fear of it. Oftentimes it would be seen
+even in the clear morning light; and a maid, who had forgotten to
+make the bed of one of the grooms, and ran to the stables at night
+to finish her work, encountered the ghost there, and nearly died
+of fright. _Item_, Clara von Dewitz, one beautiful moonlight
+night, having gone out to take a turn up and down the corridor,
+because she could not sleep from the toothache, saw the
+apparition, just as day dawned, sinking down into the earth, not
+far from the chamber of Sidonia, to her great horror and
+astonishment. _Item_, her Grace, that very same night, having
+heard a noise in the corridor, opened her door, and there stood
+the ghost before her, leaning against a pillar. She was
+horror-struck, and clapped to her door hastily, but said nothing
+to the young Prince, for fear of alarming him.
+
+He had recovered, as I have said, in a most wonderful manner, and
+though still looking pale and haggard, yet his love for the maiden
+would not permit him to defer his visit to Crummyn any longer;
+particularly as it lay only half a mile from the castle, but on
+the opposite bank of the river, near the island of Usdom.
+
+Thereupon, on the fourth night, he descended to the little
+water-gate, having previously arranged with his chief equerry,
+Appelmann, to have a boat there in readiness for him, and also a
+good horse, to take across the ferry with them to the other side.
+So, at twelve o'clock, he and Appelmann embarked privately, with
+Johann Bruwer, the ferryman, and were safely landed at Mahlzow.
+Here he mounted his horse, and told the two others to await his
+return, and conceal themselves in the wood if any one approached.
+Appelmann begged permission to accompany his Highness, which,
+however, was denied; the young Prince charging them strictly to
+hold themselves concealed till his return, and never reveal to
+human being where they had conducted him this evening, on pain of
+his severe anger and loss of favour for ever; but if they held
+their secret close, he would recompense them at no distant time,
+in a manner even far beyond their hopes.
+
+So his Highness rode off to Crummyn, where all was darkness,
+except, indeed, one small ray of light that glanced from the lower
+windows of the cloister--for it was standing at that time. He
+dismounted, tied his horse to a tree, and knocked at the window,
+through which he had a glimpse of an old woman, in nun's garments,
+who held a crucifix between her hands, and prayed.
+
+"Who are you?" she demanded. "What can you want here at such an
+hour?"
+
+"I am from Wolgast," he answered, "and must see the priest of
+Crummyn."
+
+"There is no priest here now."
+
+"But I have been told that a priest of the name of Neigialink
+lived here."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a Lutheran swaddler and no priest, otherwise
+he would not live in open sin with a nun."
+
+"It is all the same to me; only come and show me the way."
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he a heathen or a true Christian?"
+
+His Highness could not make out what the old mother meant, but
+when he answered, "I am a Christian," she opened the door, and let
+him enter her cell. As she lifted up the lamp, however, she
+started back in terror at his young, pale, haggard face. Then,
+looking at his rich garments, she cried--
+
+"This must be a son of good Duke Philip's, for never were two
+faces more alike."
+
+The Prince never imagined that the old mother could betray him,
+and therefore answered, "Yes; and now lead me to the priest."
+
+So the old mother began to lament over the downfall of the pure
+Christian doctrine, which his father, Duke Philip, had upheld so
+bravely. And if the young lord held the true faith (as she hoped
+by his saying he was a Christian), if so, then she would die
+happy, and the sooner the better--even if it were this night, for
+she was the last of all the sisterhood, all the other nuns having
+died of grief; and so she went on chattering.
+
+Prince Ernest regretted that he had not time to discourse with her
+upon the true faith, but would she tell him where the priest was
+to be found.
+
+_Illa_.--"She would take him to the parson, but he must first
+do her a service."
+
+"Whatever she desired, so that it would not detain him."
+
+_Illa_.--"It was on this night the vigil of the holy St.
+Bernard, their patron saint, was held; now, there was no one to
+light the altar candles for her, for her maid, who had grown old
+along with her, lay a-dying, and she was too old and weak herself
+to stretch up so high. And the idle Lutheran heretics of the town
+would mock, if they knew she worshipped God after the manner of
+her fathers. The old Lutheran swaddler, too, would not suffer it,
+if he knew she prayed in the church by nights. But she did not
+care for his anger, for she had a private key that let her in at
+all hours; and his Highness, the Prince, at her earnest prayers,
+had given her permission to pray in the church, at any time she
+pleased, from then till her death."
+
+So the old mother wept so bitterly, and kissed his Highness's
+hand, entreating him with such sad lamentations to remain with her
+until she said a prayer, that he consented. And she said, if the
+heretic parson came there to scold her, which of a surety he
+would, knowing that she never omitted a vigil, he could talk to
+him in the church, without going to disturb him and his harlot nun
+at their own residence. Besides, the church was the safest place
+to discourse in, for no one would notice them, and he would be
+able to protect her from the parson's anger besides.
+
+Here the old mother took up the church keys and a horn lantern,
+and led the young Prince through a narrow corridor up to the
+church door. Hardly, however, had she put the key in the lock,
+when the loud bark of a dog was heard inside, and they soon heard
+it scratching, and smelling, and growling at them close to the
+door.
+
+"What can that dog be here for?" said his Highness in alarm.
+
+"Alas!" answered the nun, "since the pure old religion was
+destroyed, profanity and covetousness have got the upper hand; so
+every church where even a single pious relic of the wealth of the
+good old times remains, must be guarded, as you see, by dogs.
+[Footnote: It is an undeniable fact, that the immorality of the
+people fearfully increased with the progress of the Reformation
+throughout Pomerania. An old chronicler, and a Protestant, thus
+testifies, 1542:--"And since this time (the Reformation) a great
+change has come over all things. In place of piety, we have
+profanity; in place of reverence, sacrilege and the plundering of
+God's churches; in place of alms-deeds, stinginess and
+selfishness; in place of feasts, greed and gluttony; in place of
+festivals, labour; in place of obedience and humility of children,
+obstinacy and self-opinion; in place of honour and veneration for
+the priesthood, contempt for the priest and the church ministers.
+So that one might justly assert that the preaching of the
+evangelism had made the people worse in place of better."
+
+Another Protestant preacher, John Borkmann, asserts, 1560:--"As
+for sin, it overflows all places and all stations. It is growing
+stronger in all offices, in all trades, in all employments, in
+every station of life--what shall I say more?--in every
+individual"--and so on. I would therefore recommend the blind
+eulogists of the good old times to examine history for themselves,
+and not to place implicit belief either in the pragmatical
+representations of the old and new Lutherans."] And she had herself
+locked up her pretty dog Störteback [Footnote: The name of a
+notorious northern pirate.] here, that no one might rob the altar
+of the golden candlesticks and the little jewels, at least as long
+as she lived."
+
+So she desired Störteback to lie still, and then entered the
+church with the Prince, who lit the altar candles for her, and
+then looked round with wonder on the silver lamps, the golden pix
+and caps, and other vessels adorned with jewels, used by the
+Papists in their ceremonies.
+
+The old mother, meanwhile, took off her white garment and black
+scapulary, and being thus naked almost to the waist, descended
+into a coffin, which was lying in a corner beside the altar. Here
+she groped till she brought up a crucifix, and a scourge of
+knotted cords. Then she kneeled down within the coffin, lashing
+herself with one hand till the blood flowed from her shoulders,
+and with the other holding up the crucifix, which she kissed from
+time to time, whilst she recited the hymn of the holy St.
+Bernard:--
+
+   "Salve caput cruentatum,
+   Totum spinis coronatum,
+   Conquassatum, vulneratum,
+   Arundine verberatum
+   Facie sputis illita."
+
+When she had thus prayed, and scourged herself a while, she
+extended the crucifix with her bleeding arm to the Prince, and
+prayed him, for the sake of God, to have compassion on her, and so
+would the bleeding Saviour and all the saints have compassion upon
+him at the last day. And when his Highness asked her what he could
+do for her, she besought him to bring her a priest from Grypswald,
+who could break the Lord's body once more for her, and give her
+the last sacrament of extreme unction here in her coffin. Then
+would she never wish to leave it, but die of joy if this only was
+granted to her.
+
+So the Prince promised to fulfil her wishes; whereupon she
+crouched down again in the coffin, and recommenced the scourging,
+while she repeated with loud sobs and groans the two last verses
+of the hymn. Scarcely had she ended when a small side-door opened,
+and the dog Störteback began to bark vociferously.
+
+"What!" exclaimed a voice, "is that old damned Catholic witch at
+her mummeries, and burning my good wax candles all for nothing?"
+
+And, silencing the dog, a man stepped forward hastily, but, seeing
+the Prince, paused in astonishment. Whereupon the old mother
+raised herself up out of the coffin, and said, "Did I not tell
+your Grace that you would see the hardhearted heretic here?--that
+is the man you seek." So the Prince brought him into the choir,
+and told him that he was Prince Ernest Ludovicus, and came here to
+request that he would privately wed him on the following night,
+without knowledge of any human being, to his beloved and affianced
+bride, Sidonia von Bork.
+
+The priest, however, did not care to mix himself up with such a
+business, seeing that he feared Ulrich mightily; but his Grace
+promised him a better living at the end of the year, if he would
+undertake to serve him now.
+
+To which the priest answered--"Who knows if your Highness will be
+alive by the end of the year, for you look as pale as a corpse?"
+
+"He never felt better in his life. He had been ill lately, but now
+was as sound as a fish. Would he not marry him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Certainly not; unless he received a handsome
+consideration. He had a wife and dear children; what would become
+of them if he incurred the displeasure of that stern Lord
+Chamberlain and of the princely widow?"
+
+"But could he not bring his family to Stettin; for he and his
+young bride intended to fly there, and put themselves under the
+protection of his dear uncle, Duke Barnim?"
+
+_Hic_.--"It was a dangerous business; still, if his Highness
+gave him a thousand gulden down, and a written promise, signed and
+sealed, that he would provide him with a better living before the
+year had expired, why, out of love for the young lord, he would
+consent to peril himself and his family; but his Highness must not
+think evil of him for demanding the thousand gulden paid down
+immediately, for how were his dear wife and children to be
+supported through the long year otherwise?"
+
+His Highness, however, considered the sum too large, and said that
+his gracious mother had scarcely more a year for herself than a
+thousand gulden--she that was the Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+However, they finally agreed upon four hundred gulden; for his
+Highness showed him that Doctor Luther himself had only four
+hundred gulden a year, and surely he would not require more than
+the great _reformator ecclesia_.
+
+So everything was arranged at last, the priest promising to
+perform the ceremony on the third night from that; "For some
+time," he said, "would be necessary to collect people to assist
+them in their flight, and money must be distributed; but his
+Highness would, of course, repay all that he expended in his
+behalf, and further promise to give him and his family free
+quarters when they reached Stettin."
+
+After the ceremony, they could reach the boat through the convent
+garden, and sail away to Warte. [Footnote: A town near Usdom.]
+Then he would have four or five peasants in waiting, with
+carriages ready, to escort them to East Clune, from whence they
+could take another boat and cross the Haff into Stettin; for, as
+they could not reckon on a fair wind with any certainty, it was
+better to perform the journey half by land and half by water;
+besides, the fishermen whom he intended to employ were not
+accustomed to sail up the Peen the whole way into the Haff, for
+their little fishing-smacks were too slight to stand a strong
+current.
+
+Hereupon the Prince answered, that, since it was necessary, he
+would wait until the third night, when the priest should have
+everything in readiness, but meanwhile should confide the secret
+to no one. So he turned away, and comforted the old mother again
+with his promises as he passed out.
+
+The next morning, having written all down for Sidonia, and
+concealed the note in an arrow, he went forth as he had arranged,
+and began to tease the bear by shooting arrows at him, till the
+beast roared and shook his chain. Then, perceiving that Sidonia
+had observed him from the window, he watched a favourable
+opportunity, and shot the arrow up, right through her window, so
+that the pane of glass rattled down upon the floor. In the billet
+therein concealed he explained the whole plan of escape; and asked
+her to inform him, in return, how she could manage to come to him
+on the third night. Would his dearest Sidonia put on the dress of
+a page? He could bring it to her little chamber himself the next
+night. She must write a little note in answer, and conceal it in
+the arrow as he had done, then throw it out of the window, and he
+would be on the watch to pick it up.
+
+So Sidonia replied to him that she was content; but, as regarded
+the page's dress, he must leave it, about ten o'clock the next
+night, upon the beer-barrel in the corridor, but not attempt to
+bring it himself to her chamber. Concerning the manner in which
+she was to meet him on the third night, had he forgotten that the
+old castellan barred and bolted all that wing of the castle by
+eleven o'clock, so that she could never leave the corridor by the
+usual way; but there was a trapdoor near her little chamber which
+led down into the ducal stables, and this door no one ever thought
+of or minded--it was never bolted night or day, and was quite
+large enough for a man to creep through. Her dear Prince might
+wait for her, by that trap-door, at eleven o'clock on the
+appointed night. He could not mistake it, for the large basket lay
+close behind, in which her Grace kept her darling little kittens;
+from thence they could easily get into the outer courtyard, which
+was never locked, and, after that, go where they pleased. If he
+approved of this arrangement, let him shoot another arrow into her
+room; but, above all things, he was to keep at a distance from her
+during the day, that her Grace might not suspect anything.
+
+Having thrown the arrow out of the window, and received another in
+answer from the Prince, which the artful hypocrite flung out as if
+in great anger, she ran to Clara's room, and complained bitterly
+how the young lord had broken her window, because, forsooth, he
+must be shooting arrows at the bear; and so she had to come into
+her room out of the cold air, until the glazier came to put in the
+glass. When Clara asked how she could be so angry with the young
+Prince--did she not love him any longer?--Sidonia replied, that
+truly she had grown very tired of him, for he did nothing but sigh
+and groan whenever he came near her, like an asthmatic old woman,
+and had grown as thin and dry as a baked plum. There was nothing
+very lovable about him now. Would to Heaven that he were quite
+well, and she would soon bid farewell to the castle and every one
+in it; but the moment she spoke of going his sickness returned, so
+that she was obliged to remain, which was much against her
+inclination; and this she might tell Clara in confidence, because
+she had always been her truest friend.
+
+Then she pretended to weep, and cursed her beauty, which had
+brought her nothing but unhappiness; thereupon the tender-hearted
+Clara began to comfort her, and kissed her; and the moment Sidonia
+left her to get the glass mended, Clara ran to her Grace to tell
+her the joyful tidings; but, alas! that very day the wickedness of
+the artful maiden was brought to light. For what happened in the
+afternoon? See, the nun of Crummyn steps out of a boat at the
+little water-gate, and places herself in a corner of the
+courtyard, where the people soon gather round in a crowd, to laugh
+at her white garments and black scapulary; and the boys begin to
+pelt the poor old mother with stones, and abuse her, calling her
+the old Papist witch; but by good fortune the castellan comes by,
+and commands the crowd to leave off tormenting her, and then asks
+her business.
+
+_Illa._--"She must speak instantly to her Grace the princely
+widow."
+
+So the old man brings her to her Grace, with whom Clara was still
+conversing, and the old nun, after she had kneeled to the Duchess
+and kissed her hand, began to relate how her young lord, Prince
+Ernest, had been with her the night before, while she was keeping
+the _vigilia_ of holy St. Bernard to the best of her ability,
+and had urgently demanded to see the Lutheran priest named
+Neigialink, and that when this same priest came into the church to
+scold her, as was his wont, he and the Prince had retired into the
+choir, and there held a long conversation which she did not
+comprehend. But the priest's mistress had told her the whole
+business this morning, under a promise of secrecy--namely, that
+the priest, her leman, had promised to wed Prince Ernest
+privately, on the third night from that, to a certain young damsel
+named Sidonia von Bork. That the Prince had given him a thousand
+gulden for his services, and a promise of a rich living when he
+succeeded to the government, so that in future she could live as
+grand as an abbess, and have what beautiful horses she chose from
+the ducal stables.
+
+"And this," said the nun, "was told me by the priest's mistress;
+but as I have a true Pomeranian heart, although, indeed, the
+Prince has left the good old religion, I could not rest in peace
+until I stepped into a boat, weak and old as I am, and sailed off
+here direct to inform your Grace of the plot." She only asked one
+favour in return for her service. It was that her Grace would
+permit her to end the rest of her days peaceably in the cloister,
+and protect her from the harshness of the Lutheran priests and the
+fury of the mob, who fell on her like mad dogs here in the castle
+court, and would have torn her to pieces if the castellan had not
+come by and rescued her. But above all, she requested and prayed
+her Grace to permit a true priest to come to her from Grypswald,
+who could give her the holy Eucharist, and prepare her for death.
+But her Grace was struck dumb by astonishment and alarm, and Clara
+could not speak either, only wrung her hands in anguish. And her
+Grace continued to walk up and down the room weeping bitterly,
+until at last she sat down before her desk to indite a note to old
+Ulrich, praying for his presence without delay, and straightway
+despatched the chief equerry, Appelmann, with it to Spantekow.
+
+The old nun still continued crying, would not her Grace send her a
+priest? But her Grace refused; for in fact she was a stern
+upholder of the pure doctrine. Anything else the old mother
+demanded she might have, but with the abominations of Popery her
+Grace would have nothing to do. Still the old nun prayed and
+writhed at her feet, crying and groaning, "For the love of God, a
+priest! for the love of God, a priest!" but her Grace drew herself
+up stiff and stern, and let the old woman writhe there unheeded,
+until at length she motioned to Clara to have her removed to the
+courtyard, where the poor creature leaned up against the pump in
+bitter agony, and drew forth a crucifix from her bosom, kissed it,
+and looking up to heaven, cried, "Jesu! Jesu! art Thou come at
+last?" and then dropped down dead upon the pavement, which the
+crowd no sooner observed than they gathered round the corpse,
+screaming out, "The devil has carried her off! See! the devil has
+carried off the old Papist witch!" Hearing the uproar, her Grace
+descended, as did also the young lord and Sidonia, who both
+appeared as if they knew nothing at all about the old nun. And her
+Grace commanded that the executioner should by no means drag away
+the body, as the people demanded, who were now rushing to the spot
+from all quarters of the town, but that it should be decently
+lifted into the boat and conveyed back again to Crummyn, there to
+be interred with the other members of the sisterhood at the
+cloister.
+
+No word did she speak, either to her undutiful son or to Sidonia,
+about what she had heard; only when the latter asked her what the
+nun came there for, she answered coldly, "For a Popish priest."
+Hereupon the young Prince was filled with joy, concluding that
+nothing had been betrayed as yet. And it was natural the old nun
+should come with this request, seeing that she had made the same
+to him. Her Grace also strictly charged Clara to observe a
+profound silence upon all they had heard, until the old
+chamberlain arrived, and this she promised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost._
+
+
+At eleven o'clock that same night, the good and loyal Lord Ulrich
+arrived at the castle with Appelmann, from Spantekow, and just
+waited to change his travelling dress before he proceeded to the
+apartment of her Grace. He found her seated with Clara and another
+maiden, weeping bitterly. Dr. Gerschovius was also present. When
+the old man entered, her Grace's lamentations became yet
+louder--alas! how she was afflicted! Who could have believed that
+all this had come upon her because the devil, out of malice, had
+made Dr. Luther drop her wedding-ring at the bridal! And when the
+knight asked in alarm what had happened, she replied that tears
+prevented her speaking, but Dr. Gerschovius would tell him all.
+
+So the doctor related the whole affair, from the declaration of
+the old nun to the hypocritical conduct of Sidonia towards Clara
+von Dewitz, upon which the old knight shook his head, and said,
+"Did I not counsel your Grace to let the young lord die, in God's
+name, for better is it to lose life than honour. Had he died then,
+so would the Almighty have raised him pure and perfect at the last
+day, but now he is growing daily in wickedness as a young wolf in
+ferocity."
+
+Then her Grace made answer, the past could not now be recalled;
+and that she was ready to answer before God for what she had done
+through motherly love and tenderness. They must now advise her how
+to save her infatuated son from the snares of this wanton. Dr.
+Gerschovius, thereupon, gave it as his opinion that they should
+each be placed in strict confinement for the next fourteen days,
+during which time he would visit and admonish them twice a day, by
+which means he hoped soon to turn their hearts to God.
+
+Here old Ulrich laughed outright, and asked the doctor, was he
+still bent upon teaching Sidonia her catechism? As to the young
+lord, no admonition would do him good now; he was thoroughly
+bewitched by the girl, and though he made a hundred promises to
+give her up, would never hold one of them. Alas! alas! that the
+son of good Duke Philip should be so degenerate.
+
+But her Grace wept bitterly, and said, that never was there a more
+obedient, docile, and amiable child than her dear Ernest; skilled
+in all the fine arts, and gifted by nature with all that could
+ensure a mother's love. "But how does all this help him now?"
+cried Ulrich. "It is with a good heart as with a good ship, unless
+you guide it, it will run aground--stand by the helm, or the best
+ship will be lost. What had the country to expect from a Prince
+who would die, forsooth? unless his mistress sat by his bedside?
+Ah! if he could only have followed the funeral of the young lord,
+he would have given a hundred florins to the poor that very day!"
+
+"It was not her son's fault--that base hypocrite had caused it all
+by some hell magic."
+
+_Ille_.--"That was quite impossible; however, he would
+believe it to please her Grace."
+
+"Then let him speak his opinion, if the counsel of Dr. Gerschovius
+did not please him."
+
+_Ille_.--"His advice, then, was to keep quiet until the third
+night, then secretly place a guard round the castle and at the
+wing, and when the bridal party met, take them out prisoners, send
+my young lord to the tower, but disgrace Sidonia publicly, and
+send her off where she pleased--to the fiend, if she liked."
+
+"Then they would have the same old scene over again; her son would
+fall sick, and Sidonia could not be brought back to cure him, if
+once she had been publicly disgraced before all the people. So
+matters would be worse than ever."
+
+Hereupon old Ulrich fell into such a rage that he cursed and
+swore, that her Grace treated him no better than a fool, to bring
+him hither from Spantekow, and then refuse to take his advice. As
+to Sidonia, her Grace had already brought disgrace upon her
+princely house, by first turning her out, and then praying her to
+come back before three days had elapsed. All Pomerania talked of
+it, and old Otto Bork did not scruple to brag and boast
+everywhere, that her Grace had no peace or rest from her
+conscience until she had asked forgiveness from the Lady Sidonia
+(as the vain old knave called her) and entreated her to return.
+Now if she took the advice of Doctor Gerschovius, and first
+imprisoned and then turned away Sidonia, no one would believe in
+her story of the intended marriage, but look on her conduct as
+only a confirmation of all the hard treatment which her Grace was
+reported to have employed towards the girl; whereas if she only
+waited till the whole bridal party were ready to start, and then
+arrested Sidonia, her Grace was justified before the whole world,
+for what greater fault could be committed than thus to entrap the
+young Prince into a secret marriage, and run away with him by
+night from the castle? Let her Grace then send for the
+executioner, and let him give Sidonia a public whipping before all
+the people. No one would think the punishment too hard, for
+seducing a Prince of Pomerania into a marriage with her.
+
+So the princely widow of Duke Philip will be justified before all
+the world; and when the young lord sees his bride so disgraced, he
+will assuredly be right willing to give her up; even if he fall
+sick, it is impossible that he could send for a maiden to sit by
+his bed who had been publicly whipped by the executioner. Those
+were stern measures, perhaps, but a branch of the old Pomeranian
+tree was decayed; it must be lopped, or the whole tree itself
+would soon fall.
+
+When the Grand Chamberlain ceased speaking, her Grace considered
+the matter well, and finally pronounced that she would follow his
+advice, whereupon, as the night waxed late, she dismissed the
+party to their beds, retaining only Clara with her for a little
+longer.
+
+But a strange thing happened as she, too, finally quitted her
+Grace, and proceeded along the corridor to her own little
+apartment--and here let every one consider how the hand of God is
+in everything, and what great events He can bring forth from the
+slightest causes, as a great oak springs up from a little acorn.
+
+For as the maiden walked along, her sandal became unfastened, and
+tripped her, so that she nearly fell upon her face, whereupon she
+paused, and placing her foot upon a beer-barrel that stood against
+the wall not far from Sidonia's chamber, began to fasten it, but
+lo! just at that moment the head of the ghost appeared rising
+through the trap-door, and looked round, then, as if aware of her
+presence, drew back, and she heard a noise as if it had jumped
+down on the earth beneath. She was horribly frightened, and crept
+trembling to her bed; but then on reflecting over this apparition
+of the serpent knight, it came into her head that it could not be
+a ghost, since it came down on the ground with such a heavy jump;
+she prayed to God, therefore, to help her in discovering this
+matter, and as she could not sleep, rose before the first glimmer
+of daylight to examine this hole which lay so close to Sidonia's
+chamber, and there truly she discovered the trap-door, and having
+opened, found that it lay right over a large coach in the ducal
+stables; thereupon she concluded that the ghost was no other than
+the Prince himself who thus visited Sidonia.
+
+Then she remembered that the ghost had been particularly active
+while the young Prince lay sick on his bed watched by his mother;
+so to make the matter clearer she went the next evening into the
+stables, and observing the coach, which lay just beneath the hole,
+sprinkled fine ash-dust all round it. Then returning to her room,
+she waited until it grew quite dark, and as ten o'clock struck and
+all the doors of the corridor leading to the women's apartments
+were barred and bolted, she wrapped herself in a black mantle and
+stole out with a palpitating heart into the gallery. Remembering
+the large beer-barrel near Sidonia's room, she crouched down
+behind it, and from thence had a distinct view of the trap-door,
+and also of Sidonia's chamber. There she waited for about an hour,
+when she perceived the young Prince coming, but not through the
+trap-door. He knocked lightly at Sidonia's door, who opened it
+instantly, and they held a long whispering conversation together.
+He had brought her the page's dress, and there was nothing to be
+feared now, for he had examined the trap and found they could
+easily get out through it on the top of the coach, and from thence
+into the stables. After that the way was clear. Surely some good
+angel had put the idea into her head. Then he kissed her tenderly.
+
+_Illa_.--"What did the old nun come for? Could she have
+betrayed them?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Impossible. She did not know a syllable of their
+affairs, and had come to ask his lady mother to send her a Popish
+priest, as she had asked himself." Then he kissed her again, but
+she tore herself from his arms, threw the little bundle into the
+room, and shut the door in his face. Whereupon the young Prince
+went his way, sighing as if his heart would break.
+
+Now Clara concluded, with reason, that the young lord was not the
+ghost, inasmuch as he did not creep through the trap-door, nor did
+he wear helmet or cuirass, or any sort of disguise. But when she
+heard Sidonia talk with such knowledge of the trap-door, she
+guessed there was some knavery in the matter, and though she sat
+the night there she was determined to watch. And behold! at twelve
+o'clock there was a great clattering heard below, and presently a
+helmet appeared rising through the hole, and then the entire
+figure of the ghost clambered up through it, and after cautiously
+looking round it, approached Sidonia's door, and knocked lightly.
+Immediately she opened it herself, admitted the ghost, and Clara
+heard her drawing the bolts of the door within.
+
+The pious and chaste maiden felt ready to faint with shame; for it
+was now evident that Sidonia deceived the poor young Prince as
+well as every one else, and that this ghost whom she admitted must
+be a favoured lover. She resolved to watch until he came out. But
+it was about the dawn of morning before he again appeared, and
+took his hellish path down through the trap-door, in the same way
+as he had risen. But to make all certain she took a brush, and
+before it was quite day, descended to the stables, where, indeed,
+she observed large, heavy footprints in the ashes all round the
+coach, quite unlike those which the delicate little feet of his
+Highness would have made. So she swept them all clean away to
+avoid exciting any suspicion, and crept back noiselessly to her
+little room. Then waiting till the morning was somewhat advanced,
+she despatched her maid on some errand into the town, in order to
+get rid of her, and then watched anxiously for her bridegroom,
+Marcus Bork, who always passed her door going to his office; and
+hearing his step, she opened her door softly, and drew him in.
+Then she related fully all she had heard and seen on the past
+night.
+
+The upright and virtuous young man clasped his hands together in
+horror and disgust, but could not resolve whether it were fitter
+to declare the whole matter to her Highness instantly or not.
+Clara, however, was of opinion that her Grace would derive great
+comfort from the information, because when the Prince found how
+Sidonia had betrayed him, he would give up the creature of his own
+accord. To which Marcus answered, that probably the Prince would
+not believe a word of the story, and then matters would be in a
+worse way than ever.
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he afraid to disgrace Sidonia because she was
+his kinswoman? Was it the honour of his name he wished to shield
+by sparing her from infamy?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; she wronged him. If she were his sister, he
+would still do his duty towards her Grace. The honour of the whole
+Pomeranian house was perilled here, and he would save it at any
+cost. But did his darling bride know who the ghost was?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; she had been thinking the whole night about him
+till her head ached, but in vain."
+
+At this moment the Grand Chamberlain passed the room on his way to
+the Duchess, and they both went to the door, and entreated him to
+come in and give them his advice. How the old knight laughed for
+joy when he heard all; it was almost as good news to him as the
+death of the young lord would have been. But no; they must not
+breathe a syllable of it to her Highness. Wait for this night, and
+if the dear ghost appeared again, he would give him and his
+paramour something to think of to the end of their lives. Then he
+walked up and down Clara's little room, thinking over what should
+be done; and finally resolved to open the matter to the young
+Prince that night between ten and eleven o'clock, and show him
+what a creature he was going to make Duchess of Pomerania. After
+which they should all, Marcus included, go armed to the
+stables--for the Prince, no doubt, would be slow of belief--and
+there conceal themselves in the coach until the ghost arrived. If
+he came, as was almost certain, they would follow him to Sidonia's
+room, break it open, and discover them together. In order that
+witnesses might not be wanting, he would desire all the pages and
+household to be collected in his room at that hour; and the moment
+they were certain of having trapped the ghost, Marcus should slip
+out of the coach, and run to gather them all together in the grand
+corridor. To ensure all this being done, he would take the keys
+from the castellan himself that night, and keep them in his own
+possession. But, above all things, they were to keep still and
+quiet during the day; and now he would proceed to her Grace.
+
+But Marcus Bork begged to ask him, if the ghost did not come that
+night, what was to be done? For the next was to be that of the
+marriage, and unless the Prince was convinced by his own eyes,
+nothing would make him credit the wickedness of his intended
+bride. Sidonia would swear by heaven and earth that the story was
+a malicious invention, and a plot to effect her utter destruction.
+
+This view of the case puzzled the old knight not a little, and he
+rubbed his forehead and paced up and down the room, till suddenly
+an idea struck him, and he exclaimed--"I have it, Marcus! You are
+a brave youth, dear Marcus, and a loyal subject and servant to her
+Grace. Your conduct will bring as much honour upon the noble name
+of Bork as Sidonia's has brought disgrace. Therefore I will trust
+you. Listen, Marcus. If the ghost does not appear to-night, then
+you must ride the morrow morn to Crummyn. Bribe the priest with
+gold. Tell him that he must write instantly to the young Prince,
+saying, that the marriage must be delayed for eight days, for
+there was no boat to be had safe enough to carry him and his bride
+up the Haff, seeing that all the boats and their crews were
+engaged at the fisheries, and would not be back to Crummyn until
+the following Saturday. The young lord, therefore, must have
+patience. Should the priest hesitate, then Marcus must threaten
+him with the loss of his living, as the whole princely house
+should be made acquainted with his villainy. He will then consent.
+I know him well!
+
+"If that is once arranged, then we shall seat ourselves every
+night in the coach until the ghost comes; and, methinks, he will
+not long delay, since hitherto he has managed his work with such
+security and success."
+
+The discreet and virtuous Marcus promised to obey Ulrich in all
+things, and the Grand Chamberlain then went his way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and
+how in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast_.
+
+
+The night came at last. And the Grand Chamberlain collected, as he
+had said, all the officials and pages of the household together in
+his office at the treasury, and bid them wait there until he
+summoned them. No one was to leave the apartment under pain of his
+severe displeasure. _Item_, he had prayed her Grace not to
+retire to rest that night before twelve of the clock; and when she
+asked wherefore, he replied that she would have to take leave of a
+very remarkable visitor that night; upon which she desired to know
+more, but he said that his word was passed not to reveal more. So
+her Grace thought he meant himself, and promised to remain up.
+
+As ten o'clock struck, the castellan locked, up, as was his wont,
+all that portion of the castle leading to the women's apartments.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked him for the keys, saying that he would keep
+them in his own charge. Then he prayed his Serene Highness Prince
+Ernest to accompany him to the lumber-room.
+
+His Highness consented, and they both ascended in the dark. On
+entering, Ulrich drew forth a dark lantern from beneath his cloak,
+and made the light fall upon an old suit of armour. Then turning
+to the Prince--"Do you know this armour?" he said.
+
+"Ah, yes; it was the armour of his dearly beloved father, Duke
+Philip."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. Did he then remember the admonitions which
+the wearer of this armour had uttered, upon his deathbed, to him
+and his brothers?"
+
+"Oh yes, well he remembered them; but what did this long sermon
+denote?"
+
+_Ille_.--"This he would soon know. Had he not given his right
+hand to the wearer of that armour, and pledged himself ever to set
+a good example before the people committed to his rule?"
+
+_Hic_.--"He did not know what all this meant. Had he even set
+a bad example to his subjects?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He was on the high-road to do it, when he had
+resolved to wed himself secretly to a maiden beneath his rank.
+(Here the young Prince became as pale as a corpse.) Let him deny,
+if he could, that he had sworn by his father's corpse, with his
+hand upon the coffin, to abandon Sidonia. He would not upbraid him
+with his broken promises to him, but would he bring his loving
+mother to her grave through shame and a broken heart? Would he
+make himself on a level with the lowest of the people, by wedding
+Sidonia the next night in the church at Crummyn?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Had that accursed Catholic nun then betrayed him?
+Ah, he was surrounded by spies and traitors; but if he could not
+obtain Sidonia now, he would wed her the moment he was of age and
+succeeded to the government. If he could in no way have Sidonia,
+then he would never wed another woman, but remain single and a
+dead branch for his whole life long. Her blood was as noble as his
+own, and no devil should dare to part them."
+
+_Ille.--"But if he could prove, this very night, to the young
+lord, that Sidonia was not an honourable maiden, but a dishonoured
+creature----" Here the young Prince drew his dagger and rushed
+upon the old man, with lips foaming with rage; but Ulrich sprang
+behind the armour of Duke Philip, and said calmly, "Ernest, if
+thou wouldst murder me who have been so leal and faithful a
+servant to thee and thine, then strike me dead here through the
+links of thy father's cuirass."
+
+And as the young man drew back with a deep groan, he
+continued--"Hear me, before thou dost a deed which eternity will
+not be long enough to repent. I cannot be angry with thee, for I
+have been young myself, and would have stricken any one to the
+earth who had called my own noble bride dishonoured. Listen to me,
+then, and strike me afterwards, if thou wilt." Hereupon the old
+knight stepped out from behind the armour, which was fixed upon a
+wooden frame in the middle of the apartment, with the helmet
+surmounting it, and leaning against the shoulder-piece, he
+proceeded to relate all that Clara had seen and heard.
+
+The young Prince turned first as red as scarlet, then pale as a
+corpse, and sunk down upon a pile of old armour, unable to utter
+anything but sighs and groans.
+
+Ulrich then asked if he remembered the silly youth who had been
+drowned lately in consequence of Sidonia's folly; for it was his
+apparition in the armour he then wore which it was reported
+haunted the castle. And did he remember also how that armour (in
+which the poor young man's father also had been killed fighting
+against the Bohemians) had been taken off the corpse and hung up
+again in that lumber-room?
+
+_Hic_.--"Of course he remembered all that; it had happened
+too lately for him to forget the circumstance."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, let him take the lantern himself, and
+see if the armour hung still upon the wall." So the young lord
+took the lantern with trembling hands, and advanced to the place;
+but no--there was no armour there now. Then he looked all round
+the room, but the armour with the serpent crest was nowhere to be
+seen. He dropped the lantern with a bitter execration. Hereupon
+the old knight continued--"You see, my gracious Prince, that the
+ghost must have flesh and blood, like you or me. The castellan
+tells me that when the ghost first began his pranks, the helmet
+and cuirass were still found every morning in their usual place
+here. But for eight days they have not been forthcoming; for the
+ghost, you see, is growing hardy and forgetting his usual
+precautions. However, the castellan had determined to watch him,
+and seize hold of him, for, as he rightly conjectured, a spirit
+could not carry away a heavy iron suit of armour on him; but his
+wife had dissuaded him from those measures up to the present time.
+Come now to the stables with me," continued Ulrich, "and let us
+conceal ourselves in the coach which I mentioned to you; Marcus
+Bork shall accompany us, and let us wait there until the ghost
+appears, and creeps through the trapdoor. After some time we shall
+follow him; and then this wicked cheat will be detected. But
+before we move, swear to me that you will await the issue
+peaceably and calmly in the coach; you must neither sigh nor
+groan, nor scarcely breathe. No matter what you hear or see, if
+you cannot control your fierce, jealous rage, all will be lost."
+
+Then the young Prince gave him his hand, and promised to keep
+silence, though it should cost him his life, for no one could be
+more anxious to discover the truth or falsehood of this matter
+than he himself. So they both descended now to the courtyard,
+Ulrich concealing the lantern under his mantle; and they crouched
+along by the wall till they reached the horse-pond, where Marcus
+Bork stood awaiting them; then they glided on, one by one, into
+the stables, and concealed themselves within the coach.
+
+It was well they did so without longer delay, for scarcely had
+they been seated when the ghost appeared. No doubt he had heard of
+the intended marriage, and wished to take advantage of his last
+opportunity. As the sound of his feet became audible approaching
+the coach, the Prince almost groaned audibly; but the stout old
+knight threw one arm powerfully round his body, and placed the
+hand of the other firmly over his mouth. The ghost now began to
+ascend the coach, and they heard him clambering up the hind wheel;
+he slipped down, however (a bad omen), and muttered a half-curse;
+then, to help himself up better, he seized hold of the sash of the
+window, and with it took a grip of Ulrich's beard, as he was
+leaning close to the side of the coach to watch his proceedings.
+Not a stir did the brave old knight make, but sat as still as
+marble, and even held his breath, lest the ghost might feel it
+warm upon his hand, and so discover their ambuscade.
+
+At last he was up; and they heard him clattering over their heads,
+then creeping through the trap-door into the corridor, and a
+little after, the sound of a door gently opening.
+
+All efforts were in vain to keep the Prince quiet. He must follow
+him. He would rush through the trap-door after him, though it cost
+him his life! But old Ulrich whispered in his ear, "Now I know
+that Prince Ernest has neither honour nor discretion, and
+Pomerania has little to hope from such a ruler." All in vain--he
+springs out of the coach, but the knight after him, who hastily
+gave Marcus Bork the keys of the castle, and bade him go fetch the
+household, down to the menials, here to the gallery. Marcus took
+them, and left the stables instantly. Then Ulrich seized the hand
+of Prince Ernest, who was already on the top of the coach, and
+asked him was it thus he would, leave an old man without any one
+to assist him. Let him in first through the trap-door, while the
+Prince held the lantern. To this he consented, and helped the old
+knight up, who, having reached the trap-door, put his head
+through; but, alas! the portly stomach of the stout old knight
+would not follow. He stretched out his head, however, on every
+side, as far as it could go, and heard distinctly low whispering
+voices from Sidonia's little room; then a sound as of the tramp of
+many feet became audible in the courtyard, by which he knew that
+Marcus and the household were advancing rapidly.
+
+But the young lord, who was waiting at the top of the coach, grew
+impatient, and pulled him back, endeavouring to creep through the
+hole himself. Praised be Heaven, however, this he failed to do
+from weakness; so he was obliged to follow the Grand Chamberlain,
+who whispered to him to come down, and they could reach the
+corridor through the usual entrance. Hereupon they both left the
+stables, and met Marcus in the courtyard with his company.
+
+Then all ascended noiselessly to the gallery, and ranged
+themselves around Sidonia's door. Ulrich now told eight of the
+strongest carls present to step forward and lean their shoulders
+against the door, but make no stir until he gave a sign; then when
+he cried "Now!" they should burst it open with all their force.
+
+As to the young Prince, he was trembling like an aspen leaf, and
+his weakness was so great that two young men had to support him.
+In short, as all present gradually stole closer and closer up to
+the door of Sidonia's room, the old knight drew forth his lantern,
+and signed to the men, who stood with their shoulders pressed
+against it; then when all was ready, he cried "Now!" and the door
+burst open with a loud crash. Every lock, and bar, and bolt
+shivered to atoms, and in rushed the whole party, Ulrich at their
+head, with his lantern lifted high up above them all.
+
+Sidonia and her visitor were standing in the middle of the room.
+Ulrich first flashed the light upon the face of the man. Who would
+have believed it?--no other than Johann Appelmann! The knight hit
+him a heavy blow across the face, exclaiming, "What! thou common
+horse-jockey--thou low-born varlet--is it thus thou bringest
+disgrace upon a maiden of the noblest house in Pomerania? Ha, thou
+shalt be paid for this. Wait! Master Hansen shall give thee some
+of his gentle love-touches this night!"
+
+But meanwhile the young Prince had entered, and beheld Sidonia, as
+she stood there trembling from shame, and endeavouring to cover
+her face with her long, beautiful golden hair that fell almost to
+her knees. "Sidonia!" he exclaimed, with a cry as bitter as if a
+dagger had passed through his heart--"Sidonia!" and fell
+insensible before her.
+
+Now a great clamour arose amongst the crowd, for beside the couch
+lay the helmet and cuirass of the ghost; so every one knew now who
+it was that had played this trick on them for so long, and kept
+the castle in such a state of terror.
+
+Then they gathered round the poor young Prince, who lay there as
+stiff as a corpse, and lamented over him with loud lamentations,
+and some of them lifted him up to carry him out of the chamber;
+but the Grand Chamberlain sternly commanded them to lay him down
+again before his bride, whom he had arranged to wed privately at
+Crummyn on the following night. Then seizing Sidonia by the hand,
+and dashing back her long hair, he led her forward before all the
+people, and said with a loud voice, "See here the illustrious and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, of the holy Roman Empire, Duchess of
+Pomerania, Cassuben, and Wenden, Princess of Rügen, Countess of
+Gützkow, and our Serene and most Gracious Lady, how she honours
+the princely house of Pomerania by sharing her love with this
+stable groom, this tailor's son, this debauched profligate! Oh! I
+could grow mad when I think of this disgrace. Thou shameless one!
+have I not long ago given thee thy right name? But wait--the name
+shall be branded on thee this night, so that all the world may
+read it."
+
+Just then her Grace entered with Clara, followed by all the other
+maids of honour; for, hearing the noise and tumult, they had
+hastened thither as they were, some half undressed, others with
+only a loose night-robe flung round them. And her Grace, seeing
+the young lord lying pale and insensible on the ground, wrung her
+hands and cried out, "Who has killed my son? who has murdered my
+darling child?"
+
+Here stepped forward Ulrich, and said, "The young lord was not
+dead; but, if it so pleased God, was in a fair way now to regain
+both life and reason." Then he related all which had led to this
+discovery; and how they had that night been themselves the
+witnesses of Sidonia's wickedness with the false ghost. Now her
+Grace knew his secret, which he had not told until certain of
+success.
+
+As he related all these things, her Grace turned upon Sidonia and
+spat on her; and the young lord, having recovered somewhat in
+consequence of the water they had thrown on him, cried out,
+"Sidonia! is it possible? No, Sidonia, it is not possible!"
+
+The shameless hypocrite had now recovered her self-possession, and
+would have denied all knowledge of Appelmann, saying that he
+forced himself in when she chanced to open the door; but he,
+interrupting her, cried, "Does the girl dare to lay all the blame
+on me? Did you not press my hand there when you were lying after
+you fell from the stag? Did you not meet me afterwards in the
+lumber-room--that day of the hunt when Duke Barnim was here last?"
+
+"No, no, no!" shrieked Sidonia. "It is a lie, an infamous lie!"
+But he answered, "Scream as you will, you cannot deny that this
+disguise of the ghost was your own invention to favour my visits
+to you. Did you not drop notes for me down on the coach, through
+the trap-door, fixing the nights when I might come? and bethink
+you of last night, when you sent me a note by your maid, wrapped
+up in a little horse-cloth which I had lent you for your cat, with
+the prayer that I would not fail to be with you that night nor the
+next"--Oh, just Heaven! to think that it was upon that very night
+that Clara should break her shoe-string, by which means the
+Almighty turned away ruin and disgrace from the ancient,
+illustrious, and princely house of Pomerania--all by a broken
+shoe-string! For if the ghost had remained away but that one
+night, or Clara had not broken her shoestring, Sidonia would have
+been Duchess of Pomerania; but what doth the Scripture say? "Man's
+goings are of the Lord. What man understandeth his own way?"
+(Prov. xx. 24).
+
+When Sidonia heard him tell all this, and how she had written
+notes of entreaty to him, she screamed aloud, and springing at him
+like a wild-cat, buried her ten nails in his hair, shrieking,
+"Thou liest, traitor; it is false! it is false!"
+
+Now Ulrich rushed forward, and seized her by her long hair to part
+them, but at that moment Master Hansen, the executioner, entered
+in his red cloak, with six assistants (for Ulrich had privately
+sent for him), and the Grand Chamberlain instantly let go his hold
+of Sidonia, saying, "You come in good time, Master Hansen; take
+away this wretched pair, lock them up in the bastion tower, and on
+the morn bring them to the horse-market by ten of the clock, and
+there scourge and brand them; then carry them both to the frontier
+out of our good State of Wolgast, and let them both go their ways
+from that, whither it may please them."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she let go her paramour and fell fainting
+upon the bed; but recovering herself in a little time, she
+exclaimed, "What is this you talk of? A noble maiden who is as
+innocent as the child in its cradle, to be scourged by the common
+executioner? Oh, is there no Christian heart here to take pity on
+a poor, helpless girl! Gracious young Prince, even if all the
+world hold me guilty, you cannot, no, you cannot; it is
+impossible!"
+
+Hereupon the young lord began to tremble like an aspen leaf, and
+said in a broken voice, "Alas, Sidonia! you betrayed yourself: if
+you had not mentioned that trap-door to me, I might still have
+believed you innocent (I, who thought some good angel had guided
+you to it!); now it is impossible; yet be comforted, the
+executioner shall never scourge you nor brand you--you are branded
+enough already." Then turning to the Grand Chamberlain he said,
+that with his consent a hangman should never lay his hands upon
+this nobly born maiden, whom he had once destined to be Duchess of
+Pomerania; but Appelmann, this base-born vassal, who had eaten of
+his bread and then betrayed him like a Judas, let him be flogged
+and branded as much as they pleased; no word of his should save
+the accursed seducer from punishment.
+
+Notwithstanding this, old Ulrich was determined on having Sidonia
+scourged, and my gracious lady the Duchess must have her scourged
+too. "Let her dear son only think that if the all-merciful God had
+not interposed, he would have been utterly ruined and his princely
+house disgraced, by means of this girl. Nothing but evil had she
+brought with her since first she set foot in the castle: she had
+caused his sickness; item, the death of two young knights by
+drowning; item, the terrible execution of Joachim Budde, who was
+beheaded at the festival; and had she not, in addition, whipped
+her dear little Casimir, which unseemly act had only lately come
+to her knowledge? and had she not also made every man in the
+castle that approached her mad for love of her, all by her
+diabolical conduct? No--away with the wretch: she merits her
+chastisement a thousand and a thousand-fold!" And old Ulrich
+exclaimed likewise, "Away with the wretch and her paramour!"
+
+Here the young lord made an effort to spring forward to save her,
+but fell fainting on the ground; and while the attendants were
+busy running for water to throw over him, Clara von Dewitz,
+turning away the executioner with her hand from Sidonia, fell down
+on her knees before her Grace, and besought her to spare at least
+the person of the poor, unfortunate maiden; did her Grace think
+that any punishment could exceed what she had already suffered?
+Let her own compassionate heart plead along with her words--and
+did not the Scripture say, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord."
+
+Hereupon her Grace looked at old Ulrich without speaking; but he
+understood her glance, and made answer--"No; the hangman must do
+his duty towards the wretch!" when her Grace said mildly, "But for
+the sake of this dear, good young maiden, I think we might let her
+go, for, remember, if she had not opened out this villainy to us,
+the creature would have been my daughter-in-law, and my princely
+house disgraced for evermore."
+
+Now Marcus Bork stepped forward, and added his prayers that the
+noble name he bore might not be disgraced in Sidonia. "He had ever
+been a faithful feudal vassal to her princely house, and had not
+even scrupled to bring the secret wicked deeds of his cousin
+before the light of day, though it was like a martyrdom of his own
+flesh and blood for conscience' sake."
+
+Here old Ulrich burst forth in great haste--"Seven thousand
+devils! Let the wench be off, then. Not another night should she
+rest in the castle. Let her speak--where would she go to? where
+should they bring her to?"
+
+And when Sidonia answered, sobbing, "To Stettin, to her gracious
+lord, Duke Barnim, who would take pity on her because of her
+innocence," Ulrich laughed outright in scorn. "I shall give the
+driver a letter to him, and another to thy father. Perhaps his
+Grace will show thee true pity, and drive thee with his horsewhip
+to Stramehl. But thou shalt journey in the same coach whereon thy
+leman clambered up to the trap-door, and Master Hansen shall sit
+on the coach-box and drive thee himself. As to thy darling
+stablegroom here, the master must set his mark on him before he
+goes; but that can be done when the hangman returns from Stettin."
+
+When Appelmann heard this, he fell at the feet of the Lord
+Chamberlain, imploring him to let him off too. "Had he not ridden
+to Spantekow, without stop or stay, at the peril of his life, to
+oblige Lord Ulrich that time the Lapland wizard made the evil
+prophecy; and though his illustrious lady died, yet that was from
+no fault of his, and his lordship had then promised not to forget
+him if he were but in need. So now he demanded, on the strength of
+his knightly word, that a horse should be given him from the ducal
+stables, and that he be permitted to go forth, free and scathless,
+to ride wherever it might please him. His sins were truly heavy
+upon him, and he would try and do better, with the help of God."
+
+When the old knight heard him express himself in this godly sort
+(for the knave knew his man well), he was melted to compassion,
+and said, "Then go thy way, and God give thee grace to repent of
+thy manifold sins."
+
+Her Grace had nothing to object; only to put a fixed barrier
+between the Prince and Sidonia, she added, "But send first for Dr.
+Gerschovius, that he may unite this shameless pair in marriage
+before they leave the castle, and then they can travel away
+together."
+
+Hereupon Johann Appelmann exclaimed, "No, never! How could he hope
+for God's grace to amend him, living with a thing like that, tied
+to him for life, which God and man alike hold in abhorrence?" At
+this speech Sidonia screamed aloud, "Thou lying and accursed
+stable-groom, darest thou speak so of a castle and land dowered
+maiden?" and she flew at him, and would have torn his hair, but
+Marcus Bork seized hold of her round the waist, and dragged her
+with great effort into Clara's room.
+
+Now the tears poured from the eyes of her Grace at such a
+disgraceful scene, and she turned to her son, who was slowly
+recovering--"Hast thou heard, Ernest, this groom--this servant of
+thine--refuses to take the girl to wife whom thou wast going to
+make Duchess of Pomerania? Woe! woe! what words for thy poor
+mother to hear; but it was all foreshadowed when Dr. Luther--" &c.
+&c.
+
+In short, the end of the infamous story was, that Sidonia was
+carried off that very night in the identical coach we know of, and
+Master Hansen was sent with her, bearing letters to the Duke and
+Otto from the Grand Chamberlain, and one also to the burgomaster
+Appelmann in Stargard; and the executioner had strict orders to
+drive her himself the whole way to Stettin. As for Appelmann, he
+sprung upon a Friesland clipper, as the old chamberlain had
+permitted, and rode away that same night. But the young lord was
+so ill from grief and shame, that he was lifted to his bed, and
+all the _medici_ of Grypswald and Wolgast were summoned to
+attend him.
+
+And such was the end of Sidonia von Bork at the ducal court of
+Wolgast. But old Küssow told me that for a long while she was the
+whole talk of the court and town, many wondering, though they knew
+well her light behaviour, that she should give herself up to
+perdition at last for a common groom, no better than a menial
+compared to her. But I find the old proverb is true for her as
+well as for another, "The apple falls close to the tree; as is the
+sheep, so is the lamb;" for had her father brought her up in the
+fear of God, in place of encouraging her in revenge, pride, and
+haughtiness, Sidonia might have been a good and honoured wife for
+her life long. But the libertine example of her father so
+destroyed all natural instincts of modesty and maidenly reserve
+within her, that she fell an easy prey to the first temptation.
+
+In short, my gracious Prince Bogislaus XIV., as well as all those
+who love and honour the illustrious house of Wolgast, will
+devoutly thank God for having turned away this disgrace in a
+manner so truly wonderful.
+
+I have already spoken of the broken shoe-tie, but in addition, I
+must point out that if Sidonia had counselled her paramour to take
+the armour of Duke Philip, which hung in the same lumber-room, in
+place of that belonging to the serpent knight, that wickedness
+would never have come to light. For assuredly all in the castle
+would have believed that it was truly the ghost of the dead duke,
+who came to reproach his son for not holding the oath which he had
+sworn on his coffin, to abandon Sidonia. And consequently, respect
+and terror would have alike prevented any human soul in the castle
+from daring to follow it, and investigate its object. Therefore
+let us praise the name of the Lord who turned all things to good,
+and fulfilled, in Sidonia and her lover, the Scripture which
+saith, "Thinking themselves wise, they became fools" (Rom. i. 21).
+
+
+
+
+END OF FIRST BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UP
+TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Grace must be informed,
+that much of what I have here set down, in this second book, was
+communicated to me by that same old Uckermann of Dalow of whom I
+have spoken already in my first volume.
+
+Other important facts I have gleaned from the Diary of Magdalena
+von Petersdorfin, _Priorissa_ of the convent of Marienfliess.
+She was an old and worthy matron, whom Sidonia, however, used to
+mock and insult, calling her the old cat, and such-like names. But
+she revenged herself on the shameless wanton in no other way than
+by writing down what facts she could collect of her disgraceful
+life and courses, for the admonition and warning of the holy
+sisterhood.
+
+This little book the pious nun left to her sister Sophia, who is
+still living in the convent at Marienfliess; and she, at my
+earnest entreaties, permitted me to peruse it.
+
+Before, however, I continue the relation of Sidonia's adventures,
+I must state to your Grace what were the circumstances which
+induced Otto von Bork to demand so urgently the dues upon the Jena
+from their Highnesses of Stettin and Wolgast. In my opinion, it
+was for nothing else than to revenge himself upon the burgomaster
+of Stargard, Jacob Appelmann, father of the equerry. The quarrel
+happened years before, but Otto never forgot it, and only waited a
+fitting opportunity to take vengeance on him and the people of
+Stargard.
+
+This Jacob Appelmann was entitled to receive a great portion of
+the Jena dues, which were principally paid to him in kind,
+particularly in foreign spices, which he afterwards sold to the
+Polish Jews, at the annual fair held in Stramehl.
+
+It happened, upon one of these occasions, as Jacob, with two of
+his porters, appeared, as usual, carrying bags of spices, to sell
+to the Polish Jews, that Otto met him in the market-place, and
+invited him to come up to his castle, for that many nobles were
+assembled there who would, no doubt, give him better prices for
+his goods than the Polish Jews, and added that the worthy
+burgomaster must drink his health with him that day.
+
+Now, Jacob Appelmann was no despiser of good cheer or of broad
+gold pieces; so, unfortunately for himself, he accepted the
+invitation. But the knight had only lured him up to the castle to
+insult and mock him. For when he entered the hall, a loud roar of
+laughter greeted his appearance, and the half-drunk guests, who
+were swilling the wine as if they had tuns to fill, and not
+stomachs, swore that he must pledge each of them separately, in a
+lusty draught. So they handed him an enormous becker, cut with
+Otto's arms, bidding him drain it; but as the Herr Jacob
+hesitated, his host asked him, laughing, was he a Jesu disciple,
+that he refused to drink?
+
+Hereupon the other answered, he was too old for a disciple, but he
+was not ashamed to call himself a servant of Jesus.
+
+Then they all roared with laughter, and Otto spoke--
+
+"My good lords and dear friends, ye know how that the Stargard
+knaves joined with the Pomeranian Duke to ravage my good town of
+Stramehl, so that it can be only called a village now. And it is
+also not unknown to you that my disgrace then passed into a
+proverb, so that people will still say, 'He fell upon me as the
+Stargardians upon Stramehl.' Let us, then, revenge ourselves
+to-day. If this Jesu's servant will not drink, then tear open his
+mouth, put a tun-dish therein, and pour down a good draught till
+the knave cries 'enough!' As to his spices, let us scatter them
+before the Polish Jews, as pease before swine, and it will be
+merry pastime to see how the beasts will lick them up. Thus will
+Stramehl retort upon Stargard, and the whole land will shout with
+laughter. For wherefore does this Stargard pedlar come here to my
+fairs? Mayhap I shall visit his."
+
+Peals of laughter and applause greeted Otto's speech; but Jacob,
+when he heard it, determined, if possible, to effect his escape;
+and watching his opportunity, for he was the only one there not
+drunk, sprang out of the hall, and down the flight of steps, and
+being young then, never drew breath till he reached the
+market-place of Stramehl, and jumped into his own waggon.
+
+In vain Otto screamed out to "stop him, stop him!" all his
+servants were at the fair, where, indeed, the people of the whole
+country round were gathered. Then the host and the guests sprang
+up themselves, to run after Jacob Appelmann, but many could not
+stand, and others tumbled down by the way. However, with a chorus
+of cries, curses, and threats, Otto and some others at last
+reached the waggon, and laid hold of it. Then they dragged out the
+bags of spices, and emptied them all down upon the street,
+crying--
+
+"Come hither, ye Jews; which of you wants pepper? Who wants
+cloves?"
+
+So all the Jews in the place ran together, and down they went on
+all-fours picking up the spices, while their long beards swept the
+pavement quite clean. Hey! how they pushed and screamed, and dealt
+blows about among themselves, till their noses bled, and the place
+looked as if gamecocks had been fighting there, whereat Otto and
+his roistering guests roared with laughter.
+
+One of the bags they pulled out of the waggon contained cinnamon;
+but a huntsman of Otto Bork's, not knowing what it was, poured it
+down likewise into the street. Cinnamon was then so rare, that it
+sold for its weight in gold. So an old Jew, spying the precious
+morsel, cried out, "Praise be to God! Praise be to God!" and ran
+through Otto Bork's legs to get hold of a stick of it. This made
+the knight look down, and seeing the cinnamon, he straightway bid
+the huntsman gather it all up again quick, and carry it safely
+home to the castle.
+
+But the old Jew would by no means let go his hold of the booty,
+and kept the sticks in one hand high above his head, while with
+the other he dealt heavy buffets upon the huntsman. An apprentice
+of Jacob Appelmann's beheld all this from the waggon, and knowing
+what a costly thing this cinnamon was, he made a long arm out of
+the waggon, and snapped away the sticks from the Jew. Upon this
+the huntsman sprang at the apprentice; but the latter, seizing a
+pair of pot-hooks, which his master had that day bought in the
+fair, dealt such a blow with them upon the head of the huntsman,
+that he fell down at once upon the ground quite dead.
+
+Now every one cried out "Murder! murder! Jodute! Jodute! Jodute!"
+and they tore the bags right and left from the waggon, Jews as
+well as Christians; but Otto commanded them to seize the
+apprentice also. So they dragged him out too. He was a fine young
+man of twenty-three, Louis Griepentroch by name. There was such an
+uproar, that the men who held the horses' heads were forced away.
+Whereupon the burgomaster resolved to seize this opportunity for
+escape; and without heeding the lamentations of the other
+apprentice, Zabel Griepentroch, who prayed him earnestly to stop
+and save his poor brother, desired the driver to lash the horses
+into a gallop, and never stop nor stay until the unlucky town was
+left far behind them.
+
+Otto von Bork ordered instant pursuit, but in vain. The
+burgomaster could not be overtaken, and reached Wangerin in
+safety. There he put up at the inn, to give the panting horses
+breathing-time; and now the aforesaid Zabel besought him, with
+many tears, to write to Otto Bork on behalf of his poor brother,
+to which the burgomaster at last consented; for he loved these two
+youths, who were orphans and twins, and he had brought them up
+from their childhood, and treated them in all things like a true
+and loving godfather. So he wrote to Otto, "That if aught of ill
+happened to the young Louis Griepentroch, he (the burgomaster)
+would complain to his Grace of Stettin, for the youth had only
+done his duty in trying to save the property of his master from
+the hands of robbers." The good Jacob, however, admonished Zabel
+to make up his mind for the worst, for the knight was not a man
+whose heart could be melted, as he himself had experienced but too
+well that day.
+
+But the sorrowing youth little heeded the admonitions, only seized
+the letter, and ran with it that same evening back to Stramehl.
+Here, however, no one would listen to him, no one heeded him; and
+when at last he got up to Otto and gave him the letter, the knight
+swore he would flay him alive if he did not instantly quit the
+town. Now the poor youth gnashed his teeth in rage and despair,
+and determined to be revenged on the knight.
+
+Just then came by a great crowd leading his brother Louis to the
+gallows; and on his head they had stuck a high paper cap with the
+Stargard arms painted thereon, namely, a tower with two griffins
+(Sidonia, indeed, had painted it, and she was by, and clapping her
+hands with delight); and for the greater scandal to Stargard, they
+had tied two hares' tails to the back of the cap, with the
+inscription written in large letters above them--"So came the
+Stargardians to Stramehl!"
+
+And Otto and his guests gathered round the gallows, and all the
+market-folk, with great uproar and laughter. _Summa_, when
+the poor carl saw all this, and that there was no hope for his
+heart's dear brother, neither could he even get near him just to
+say a last "good-night," he ran like mad to the castle, which was
+almost empty now, as every one had gone to the market-place; and
+there, on the hill, he turned round and saw how the hangman had
+shoved his dear Louis from the ladder, and the body was swinging
+lamentably to and fro between heaven and earth. So he seized a
+brand and set fire to the brew-house, from which a thick smoke and
+light flames soon rose high into the air. Now all the people
+rushed towards the castle, for they suspected well who had done
+the deed, particularly as they had observed a young fellow
+running, as if for life or death, in the opposite direction
+towards the open country. So they pursued him with wild shouts
+from every direction; right and left they hemmed him in, and cut
+off his escape to the wood. And Otto Bork sprang upon a fresh
+horse, and galloped along with them, roaring out, "Seize the
+rascal!--seize the vile incendiary! He who takes him shall have a
+tun of my best beer!" But others he despatched to the castle to
+extinguish the flames.
+
+Now the poor Zabel knew not what to do, for on every side his
+pursuers were gaining fast upon him, and he heard Otto's voice
+close behind crying, "There he runs! there he runs! Seize the
+gallows-bird, that he may swing with his brother this night. A tun
+of my best beer to the man who takes him! Seize the incendiary!"
+So the poor wretch, in his anguish, threw off his smock upon the
+grass and sprang into the lake, hoping to be able to swim to the
+other side and reach the wood.
+
+"In after him!" roared Otto; and a fellow jumped in instantly, and
+seizing hold of Zabel by the hose, dragged him along with him; but
+they were soon both carried into deep water--Zabel, however, was
+the uppermost, and held the other down tight to stifle him.
+Another seeing this, plunged in to rescue his companion, and from
+the bank dived down underneath Zabel, intending to seize him round
+the body; but it so happened that the fishermen of Stramehl had
+laid their nets close to the place, and he plunged direct into the
+middle of the largest, and stuck there miserably; which when Zabel
+observed, he let the other go, who was now quite dead, and struck
+out boldly for the opposite bank. The fishermen sprang into their
+boats to pursue him, and the crowd ran round, hoping to cut off
+the pass before he could gain the bank; but he was a brave youth,
+and distanced them all, jumped on land before one of them could
+reach him, and plunged into the thick wood. Here it was vain to
+follow him, for night was coming on fast; so he pursued his path
+in safety, and returned to his master at Stramehl.
+
+Otto von Bork, however, would not let the matter rest here, for he
+had sustained great loss by the burning of his brew-house (the
+other buildings were saved); therefore he wrote to the honourable
+council at Stargard--"That by the shameful and scandalous burning
+of his brew-house, he had lost two fine hounds named Stargard and
+Stramehl, which he had brought himself from Silesia; _item_,
+two old servants and a woman; _item_, in the lake, two other
+servants had been drowned; and all by the revenge of an
+apprentice, because he had justly caused his brother to be
+executed. Therefore this apprentice must be given up to him, that
+he might have him broken on the wheel, otherwise their vassals on
+the Jena should suffer in such a sort, that the Stargardians would
+long have reason to remember Otto Bork."
+
+Now, some of the honourable councillors were of opinion that they
+should by no means give up the apprentice; first, because Otto had
+insulted the Stargard arms, and secondly, lest it might appear as
+if they feared he would fulfil his threats respecting the Jena.
+
+But Jacob Appelmann, the burgomaster, who lay sick in his bed from
+the treatment he had received at Stramehl, entirely disapproved of
+this resolution; and when they came to him for his advice,
+proposed to give for answer to the knight that he should first
+indemnify him for the loss of his costly spices, which he valued
+at one thousand florins, and when this sum was paid down, they
+might treat of the matter concerning the apprentice.
+
+The knight, however, mocked them for making such an absurd demand
+as compensation, and reiterated his threats, that if the young man
+were not delivered up to him, he would punish Stargard with a
+great punishment.
+
+The council, however, were still determined not to yield; and as
+the burgomaster lay sick in his bed, they released the apprentice
+from prison; and replied to Otto, "That if he broke the public
+peace of his Imperial Majesty, let the consequences fall on his
+own head--there was still justice for them to be had in
+Pomerania."
+
+When the burgomaster heard of this, he had himself carried in a
+litter, sick as he was, to the honourable council, and asked them,
+"Was this justice, to release an incendiary from prison? If they
+sought justice for themselves, let them deal it out to others. No
+one had lost more by the transaction than he: his income for the
+next two years was clean gone, and the care and anxiety he had
+undergone, besides, had reduced him to this state of bodily
+weakness which they observed. It was a heart-grief to him to give
+up the young man, for he had reared him from the baptism water,
+and he had been a faithful servant unto him up to this day. Could
+he save him, he would gladly give up his house and all he was
+worth, and go and take a lodging upon the wall; for this young man
+had once saved his life, by slaying a mad dog which had seized him
+by the tail of his coat; but it was not to be done. They must set
+an honourable example, as just and upright citizens and fearless
+magistrates, who hold that old saying in honour--'_Fiat justitia
+et pereat mundus_;' which means, 'Let justice be done, though
+life and fortune perish.' But the punishment of the wheel was, he
+confessed, altogether too severe for the poor youth; and therefore
+he counselled that they should hang him, as Otto had hung his
+brother."
+
+This course the honourable society consented at last to adopt; but
+the knight had disgraced their arms, and they ought in return to
+disgrace his. They could get the court painter from Stettin at the
+public expense, and let him paint Otto Bork's arms on the back of
+the young man's hose.
+
+Here the burgomaster again interfered--"Why should the honourable
+council attempt a stupid insult, because the knight had done so?"
+But he talked in vain; they were determined on this retaliation.
+At last (but after a great deal of trouble) he obtained a promise
+that they would have the arms painted before, upon his smock, and
+not behind, upon the hose, for that would be a sore disgrace to
+Otto, and bring his vengeance upon them. "Why should they do more
+to him than he had done unto them? The Scripture said, 'Eye for
+eye, tooth for tooth,' and not two eyes for an eye, two teeth for
+a tooth." Hereupon the honourable council pronounced sentence on
+the young man, and fixed the third day from that for his
+execution. But first the executioner must bring him up before the
+bed of the burgomaster, who thus spoke--"Ah, Zabel, wherefore
+didst thou not behave as I admonished thee in Wangerin?" And as
+the young man began to weep, he gave him his hand, and admonished
+him to be steadfast in the death-hour, asked his forgiveness for
+having condemned him, but it was his duty as a magistrate so to
+do--thanked him for having saved his life by slaying the mad dog;
+finally, bid him "Good-night," and then buried his face in the
+pillow.
+
+So the hangman carried back the weeping youth to the council-hall,
+where the honourable councillors had the Bork arms fastened upon
+his smock, and out of further malice against Otto (for they knew
+the burgomaster, being sick in his bed, could not hinder them),
+they placed over them a large piece of pasteboard, on which was
+written, "So did the Stargardians with Stramehl." _Item_,
+they fastened to the two corners a pair of wolf's ears, because
+Bork, in the Wendig tongue, signifies wolf. This was to revenge
+themselves for the hares' tails.
+
+Then the poor apprentice was carried to the gallows, amid loud
+laughter from the common people. And even the honourable
+councillors waxed merry at the sight; and as the hangman pushed
+him from the ladder, they cried out, "So will the Stargardians do
+to Stramehl!"
+
+Now Otto heard tidings of all these doings, but he feared to
+complain to his Highness the Duke, because he himself had begun
+the quarrel, and they had only retorted as was fair. _Item_,
+he did not dare to stop the boats upon the Jena--for he knew that
+although Duke Barnim was usually of a soft and placable temper,
+yet when he was roused there was no more dangerous enemy. And if
+the Stargardians leagued with him, they might fall upon his town
+of Stramehl, as they had done once before.
+
+Therefore he waited patiently for an opportunity of revenge, and
+held his peace until Sidonia acquainted him with the love of the
+young Prince Ernest. Then he resolved to demand the dues upon the
+Jena to be given up to him, and if his wicked desire had been
+gratified, I think the good citizens of Stargard might have taken
+to the beggar's staff for the rest of their days, for like all the
+old Hanseatic towns, their entire subsistence came to them by
+water, and all their wares and merchandise were carried up the
+Jena in boats to the town. These the knight would have rated so
+highly, if he had been made owner of the dues, that the town and
+people would have been utterly ruined.
+
+It has been already stated that the Duke Barnim gave an ambiguous
+answer to Otto upon the subject; but the knight, after his visit
+to Wolgast, was so certain of seeing his daughter in a short time
+Duchess of Pomerania, that he already looked upon the Jena dues as
+his own, and proceeded to act as shall be related in the next
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians,
+and how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and
+locks him up in the Red Sea._ [Footnote: A watch-tower, built
+in the Moorish style, upon the town wall of Stargard, from which
+the adjacent streets take their name.]
+
+
+As the aforesaid knight and my gracious lord, Duke Barnim,
+journeyed home from Wolgast, the former discoursed much on this
+matter of the Jena dues, but his Grace listened in silence, after
+his manner, and nicked away at his doll. (I think, however, that
+his Grace did not quite understand the matter of the Jena dues
+himself.)
+
+_Summa_, while Otto was at Stettin, he received information
+that three vessels, laden with wine and spices, and all manner of
+merchandise, were on their way to Stargard. So he took this for a
+good sign, and went straight to the town and up to the
+burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, would not sit down, however, but
+made himself as stiff as if his back would break, and asked
+whether he (Appelmann) was aware that the lands of the Bork family
+bordered close upon the Jena.
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, he knew it well."
+
+_Hic._--"Then he could not wonder if he now demanded dues
+from every vessel that went up to Stargard."
+
+_Ille._--"On the contrary, he would wonder greatly; since by
+an Act passed in the reign of Duke Barnim the First, A.D. 1243,
+the freedom of the Jena had been secured to them, and they had
+enjoyed it up to the present date."
+
+_Hic_.--"Stuff! what was the use of bringing up these old
+Acts. His Grace of Stettin, as well as the Duchess of Wolgast, had
+now given them over to him."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then let his lordship produce his charter; if he
+had got one, why not show it?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No, he had not got the written order yet, but he
+would soon have it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, until then they would abide by the old law."
+
+_Hic_.--"By no means. This very day he would insist on being
+paid the dues."
+
+_Ille_.--"That meant, that he purposed to break the peace of
+our lord the Emperor. Let him think well of it. It might cost him
+dear."
+
+_Hic_.--"That was his care. The Stargardians should not a
+second time hang his arms on the gallows."
+
+_Ille_.--"It was a simple act of retaliation; had he not
+read, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Nonsense! was that retaliation, when a set of low
+burgher carls took upon themselves to disgrace the lord of castles
+and lands; as well might one of his serfs, when he struck him,
+strike him in return; that would be retaliation too. Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+_Ille_.--"What did his lordship mean? He was no village
+justice, nor were the burghers of this good town serfs or boors."
+
+_Hic_.--"If he knew not now what he meant, he would soon
+learn; ay, and take off his hat so low to the Bork arms that it
+would touch the ground. Then, too, he might himself get a lesson
+in retaliation."
+
+And herewith the knight strode firmly out of the room, without
+even saluting the burgomaster; but Jacob knew well how to deal
+with him, so he sent instantly for the keeper of the forest, who
+lived in the thick wood on the banks of the Jena, and told him to
+watch by night and day, and if he observed anything unusual going
+on, to spring upon a horse and bring him the intelligence without
+delay.
+
+Meanwhile the knight summoned all his feudal vassals around him at
+Stramehl, and told them how his Grace had bestowed the Jena dues
+upon him, but the sturdy burghers of Stargard had dared to impugn
+his rights; therefore let each of them select two trusty
+followers, and meet all together on the morrow morn at Putzerlin,
+close to the Jena ferry. Then, if there came by any vessels laden
+with choice wines, let them be sure and drink a health to
+Stargard. So they all believed him, and came to the appointed
+place with twenty horsemen, and the knight himself brought twenty
+more. There they unsaddled and turned into the meadow, then set to
+work to throw a bridge over the river. As soon as the forest
+ranger spied them, he saddled his wild clipper, which he himself
+had caught in the Uckermund country, and flew like wind to the
+town (for the wild horses are much stouter and fleeter than the
+tame, but there are none to be found now in all Pomerania).
+
+When the burgomaster heard this tale, he told him to go back the
+way he came, and keep perfectly still until he saw a rocket rise
+from St. Mary's Tower, then let him loose all his hounds upon the
+horses in the meadow, and he and the burghers would follow soon,
+and make a quick end of the robber knights and freebooters; but he
+would wait for three hours before giving the promised sign from
+St. Mary's Tower, that he might have time to get back to the wood.
+Still the knight and his followers continued working at the bridge
+right merrily. They took the ferryman's planks and poles, and cut
+down large oak-trees, and every one that went across the ferry
+must stop and help them; but their work was not quite completed,
+when three vessels appeared in sight, laden with all sorts of
+merchandise, and making direct for Stargard. As soon as Otto
+perceived them, he took half-a-dozen fellows with him, and jumped
+into a ferry-boat, crying, "Hold! until the dues are paid, you can
+go no farther. The river and the land alike belong to me now, and
+I must have my dues, as his Grace of Stettin has commanded."
+
+The crew, however, strictly objected, saying that in the memory of
+man they had never paid dues upon their goods, and they would not
+pay them now; but Otto and his knights jumped on deck, followed by
+their squires, and having asked for the bill of lading, decimated
+all the goods, as a priest collecting his tithe of the sheaves.
+Then he took the best cask of wine, had it rolled on land, and
+called out to the crew, who were crying like children, "Now, good
+people, you may go your ways."
+
+But the poor devils were in despair, and followed him on land,
+praying and beseeching him not to ruin them, but to restore their
+property, at which Otto laughed loudly, and bid the strongest of
+his followers chase the miserable varlets back to their vessel.
+
+Meanwhile the cask of wine had been rolled up against a tree, and
+the knight and his followers set themselves round it upon the
+grass, and because they had no glasses, they drank out of kettles,
+and pots, and bowls, and dishes, or whatever the ferryman could
+give them. Yea, some of them drew off their boots and filled them
+with the wine, others drank it out of their caps, and so there
+they lay on the grass, swilling the wine, and the different wares
+they had seized lay all scattered round them, and they laughed and
+drank, and roared, "Thus we drink a health to Stargard!" Hereupon
+the crew, seeing that nothing could be got from the robbers, went
+their way with curses and imprecations, to which the knight and
+his party responded only with peals of laughter.
+
+But the vessel had scarcely set sail, when a woman's voice was
+heard crying out loudly from the deck--"Father! father! I am here.
+Listen, Otto von Bork, your daughter Sidonia is here!"
+
+When the knight heard this, he felt as if stunned by a blow, but
+immediately comforted himself by thinking that no doubt Prince
+Ernest was with her, particularly as he could observe in the
+twilight the figure of a man seated beside her on a bundle of
+goods. "This surely must be the Prince," he said to himself, and
+so called out with a joyful voice, "Ah, my dearest daughter,
+Sidonia! how comest thou in the merchant vessel?"
+
+Then he screamed to the sailors to stop and cast anchor; but they
+heeded neither his cries nor commands, and in place of stopping,
+began to crowd all sail. Otto now tried entreaties, and promised
+to restore all their goods, and even pay for the wine drunk, if
+they would only stop the vessel. This made them listen to him, but
+they demanded, beside, a compensation money of one hundred
+florins, for all the anxiety and delay they had suffered. This he
+promised also, only let them stop instantly. However, they would
+not trust his word, and not until he had pledged his knightly
+faith would they consent to stop. Some, indeed, were not even
+content with this, and required that he should stand bareheaded on
+the bank, and take a solemn oath, with his hand extended to
+heaven, that he would deal with them as he had promised.
+
+To this also the knight consented, since they would not believe he
+held his knightly word higher than any oath; though, in my
+opinion, he would have done anything they demanded, such was his
+anxiety to behold the Prince and Princess of Pomerania, for he
+could imagine nothing else, but that his daughter and her husband
+had been turned out of Wolgast by the harsh Duchess and the old
+Grand Chamberlain, and were now on their way to his castle at
+Stramehl.
+
+Here my gracious Prince will no doubt say, "But, Theodore, why did
+she not call on her father sooner, when, as you told me, he was on
+board this very vessel plundering the wares?"
+
+I answer--"Serene Prince! your Grace must know that she and her
+paramour were at that time crouching in the cabin, through fear of
+Otto, for the sailors did not know her, or who she was. They had
+taken her and Appelmann in at Damm, and believed this story: that
+he was secretary to the Duke at Stettin, and Sidonia was his wife;
+they were on their way to Stargard, but preferred journeying by
+water, on account of the robbers who infested the high-roads, and
+who, they heard, had murdered three travellers only a few days
+before."
+
+But when Sidonia had found what her father had done, and heard the
+crew cursing and vowing vengeance on him, she feared it would be
+worse for her even to fall into the hands of the Stargardians than
+into her father's, and therefore rushed up on deck and called out
+to him, though her paramour conjured her by heaven and earth to
+keep quiet, and not bring him under her father's sword.
+
+_Summa_, as the vessel once more stood still, the knight
+sprang quick as thought into the ferry-boat along with some of his
+followers, and rowed off to the vessel, where his daughter sat
+upon a bundle of merchandise and wept, but Appelmann crept down
+again into the cabin. When the knight stepped on board, he kissed
+and embraced her--but where was the young Prince whom he had seen
+standing beside her?
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! it was not the Prince; the young lord had
+shamefully deceived her!" (weeping.)
+
+_Hic_.--"He would make him suffer for it, then; let her tell
+him the whole business. If he had trifled with her, she should be
+revenged. Was he not as powerful as any duke in Pomerania?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He must send away all the bystanders first; did he
+not see how they all stood round, with their mouths open from
+wonder?" Hereupon the knight roared out, "Away, go all, all of ye,
+or I'll stick ye dead as calves. The devil take any of you who
+dare to listen!" His whole frame trembled meanwhile as an aspen
+leaf, and he could scarcely wait till the carls clambered over the
+bundles of goods--"What had happened? In the name of all the
+devils, let her speak, now that they were alone."
+
+But here the cunning wanton began to weep so piteously, that not a
+word could she utter; however, as old Otto grew impatient, and
+began to curse and swear, and shake her by the arm, she at last
+commenced (while Appelmann was listening from the cabin):--
+
+"Her dearest father knew how the young lord had bribed a priest in
+Crummyn to wed them privately; but this was all a trick which his
+wicked mother had suggested to him, in order to bring her to utter
+ruin; for on the very wedding night, while she was waiting for the
+Prince in her little room, according to promise, to flee with him
+to Crummyn, the perfidious Duchess, who was aware of the whole
+arrangement, sent a groom to her chamber at the appointed hour,
+and she being in the dark, embraced him, thinking he was the
+Prince. In the self-same instant the door was burst open, and the
+old revengeful hag, with Ulrich von Schwerin, rushed in, along
+with the young Prince and Marcus Bork, her cousin, amid a great
+crowd of people with lanterns. And no one would listen to her or
+heed her; so she was thrust that same night out of the castle,
+like a common swine-maid, though the young lord, when he saw the
+full extent of his wicked mother's treachery, fell down in a dead
+faint at her feet."
+
+And here she wept and groaned, as if her heart would break.
+
+"Who, then, was the gay youth who sat beside her there on the
+bundle?" screamed Otto.
+
+_Illa_.--"That was the very groom that she had embraced, for
+they had sent him away with her, to make their wicked story seem
+true."
+
+_Hic_.--"But what was his name? May the devil take her, to
+have gone off with a base-born groom. What was his name?"
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"What did he think of her, that she should
+love a common groom? truly, he had the title of equerry, but then
+he was nothing better than a common burgher carl. What could she
+do, when they turned her by night and cloud out of the castle? She
+must thank God for having had even this groom to protect her, but
+that he was her lover--fie!--no; that was, indeed, to think little
+of her."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would strike her dead if she did not answer. Who
+was the knave? Where did he come from?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He was called Johann Appelmann, and was son to the
+burgomaster of Stargard."
+
+Here the knight raved and chafed like a wild beast, and drew his
+sword to kill Sidonia, but she fled away down to her paramour in
+the cabin. However, he had heard the whole conversation, and flew
+at her to beat her, crying, "Am I then a base-born groom? Ha! thou
+proud wanton, didst thou not run after me like a common
+street-girl? I will teach thee to call me a groom!"
+
+And as the knight listened to all this, the sword dropped from his
+hands and fell into the hold, so that he could not get it up
+again. Then he was beside himself for rage, and seized a stone of
+the ballast, to rush down with it to the cabin.
+
+But, behold! a rocket shot up from St. Mary's Tower, and poured
+its clear light upon the deepening twilight, like a starry meteor,
+and, at the same instant, the deep bay of ten or twelve
+blood-hounds resounded fearfully across the meadow where the
+horses were grazing, and the dogs flew on them, and tore some of
+them to the ground, and bit others, so that they dashed nearly to
+their masters, who were lying round the wine-cask, and others fled
+into the wood bleeding and groaning with pain and agony, as if
+they had been human creatures.
+
+Then all the fellows jumped up from their wine-cask, and screamed
+as if the last day had come, and Otto let the stone fall from his
+hand with horror; but still called out boldly to his men to know
+what had happened. "Was the devil himself among them that accursed
+evening?"
+
+Then they shouted in return, that he must hasten to land, for the
+Stargardians were upon them, and had killed all their horses.
+
+"Strike them dead, then; kill all, and himself the last, but he
+would go over and help them."
+
+So he jumped into the boat with his companions, but had not time
+to set foot on shore, when the Stargardians, horse and foot, with
+the burgomaster at their head, dashed forth from the wood,
+shouting, "So fall the Stargardians upon Stramehl!"
+
+At this sight the knight could no longer restrain his impatience,
+but jumped out of the boat; and although the water reached up
+under his arms, strode forward, crying--
+
+"Courage, my brave fellows; down with the churls. Kill, slay, give
+no quarter. He who brings me the head of the burgomaster shall be
+my heir! His vile son hath brought my daughter to shame. Kill
+all--all! I will never outlive this day. Ye shall all be my
+heritors--only kill! kill! kill!"
+
+Then he jumps on land and goes to draw his sword, but he has
+none--only the scabbard is hanging there; and as the Stargard men
+are already pressing thick upon them, he shouts--
+
+"A sword, a sword! give me a sword! My good castle of Stramehl for
+a sword, that I may slay this base-born churl of a burgomaster!"
+
+But a blood-hound jumped at his throat, and tore him to the
+ground, and as he felt the horrible muzzle closer to his face, he
+screamed out--
+
+"Save me! save me! Oh, woe is me!"
+
+And at the same moment, Sidonia's voice was heard from the vessel,
+shrieking--
+
+"Father, father, save me! this groom is beating me to death--he is
+killing me!" while a loud roar of laughter from the crew
+accompanied her cries.
+
+No one, however, came to save the knight; for the Stargardians
+were slaying right and left, and Otto's followers were utterly
+discomfited. So the knight tried to draw his dagger, and having
+got hold of it, plunged it with great force into the heart of the
+ferocious animal, who fell back dead, and Otto sprang to his feet.
+Just then, however, a tanner recognised him, and seizing hold of
+him by the arms, carried him off to the other prisoners.
+
+Now, indeed, might he call on the mountains to fall on him, and
+the hills to cover him (Hosea x.); and now he might feel, too,
+what a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living
+God (Hebrews x.); for the Jesu wounds, I'm thinking, burned then
+like hell-fire in his heart.
+
+_Summa_, as the wretched man was brought before the
+burgomaster, who sat down upon a bank and wiped his sword in the
+grass, the latter cried out--
+
+"Well, sir knight, you would not heed me; you have worked your
+will. Now, do you understand what retaliation means--'An eye for
+an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+And as the other stood quite silent, he continued--
+
+"Where is your charter for the Jena dues? Perchance it is
+contained in this letter, which I have received to-day from her
+Grace of Wolgast, addressed to you. Hand a lantern here, that the
+knight may read it! If the charter is not therein, then he shall
+be flung into prison this night with his followers, until my lord,
+Duke Barnim, pronounces judgment upon him."
+
+The ferryman advanced and held a light; but Otto had scarcely
+looked over the letter when he began to tremble as if he would
+fall to the ground, and then sighed forth, like the rich man in
+hell--
+
+"Have mercy on me, and give me a drink of water!"
+
+They brought him the water, and then he added--
+
+"Jacob, hast thou, too, had any tidings of our children?"
+
+"Alas!" the other answered; "Ulrich has written all to me."
+
+"Then have mercy on me. Listen how your godless son there in the
+vessel is beating my daughter to death, and how she is shrieking
+for help."
+
+As the burgomaster heard these unexpected tidings, he sent
+messengers to the vessel, with orders to bring the pair
+immediately before him.
+
+Meanwhile the other prisoners besought the burgomaster to let them
+go, for they were feudal vassals of Otto Bork, and must do as he
+commanded them. Besides, he told them that Duke Barnim had given
+him the dues, and therefore they held it their duty to assist him
+in collecting them.
+
+And as Otto confirmed their words, saying that he had indeed
+deceived them, the burgomaster turned to his party, and cried--
+
+"How say you then, worthy burghers and dear friends, shall we let
+the vassals run, and keep the lord? for, if the master lies, are
+the servants to be punished if they believe him? Speak, worthy
+friends."
+
+Then all the burghers cried--
+
+"Let them go, let them go; but keep the knight a prisoner."
+
+Upon which all the retainers took to their heels, not forgetting,
+though, to hoist the cask of wine upon their shoulders, and so
+they fled away into the wood.
+
+Now comes a great crowd from all the vessels, accompanying the
+infamous pair, mocking, and gibing, and laughing at them, so that
+no one can hear a word for the tumult. But the burgomaster bids
+them hold their peace, and let the guilty pair be placed before
+him.
+
+He remained a long while silent, gazing at them both, then sighing
+deeply, addressed his son--
+
+"Oh, thou lost son, hast thou not yet given up thy dissolute
+courses? What is this I hear of thee in Wolgast? Now thou must
+needs humble this noble maiden, and bring dishonour on her
+house--flinging all thy father's admonitions to the wind--"
+
+Here the son interrupted--
+
+"True; but this noble maiden had thrown herself in his way, like a
+common girl, and he was only flesh and blood like other men. Why
+did she follow him so?"
+
+Whereupon the father replied--
+
+"Oh, thou shameless child, who, like the prodigal in Scripture,
+hast destroyed thy substance with harlots and riotous living, in
+place of humbleness and repentance, dost thou impudently tell of
+this poor young maiden's shame before all the world? Oh, son! oh,
+son! even the blind heathen said, '_Ego illum periisse puto, cui
+quidem periit pudor_' [Footnote: Plautus in Bacchid.]--which
+means, 'I esteem him dead in whom shame is dead.' Therefore is thy
+sin doubled, being a Christian, for thou hast boasted of thy shame
+before the people here, and held up the young maiden to their
+contempt, besides having beaten her so on board the vessel that
+many heard her screams, as if she were only a common wench, and
+not a castle and land dowered maiden."
+
+To which Appelmann answered, that she had called him a common
+groom and a base-born burgher churl. But his father commanded him
+to be silent, and bid his men first bind the knight's hands behind
+his back, and then those of his son, and so carry them both to
+prison; but to let the maiden go free.
+
+When the knight heard that he was to be bound, his pride revolted,
+and he offered any ransom, or to give any compensation that could
+be demanded for the injury he had done them. Every one knew his
+wealth, and that he had power to keep his word to the uttermost.
+But the burgomaster made answer, "Eye for eye, and tooth for
+tooth; how say you, sir knight--speak the truth, if you had taken
+me prisoner, as I have taken you, would you have bound my hands or
+not?" To which the knight replied, "Well, Jacob, I will not speak
+a falsehood, for I feel that my end is near;--I would have bound
+your hands."
+
+Hereupon the brave burgomaster answered, "I know it well; however,
+as you have answered me honestly, I will spare you. Burghers, do
+not bind his hands, neither those of my son. Ye have enough to
+suffer yet before ye, and God give you both grace to repent. And
+now to the town! The crew shall declare to-morrow morn, before the
+honourable council, what they have lost by the knight's means; and
+he shall make it all good again to them."
+
+So all the people returned with great uproar and rejoicing back to
+the town, and the bell from St. Mary's and St. John's rung forth
+merry peals, and all the people of the town ran forth to meet
+them; but when they saw the knight a prisoner, and his empty
+scabbard hanging by his side, they clapped their hands and
+huzzaed, shouting, "So fell the Stargardians upon Stramehl." Thus
+with merry laughter, and jests, and mockings, they carried him up
+the street to the tower called the Red Sea, and there locked him
+up, well guarded.
+
+Here again he prayed the burgomaster to accept a ransom, but in
+vain. Whereupon he at last solicited pen, paper, and ink, and a
+light, that he might indite a letter to his Grace, Duke Barnim;
+and this was granted to him.
+
+As for his unworthy son, the burgomaster had him carried to his
+own house, and there placed him in a room, with three stout
+burghers as a guard over him. And Sidonia was placed by herself in
+another little chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Of Otto Bark's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster._
+
+
+During that night there was a strong suspicion upon every one's
+mind that something terrible was going to happen; for a great
+storm arose at midnight, and raged fearfully round the Red Sea
+tower, so that it seemed to rock, and when the night-watch went
+round to examine it, behold three toads crept out, and set
+themselves upright upon the parapet like little manikins, as the
+hares sometimes make themselves into manikins.
+
+What all this denoted was discovered next morning, for when the
+jailer entered Otto's cell in the tower, he saw him lying on the
+floor in a pool of blood, with his own dagger sticking in his
+heart. On the table stood the lamp which he had asked for, still
+burning feebly, and near it a great many written papers.
+
+The man instantly ran for the burgomaster, who followed him with
+all speed to the tower. They felt the corpse, but it was already
+quite cold. So then a messenger was despatched for the chirurgeon,
+to hold a _visum repertum_ over him.
+
+Meantime they examined the papers, and found first my gracious
+Lady of Wolgast's letter to the unfortunate father--the same which
+had made him tremble so the day before--and therein was related
+all the shameful circumstances concerning Sidonia, just as Ulrich
+had stated them in the letter to the burgomaster. Then they came
+upon his last will and testament; but where the seal ought to have
+been, there lay a large drop of blood, with this memorandum
+beneath it: "This is my heart's first blood which I have affixed
+here, in place of a seal, and may he who slights it be accursed
+for evermore, even as my daughter Sidonia."
+
+In this testament he had completely disinherited his daughter
+Sidonia, and made his son Otto sole inheritor of all his property,
+castles, and lands (for his daughter Clara was already dead, and
+had left no children). Nothing should his daughter Sidonia have
+but two farm-houses in Zachow, [Footnote: A small town near
+Stramehl, a mile and a half from Regenwalde.] just to keep her
+from beggary, and to save the ancient, illustrious name of their
+house from falling into further contempt. Yet should his son think
+proper to give her further _alimentum_, he was at liberty so
+to do. Lastly, for the second and third time, he cursed his
+daughter, to whom he owed all his misery, from the affair with the
+apprentice to that concerning the Jena dues, up to this his most
+miserable and wretched death. _Item_, the burgomaster picked
+up another letter, which was addressed to himself, and wherein the
+knight prayed, first, that his body might not be drawn by the
+executioner to burial, as was the custom with suicides, but
+conveyed honourably to Stramehl, and there deposited in the vault
+of his family; secondly, that his daughter Sidonia might be sent
+to Zachow, there to learn how to live humbly as a peasant
+maid--for that she might look to being a Duchess of Pomerania,
+only when she could keep her evil desires still for even a couple
+of days.
+
+Then he cursed her so that it was pitiable to read; and proved
+that, if he had been a more God-fearing father, she might have
+been a different daughter; for as St. Paul says (Galatians vi.),
+"What a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The letter further
+said, that, for the good deed done to his corpse, the burgomaster
+should take all the gold found upon his person, consisting of
+eighty good rose-nobles, and indemnify himself therewith for the
+loss of his spices that day in Stramehl when they were scattered
+before the Jews. He lastly desired his last will and testament to
+be conveyed to his son, along with his corpse; and further, his
+son was to send compensation to the crew for the cask of wine and
+whatever other losses they had sustained, according to his
+knightly word which he had pledged to them.
+
+_Summa_, when the chirurgeon arrived and the body was
+examined, there was found upon the unfortunate knight a purse,
+embroidered with pearls and diamonds, containing eighty
+rose-nobles, which the burgomaster in no wise disdained to
+receive, and then laid the whole matter before the honourable
+council, with the petition of Otto concerning the corpse. The
+honourable council fully justified the burgomaster for all he had
+done, and gave their opinion, that as the good town had no
+jurisdiction over the knight, so they could have none over his
+body, and therefore let it be removed with all honour to Stramehl,
+particularly as he had in all things made amends for the wrong he
+had done them. As regarded Sidonia, two porters should be sent to
+convey her to Zachow.
+
+Meantime Sidonia had heard of her father's horrible death, and lay
+on the ground nearly insensible from grief. Just then the
+burgomaster returned from the council-hall, and commanded that she
+and his profligate son should be brought before him. When they
+arrived, he asked how it happened that they were both found in the
+vessel, for Ulrich, the Grand Chamberlain, had written to inform
+him that Sidonia had been sent away in a coach to Stettin, with
+the executioner on the box.
+
+Here Sidonia sobbed so violently that no word could she utter;
+therefore the son replied that such had been done, but that he
+had been given a horse from the ducal stables, and had followed
+the coach; and when they stopped at Uckermund for the night, he
+had secretly got speech with Sidonia, and advised her to try and
+remove the planks from the bottom of the carriage and escape to
+him, for that he would be quite close at hand. And he did what he
+could that night to loosen the boards himself. So in the morning
+Sidonia got them up easily, and first dropped her baggage out
+through the hole, which he picked up; and then, as they came to a
+soft, sandy tract where the coach had to go very slowly, she let
+herself also down through it, and sinking in the deep sand, let
+the coach go over her without any hurt. Then he came to her, and
+they fled to the next town, where he bought a waggon from some
+peasants, for her and her luggage to proceed into Stargard, for
+she was ashamed to appear before Duke Barnim, and wished to get on
+from Stargard to Stramehl; but when they reached Damm, they heard
+such wild tales of the robbers and partisans who infested the
+roads, that Sidonia grew alarmed, and made him go by water for
+safety. So he left the horse and waggon at the inn, and took ship
+with the merchants who were going to Stargard. These were their
+adventures. The rest his father knew as well as himself.
+
+The burgomaster then asked Sidonia had he spoken truth. So she
+dried her eyes, and nodded her head for "Yes."
+
+Then he admonished her gravely, for that she, a noble maiden,
+could have dishonoured herself with a mere burgher's son, like his
+Johann, in whom even he, his own father, must say, there was
+nothing to tempt any girl. And now she knew the truth of those
+words of St. James: "Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth
+sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
+
+Her sin had, indeed, brought forth her father's death;--would that
+he could say only his _temporal_ death. This her father had
+himself asserted in his testament, which he held now in his hands,
+and for this cause had left all his goods, lands, and castles to
+her brother Otto--only giving her two farm-houses in Zachow to
+save her from the beggar's staff, and their noble name from
+falling into yet greater contempt--and, in addition, he had cursed
+her with terrible curses; but these might be yet turned away, if
+she would incline her heart to God, and lead a pious, honest life
+for the rest of her days. And much more the worthy man preached to
+her; but she interrupted him, having found her tongue at last, and
+exclaimed in wrath, "What! has the good-for-nothing old churl
+written this? Let me see it; it cannot be true."
+
+So the burgomaster reached her the paper, and, as she read, her
+colour changed, and at last she shrieked aloud and fell down
+before the burgomaster, clasping his knees, and praying by the
+Jesu cross not to send such a testament to her brother, for that
+he was still harder than her father, because he was by nature
+avaricious, and would grudge her even salt with her bread. Let him
+remember that his son had promised her marriage, and would he
+destroy his own children?
+
+Then Jacob Appelmann turned to his profligate son, and asked,
+"Does she speak the truth? Have you promised her marriage?"
+
+But the shameless knave answered, "True, I so promised her, when
+we were at Uckermund; but now that she has no money, I wash my
+hands of her."
+
+Such villainy made the old man flame with indignation. "He would
+make him know that he must stand by his word--he would force him
+to it, if he could only think it would be for the advantage of
+this wretched girl. But he would admonish her to give him up; did
+she not see that he was shameless, cruel, and selfish? and how
+could she ever hope to turn to God and lead a new life with such
+an infamous partner? _Item_, his son should be made to work,
+and to feel poverty, so that his evil desires might be stifled;
+and as for her, let her go in God's name to Zachow, and there in
+solitude repent her sins, and strive to win the favour of God."
+
+But that was no water for her mill; so she continued to lament,
+and weep, and pray the burgomaster not to send the will to her
+harsh brother; upon which he answered mildly, "Wert thou to lie at
+my feet till morning, it would not help thee: the testament goes
+this day to Stramehl; but I will do this for thee. Thy father left
+me some rose-nobles, in a purse which he carried about with him,
+as a compensation for my spices, which he strewed before the Jews
+in Stramehl, of which deed thou, too, wert also guilty, as I know;
+therefore I was not ashamed to take the money. But of the purse
+thy father said naught; so I had it in my mind to keep it--for, in
+truth, it is of more worth than the nobles it contained. If I
+mistake not, these are true pearls and diamonds with which it is
+broidered. Look, here it is. What sayest thou?"
+
+Here she sobbed, and answered, "She knew it well; she had
+broidered the purse herself. They were her mother's pearls and
+diamonds, and part of her bridal gear; truly they were worth three
+thousand florins."
+
+"Then," said the brave old man, "I will give thee this purse,
+since it was not named either for me or for thy brother at
+Stramehl. Take it to Zachow; thou wilt make a good penny of it. Be
+pious, and God-fearing, and industrious, remembering what the Holy
+Scripture says (Prov. xxxi.): 'A virtuous woman takes wool and
+flax, and labours diligently with her hands. She stretches out her
+hands to the wheel, and her fingers grasp the spindle.' Hadst thou
+learned this, in place of thy costly broidery, methinks it would
+have been better with thee this day."
+
+As he thus spoke, he put the purse in her hands, and she instantly
+hid it in her pocket. But the profligate Johann now suddenly
+became repentant, for he thought, if I can obtain nothing good
+from my father, I may at least get the purse. So he began to weep
+and lament, and fell down, too, at his father's feet, saying, if
+he would only pardon him this once, he would indeed take this poor
+maiden to wife, as he had promised her, for he alone was guilty of
+her sin; only would his heart's dearest father forgive him? And so
+the hypocrite went on with his lies.
+
+Whereupon his father made answer honourably and mildly--"Such
+promises thou hast often made, but never kept. However, I will try
+thee yet again. If thou wilt spend each day diligently writing in
+the council-office, and return each night to sleep in my chamber,
+and continue this good conduct for a few years, to testify thy
+repentance, as a brave and upright son, and Sidonia meanwhile
+continues to lead a godly and humble life at Zachow, then, in
+God's name, ye shall both marry, and make amends for your sin; but
+not before that."
+
+As he said this, and bid his son stand up, the hypocrite answered,
+yes, he would do the will of his dear father; but then he must
+keep back this testament; so would his children be happy.
+Otherwise, wherefore should they marry?--what could they live on?
+A couple of cabins in Zachow would not be enough.
+
+"Truly," replied the old man, "if I were as great a knave as thou
+art, I would do as thou hast said; yet, though the loss of the
+spices, which her father wickedly destroyed, did me such injury
+that I had to sell my house, to get the means of living and
+keeping thee at the University of Grypswald, I will keep my hands
+pure from the property of another, even if this property belonged
+to my greatest enemy, and the enemy of this good town also.
+_Summa_, this day thou shalt go to the council-office, the
+testament to Stramehl, and Sidonia to Zachow."
+
+So the knave was silent: but Sidonia still resisted; she would not
+go to Zachow--never; but if he would send her to Stettin, she was
+certain the good Duke Barnim would be kind to an unfortunate
+maiden, who had done nothing more than what thousands do in
+secret. And whatever the gracious Prince resolved concerning her,
+she would abide by.
+
+When the burgomaster heard this speech, he saw that no amendment
+was to be expected from her; and as he had no authority to compel
+her to Zachow, he promised, at last, to send her to Stettin on the
+following day, for there were two market waggons going, and she
+could travel in one, and thereby be more secure against all
+danger. And so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to
+wed her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of
+Stettin received her._
+
+
+Sidonia, next morning, got a good soft seat in the waggon, upon
+the sack of a cloth merchant; he was cousin to the burgomaster,
+and promised to take her with him, out of friendship for him. All
+the men in the waggon were armed with spears and muskets, for fear
+of the robbers, who were growing more daring every day.
+
+So they proceeded; but had not got far from the town when a
+horseman galloped furiously after them, and called out that he
+would accompany them; and this was Claude Uckermann, of whom I
+have spoken so much in my former book. He, too, was going to
+Stettin. Now when Sidonia saw him, her eyes glistened like a cat's
+when she sees a mouse, and she rejoiced at the prospect of such
+good company, for since the wedding of her sister, never had this
+handsome youth come across her, though she was constantly looking
+out for him. So as he rode up by the waggon, she greeted him, and
+prayed him to alight and come and sit by her upon the sack, that
+they might talk together of dear old times.
+
+She imagined, no doubt, that he knew nothing of all that had
+happened; but her disgrace was as public at Stargard as if it had
+been pealed from the great bell of St. Mary's. He therefore knew
+her whole story, and answered, that sitting by her was
+disagreeable to him now; and he rode on. This was plain enough,
+one would think; but Sidonia still held by her delusion; for as
+they reached the first inn, and stopped to feed the horses, she
+saw him stepping aside to avoid her, and seating himself at some
+distance on a bank. So she put on her flattering face, and
+advanced to him, saying, "Would not the dear young knight make up
+with her?--what ailed him?--it was impossible he could resent her
+silly fun at her sister's wedding. Oh! if he had come again and
+asked her seriously to be his wife, in place of there in the
+middle of the dancing, as if he had been only jesting, she would
+never have had another husband, for from that till now, never had
+so handsome a knight met her eyes; but she was still free."
+
+Hereupon the young man (as he told me himself) made answer--"Yes,
+she had rightly judged, he was only jesting, and taking his
+pastime with her, as they sat there upon the carpet, for he held
+in unspeakable aversion and disgust a cup from which every one
+sipped."
+
+Still Sidonia would not comprehend him, and began to talk about
+Wolgast. But he looked down straight before him in the grass, and
+never spake a word, but turned on his heel, and entered the inn,
+to see after his horse. So he got rid of her at last.
+
+As the waggon set off again, she began to sing so merrily and
+loudly, that all the wood rang with it. And the young knight was
+not so stupid but that he truly discerned her meaning, which was
+to show him that she cared little for his words, since she could
+go away in such high spirits.
+
+_Summa_, when they reached the inn at Stettin, Sidonia got
+all her baggage carried in from the waggon, and there dressed
+herself with all her finery: silken robes, golden hairnet, and
+golden chains, rings, and jewels, that all the people saluted her
+when she came forth, and went to the castle to ask for his
+Highness the Duke. He was in his workshop, and had just finished
+turning a spinning-wheel; he laughed aloud when she entered, ran
+to her, embraced her, and cried, "What! my treasure!--where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel? How I laughed when Master
+Hansen, whom my old, silly, sour cousin of Wolgast sent with thee,
+came in lately into my workshop, and told me he had brought thee
+hither in a ducal coach! I ran directly to the courtyard; but when
+the knave opened the door, my little thrush had flown. Where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel?"
+
+As his Grace put all these questions, he continued kissing her, so
+that his long white beard got entangled in her golden chains; and
+as she pushed him away, a bunch of hair remained sticking to her
+brooch, so that he screamed for pain, and put his hand to his
+chin. At this, in rushed the court marshal and the treasurer (who
+were writing in the next chamber) as white as corpses, and asked,
+"Who is murdering his Grace?" but his Grace held up his hand over
+his bleeding mouth, and winked to them to go away. So when they
+saw that it was only a maiden combat, they went their way
+laughing.
+
+Hereupon speaks his Grace--"See now, treasure, what thou hast
+done! Thou canst be so kind to a groom, yet thy own gracious
+Prince will treat so harshly!"
+
+But Sidonia began to weep bitterly. "What did he think of her? The
+whole story was an invention by his old sour cousin of Wolgast to
+ruin her because she would not learn her catechism (and then she
+told the same tale as to her father); but would not his Grace take
+pity on a poor forsaken maiden, seeing that Prince Ernest could
+not deny he had promised to make her his bride, and wed her
+privately at Crummyn, on the very next night to that on which her
+Grace had so shamefully outraged her?"
+
+"My sweet treasure!" answered the Duke, "the young Prince was only
+making a fool of you; therefore be content that things are no
+worse. For even if he had wedded you privately, it would have been
+all in vain, seeing that neither the princely widow nor the
+Elector of Brandenburg, his godfather, nor any of the princes of
+the holy Roman Empire, nor lastly, the Pomeranian States, would
+ever have permitted so unequal a marriage. Therefore, what the
+priest joined in Crummyn would have been put asunder next day by
+the tribunals. My poor nephew is a silly enthusiast not to have
+perceived this all along, before he put such absurdities in your
+head. That he talked gallantry to you was very natural, and I
+wished him all success; but that he should ever have talked of
+marriage shows him to be even sillier than I expected from his
+years."
+
+Here Sidonia's tears burst forth anew. "Who would care for her now
+that her father was dead, and had left her penniless? All because
+he believed that old hypocrite of Wolgast more than his own
+daughter. Alas! alas! she was a poor orphan now! and all her
+possessions would be torn from her by her hard-hearted, avaricious
+brother. Yet surely his Grace might at least take pity on her
+innocence."
+
+His Grace wondered much when he heard of Otto's death, for the
+letters brought by the market waggon from the honourable council,
+acquainting him with the matter, had not yet arrived, and he
+scratched behind his ear, and said, "It was an evil deed of that
+proud devil her father, to claim the Jena dues. He had got his
+answer at Wolgast, and ought to have left the dues alone. What
+right had he to break the peace of the land, to gratify his lust
+and greed? It was well that he was dead; but as concerning his
+testament, that must not be interfered with, he had no power over
+the property of individuals. Each one might leave his goods as
+best pleased him; yet he would make his treasurer write a letter
+in her favour to her brother Otto: that was all that he could do."
+
+This threw Sidonia into despair; she fell at his feet, and told
+him, that let what would become of her, she would never go a step
+to Zachow, and her harsh brother would never give her one
+groschen, unless he were forced to it. His Grace ought to remember
+that it was by his advice she had gone to Wolgast, where all her
+misery had commenced; for by the traitorous conduct of the widow,
+there she had been robbed, not only of her good name, but also of
+her fortune. So his Grace comforted her, and said that as long as
+he lived she would want for nothing. He had a pretty house behind
+St. Mary's, and six young maidens lived there, who had nothing to
+do but spin and embroider, or comb out the beautiful herons'
+feathers as the birds moulted; for he had a large stock of herons
+close to the house; and there was a darling little chamber there,
+which she could have immediately for herself. As to clothes, they
+might all get the handsomest they pleased, and their meals were
+supplied from the ducal kitchen.
+
+As his Grace ended, and lifted up Sidonia and kissed her, she wept
+and sighed more than ever. "Could he think this of her? No; she
+would never enter the house which was the talk of all Pomerania.
+If she consented, then, indeed, would the world believe all the
+falsehoods that were told of her--of her, who was as innocent as a
+child!" Hereupon his Grace answered stiff and stern (yet this was
+not his wont, for he was a right tender master), "Then go your
+ways. Into that house or nowhere else." (Alas! let every maiden
+take warning, by this example, to guard against the first false
+step. Amen, chaste Jesus! Amen.)
+
+That evening Sidonia took up her abode in the house. But that same
+evening there was a great _scandalum,_ and tearing of each
+other's hair among the girls. For one of them, named Trina
+Wehlers, was a baker's daughter from Stramehl, and on the occasion
+of Clara's wedding she had headed a procession of young peasants
+to join the bridal party, but Sidonia had haughtily pushed her
+back, and forbid them to approach. This Trina was a fine rosy
+wench, and my Lord Duke took a fancy to her then, so that she
+looked with great jealousy on any one that threatened to rob her
+of his favour. Now when Sidonia entered the house and saw the
+baker's daughter, she commenced again to play the part of the
+great lady, but the other only laughed, and mockingly asked her,
+"Where was the princely spouse, Duke Ernest of Wolgast? Would his
+Highness come to meet her there?"
+
+Then Sidonia raged from shame and despair, that this peasant girl
+should dare to insult her, and she ran weeping to her chamber; but
+when supper was served, the _scandalum_ broke out in earnest.
+For Sidonia had now grown a little comforted, and as there were
+many dainty dishes from the Duke's table sent to them, she began
+to enjoy herself somewhat, when all of a sudden the baker's
+daughter gave her a smart blow over the fingers with a fork.
+Sidonia instantly seized her by the hair; and now there was such
+an uproar of blows, screams, and tongues, that my gracious lord,
+the Duke, was sent for. Whereupon he scolded the baker's daughter
+right seriously for her insolence, and told her that as Sidonia
+was the only noble maiden amongst them, she was to bear rule. And
+if the others did not obey her humbly, as befitted her rank, they
+should all be whipped. His Grace wore a patch of black plaister on
+his chin, and attempted to kiss Sidonia again, but she pushed him
+away, saying that he must have told all that happened at Wolgast
+to these girls, otherwise how could the baker's daughter have
+mocked her about it.
+
+Whereupon my gracious lord consoled her, and said that if she were
+quiet and well-behaved, he would take her with him to the Diet at
+Wollin, for all the young dukes of Pomerania were to attend it,
+and Prince Ernest amongst the number, seeing that he had summoned
+them all there, in order to give up the government of the land
+into their hands, as he was too old now himself to be tormented
+with state affairs.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, hope sprang up within her heart, and she
+resolved to bear her destiny calmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at
+Wollin, and what happened there._
+
+
+With regard to their Serene Highnesses of Wolgast, I have already
+related, _libro primo,_ that the young lord, Ernest
+Ludovicus, was carried out of Sidonia's chamber like one dead,
+when he beheld her abominable wickedness with his own eyes
+and all can easily believe that he lay for a long while sick unto
+death. In vain Dr. Pomius offered his celebrated specific; he
+would take nothing, did nothing day or night but sigh and groan--
+
+"Ah, Sidonia; ah, my beloved heart's bride, Sidonia, can it be
+possible? Adored Sidonia, my heart is breaking. Sidonia, Sidonia,
+can it be possible?"
+
+At last the idea struck Dr. Pomius that there must be magic and
+devil's work in it. So he searched through all his learned books,
+and finally came upon a recipe which was infallible in such cases.
+This was to burn the tooth of a dead man to powder, and let the
+sick bewitched person smoke the ashes. Such was solemnly
+recommended by Petrus Hispanus Ulyxbonensis, who, under the name
+of John XXII., ascended the papal throne. See his _Thesaurus
+Pauperum,_ cap. ult.
+
+But the Prince would neither take anything nor smoke anything, and
+the _delirium amatorium_ grew more violent and alarming day
+by day, so that the whole ducal house was plunged into the deepest
+grief and despair.
+
+Now there was a prisoner in the bastion tower at Wolgast, a carl
+from Katzow, who had been arrested and condemned for practising
+horrible sorceries and magic--namely, having changed the calves of
+his neighbours into young hares, which instinctively started off
+to the woods, and were never seen more, as the whole town
+testified; and other devil's doings he had practised, which I now
+forget; but they were fully proved against him, and so he was
+sentenced to be burned.
+
+This man now sent a message to the authorities, that if they
+pardoned him and allowed him free passage from the town, he would
+tell of something to cure the young lord. This was agreed to; and
+when he was brought to the chamber of the Prince, he laid his ear
+down upon his breast, to listen if it were witchcraft that ailed
+him. Then he spake--
+
+"Yes; the heart beats quite unnaturally, the sound was like the
+whimpering of a fly caught in a spider's web; their lordships
+might listen for themselves."
+
+Whereupon all present, one after the other, laid their ear upon
+the breast of the young Prince, and heard really as he had
+described.
+
+The earl now said that he would give his Highness a potion which
+would make him, from that hour, hate the woman who had bewitched
+him as much as he had adored her. _Item,_ the young lord must
+sleep for three days, and when he woke, his strength would have
+returned to him; to procure this sleep, he must anoint his temples
+with goat's milk, which they must instantly bring him, and during
+his sleep the Lady Duchess must, every two hours, lay fresh
+ox-flesh upon his stomach.
+
+When her Grace heard this, she rejoiced that her dear son would so
+soon hold the harlot in abhorrence who had bewitched him. And the
+earl gave him a red syrup, which he had no sooner swallowed than
+all care for Sidonia seemed to have vanished from his mind. Even
+before the goat's milk came, he exclaimed--
+
+"Now that I think over it, what a great blessing that we have got
+rid of Sidonia."
+
+And no sooner were his temples bathed with the milk than he fell
+into a deep sleep, which lasted for three days, and when he opened
+his eyes, his first words were--
+
+"Where is that Sidonia? Is the wanton still here? Bring her before
+me, that I may tell her how I hate her. Oh, fool that I was, to
+peril my princely honour for a harlot. Where is she? I must have
+my revenge upon the light wanton."
+
+Her Grace could hardly speak for joy when she heard these words;
+and she gave the earl, who had watched all the time by the bedside
+of the young Prince, so much ham and sausages from the ducal
+kitchen, that he finally could not walk, but was obliged to be
+drawn out of the town in a car. Then she asked Dr. Pomius how such
+a miracle could have been effected. At which he laid his finger on
+his nose, after his manner, and replied, such was accomplished
+through the introduction of the natural Life Balsam, which the
+learned called _confermentationem Mumie_, and so the fool
+went on prating, and her Grace devouring his words as if they were
+gospel.
+
+_Summa._--After a few days the young lord was able to leave
+his bed, and as they kept fresh ox-flesh continually applied to
+his stomach, he soon regained his strength, so that, in a couple
+of weeks, he could ride, fish, and hunt, and his cheeks were as
+fresh and rosy as ever. One day he mentioned "the groom's
+mistress," as he called her, and wished he could give her a lesson
+in lute-playing, it would be one to make her tremble. But when the
+letter arrived from Duke Barnim, declaring that, from his great
+age, he proposed resigning the government of Pomerania into the
+hands of her Grace's sons, there was no end to the rejoicings at
+Wolgast, and her Grace declared that she would herself accompany
+them to the Diet at Wollin.
+
+We shall now see what a treat was waiting her at the old castle
+there. It was built wholly of wood, and has long since fallen; but
+at the time I write of, it was standing in all its glory.
+
+Monday, the 15th May 1569, at eleven in the forenoon, his Grace of
+Stettin came with seven coaches and two hundred and fourteen
+horsemen into the courtyard. And there, on the steps of the
+castle, stood my gracious Lady of Wolgast, holding the little
+Casimir by the hand, in waiting to receive his Highness, and all
+her other sons stood round her--namely, the illustrious Bishop of
+Camyn, Johann Frederick, in his bishop's robes, with the staff and
+mitre. _Item,_ Duke Bogislaus, who had presented her Grace
+with a tame sea-gull. _Item,_ Ernest Ludovicus, in a Spanish
+mantle of black velvet, embossed in gold, and upon his head a
+black velvet Spanish hat, looped up with diamonds, from which long
+white plumes descended to his shoulder. _Item,_ Barnim the
+younger, who wore a dress similar to his brother's. _Item,_
+the Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, and with him a great
+crowd of the counsellors and state officers of Wolgast, besides
+all the nobles, prelates, knights, and chief burghers of the
+duchy. Among the nobles stood Otto von Bork, brother to Sidonia;
+and the burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, held his place among the
+citizens.
+
+As Duke Barnim drove up to the castle, the guards fired a salute,
+and the bells rang, and the cannon roared, and all the vessels in
+the harbour hoisted their flags, while the streets, houses, and
+courtyards were decorated with flowers, and all the people of the
+little town trotted round the carriage, shouting, "Vivat! vivat!
+vivat!" so that the like was never seen before in Wollin.
+
+Now, when the coach stopped, her Grace the Duchess advanced to
+meet his Highness; and as old Duke Barnim's head appeared at the
+window, with his long white beard and yellow leather cap, her
+Grace stepped forward, and said--"Welcome, dearest Un------"
+
+But she could get no farther, and stood as stiff as Lot's wife
+when she was turned into a pillar of salt, for there was Sidonia
+seated in the carriage beside the Duke! Old Ulrich, who followed,
+soon spied the cause of her Grace's dismay, and exclaimed--
+
+"Three thousand devils, what does your Highness mean by bringing
+the accursed harlot a third time amongst us?"
+
+But his Highness only laughed, and drew forth his last puppet, it
+was a Satan as he tempted Eve, saying--
+
+"Hold this for me, good Ulrich, till I am out of the coach, and
+then I shall hear all about it."
+
+To which the other answered--
+
+"If you let me catch hold of this other Satan, whom ye bring with
+you, I think it were wiser done!"
+
+Prince Ernest now sprang down the steps, his eye flaming with
+rage, and drawing his sword, cried--
+
+"Hold me, or I will stab the serpent to the heart, who so
+disgraced me and my family honour. I will murder her there in the
+coach before your eyes."
+
+Whereupon old Ulrich flung the little wooden Satan to the ground,
+and seized the young man by the arm, while Sidonia screamed
+violently. But the old Duke stepped deliberately out of the coach.
+Seeing, however, his wooden Satan lying broken on the ground, he
+became very wroth, and called loudly for a turner with his
+glue-pot. Then he ascended the steps, and when all had greeted him
+deferentially, he began--
+
+"Dear niece, worthy cousins, and friends, ye have no doubt heard
+of the misfortune which hath befallen Sidonia von Bork, who sits
+there in the carriage. Her father has died; and, further, she has
+been disinherited. Thereupon she fled to me to seek a refuge. Now
+ye all know well that the Von Borks are an ancient, honourable,
+and illustrious race--none more so; therefore I had compassion
+upon the orphan, and brought her hither to effect a reconciliation
+between her and Otto Bork, her brother. Step forward, Otto Bork,
+where are you hiding? Step forth, and hand your sister from the
+carriage; I saw you amongst the nobles here to-day. Step forth!"
+
+But Otto had disappeared; and as the Duke found he would not
+answer to his summons, he bid Sidonia come forth herself.
+Whereupon the young Prince swore fiercely that, if she but put a
+foot upon the step he would murder her. "What the devil! young
+man," said the Duke, laughing; "first you must needs wed her, and
+now you will slay her dead at our feet! This is somewhat
+inconsistent. Come forth, Sidonia; he will not be so cruel."
+
+But she sat in the coach, and wept like a child who has lost its
+nurse. So my gracious lady stepped forward, and commanded the
+coachman to drive instantly with the maiden to the town inn; and
+so it was done.
+
+Now the old Duke never ceased for the whole forenoon soliciting
+Otto Bork to take the poor orphan home with him, and there to
+treat her as a faithful and kind brother, in compensation for her
+father's harsh and unnatural will; but it was all in vain, as she
+indeed had prophesied. "Not the weight of a feather more should
+she get than the two farmhouses in Zachow; and never let her call
+him brother, for ancient as his race was, never had one of them
+borne the brand of infamy till now."
+
+In the afternoon, all the prelates, nobles, and burghers assembled
+in the grand hall; then entered the ducal family, Barnim the elder
+at their head. He was dressed in a long black robe, such as the
+priests wear now, with white ruffles and Spanish frill, and was
+bareheaded. He took his seat at the top of the table, and thus
+spake--
+
+"Illustrious Princess, dear cousins, nobles, and faithful
+burghers, ye all know that I have ruled this Pomeranian land for
+fifty years, upholding the pure doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther,
+and casting down papacy in all places and at all times. But as I
+am now old, and find it hard sometimes to keep my unruly vassals
+in order, whereof we have had a proof lately, it is my will and
+purpose to resign the government into the hands of my dear
+cousins, the illustrious Princes von Pommern-Wolgast, and retire
+to Oderburg in Old Stettin, there to rest in peace for the
+remainder of my days; but there are four princes (for the fifth,
+Casimir, to-morrow or next day shall get a church endowment) and
+but two duchies. For ye know that, by the Act passed in 1541, the
+Duchy of Pomerania can only be divided into two portions, the
+other princes of the family being entitled but to life-annuities.
+Therefore I have resolved to let it be decided by lot amongst the
+four Pomeranian princes (according to the example set us by the
+holy apostles), which of them shall succeed me in Stettin, which
+is to rule in Wolgast in the room of my loved brother, Philippus
+Primus of blessed memory; and, finally, which is to be content
+only with the life-annuity. And this shall now be ascertained in
+your presence."
+
+Having ended, he commanded the Grand Marshal, Von Flemming, to
+bring the golden lottery-box with the tickets, and beckoned the
+young princes to the table. Then, while they drew the lots, he
+commanded all the nobles, knights, and burghers present to lift up
+their hands and repeat the Lord's Prayer aloud. So every hand was
+elevated, even the Duke and my gracious lady uplifting theirs, and
+the three young princes drew the lots, but not the fourth, and
+this was Bogislaff. So Duke Barnim wondered, and asked the reason.
+Whereupon he answered, "That he would not tempt God in aught. To
+govern a land was a serious thing; and he who had little to rule
+had little to be responsible for before God. He would therefore
+freely withdraw his claims, and be content with the annuity; then
+he could remain with his dear mother, and console her in her
+widowhood. He did not fear that he would ever repent his choice,
+for he had more pleasure in study than in the pomp of the world;
+and if he took the government, then must his beloved library be
+given up for food to the moths and spiders."
+
+All arguments were vain to turn him from his resolve: so the lots
+were drawn, and it was found that Johann Frederick had come by the
+Dukedom of Stettin, and Ernest Ludovicus by that of Wolgast.
+
+But as Barnim the younger went away empty, he was filled with envy
+and mortification, showing quite a different spirit from his meek,
+humble-minded brother, Bogislaff. He swore, and cursed his ill
+luck. "Why did not that fool of a bookworm give over his chance to
+him, if he would not profit by it himself? Why the devil should he
+descend to play the commoner, when he was born to play the
+prince?" and suchlike unamiable and ill-tempered speeches.
+However, he was now silenced by the drums and trumpets, which
+struck up the _Te Deum_, in which all present joined. Then
+Doctor Dannenbaum offered up a prayer, and so that grand ceremony
+concluded. But the feasting and drinking was carried on with such
+spirit all through the evening, and far into the night, that all
+the young lords, except Bogislaff, had well nigh drowned their
+senses in the wine-cup; and Ernest started up about midnight,
+declaring that he would go to the inn and murder Sidonia. Barnim
+was busy quarrelling with Johann Frederick about his annuity. So
+Ernest would certainly have gone to Sidonia, if one of the nobles,
+by name Dinnies Kleist, a man of huge strength, had not detained
+him in a singular manner. For he laid a wager that, just with his
+little finger in the girdle of the young Prince, he would hold him
+fast; and if he (the Prince) moved but one inch from the spot
+where he stood, he was content to lose his wager.
+
+And, in truth, Prince Ernest found that he could not stir one step
+from the spot where Dinnies Kleist held him; so he called a noble
+to assist him, who seized his hand and tried to draw him away, but
+in vain; then he called a second, a third, a fourth, up to a
+dozen, and they all held each other by the hand, and pulled and
+pulled away till their heads nearly touched the floor, but in
+vain; not one inch could they make the Prince to move. So Dinnies
+Kleist won his wager; and the Duke, Johann Frederick, was so
+delighted with this proof of his giant strength, that he took him
+into his service from that hour. So the whole night Dinnies amused
+the guests by performing equally wonderful feats even until day
+dawned.
+
+Now, there was an enormous golden becker which Duke Ratibor I. had
+taken away from the rich town of Konghalla, in Norway land, when
+he fell upon it and plundered it. This becker stood on the table
+filled with wine, and as the Duke handed it to him to pledge him,
+Dinnies said, "Shall I crush this in my hand, like fresh bread,
+for your Grace?" "You may try," said the Duke, laughing; and
+instantly he crushed it together with such force, that the wine
+dashed down all over the table-cover. _Item_, the Duke threw
+down some gold and silver medals--"Could he break them?"
+
+"Ay, truly, if they were given to him; not else."
+
+"Take, then, as many as you can break," said the Duke. So he broke
+them all as easily as altar wafers, and thrust them, laughing,
+into his pocket.
+
+_Item_, there had been large quantities of preserved cherries
+at supper, and the lacqueys had piled up the stones on a dish like
+a high mountain. From this mountain Dinnies took handful after
+handful, and squeezed them together, so that not a single stone
+remained whole in his hand. We shall hear a great deal more of
+this Dinnies Kleist, and his strength, as we proceed; therefore
+shall let him rest for the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann
+Appelmann._
+
+
+It was a good day for Johann Appelmann, when his father went to
+the Diet at Wollin. For as the old burgomaster held strictly by
+his word, and sent him each day to the writing-office, and locked
+him up each night in his little room, the poor young man had found
+life growing very dull. Now he was his mother's pet, and all his
+sins and wickedness were owing to her as much as Sidonia's to her
+father. She had petted and spoiled him from his youth up, and
+stiffened his back against his father. For whenever worthy Jacob
+laid the stick upon the boy's shoulders, she cried and roared, and
+called him nothing but an old tyrant. Then how she was always
+stuffing him up with tit-bits and dainties, whenever his father's
+back was turned; and if there were a glass of wine left in the
+bottle, the boy must have it. Then she let him and his brother
+beat and abuse all the street-boys and send them away bleeding
+like dogs; and some were afraid to complain of them, as they were
+sons of the burgomaster; and if others came to the house to do so,
+she took good care to send them away with a stout blow or bloody
+nose.
+
+And as the lads grew up, how she praised their beauty, and curled
+their hair and beards herself, telling them they were not to think
+of citizen wives, but to look after the richest and highest, for
+the proudest in the land might be glad to get them as husbands. So
+she prated away during her husband's absence, for he was in his
+office all day and most part of the evening. And God knows, bad
+fruit she brought forth with such rearing--not alone in Johann,
+but also in his brother Wittich, who, as I afterwards heard, got
+on no better in Pudgla, where he held the office of magistrate. So
+true it is what the Scripture says, "A wise woman buildeth her
+house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands" (Prov.
+xiv.) Then, another Scripture, "As moths from a garment, so from a
+woman wickedness" (Sirach xlii.)
+
+For what did this fool do now? As soon as her upright and worthy
+husband had left the house, forgetting and despising all his
+admonitions respecting this son Johann, she called together all
+her acquaintance, and kept up a gormandising and drinking day
+after day, all to comfort her heart's dear pet Johann, who had
+been used so harshly by his cross father. Think of her fine,
+handsome son being stuck down all day to a clerk's desk. Ah! was
+there ever such a tyrant as her husband to any one, but especially
+to his own born children?
+
+And so she went on complaining how she had thrown herself away
+upon such a hard-hearted monster, and had refused so many fine
+young carls, all to wed Satan himself at least. She could not make
+out why God had sent such a curse upon her.
+
+When the brave Johann heard all this, he begged money from his
+mother, that he might seek another situation. Now that there was a
+new duke in Stettin, he would assuredly get employment there, but
+then he must treat all the young fellows and pages about the
+court, otherwise they would not put in a good word for him.
+Therefore he would give them a great carouse at the White Horse in
+the Monk's Close, and then assuredly he would be appointed chief
+equerry. So she believed every word he uttered; but as old Jacob
+had carried away all the money that was in the house with him, she
+sold the spices that had just come in, for a miserable sum, also
+her own pearl earrings and fur mantle, that her dear heart's son
+might have a gay carouse, to console him for all his father's hard
+treatment.
+
+_Summa_.--When the rogue had got all he could from her, he
+took his father's best mare from the stable, and rode up to
+Stettin, where he put up at the White Horse Inn, and soon scraped
+acquaintance with all the idle young fellows about the court. So
+they drank and caroused until Johann's last penny was spent, but
+he had got no situation except in good promises. Truly the young
+pages had mentioned him to the Duke, and asked the place of
+equerry for their jovial companion, but his Highness, Duke Johann,
+had heard too much of his doings at Wolgast, and would by no means
+countenance him.
+
+Then Johann bethought himself of Sidonia, for he had heard from
+his boon companions that she was in the Duke's house behind St.
+Mary's. And he remembered that purse embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds which his father had given her, so he went many days
+spying about the house, hoping to get a glimpse of Sidonia; but as
+she never appeared, he resolved to gain admission by playing the
+tailor. Wherefore, he tied on an apron, took a tailor's measure
+and shears, and went straight up to the house, asking boldly, if a
+young maiden named Sidonia did not live there? for he had got
+orders to make her a garment. Now the baker's daughter, Trim
+Wehlers, suspected all was not right, for she had seen my gay
+youth spying about the house before, and staring up at all the
+windows. However, she showed the tailor Sidonia's room, and then
+set herself down to watch. But the wonders of Providence are
+great. Although she could not hear a word they said, yet all that
+passed in Sidonia's room was made evident--it was in this wise.
+Just before the house rose up the church of St. Mary's, with all
+its stately pillars, and as if God's house wished in wrath to
+expose the wickedness of the pair, everything that passed in the
+room was shadowed on these pillars; so when Trina observed this,
+she ran for the other girls, crying, "Come here, come here, and
+see how the two shadows are kissing each other. They can be no
+other than Sidonia and her tailor. This would be fine news for our
+gracious lord!" They would tell him the whole story when his
+Highness came that evening, and so get rid of this proud, haughty
+dragon who played the great lady amongst them, and ruled
+everything her own way. Therefore they all set themselves to watch
+for the tailor when he left Sidonia's room; but the whole day
+passed, and he had not done with his measurement. Whereupon they
+concluded she must have secreted him in her chamber.
+
+Now the Duke had a private key of the house, and was in the habit
+of walking over from Oderburg after dusk almost every evening; but
+as there was no sign of him now, they despatched a messenger,
+bidding him come quick to his house, and his Grace would hear and
+see marvels. How the young girls gathered round him when he
+entered, all telling him together about Sidonia. And when at last
+he made out the story, his Grace fell into an unwonted rage (for
+he was generally mild and good-tempered) that a poacher should get
+into his preserves. So he runs to Sidonia's door and tries to open
+it, but the bolts are drawn. Then he threatened to send for Master
+Hansen if she did not instantly admit him, at which all the girls
+laughed and clapped their hands with joy. Whereupon Sidonia at
+last came to the door with looks of great astonishment, and
+demanded what his Grace could want. It was bed-time, and so, of
+course, she had locked her door to lie down in safety.
+
+_Ille_.-"Where is that tailor churl who had come to her in
+the morning?"
+
+_Illa_.-"She knew nothing about him, except that he had gone
+away long ago."
+
+So the girls all screamed "No, no, that is not true! She and the
+tailor had been kissing each other, as they saw by the shadows on
+the wall, and making love."
+
+Here Sidonia appeared truly horrified at such an accusation, for
+she was a cunning hypocrite; and taking up the coif-block
+[Footnote: A block for head-gears.] with an air of offended
+dignity, said, turning to his Grace, "It was this coif-block,
+methinks, I had at the window with me, and may those be accursed
+who blackened me to your face." So the Duke half believed her, and
+stood silent at the window; but Trina Wehlers cried out, "It is
+false! it is false! a coif-block could not give kisses!" Whereupon
+Sidonia in great wrath snatched up a robe that lay near her on a
+couch, to hit the baker's daughter with it across the face. But
+woe! woe! under the robe lay the tailor's cap, upon which all the
+girls screamed out, "There is the cap! there is the cap! now we'll
+soon find the tailor," pushing Sidonia aside, and beginning to
+search in every nook and corner of the room. Heyday, what an
+uproar there was now, when they caught sight of the tailor himself
+in the chimney and dragged him down; but he dashed them aside with
+his hands, right and left, so that many got bleeding noses, hit
+his Grace, too, a blow as he tried to seize him, and rushed out of
+the house.
+
+Still the Duke had time to recognise the knave of Wolgast, and was
+so angry at his having escaped him, that he almost beat Sidonia.
+"She was at her old villainy. No good would ever come of her. He
+saw that now with his own eyes. Therefore this very night she and
+her baggage should pack off, to the devil if she chose, but he had
+done with her for ever."
+
+When Sidonia found that the affair was taking a bad turn, she
+tried soft words, but in vain. His Highness ordered up her two
+serving wenches to remove her and her luggage. And so, to the
+great joy of the other girls, who laughed and screamed, and
+clapped their hands, she was turned out, and having nowhere to go
+to, put up once more at the White Horse Inn.
+
+Now Johann knew nothing of this until next morning, when, as he
+was toying with one of the maids, he heard a voice from the
+window, "Johann! Johann! I will give thee the diamond." And
+looking up, there was Sidonia. So the knave ran to her, and swore
+he was only jesting with the maid in the court, for that he would
+marry no one but her, as he had promised yesterday, only he must
+first wait till he was made equerry, then he would obtain letters
+of nobility, which could easily be done, as he was the son of a
+_patricius_; but gold, gold was wanting for all this, and to
+keep up with his friends at the court. Perhaps this very day he
+might get the place, if he had only some good claret to entertain
+them with; therefore she had better give him a couple of diamonds
+from the purse. And so he went on with his lies and humbug, until
+at last he got what he wanted.
+
+Sidonia now felt so ashamed of her degradation, that she resolved
+to leave the White Horse, and take a little lodging in the Monk's
+Close until Johann obtained the post of equerry. But in vain she
+hoped and waited. Every day the rogue came, he begged for another
+pearl or diamond, and if she hesitated, then he swore it would be
+the last, for this very day he was certain of the situation. At
+last but two diamonds were left, and beg as he might, these he
+should not have. Then he beat her, and ran off to the White Horse,
+but came back again in less than an hour. Would she forgive him?
+Now they would be happy at last; he had received his appointment
+as chief equerry. His friends had behaved nobly and kept their
+word, therefore he must give them a right merry carouse out of
+gratitude; she might as well hand him those two little diamonds.
+Now they would want for nothing at last, but live like princes at
+the table of his Highness the Duke. Would she not be ready to
+marry him immediately?
+
+Thereupon the unfortunate Sidonia handed over her two last jewels,
+but never laid eyes on the knave for two days after, when he came
+to tell her it was all up with him now, the traitors had deceived
+him, he had got no situation, and unless she gave him more money
+or jewels he never could marry her. She had still golden armlets
+and a gold chain, let her go for them, he must see them, and try
+what he could get for them. But he begged in vain. Then he
+stormed, swore, threatened, beat her, and finally rushed out of
+the house declaring that she might go to the devil, for as to him
+he would never give himself any further trouble about her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and
+Johann Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard._
+
+
+When my gracious lord, Duke Johann Frederick, succeeded to the
+government, he had no idea of hoarding up his money in old pots,
+but lavished it freely upon all kinds of buildings, hounds,
+horses--in short, upon everything that could make his court and
+castle luxurious and magnificent.
+
+Indeed, he was often as prodigal, just to gratify a whim, as when
+he flung the gold coins to Dinnies Kleist, merely to see if he
+could break them. For instance, he was not content with the old
+ducal residence at Stettin, but must pull it down and build
+another in the forest, not far from Stargard, with churches,
+towers, stables, and all kinds of buildings; and this new
+residence he called after his own name, Friedrichswald.
+
+_Item_, my gracious lord had many princely visitors, who
+would come with a train of six hundred horses or more; and his
+princely spouse, the Duchess Erdmuth, was a lady of munificent
+spirit, and flung away gold by handfuls; so that in a short time
+his Highness had run through all his forefathers' savings, and his
+incoming revenue was greatly diminished by the large annuity which
+he had to pay to old Duke Barnim.
+
+Therefore he summoned the states, and requested them to assist him
+with more money; but they gave answer that his Highness wanted
+prudence; he ought to tie his purse tighter. Why did he build that
+new castle of Friedrichswald? Was it ever heard in Pomerania that
+a prince needed two state residences? But his Highness never
+entered the treasury to look after the expenditure of the
+duchy--he did nothing but banquet, hunt, fish, and build. The
+states, therefore, had no gold for such extravagances.
+
+When his Highness had received this same answer two or three times
+from the states, he waxed wroth, and threatened to pronounce the
+_interdictum seculars_ over his poor land, and finally close
+the royal treasury and all the courts of justice, until the states
+would give him money.
+
+Now the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who had quitted Wolgast to
+enter the service of his Grace, was so shocked at these
+proceedings, that he killed himself out of pure grief and shame.
+He was an upright, excellent man, this old Zitsewitz, though
+perchance, like old Duke Barnim, he loved the maidens and a lusty
+Pomeranian draught rather too well. And he foretold all the evil
+that would result from this same interdict; but his Highness
+resisted his entreaties; and when the old man found his warnings
+unheeded and despised, he stabbed himself, as I have said, there
+in the treasury, before his master's eyes, out of grief and shame.
+
+The misery which he prophesied soon fell upon the land; for it was
+just at that time that the great house of Loitz failed in Stettin,
+leaving debts to the amount of twenty tons of gold, it was said;
+by reason of which many thousand men, widows, and orphans, were
+utterly beggared, and great distress brought upon all ranks of the
+people. Such universal grief and lamentation never had been known
+in all Pomerania, as I have heard my father tell, of blessed
+memory; and as the princely treasury was closed, as also all the
+courts of justice, and no redress could be obtained, many
+misguided and ruined men resolved to revenge themselves; and this
+was now a welcome hearing to Johann Appelmann.
+
+For having given up all hope of the post of equerry, he made
+acquaintance with these disaffected persons, amongst whom was a
+miller, one Philip Konneman by name, a notorious knave. With this
+Konneman he sits down one evening in the inn to drink Rostock
+beer, begins to curse and abuse the reigning family, who had
+ruined and beggared the people even more than Hans Loitz. They
+ought to combine together and right themselves. Where was the
+crime? Their cause was good; and where there were no judges in the
+land, complaints would do little good. He would be their captain.
+Let him speak to the others about it, and see would they consent.
+He knew of many churches where there were jewels and other
+valuables still remaining. Also in Stargard, where his dear father
+played the burgomaster, there was much gold.
+
+So they fixed a night when they should all meet at Lastadie,
+[Footnote: A suburb of Stettin.] near the ducal fish-house; and
+Johann then goes to Sidonia to wheedle her out of the gold chain,
+for handsel for the robbers.
+
+"Now," he said, "the good old times were come back in Pomerania,
+when every one trusted to his own good sword, and were not led
+like sheep at the beck of another; for the treasury and all the
+courts of justice were closed. So the glorious times of
+knight-errantry must come again, such as their forefathers had
+seen." His companions had promised to elect him captain; but then
+he must give them handsel for that, and the gold chain would just
+sell for the sum he wanted. What use was it to her? If she gave
+it, then he would take her with him, and the first rich prize they
+got he would marry her certainly, and settle down in Poland
+afterwards, or wherever else she wished. That would be a glorious
+life, and she would never regret the young Duke. And had not all
+the nobles in old time led the same life, and so gained their
+castles and lands?
+
+But Sidonia began to weep. "Let him do what he would, she would
+never give the chain; and if he beat her, she would scream for
+help through the streets, and betray all his plans to the
+authorities. Now she saw plainly how she had been deceived. He had
+talked her out of all her gold, and now wanted to bring her to the
+gallows at last. No, never should he get the chain--it was all she
+had left; and she had determined at last to go and live quietly at
+her farm in Zachow, as soon as she could obtain a vehicle from
+Regenswald to Labes."
+
+When Johann heard this, he was terribly alarmed, and kissed her
+little hands, and coaxed and flattered her--"Why did she weep?
+There were plenty of herons' feathers now in the garden behind St.
+Mary's, for the birds were moulting. She could easily get some of
+them, and they were worth three times as much as the gold chain.
+Did she think it a crime to take a few feathers from that old
+sinner, Duke Barnim, or his girls? And if she really wished to
+leave him, she could sell the feathers even better in Dresden than
+here."
+
+It was all in vain. Sidonia continued weeping--"Let him talk as he
+liked, she would never give the chain. He was a knave through and
+through. Woe to her that she had ever listened to him! He was the
+cause of all her misery!" and so she went on.
+
+But the cunning fox would not give up his prey so easily. He now
+tried the same trick which he had played so successfully at
+Wolgast upon old Ulrich, and at Stargard upon his father; in
+short, he played the penitent, and began to weep and lament over
+his errors, and all the misery he had caused her. "It was, indeed,
+true that he was to blame for all; but if she would only forgive
+him, and say she pardoned him, he would devote his life to her,
+and revenge her upon all her enemies. The moment for doing so was
+nigh at hand; for the young lord, Prince Ernest, who had so
+shamefully abandoned her, was coming here to Stettin with his
+young bride, the Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, to spend the
+honeymoon, and would he not take good care to waylay them on their
+journey to Wolgast, and give them something to think of for the
+rest of their lives?"
+
+When Sidonia heard these tidings, her eyes flashed like a cat's in
+the dark. "Who told him that? She would not believe it, unless
+some one else confirmed the story."
+
+So he answered--"That any one could confirm it, for the whole
+castle was filled with workmen making preparations for their
+reception; the bridal chamber had been hung with new tapestry, and
+painters and carvers were busy all day long painting and carving
+the united arms of Pomerania and Brunswick upon all the furniture
+and glass."
+
+_Illa_.--"Well, she would go into the town to inquire, and if
+his tale were true, and that he swore to marry her, he should have
+the chain."
+
+_Ille_.--"There was a carver going by with his basket and
+tools--let her call him in, and hear what he said on the matter."
+
+So my cunning fellow called out to the workman, who stepped in
+presently with his basket, and assured the lady politely, that in
+fourteen days the young Duke of Wolgast and his princely bride
+were to arrive at the castle, for the Court Marshal had told him
+this himself, and given him orders to have a large number of
+glasses cut with their united arms ready with all diligence.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, and saw the glasses in his basket, she
+handed the golden chain to Johann, and the carver went his way.
+Then the aforesaid rogue fell down on his knees, swearing to marry
+her, and never to leave her more, for she had now given him all;
+and if this, too, were lost, she must beg her way to Zachow.
+
+So the gallows-bird went off with the chain, turned it into money,
+drank and caroused, and with the remainder set off for Lastadie,
+to meet the ringleaders, near the ducal fishhouse, as agreed upon.
+
+But Master Konneman had only been able to gather ten fellows
+together; the others held back, though they had talked so boldly
+at first, thinking, no doubt, that when the courts of justice were
+reopened, they would all be brought to the gallows.
+
+So Johann thought the number too small for his purposes, and
+agreed with the others to send an envoy to the robber-band of the
+Stargard Wood, proposing a league between them, and offering
+himself (Johann Appelmann, a knight of excellent family and
+endowments) as their captain. Should they consent, the said Johann
+would give them right good handsel; and on the appointed day, meet
+them in the forest, with his illustrious and noble bride; and as a
+sign whereby they should know him, he would whistle three times
+loudly when he approached the wood.
+
+Konneman undertook to be the bearer of the message, and returned
+in a few days, declaring that the robbers had received the
+proposal with joy. He found them encamped under a large nut-tree
+in the forest, roasting a sheep upon a spear, at a large fire. So
+they made him sit down and eat with them, and told him it was a
+right jolly life, with no ruler but the great God above them.
+Better to live under the free heaven than die in their squalid
+cabins. The band was strong, besides many who had joined lately,
+since the bankruptcy of Hans Loitz, and there were some gipsies
+too, amongst whom was an old hag who told fortunes, and had lately
+prophesied to the band that a great prize was in store for them;
+they had just returned with some booty from the little town of
+Damm, where they had committed a robbery. One of their party,
+however, had been taken there.
+
+When Johann heard the good result of his message, he summoned all
+his followers to another meeting at the ducal fish-house, gave
+them each money, and swore them to fidelity; then bid them
+disperse, and slip singly to the band, to avoid observation, and
+he would himself meet them in the forest next day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure, at Alten Damm--Item,
+of their reception by the robber-band._
+
+
+Now Johann Appelmann had a grudge against the newly appointed
+equerry to his Highness, for the man had swilled his claret, and
+been foremost in his promises, and yet now had stepped into the
+place himself, and left Johann in the lurch. The knave, therefore,
+determined on revenge; so invented a story, how that his father,
+old Appelmann, had sent for him to give him half of all he was
+worth, and as he must journey to Stargard directly, he prayed his
+friend the equerry to lend him a couple of horses and a waggon out
+of the ducal stables, with harness and all that would be
+necessary, swearing that when he brought them back he would give
+him and his other friends such a carouse at the inn, as they had
+never yet had in their lives.
+
+And when the other asked, would not one horse be sufficient,
+Johann replied no, that he required the waggon for his luggage,
+and two horses would be necessary to draw it. _Summa_, the
+fool gives him two beautiful Andalusian stallions, with harness
+and saddles; _item_, a waggon, whereon my knave mounted next
+morning early, with Sidonia and her luggage, and took the miller,
+Konneman, with him as driver.
+
+But as they passed through Alten Damm, a strange adventure
+happened, whereby the all-merciful God, no doubt, wished to turn
+them from their evil way; but they flung His warnings to the wind.
+
+For the carl was going to be executed who belonged to the
+robber-band, that had committed a burglary there, in the town,
+some days previously. However, the gallows having been blown down
+by a storm, the linen-weavers, according to old usage, came to
+erect another. This angered the millers, who also began to erect
+one of their own, declaring that the weavers had only a right to
+supply the ladder, but they were to erect the gallows. A great
+fight now arose between weavers and millers, while the poor thief
+stood by with his hands tied behind his back, and arrayed in his
+winding-sheet. But the sheriffs, and whatever other honourable
+citizens were by, having in vain endeavoured to appease the
+quarrel, returned to the inn, to take the advice of the honourable
+council.
+
+Just at this moment Johann and Sidonia drove into the middle of
+the crowd, and the former leaped off and laughed heartily, for a
+miller had thrown down a poor lean weaver close behind the
+criminal, and was belabouring him stoutly with his floured fists,
+whilst the poor wretch screamed loudly for succour or assistance
+to the criminal, who answered in his _Platt Deutsch_, "I
+cannot help thee, friend, for, see, my hands are bound." Upon
+this, Johann draws his knife from his girdle, and slipping behind
+the felon, cuts the ropes binding him.
+
+He straightway, finding himself free, jumped upon the miller, and
+turned the flour all red upon his face with his heavy blows. Then
+he ran towards the waggon, but the guardsman caught hold of him by
+the shoulder, so the poor wretch left the winding-sheet in his
+hand, and jumping, naked as he was, on the back of one of the
+horses, set off, at top speed, to the forest, with Sidonia
+screaming and roaring fleeing with him.
+
+Millers and weavers now left off their wrangling, and joined
+together in pursuit, but in vain; the fellow soon distanced them
+all, and was lost to sight in the wood.
+
+When he had driven the waggon a good space, and still hearing the
+roaring of the people in pursuit, he stopped the horses, and
+jumped off, to take to his heels amongst the trees. Whereupon
+Konneman threw him a horse-cloth from the waggon, bidding him
+cover himself with it; so the carl snapped it up, and rolled it
+about his body with all alacrity. Now this horse-cloth was
+embroidered with the Pomeranian arms, and the poor Adam looked so
+absurd running away in such a garment, that Sidonia,
+notwithstanding all her fright, could not help bursting into a
+loud mocking laughter.
+
+Whereupon the crowd came up, cursing, swearing, and cursing, that
+the thief had escaped them; Johann Appelmann, who was amongst
+them, and was just in the act of stepping up to the waggon, when
+Prince Johann Frederick and a company of carbineers galloped up
+along with the chief equerry and a large retinue, all on their way
+to Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke stopped to hear the cause of the tumult, and when they
+told him, he laughingly said, he would soon return with the
+gallows-knaves; then, turning to Appelmann, he asked who he was,
+and what brought him there?
+
+When Johann gave his name, and said he was going to Stargard, his
+Grace exclaimed, with surprise--
+
+"So thou art the knave of whom I have heard so much; and this woman
+here, I suppose, is Sidonia? Pity of her. She is a handsome wench,
+I see."
+
+Then, as Sidonia blushed and looked down, he continued--
+
+"And where did the fellow get these fine horses? Would he sell
+them?"
+
+Now Appelmann had a great mind to tell the truth, and say he got
+them from the equerry, who was already turning white with pure
+fear; but recollecting that he might come in for some of the
+punishment himself, besides hoping to play a second trick upon his
+Highness, he answered, that his father at Stargard had made them a
+present to him.
+
+The Duke, now turning to his equerry, asked him--
+
+"Would not these horses match his Andalusian stallions perfectly?"
+
+And as the other tremblingly answered, "Yes, perfectly," his Grace
+demanded if the knave would sell them.
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh yes; to gratify his Serene Highness the Duke, he
+would sell the horses for 3000 florins."
+
+"Let it be so," said the Duke; "but I must owe thee the money,
+fellow."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then he would not make the bargain, for he wanted
+the money directly to take him to Stargard."
+
+So the Duke frowned that he would not trust his own Prince; and as
+Appelmann attempted to move off with the waggon, his Highness took
+his plumed cap from his head, and cutting off the diamond agrafe
+with his dagger, flung it to him, exclaiming--
+
+"Stay! take these jewels, they are worth 1300 florins, but leave
+me the horses."
+
+Now the chief equerry nearly fell from his horse with shame as the
+knave picked up the agrafe, and shoved it into his pocket, then
+humbly addressing his Highness, prayed for permission just to
+leave the maiden and her luggage in Stargard, and then he would
+return instantly with both horses, and bring them himself to his
+gracious Highness at Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke having consented, the knave sprang up upon the waggon,
+and turning off to another road, drove away as hard as he could
+from the scene of this perilous adventure. After some time he
+whistled, but receiving no response, kept driving through the
+forest until evening, when a loud, shrill whistle at last replied
+to his, and on reaching a cross-road, he found the whole band
+dancing with great merriment round a large sign-board which had
+been stuck up there by the authorities, and on which was painted a
+gipsy lying under the gallows, while the executioner stood over
+him in the act of applying the torture, and beneath ran the
+inscription--
+
+  "Gipsy! from Pomerania flee,
+  Or thus it shall be done to thee."
+
+These words the robber crew had set to some sort of rude melody,
+and now sang it and danced to it round the sign, the fellow with
+the horse-cloth in the midst of them, the merriest of them all.
+
+The moment they got a glimpse of their captain, men, women, and
+children ran off like mad to the waggon, clapping their hands and
+shouting, "Huzzah! huzzah! what a noble captain! Had he brought
+them anything to drink?" And when he said "Yes," and handed out
+three barrels of wine, there was no end to the jubilee of
+cheering. Then he must give them handsel, and after that they
+would make a large fire and swear fealty to him round it, as was
+the manner of the gipsies, for the band was mostly composed of
+gipsies, and numbered about fifty men altogether.
+
+_Summa_.--A great fire was kindled, round which they all took
+the oath of obedience to their captain, and he swore fidelity to
+them in return. Then a couple of deer were roasted; and after they
+had eaten and drunk, the singing and dancing round the great
+sign-board was resumed, until the broad daylight glanced through
+the trees.
+
+People may see from this to what a pitch of lawlessness and
+disorder the land came under the reign of Duke Johann. For,
+methinks, these robbers would never have dared to make such a mock
+of the authorities, only that my Lord Duke had shut up all the
+courts of justice in the kingdom.
+
+During their jollity, our knave Appelmann cast his eyes upon a
+gipsy maiden, called the handsome Sioli; a tall, dark-eyed wench,
+but with scarcely a rag to cover her. Therefore he bade Sidonia
+run to her luggage, and take out one of her own best robes for the
+girl; but Sidonia turned away in great wrath, exclaiming--
+
+"This was the way he kept his promise to her. She had given him
+all, and followed him even hither, and yet he cared more for a
+ragged gipsy girl than for her. But she would go away that very
+night, anywhere her steps might lead her, if only away from her
+present misery. Let him give her the Duke's diamonds, and she
+would leave him all the herons' feathers, and never come near him
+any more."
+
+But my knave only laughed, and bid her come take the diamonds if
+she wanted them, they were in his bosom. Then the gipsy girl and
+her mother, old Ussel, began to mock the fine lady. So Sidonia sat
+there weeping and wringing her hands, while Johann laughed,
+danced, drank, and kissed the gipsy wench, and finally threatened
+to go and take a robe himself out of the luggage, if Sidonia did
+not run for one instantly.
+
+However, she would not stir; so Konnemann, the miller, took pity
+on her, and would have remonstrated, but Johann cut him short,
+saying--
+
+"What the devil did he mean? Was he not the captain? and why
+should Konnemann dare to interfere with him?"
+
+Then he strode over to the waggon to plunder Sidonia's baggage,
+which, when she observed, her heart seemed to break, and she
+kneeled down, lifted up her hands, and prayed thus:--
+
+"Merciful Creator, I know Thee not, for my hard and unnatural
+father never brought me to Thee; therefore on his head be my sins.
+But if Thou hast pity on the young ravens, who likewise know Thee
+not, have pity upon me, and help me to leave this robber den with
+Thy gracious help."
+
+Here such a shout of laughter resounded from all sides, that she
+sprang up, and seizing the best bundle in the waggon, plunged into
+the wood, with loud cries and lamentation; whilst Appelmann only
+said--
+
+"Never heed her, let her do as she pleases; she will be back again
+soon enough, I warrant."
+
+Accordingly, scarcely an hour had elapsed, when the unhappy maiden
+appeared again, to the great amusement of the whole band, who
+mocked her yet more than before. She came back crying and
+lamenting--
+
+"She could go no further, for the wolves followed her, and howled
+round her on all sides. Ah! that she were a stone, and buried
+fathoms deep in the earth! That shameless knave, Appelmann, might
+indeed have pitied her, if he hoped for pity from God; but had he
+not taken her robe to put it on the gipsy beggar? She nearly died
+of shame at the sight. But she would never forgive the beggar's
+brat to the day of judgment for it. All she wanted now was some
+good Christian to guide her out of the wild forest. Would no one
+come with her? that was all she asked."
+
+And so she went on crying, and lamenting in the deepest grief.
+
+_Summa_.--When the knave heard all this, his heart seemed to
+relent; perhaps he dreaded the anger of her relations if she were
+treated too badly, or, mayhap, it was compassion, I cannot say;
+but he sprang up, kissed her, caressed her, and consoled her.
+
+"Why should she leave them? He would remain faithful and constant
+to her, as he had sworn. Why should the gown for the beggar-girl
+anger her? When they get the herons' feathers on the morrow, he
+would buy her ten new gowns for the one he had taken." And so he
+continued in his old deceiving way, till she at last believed him,
+and was comforted.
+
+Here the roll of a carriage was heard, and as many of the band as
+were not quite drunk seized their muskets and pikes, and rushed in
+the direction of the sound. But behold, the waggon and horses,
+with all Sidonia's luggage, was off! For, in truth, the equerry,
+seeing Johann's treachery, had secretly followed him, hiding
+himself in the bushes till it grew dark, but near enough to
+observe all that was going on; then, watching his opportunity, and
+knowing the robbers were all more or less drunk, he sprang upon
+the waggon, and galloped away as hard as he could. Johann gave
+chase for a little, but the equerry had got too good a start to be
+overtaken; and so Johann returned, cursing and raging, to the
+band. Then they all gathered round the fire again, and drank and
+caroused till morning dawned, when each sought out a good
+sleeping-place amongst the bushwood. There they lay till morn,
+when Johann summoned them to prepare for their excursion to the
+Duke's gardens at Zachan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son._
+
+
+After Duke Barnim the elder had resigned the government, he betook
+himself more than ever to field-sports; and amongst others,
+hawking became one of his most favourite pursuits. By this sport,
+he stocked his gardens at Zachan with an enormous number of
+herons, and made a considerable sum annually by the sale of the
+feathers. These gardens at Zachan covered an immense space, and
+were walled round. Within were many thousand herons' nests; and
+all the birds taken by the falcons were brought here, and their
+wings clipped. Then the keepers fed them with fish, frogs, and
+lizards, so that they became quite tame, and when their wings grew
+again, never attempted to leave the gardens, but diligently built
+their nests and reared their young. Now, though it cost a great
+sum to keep these gardens in order, and support all the people
+necessary to look after the birds, yet the Duke thought little of
+the expense, considering the vast sum which the feathers brought
+him at the moulting season.
+
+Accordingly, during the moulting time, he generally took up his
+abode at a castle adjoining the gardens, called "The Stone
+Rampart," to inspect the gathering in of the feathers himself; and
+he was just on his journey thither with his falconers, hunters,
+and other retainers, when the robber-band caught sight of him from
+the wood. His Highness was seated in an open carriage, with Trina
+Wehlers, the baker's daughter, by his side; and Sidonia, who
+recognised her enemy, instantly entreated Johann to revenge her on
+the girl if possible; but, as he hesitated, the old gipsy mother
+stepped forward and whispered Sidonia, "that she would help her to
+a revenge, if she but gave her that little golden smelling-bottle
+which she wore suspended by a gold chain on her neck." Sidonia
+agreed, and the revenge soon followed; for the Duke left the
+carriage, and mounted a horse to follow the chase, the falconer
+having unloosed a couple of hawks and let them fly at a heron.
+Trina remained in the coach; but the coachman, wishing to see the
+sport, tied his horses to a tree, and ran off, too, after the
+others into the wood. The hawk soared high above the heron,
+watching its opportunity to pounce upon the quarry; but the heron,
+just as it swooped down upon it, drove its sharp bill through the
+body of the hawk, and down they both came together covered with
+blood, right between the two carriage horses.
+
+No doubt this was all done through the magic of the gipsy mother;
+for the horses took fright instantly, plunged and reared, and
+dashed off with the carriage, which was over-turned some yards
+from the spot, and the baker's daughter had her leg broken.
+Hearing her screams, the Duke and the whole party ran to the spot;
+and his Highness first scolded the coachman for leaving his
+horses, then the falconer for having let fly his best falcon,
+which now lay there quite dead. The heron, however, was alive, and
+his Grace ordered it to be bound and carried off to Zachan. The
+baker's daughter prayed, but in vain, that the coachman might be
+hung upon the next tree. Then they all set off homeward, but Trina
+screamed so loudly, that his Grace stopped, and ordered a couple
+of stout huntsmen to carry her to the neighbouring convent of
+Marienfliess, where, as I am credibly informed, in a short time
+she gave up the ghost.
+
+Now, the robber-band were watching all these proceedings from the
+wood, but kept as still as mice. Not until his Grace had driven
+off a good space, and the baker's daughter had been carried away,
+did they venture to speak or move; then Sidonia jumped up,
+clapping her hands in ecstasy, and mimicking the groans and
+contortions of the poor girl, to the great amusement of the band,
+who laughed loudly; but Johann recalled them to business, and
+proposed that they should secretly follow his Highness, and hide
+themselves at Elsbruck, near the water-mill of Zachan, until the
+evening closed in. In order also to be quite certain of the place
+where his Grace had laid up all the herons' feathers of that
+season, Johann proposed that the miller, Konnemann, should visit
+his Grace at Zachan, giving out that he was a feather merchant
+from Berlin. Accordingly, when they reached Elsbruck, the miller
+put on my knave's best doublet (for he was almost naked before),
+and proceeded to the Stone Rampart, Sidonia bidding him, over and
+over again, to inquire at the castle when the young Lord of
+Wolgast and his bride were expected at Stettin. The Duke received
+Konnemann very graciously, when he found that he was a wealthy
+feather merchant from Berlin, who, having heard of the number and
+extent of his Grace's gardens at Zachan, had come to purchase all
+the last year's gathering of feathers. Would his Highness allow
+him to see the feathers?
+
+_Summa_.--He had his wish; for his Grace brought him into a
+little room on the ground-floor, where lay two sacks full of the
+most perfect and beautiful feathers; and when the Duke demanded a
+thousand florins for them, the knave replied, "That he would
+willingly have the feathers, but must take the night to think over
+the price." Then he took good note of the room, and the garden,
+and all the passages of the castle, and so came back in the
+twilight to the band with great joy, assuring them that nothing
+would be easier than to rob the old turner's apprentice of his
+feathers.
+
+Such, indeed, was the truth; for at midnight my knave Johann, with
+Konnemann and a few chosen accomplices, carried away those two
+sacks of feathers; and no one knew a word about the robbery until
+the next morning, when the band were far off in the forest, no one
+knew where. But a quarrel had arisen between my knave and Sidonia
+over the feathers: she wanted them for herself, that she might
+turn them into money, and so be enabled to get back to her own
+people; but Johann had no idea of employing his booty in this way.
+"What was she thinking of? If those fine stallions, indeed, had
+not been stolen from him, he might have given her the feathers;
+but now there was nothing else left wherewith to pay the band--she
+must wait for another good prize. Meantime they must settle
+accounts with the young Lord of Wolgast, who, as Konnemann had
+found out, was expected at Stettin in seven days."
+
+Now, the daring robbery at Zachan was the talk of the whole
+country, and as the old burgomaster, Appelmann, had heard at
+Friedrichswald about the horses and waggon, and his son's shameful
+knavery, he could think of nothing else but that the same rascal
+had stolen the Duke's feathers at So he took some faithful
+burghers with him, and set off for the forest, to try and find his
+lost son. At last, after many wanderings, a peasant, who was
+cutting wood, told them that he had seen the robber-band encamped
+in a thick wood near Rehewinkel; [Footnote: Two miles and a half
+from Stargard, and the present dwelling-place of the editor.] and
+when the miserable father and his burghers arrived at the place,
+there indeed was the robber-band stretched upon the long grass,
+and Sidonia seated upon the stump of a tree--for she must play the
+lute, while Johann, his godless son, was plaiting the long black
+hair of the handsome Sioli.
+
+Methinks the knave must have felt somewhat startled when his
+father sprang from behind an oak, a dagger in his hand, exclaiming
+loudly, "Johann, Johann, thou lost, abandoned son! is it thus I
+find thee?"
+
+The knave turned as white as a corpse upon the gallows, and his
+hands seemed to freeze upon the fair Sioli's hair; but the band
+jumped up and seized their arms, shouting, "Seize him! seize him!"
+The old man, however, cared little for their shouts; and still
+gazing on his son, cried out, "Dost thou not answer me, thou
+God-forgetting knave? Thou hast deceived and robbed thy own
+Prince. Answer me--who amongst all these is fitter for the gallows
+than thou art?"
+
+So my knave at last came to his senses, and answered sullenly,
+"What did he want here? He had done nothing for him. He must earn
+his own bread."
+
+_Ille_.--"God forgive thee thy sins; did I not take thee back
+as my son, and strive to correct thee as a true and loving father?
+Why didst thou run away from my house and the writing-office?"
+
+_Hic._--"He was born for something else than to lead the life
+of a dog."
+
+_Ille_.--"He had never made him live any such life; and even
+if he had, better live like a dog than as a robber wolf."
+
+_Hic_.--"He was no robber. Who had belied him so? He and his
+friends were on their way to Poland to join the army."
+
+_Ille_.--"Wherefore, then, had he tricked his Highness of
+Stettin out of the horses?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was only a revenge upon the equerry, to pay him
+back in his own coin, for he was his enemy, and had broken faith
+with him."
+
+_Ille_.--"But he had robbed his Grace Duke Barnim, likewise,
+of the herons' feathers. No one else had done it."
+
+_Hic_.--"Who dared to say so? He was insulted and belied by
+every one." Then he cursed and swore that he knew nothing whatever
+of these herons' feathers which he was making such a fuss about.
+
+Meanwhile the band stood round with cocked muskets, and as the
+burghers now pressed forward, to save their leader, if any
+violence were offered, Konnemann called out, "Give the word,
+master--shall I shoot down the churl?"
+
+Here Johann's conscience was moved a little, and he shouted,
+"Back! back!--he is my father!"
+
+But the old gipsy mother sprang forward with a knife, crying, "Thy
+father, fool?--what care we for thy father? Let me at him, and
+I'll soon settle thy father with my knife."
+
+When the unfortunate son heard and saw this, he seized a heavy
+stick that lay near him, and gave the gipsy such a blow on the
+crown, that she rolled, screaming, on the ground. Whereupon the
+whole band raised a wild yell, and rushed upon the burgomaster.
+
+Then Johann cried, almost with anguish, "Back! back! he is my
+father! Do ye not remember your oaths to me? Spare my father!
+Wait, at least; he has something of importance to tell me."
+
+And at last, though with difficulty, he succeeded in calming these
+children of Belial. Then drawing his father aside, under the shade
+of a great oak, he began--"Dearest father mine, it was fear of
+you, and despair of the future, that drove me to this work; but if
+you will now give me three hundred florins, I will go forth into
+the wide world, and take honourable service, wherever it is to be
+had, during the wars."
+
+_Ille_.--"Had he yet married that unfortunate Sidonia, who he
+observed, to his surprise, was still with him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; he could never marry the harlot now, for she had
+run away from old Duke Barnim, and followed him here to the
+forest."
+
+_Ille_.--"What would become of her, then, when he joined the
+army?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was her look-out. Let her go to her farm at
+Zachow."
+
+Hereupon the old man held his peace, and rested his arm against
+the oak, and his grey head upon his arm, and looked down long upon
+the grass without uttering a word; then he sighed deeply, and
+looking up, thus addressed Johann:--
+
+"My son, I will trust thee yet again; but it shall be the last
+time; therefore take heed to what I say. Between Stargard and
+Pegelow there stands an old thorn upon the highway; there,
+to-morrow evening, by seven of the clock, my servant Caspar, whom
+thou knowest, shall bring thee three hundred florins; but on this
+one condition, that thou dost now swear solemnly to abandon this
+villainous robber-band, and seek an honourable living far away, in
+some other country, where thou must pray daily to God the Lord, to
+turn thee from thy evil ways, and help thee by His grace."
+
+So the knave knelt down before his father, wept, and prayed for
+his father's forgiveness; then swore solemnly to abandon his
+sinful life, and with God's help to perform all that his father
+had enjoined. "And would he not give his last farewell to his
+dear, darling mother?" "Thy mother!--ah, thy mother!" sighed the
+old man; "but rise, now, and let me and mine homewards. God grant
+that my eyes have beheld thee for the last time. Come, I will take
+this Sidonia back with me."
+
+So they forthwith joined the robber crew again, who were still
+making a great uproar, which, however, Johann appeased, and after
+some time obtained a free passage for his father and the burghers;
+but Sidonia would not accompany them. The upright old burgomaster
+admonished first, then he promised to drive her with his own
+horses to her farm at Zachow; but his words were all in vain, for
+the knave privately gave her a look, and whispered something in
+her ear, but no one knew what it was.
+
+Nor did the old man omit to admonish the whole band likewise,
+telling them that if they did not now look up to the high God,
+they would one day look down from the high gallows, for all
+thieves and robbers came to dance in the wind at last: ten hung in
+Stargard, and he had seen twenty at Stettin, and not even the
+smallest town had its gallows empty. Hereat Konnemann cried out,
+"Ho! ho! who will hang us now? We know well the courts of justice
+are closed in all places." And as the old man sighed, and prepared
+to answer him, the whole band set up such a shout of laughter that
+he stood silent a space; then turning round, trod slowly out of
+the thick wood with all his burghers, and was soon lost to view.
+
+The next evening Johann received the three hundred florins at the
+thorn-bush, along with a letter from his father, admonishing him
+yet again, and conjuring him to fulfil his promise speedily of
+abandoning his wicked life. Upon which, my knave gave some of the
+money to a peasant that he met on the highway, and bid him go into
+the town, purchase some wine and all sorts of eatables, and fetch
+them to the band in the wood, that they might have a merry carouse
+that same night. This very peasant had been one of their
+accomplices, and great was his joy when he beheld them all again,
+and, in particular, the gipsy mother. He told her that all her
+prophecy had come out true, for his daughter had been deserted,
+and her lover had taken Stina Krugers to wife; could she not,
+therefore, give him something that would make Stina childless, and
+cause her husband to hate her?
+
+"Ay, if he crossed her hand with silver."
+
+This the peasant did. Whereupon she gave him a padlock, and
+whispered some words in his ear.
+
+When Sidonia heard that the man could be brought to hate his wife
+by some means, her eyes flashed wildly, and she called the
+horrible old gipsy mother aside, and asked her to tell her the
+charm.
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but what would she give her? She had two
+pretty golden rings on her finger; let her give them, and she
+should have the secret."
+
+_Hæc_.--"She would give one ring now, and the other if the
+charm succeeded. The peasant had only given her a few groschen."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but she had only given him half the charm."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Was it anything to eat or drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; there was no eating or drinking: the charm did
+it all."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Then let her teach it to her, and if it succeeded by
+the young Lord of Wolgast, she would have both rings; if not, but
+one."
+
+_Illa_.--"It would succeed without doubt; if his young wife
+had no promise of offspring as yet, she would remain childless for
+ever."
+
+_Summa_.--The old gipsy taught her the charm, the same with
+which she afterward bewitched the whole princely Pomeranian race,
+so that they perished childless from off the face of the earth;
+[Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"O ter quaterque
+detestabilem! Et ego testis adfui tametsi in actis de industria
+hand notatis. (Oh, thrice accursed! And I, too, was present at
+this confession, although I am not mentioned in the protocol.)"]
+and this charm Sidonia confessed upon the rack afterwards, in the
+Great Hall of Oderburg, July 28, A.D. 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue._
+
+
+The young Lord of Wolgast and his young bride, the Princess Sophia
+Hedwig, arrived in due time at the court of Stettin, on a visit to
+their illustrious brother, Duke Johann Frederick. During the ten
+days of their stay, there was no end to the banquetings, huntings,
+fishings, and revellings of all kinds, to do honour to their
+presence.
+
+The young lord has quite recovered from his long and strange
+illness. But the young bride complains a little. Whereupon my Lord
+of Stettin jests with her, and the courtiers make merry, so that
+the young bride blushes and entreats her husband to take her away
+from this impudent court of Stettin, and take her home to his
+illustrious mother at Wolgast.
+
+Prince Ernest consents, but as the wind is contrary, he arranges
+to make the journey with a couple of carriages through the
+Uckermann forest, not waiting for the grand escort of cavaliers
+and citizens which his lady mother had promised to send to
+Stettin, to convey the bride with all becoming honour to her own
+future residence at Wolgast.
+
+His brother reminded him of the great danger from the robber-band
+in the wood, now that the courts of justice were closed, and that
+Sidonia and Johann were hovering in the vicinity, ready for any
+iniquity. Indeed, he trusted the states would soon be brought to
+reason by the dreadful condition of the country, and give him the
+gold he wanted. These robbers would do more for him than he could
+do for himself. And this was not the only band that was to be
+feared; for, since the fatal bankruptcy of the Loitz family,
+robbers, and partisans, and freebooters had sprung up in every
+corner of the land. Then he related the trick concerning his two
+Andalusian stallions. And Duke Barnim the elder told him of his
+loss at Zachan, and that no one else but the knave Appelmann had
+been at the bottom of it. So, at last, Prince Ernest half resolved
+to await the escort from Wolgast. However, the old Duke continued
+jesting with the bride, after his manner, so that the young
+Princess was blushing with shame every moment, and finally
+entreated her husband to set off at once.
+
+When his Grace of Stettin found he could prevail nothing, he bade
+them a kind farewell, promising in eight days to visit them at
+Wolgast, for the wedding festivities; and he sent stout Dinnies
+Kleist, with six companions, to escort them through the most
+dangerous part of the forest, which was a tract extending for
+about seven miles.
+
+Now, when they were half-way through the forest, a terrible storm
+came on of hail, rain, thunder, and lightning; and though the
+Prince and his bride were safe enough in the carriage, yet their
+escort were drenched to the skin, and dripped like rivulets. The
+princely pair therefore entreated them to return to Falkenwald,
+and dry their clothes, for there was no danger to be apprehended
+now, since they were more than half through the wood, and close to
+the village of Mutzelburg.
+
+So Dinnies and his companions took their leave, and rode off.
+Shortly after the galloping of a horse was heard, and this was
+Marcus Bork; for he was on his way to purchase the lands of
+Crienke, previous to his marriage with Clara von Dewitz, and had a
+heavy sack of gold upon his shoulder, and a servant along with
+him. Having heard at Stettin that the Prince and his young bride
+were on the road, he had followed them, as fast as he could, to
+keep them company.
+
+By this time they had reached Barnim's Cross, and the Prince
+halted to point it out to his bride, and tell her the legend
+concerning it; for the sun now shone forth from the clouds, and
+the storm was over. But he first addressed his faithful Marcus,
+and asked, had he heard tidings lately of his cousin Sidonia? But
+he had heard nothing. He would hear soon enough, I'm thinking.
+
+Then seeing that his good vassal Marcus was thoroughly wet, his
+Grace advised him to put on dry clothes; but he had none with him.
+Whereupon his Grace handed him his own portmanteau out of the
+coach window, and bid him take what he wanted.
+
+Marcus then lifted the money-bag from his shoulder, which his
+Grace drew into the coach through the window--and sprang into the
+wood with the portmanteau, to change his clothes. While the Prince
+tarried for him, he related the story of Barnim's Cross to his
+young wife, thus:--
+
+"You must know, dearest, that my ancestor, Barnim, the second of
+the name, was murdered, out of revenge, in this very spot by one
+of his vassals, named Vidante von Muckerwitze. For this aforesaid
+ancestor had sent him into Poland under some pretence, in order
+the better to accomplish his designs upon the beautiful Mirostava
+of Warborg, Vidante's young wife. But the warder of Vogelsang, a
+village about two miles from here, pleasantly situated on the
+river Haff, and close to which lay the said Vidante's castle,
+discovered the amour, and informed the knight how he was
+dishonoured. His wrath was terrible when the news was brought to
+him, but he spoke no word of the matter until St. John's day in
+the year----"
+
+But here his Grace paused in his story, for he had forgotten the
+year; so he drove on the carriage close up to the cross, where he
+could read the date--"St John's day, A.D. MCCXCII."--and there
+stopped, with the blessed cross of our Lord covering and filling
+up the whole of the coach window.
+
+Ah, well it is said--Prov. xx. 24--"Each man's going is of the
+Lord, what man is there who understandeth his way?"
+
+Now when the Princess had read the date for herself, she asked,
+what had happened to the Duke, his ancestor? To which the Prince
+replied--
+
+"Here, in these very bushes, the jealous knight lay concealed,
+while the Duke was hunting. And here, in this spot, the Duke threw
+himself down upon the grass to rest, for he was weary. And he
+whistled for his retinue, who had been separated from him, when
+the knight sprang from his hiding-place and murdered him where he
+lay. His false wife he reserved for a still more cruel death.
+
+"For he brought a coppersmith from Stettin, and had him make a
+copper coffin for the wretched woman, who was obliged to help him
+in the work. Then he bade her put on her bridal dress, and forced
+her to enter the coffin, where he had her soldered up alive, and
+buried. And the story goes, that when any one walks over the spot,
+the coffin clangs in the earth like a mass-bell, to this very
+day." Meanwhile Marcus had retreated behind a large oak, to dress
+himself in the young Duke's clothes; but the wicked robber crew
+were watching him all the time from the wood, and just as he drew
+the dry shirt over his head, before he had time to put on a single
+other garment, they sprang upon him with loud shouts, Sidonia the
+foremost of all, screaming, "Seize the knave! seize the base spy!
+he is my greatest enemy!" So Marcus rushed back to the coach, just
+as he was, and placing the cross as a shield between him and the
+robbers, cried out loudly to his Highness for a sword.
+
+The Prince would have alighted to assist him, but his young bride
+wound her arms so fast around him, shrieking till the whole wood
+re-echoed, that he was forced to remain inside. Up came the
+robber-band now, and attacked the coach furiously; musket after
+musket was fired at it and the horses, but luckily the rain had
+spoiled the powder, so they threw away their muskets, while
+Sidonia screamed, "Seize the false-hearted liar, who broke his
+marriage promise to me! seize his screaming harlot! drag her from
+the coach! Where is she?--let me see her!--we will cram her into
+the old oak-tree; there she can hold her marriage festival with
+the wild-cats. Give her to me!--give her to me! I will teach her
+what marriage is!" And she sprang wildly forward, while the others
+flung their spears at Marcus. But the blessed cross protected him,
+and the spears stuck in the wood or in the body of the carriage,
+while he hewed away right and left, striking down all that
+approached him, till he stood in a pool of blood, and the white
+shirt on him was turned to red.
+
+As Sidonia rushed to the coach, he wounded her in the hand, upon
+which, with loud curses and imprecations, she ran round to the
+other coach window, calling out, "Come hither, come hither,
+Johann! here is booty, here is the false cat! Come hither, and
+drag her out of the coach window for me!" And now Marcus Bork was
+in despair, for the coachman had run away from fear, and though
+his sword did good service, yet their enemies were gathering thick
+round them. So he bade the Princess, in a low voice, to tear open
+his bag of money, for the love of heaven, with all speed, and
+scatter the gold out of the windows with both hands; for help was
+near, he heard the galloping of a horse; could they gain but a few
+moments, they were saved. Thereupon the Princess rained the gold
+pieces from the window, and the stupid mob instantly left all else
+to fling themselves on the ground for the bright coins, fighting
+with each other as to who should have them. In vain Johann roared,
+"Leave the gold, fools, and seize the birds here in this cage; ye
+can have the gold after." But they never heeded him, though he
+cursed and swore, and struck them right and left with his sword.
+
+But Marcus, meanwhile, had nearly come to a sad end; for the old
+gipsy hag swore she would stab him with her knife, and while the
+poor Marcus was defending himself from a robber who had rushed at
+him with a dagger, she crept along upon the ground, and lifted her
+great knife to plunge into his side.
+
+Just then, like a messenger from God, comes the stout Dinnies
+Kleist, galloping up to the rescue; for after he had ridden a good
+piece upon the homeward road, he stopped his horse to empty the
+water out of his large jack-boots, for there it was plumping up
+and down, and he was still far from Falkenwald. While one of his
+men emptied the boots, another wandered through the wood picking
+the wild strawberries, that blushed there as red as scarlet along
+the ground.
+
+While he was so bent down close to the earth, the shrieks of my
+gracious lady reached his ear, upon which he ran to tell his
+master, who listened likewise; and finding they proceeded from the
+very direction where he had left the bridal pair, he suspected
+that some evil had befallen them. So springing into his saddle, he
+bade his fellows mount with ail speed, and dashed back to the spot
+where they had left the carriage.
+
+Marcus was just now fainting from loss of blood, and his weary
+hand could scarcely hold the sword, while his frame swayed back
+and forward, as if he were near falling to the ground. The gipsy
+hag was close beside him, with her arm extended, ready to plunge
+the knife into his side, when the heavy stroke of a sword came
+down on it, and arm and knife fell together to the ground, and
+Dinnies shouting, "Jodute! Jodute!" swung round his sword a second
+time, and the head of the robber carl fell upon the arm of the
+hag. Then he dashed round on his good horse to the other side of
+the carriage, hewed right and left among the stupid fools who were
+scraping up the gold, while his fellows chased them into the wood,
+so that the alarmed band left all this booty, and ran in every
+direction to hide themselves in the forest. In vain Johann roared,
+and shouted, and swore, and opposed himself single-handed to the
+knight's followers. He received a blow that sent him flying, too,
+after his band, and Sidonia along with him, so that none but the
+dead remained around the carriage.
+
+Thus did the brave Dinnies Kleist and Marcus Bork save the Prince
+and his bride, like true knights as they were; but Marcus is
+faint, and leans for support against the carriage, while before
+him lie three robber carls whom he had slain with his own hand,
+although he fought there only in his shirt; but the blessed cross
+had been his shield. And there, too, lay the gipsy's arm with the
+knife still clutched in the hand, but the hag herself had fled
+away; and round the brave Dinnies was a circle of dead men, seven
+in number, whom he and his followers had killed; and the earth all
+round looked like a ripe strawberry field, it was so red with
+blood.
+
+One can imagine what joy filled the hearts of the princely pair,
+when they found that all their peril was past. They alighted from
+the coach, and when the Princess saw Marcus lying there in a dead
+faint, with his garment all covered with blood, she lamented
+loudly, and tore off her own veil to bind up his wounds, and
+brought wine from the carriage, which she poured herself through
+his lips, like a merciful Samaritan; and when he at last opened
+his eyes, and kissed the little hands of the Princess out of
+gratitude, she rejoiced greatly. And the Prince himself ran to the
+wood for the portmanteau, which they found behind the oak, and
+helped to dress the poor knight, who was so weak that he could not
+raise a finger.
+
+Then they lifted him into the coach, while the Prince comforted
+him, saying, he trusted that he would soon be well again, for he
+would pray daily to the Lord Jesus for him, whose blessed cross
+had been their protection, and that he should have all his gold
+again, and the lands of Crienke in addition. So faithful a vassal
+must never be parted from his Prince, for inasmuch as he hated
+Sidonia, so he loved and praised him. They were like the two
+Judases in Scripture, of whom some one had said, "What one gave to
+the devil, the other brought back to God."
+
+And now he saw the wonderful hand of God in all; for if it had not
+rained, the powder of the robber-band would have been dry, and
+then they were all lost. _Item_, the knight would not have
+stopped to empty his boots, and they never would have heard the
+screams of his dear wife. _Item_, if he had himself not
+forgotten the date, he would never have driven up close to the
+cross, which cross had saved them all, but, in particular, saved
+their dear Marcus, after a miraculous manner. "Look how the
+blessed wood is everywhere pierced with spears, and yet we are all
+living! Therefore let us hope in the Lord, for He is our helper
+and defender!"
+
+Then the Duke turned to the stout Dinnies, and prayed him to enter
+his service, but in vain, for he was sworn vassal to his Highness
+of Stettin. So his Grace took off his golden collar, and put it on
+his neck, and the Princess drew off her diamond ring to give him,
+whereupon her spouse laughed heartily, and asked, Did she think
+the good knight had a finger for her little ring? To which she
+replied, But the brave knight may have a dear wife who could wear
+it for her sake, for he must not go without some token of her
+gratitude.
+
+However, the knight put back the ring himself, saying that he had
+no spouse, and would never have one; therefore the ring was
+useless. So the Princess wonders, and asks why he will have no
+spouse; to which he replied, that he feared the fate of Samson,
+for had not love robbed him of his strength? He, too, might meet a
+Delilah, who would cut off his long hair. Then riding up close to
+the carriage, he removed his plumed hat from his head, and down
+fell his long black hair, that was gathered up under it, over his
+shoulders like a veil, even till it swept the flanks of his horse.
+Would not her Grace think it a grief and sorrow if a woman sheared
+those locks? In such pleasant discourse they reached Mutzelburg,
+where, as the good Marcus was so weak, they resolved to put up for
+the night, and send for a chirurgeon instantly to Uckermund. And
+so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother._
+
+
+When their Highnesses entered the inn at Mutzelburg, they found it
+filled with burghers and peasants out of Uckermund, Pasewalk, and
+other adjacent places, on their way to Stettin, to petition his
+Grace the Duke to open the courts of justice, for thieves and
+robbers had so multiplied throughout the land, that no road was
+safe; and all kinds of witchcraft, and imposture, and devil's work
+were so rife, that the poor people were plagued out of their
+lives, and no redress was to be had, seeing his Grace had closed
+all the courts of justice. Forty burghers had been selected to
+present the petition, and great was the joy to meet now with his
+Grace Prince Ernest, for assuredly he would give them a letter to
+his illustrious brother, and strengthen the prayer of their
+petition. The Prince readily promised to do this, particularly as
+his own life and that of his bride had just been in such sore
+peril, all owing to the obstinacy of his Grace of Stettin in not
+opening the courts.
+
+Meanwhile the leech had visited good Marcus Bork, who was much
+easier after his wounds were dressed, and promised to do well, to
+the great joy of their Graces; and Dinnies Kleist went to the
+stable to see after his horse, there being so many there, in
+consequence of this gathering of envoys, that he feared they might
+fight. Now, as he passed through the kitchen, the knight observed
+a man bargaining with the innkeeper; and he had a kettle before
+him, into which he was cramming sausages, bread, ham, and all
+sorts of eatables. But he would have taken no further heed, only
+that the carl had but one tail to his coat, which made the knight
+at once recognise him as the very fellow whose coat-tail he had
+hewed off in the forest. He sprang on him, therefore; and as the
+man drew his knife, Dinnies seized hold of him and plumped him
+down, head foremost, into a hogshead of water, holding him
+straight up by the feet till he had drunk his fill. So the poor
+wretch began to quiver at last in his death agonies; whereupon the
+knight called out, "Wilt thou confess? or hast thou not drunk
+enough yet?"
+
+"He would confess, if the knight promised him life. His name was
+Konnemann; he had lost his mill and all he was worth, by the Loitz
+bankruptcy, therefore had joined the robber-band, who held their
+meeting in an old cave in the forest, where also they kept their
+booty." On further question, he said it was an old, ruined place,
+with the walls all tumbling down. A man named Muckerwitze had
+lived there once, who buried his wife alive in this cave,
+therefore it had been deserted ever since.
+
+Then the knight asked the innkeeper if he knew of such a place in
+the forest; who said, "Yes." Then he asked if he knew this fellow,
+Konnemann; but the host denied all knowledge of him (though he
+knew him well enough, I think). Upon which Konnemann said, "That
+he merely came to buy provisions for the band, who were hungry,
+and had despatched him to see what he could get, while they
+remained hiding in the cave." The knight having laid these facts
+before their Graces and the envoys, it was agreed that they should
+steal a march upon the robbers next morning, and meanwhile keep
+Konnemann safe under lock and key.
+
+Next morning they set off by break of day, taking Konnemann as
+guide, and surrounded the old ruin, which lay upon a hill buried
+in oak-trees; but not a sound was heard inside. They approached
+nearer--listened at the cave--nothing was to be heard. This
+angered Dinnies Kleist, for he thought the miller had played a
+trick on them, who, however, swore he was innocent; and as the
+knight threatened to give him something fresh to drink in the
+castle well, he offered to light a pine torch and descend into the
+cave. Hardly was he down, however, when they heard him
+screaming--"The robbers have murdered the women--they are all
+lying here stone dead, but not a man is to be seen."
+
+The knight then went down with his good sword drawn. True enough,
+there lay the old hag, her daughter, and Sidonia, all stained with
+blood, and stiff and cold, upon the damp ground. And when the
+knight asked, "Which is Sidonia?" the fellow put the pine torch
+close to her face, which was blue and cold. Then the knight took
+up her little hand, and dropped it again, and shook his head, for
+the said little hand was stiff and cold as that of a corpse.
+
+_Summa_.--As there was nothing further to be done here, the
+knight left the corpses to moulder away in the old cellar, and
+returned with the burghers to Mutzelburg, when his Highness
+wondered much over the strange event; but Marcus rejoiced that his
+wicked cousin was now dead, and could bring no further disgrace
+upon his ancient name.
+
+But was the wicked cousin dead? She had heard every word that had
+been said in the cave; for they had all drunk some broth made by
+the gipsy mother, which can make men seem dead, though they hear
+and see everything around them. Such devil's work is used by
+robbers sometimes in extremity, as some toads have the power of
+seeming dead when people attempt to seize them. It will soon be
+seen what a horrible use Sidonia made of this devil's potion.
+
+Wherefore she tried its effect upon herself now, I know not--I
+have my own thoughts upon the subject--but it is certain that the
+innkeeper, who was a secret friend of the robbers (as most
+innkeepers were in those evil times), had sent a messenger by
+night to warn them of their danger. So, while the band saved
+themselves by hiding in the forest, perhaps the old hag
+recommended this plan for the women, as they had got enough of
+cold steel the day before; or perhaps the robbers wished to have a
+proof of the power of this draught, in case they might want to
+save themselves, some time or other, by appearing dead. Still I
+cannot, with any certainty, assert why they should all three
+choose to simulate death.
+
+Further, just to show the daring of these robber-bands, now that
+his Highness had closed the courts, I shall end this chapter by
+relating what happened at Monkbude, a town through which their
+Highnesses passed that same day, and which, although close to the
+Stettin border, belongs to Wolgast.
+
+It was Sunday, and after the priest had said Amen from the pulpit,
+the sexton rung the kale-bell. This bell was a sign throughout all
+Pomerania land, to the women-folk who were left at home in the
+houses, to prepare dinner; for then, in all the churches, the
+closing hymn began--"Give us, Lord, our daily bread." So the maid,
+at the first stroke of the bell, lifted off the kale-pot from the
+fire, and had the kale dished, with the sausages, and whatever
+else was wanting, by the time that the hymn was over, and father
+and mother had come out of church. Then, whatever poor wretch had
+fasted all the week, and never tasted a morsel of blessed bread,
+if he passed on a Sunday through the town, might get his fill; for
+when the hymn is sung, "Give us, Lord, our daily bread," the doors
+lie open, and no stranger or wayfarer is turned away empty.
+
+Just before their Highnesses had entered the town, this kale-bell
+had been rung, and each maid in the houses had laid the kale and
+meat upon the table, ready for the family, when, behold! in rush a
+troop of robbers from the forest, Appelmann at their head--seize
+every dish with the kale and meat that had been laid on the
+tables, stick the loaves into their pockets, and gallop away as
+hard as they can across into the Stettin border.
+
+How the maids screamed and lamented I leave unsaid; but if any one
+of them followed and seized a robber by the hair, he drew his
+knife, so she was glad enough to run back again, while the
+impudent troop laughed and jeered. Thus was it then in dear
+Pomerania land! It seemed as if God had forsaken them; for the
+nobles began their feuds, as of old, and the Jews were tormented
+even to the death--yea, even the pastors were chased away, as if,
+indeed, they had all learned of Otto Bork, these nobles saying,
+"What need of these idle, prating swaddlers, with their prosy
+sermons and whining psalms, teaching, forsooth, that all men are
+equal, and that God makes no difference between lord and peasant?
+Away with them! If the people learn such doctrine, no wonder if
+they grow proud and disobedient--better no priests in the land."
+And such-like ungodly talk was heard everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts._
+
+
+At this time, one David Grosskopf was pastor of Marienfliess. He
+was a learned and pious man, and like other pious priests, was in
+the habit of gathering all the women-folk of the parish in his
+study of a winter's evening, particularly the young maidens, with
+their spinning-wheels. And there they all sat spinning round the
+comfortable fire, while he read out to them from God's Word, and
+questioned them on it, and exhorted them to their duties. Thus was
+it done every evening during the winter, the maidens spinning
+diligently till midnight without even growing weary; or if one of
+them nodded, she was given a cup of cold water to drink, to make
+her fresh again. So there was plenty of fine linen by each New
+Year's day, and their masters were well pleased. No peasant kept
+his daughter at home, but sent her to the priest, where she
+learned her duties, and was kept safe from the young men. Even old
+mothers went there, among whom Trina Bergen always gave the best
+answers, and was much commended by the priest in consequence. This
+pleased her mightily, so that she boasted everywhere of it; but
+withal she was an excellent old woman, only the neighbours looked
+rather jealously on her.
+
+This same priest, with all his goodness and learning, was yet a
+bad logician; for by his careless speaking in one of his sermons,
+much commotion was raised in the village. In this sermon he
+asserted that anything out of the usual course of nature must be
+devil's work, and ought to be held in abhorrence by all good
+Christians: he suffered for this after-wards, as we shall see. On
+the Monday after this discourse, he journeyed into Poland, to
+visit a brother who dwelt in some town there, I know not which.
+
+Then arose a great talking amongst the villagers concerning the
+said Trina Bergen; for the cocks began to sit upon the eggs in
+place of the hens, in her poultry-yard, and all the people came
+together to see the miracle, and as it was against the course of
+nature, it must be devil's work, and Trina Bergen was a witch.
+
+In vain the old mother protested she knew nothing of it, then runs
+to the priest's house, but he is away; from that to the mayor of
+the village, but he is going out to shoot, and bid her and the
+villagers pack off with their silly stories.
+
+So the poor old mother gets no help, and meanwhile the peasants
+storm her house, and search and ransack every corner for proofs of
+her witchcraft, but nothing can be found. Stay! there in the
+cellar sits a woman, who will not tell her name.
+
+They drag her out, bring her up to the parlour, while the old
+mother sits wringing her hands. Who was this woman? and how did
+she come into the cellar?
+
+_Illa_.--"She had hired her to spin, because her daughter was
+out at service till autumn, and she could not do all the work
+herself."
+
+"Why then did she sit in the cellar, as if she shunned the light?"
+
+_Illa_.--"The girl had prayed for leave to sit there, because
+the screaming of the young geese in the yard disturbed her;
+besides, she had been only two days with her."
+
+"But who in the devil's name was the girl? It was easy to see she
+had bewitched the hens, for everything against the course of
+nature must be devil's work."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, yes! this must be the truth. Let them chase the
+devil away. Now she saw why the girl would not sit in the light,
+and had refused to enter the blessed church with her the day
+before."
+
+"What was her name? They should both be sent to the devil, if she
+did not tell the girl's name."
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! she had forgotten it, but ask herself. Her
+story was, that she had been married to a peasant in Usdom, who
+died lately, and his relations then turned her out, that she was
+now going to Daber, where she had a brother, a fisher in the
+service of the Dewitz family, and wanted to earn a travelling
+penny by spinning, to convey her there."
+
+Now as the rumour of witchcraft spread through the village, all
+the people ran together, from every part, to Trina's house. And a
+pale young man pressed forward from amongst the crowd, to look at
+the supposed witch. When he stood before her, the girl cast down
+her eyes gloomily, and he cried out, "It is she! it is the very
+accursed witch who robbed me of my strength by her sorceries, and
+barely escaped from the fagot--seize her--that is Anna Wolde. Now
+he knew what the elder sticks meant, which he found set up as a
+gallows before his door this morning--the witch wanted to steal
+away his manhood from him again--burn her! burn her! Come and see
+the elder sticks, if they did not believe him!"
+
+So the whole village ran to his cottage, where he had just brought
+home a widow, whom he was going to marry, and there indeed stood
+the elder sticks right before his door in the form of a gallows,
+upon which the sheriff was wroth, and commanded the girl to be
+brought before him with her hands bound.
+
+But as she denied everything, Zabel Bucher, the sheriff, ordered
+the hangman to be sent for, to see what the rack might do in
+eliciting the truth. Further, he bade the people make a fire in
+the street, and burn the elder sticks therein.
+
+So the fire is lit, but no one will touch the sticks. Then the
+sheriff called his hound and bade him fetch them; but Fixlein, who
+was acute enough at other times, pretended not to know what his
+master wanted. In vain the sheriff bent down on the ground,
+pointing with his finger, and crying, "Here, Fixlein! fetch,
+Fixlein!" No, Fixlein runs round and round the elder sticks till
+the dust rises up in a cloud, and yelps, and barks, and jumps, and
+stares at his master, but never touches the sticks, only at last
+seizes a stone in his mouth, and runs with it to the sheriff.
+
+Now, indeed, there was a commotion amongst the people. Not even
+the dog would touch the accursed thing. So at last the sheriff
+called for a pair of tongs, to seize the sticks himself and fling
+them into the fire. Whereupon his wife screamed to prevent him;
+but the brave sheriff, strengthening his heart, advanced and
+touched them; whereupon Fixlein, as if he had never known until
+now what his master wanted, made a grab at them, but the sheriff
+gave him a blow on the nose with the tongs which sent him away
+howling, and then, with desperate courage and a stout heart,
+seizing the elder twigs in the tongs, flung them boldly into the
+fire.
+
+Meanwhile Peter Bollerjahn, the hangman, has arrived, and when he
+hears of the devilry he shakes his head, but thinks he could make
+the girl speak, if they only let him try his way a little. But
+they must first get authority from the mayor. Now the mayor had
+not gone to the hunt, for some friends arrived to visit him, whom
+he was obliged to stay at home and entertain, so the whole crowd,
+with the sheriff, Zabel Bucher, at the head, set off to the
+mayoralty, bringing the witch with them, and prayed his lordship
+to make a terrible example of her, for that witchcraft was
+spreading fearfully in the land, and they would have no peace
+else.
+
+Whereupon he came out with his guests to look at the miserable
+criminal, who, conscious of her guilt, stood there silent and
+glowering; but he could do nothing for them--did they not know
+that his Highness had closed all the courts of justice, therefore
+he could not help them, nor be troubled about their affairs? Upon
+which the sheriff cried out, "Then we shall help ourselves; let us
+burn the witch who bewitches our hens, and sticks up elder sticks
+before people's doors. Come, let us right ourselves!" So the mayor
+said they might do as they pleased, he had no power to hinder
+them, only let them remember that when the courts reopened, they
+would be called to a strict account for all this. And he went into
+his house, but the people shouted and dragged away the witch, with
+loud yells, to the hangman, bidding him stretch her on the rack
+before all their eyes.
+
+When the girl saw and heard all this, and remembered how the old
+Lord Chamberlain at Wolgast had stretched her till her hip was
+broken, she cried out, "I will confess all, only spare me the
+torture, for I dread it more than death."
+
+Upon this, the sheriff said, "He would ask her three questions,
+and pronounce judgment accordingly." (Oh! what evil times for dear
+Pomerania land, when the people could thus take the law into their
+own hands, and pronounce judgment, though no judges were there.
+Had the bailiff given her a little twist of the rack, just to get
+at the truth, it would at least have been more in accordance with
+the usages, although I say not he would have been justified in so
+doing; but without using the rack at all, to believe what this
+devil's wretch uttered, and judge her thereupon, was grossly
+improper and absurd.) _Summa_, here are the three
+questions:--
+
+"First, whether she had bewitched the hens; and for what?"
+
+_Respond_.--"Simply to amuse herself; for the time hung heavy
+in the cellar, and she could see them through the chinks in the
+wall." (Let her wait; Master Peter will soon give her something to
+amuse her.)
+
+"Second, why and wherefore had she stuck up the elder twigs?"
+
+_Respond_.-"Because she had been told that Albert was going
+to marry a widow; for he had promised her marriage, as all the
+world knew, and even called her by his name, Wolde Albrechts, and
+therefore she had put a spell upon him of elder twigs, that he
+might turn away the widow and marry her." (Let her wait; Master
+Peter will soon stick up elder twigs for her.)
+
+"Third, whether she had a devil; and how was he named?"
+
+Here she remained silent, then began to deny it, but was reminded
+of the rack, and Master Peter got ready his instruments as if for
+instant use; so she sighed heavily, and answered, "Yes, she had a
+familiar called Jurge, and he appeared always in the form of a
+man."
+
+Upon this confession the sheriff roared, "Burn the witch!" and all
+the people shouted after him, "Burn the witch! the accursed
+witch!" and she was delivered over to Master Peter.
+
+But he made answer that he had never burned a witch; he would,
+however, go over to Massow in the morning, to his brother-in-law,
+who had burned many, and learn the mode from him. Meanwhile the
+peasants might collect ten or twelve clumps of wood upon the
+Koppenberg, and so would they frighten all women from practising
+this devil's magic. Would they not burn Trina Bergen likewise--the
+old hag who had the witch in her cellar? It would be a right
+pleasant spectacle to the whole town.
+
+This, however, the peasants did not wish. Upon which the carl
+asked what he was to be paid for his trouble? Formerly the state
+paid for the criminal, but the courts now would have nothing to do
+with the business. What was he to get? So the peasants consulted
+together, and at last offered him a sack of oats at Michaelmas,
+just that they might have peace in the village. Whereupon he
+consented to burn her; only in addition they must give him a free
+journey to Massow on the morrow.
+
+_Summa_.--When the third morning dawned, all the village came
+together to accompany the witch up the Koppenberg: the
+schoolmaster, with all his school going before, singing, "Now pray
+we to the Holy Ghost;" then came Master Peter with the witch, he
+bearing a pan of lighted coal in his hand. But, lo! when they
+reached the pile on the Koppenberg, behold it was wet wood which
+the stupid peasants had gathered.
+
+Now the hangman fell into a great rage. Who the devil could burn a
+witch with wet wood? She must have bewitched it. This was as bad
+as the hen business.
+
+Some of the people then offered to run for some dry wood and hay;
+but my knave saw that he might turn the matter to profit, so he
+proposed to sack the witch in place of burning her; "for," said
+he, "it will be a far more edifying spectacle and example to your
+children, this sacking in place of burning. There was a lake quite
+close to the town, and, indeed, he had forgotten yesterday to
+propose it to them. The plan was this. They were to tie her up in
+a leathern sack, with a dog, a cock, and a cat. (Ah, what a pity
+he had killed the wild-cat which he had caught some weeks before
+in the fox-trap.) Then they would throw all into the lake, where
+the cat and dog, and cock and witch, would scream and fight, and
+bite and scratch, until they sank; but after a little while up
+would come the sack again, and the screaming, biting, and fighting
+would be renewed until they all sank down again and for ever.
+Sometimes, indeed, they would tear a hole in the sack, which
+filled with water, and so they were all drowned. In any case it
+was a fine improving lesson to their children; let them ask the
+schoolmaster if the sacking was not a far better spectacle for the
+dear children than the burning."
+
+"Ay, 'tis true," cried the schoolmaster; "sacking is better."
+
+Upon which all the people shouted after him, "Ay, sack her! sack
+her!"
+
+When the knave heard this, he continued--
+
+"Now, they heard what the schoolmaster said, but he could not do
+all this for a sack of oats, for, indeed, leather sacks were very
+dear just now; but if each one added a sack of meal and a goose at
+Michaelmas, why, he would try and manage the sacking. The lake was
+broad and deep, and it lay right beneath them, so that all the
+dear children could see the sight from the hill."
+
+However, the peasants would by no means agree to the sack of meal,
+whereupon a great dispute arose around the pile, and a bargaining
+about the price with great tumult and uproar.
+
+Now the robber-band were in the vicinity, and Sidonia, hearing the
+noise, peeped out through the bushes and recognised Anna Wolde;
+then, guessing from the pile what they were going to do to her,
+she begged of Johann to save the poor girl, if possible; for
+Sidonia and the knave were now on the best of terms, since he had
+chased away the gipsy hag and her daughter for robbing him.
+
+So Johann gives the word, and the band, which now numbered one
+hundred strong, burst forth from the wood with wild shouts and
+cries. Ho! how the people fled on all sides, like chaff before the
+wind! The executioner is the first off, throws away his pan of
+coals, and takes to his heels. _Item_, the schoolmaster, with
+all his school, take to their heels; the sheriff, the women,
+peasants, spectators-all, with one accord, take to their heels,
+screaming and roaring.
+
+The witch alone remains, for she is lame and cannot run; but she
+screams, too, and wrings her hands, crying--
+
+"Take me with you; oh, take me with you; for the love of God take
+me with you; I am lame and cannot run!"
+
+_Summa_.--One can easily imagine how it all ended. The
+witch-girl was saved, and, as she now owed her life a second time
+to Sidonia, she swore eternal fidelity and gratitude to the lady,
+promising to give her something in recompense for all the benefits
+she had conferred on her. Alas, that I should have to say to
+Christian men what this was! [Footnote: Namely, the evil spirit
+Chim. See Sidonia's confession upon the rack, vol. iv. Dahnert's
+Pomeranian Library, p. 244.]
+
+And when Sidonia asked how things went on in Daber, great was her
+joy to hear that the whole castle and town were full of company,
+for the nuptials of Clara von Dewitz and Marcus Bork were
+celebrated there. And the old Duchess from Wolgast had arrived,
+along with Duke Johann Frederick, and the Dukes Barnim, Casimir,
+and Bogislaff. _Item_, a grand cavalcade of nobles had ridden
+to the wedding upon four hundred horses, and lords and ladies from
+all the country round thronged the castle.
+
+Now Johann Appelmann would not credit the witch-girl, for he had
+seen none of all this company upon the roads; but she said her
+brother the fisherman told her that their Graces travelled by
+water as far as Wollin, for fear of the robbers, and from thence
+by land to Daber.
+
+When Sidonia heard this she fell upon Johann's neck, exclaiming--
+
+"Revenge me now, Johann! revenge me! Now is the time; they are all
+there. Revenge me in their blood!"
+
+This seemed rather a difficult matter to Johann, but he promised
+to call together the whole band, and see what could be done. So he
+went his way to the band, and then the evil-minded witch-girl
+began again, and told Sidonia, that if she chose to burn the
+castle at Daber, and make an end of all her enemies at once, there
+was some one hard by in the bush who would help her, for he was
+stronger than all the band put together.
+
+_Illa_.--"Who was her friend? Let her go and bring him."
+
+_Hæc_.--"She must first cross her hand with gold, and give a
+piece of money for him; [Footnote: According to the witches, every
+evil spirit must be purchased, no matter how small the price, but
+something must be given-a ball of worsted, a kerchief, &c.] then
+he would come and revenge her."
+
+Sidonia's eyes now sparkled wildly, and she put some money in the
+woman's hand, who murmured, "For the evil one;" then stepped
+behind a tree, and returned in a short time with a black cat
+wrapped up in her apron.
+
+"This," she said, "was the strong spirit Chim. [Footnote:
+Joachim.] Let her give him plenty to eat, but show him to no one.
+When she wanted his assistance, strike him three times on the
+head, and he would assume the form of a man. Strike him six times
+to restore him again to this form."
+
+Now Sidonia would scarcely credit this; so, looking round to see
+if they were quite alone, she struck the animal three times on the
+head, who instantly started up in the form of a gay young man,
+with red stockings, a black doublet, and cap with stately heron's
+plumes.
+
+"Yes, yes," he exclaimed, "I know thy enemies, and will revenge
+thee, beautiful child. I will burn the castle of Daber for thee,
+if thou wilt only do my bidding; but now, quick! strike me again
+on the head, that I may reassume my original form, for some one
+may see us; and put me in a basket, so can I travel with thee
+wheresoever thou goest."
+
+And thus did Sidonia with the evil spirit Chim, as she afterwards
+confessed upon the rack, when she was a horrible old hag of
+eighty-four years of age.
+
+And he went with her everywhere, and suggested all the evil to her
+which she did, whereof we shall hear more in another place.
+[Footnote: Dahnert.--This belief in the power of evil spirits to
+assume the form of animals, comes to us from remotest
+antiquity--example, the serpent in Paradise. In all religions, and
+amongst all nations, this belief seems firmly rooted; but even if
+we do not see a visible devil, do we not, alas! know and feel that
+there is one ever with us, ever pre-sent, ever suggesting all
+wickedness to us, as this devil to Sidonia?-even our own evil
+nature. For what else is the Christian life, but a warfare between
+the divine within us and this ever-present Satan?--and through
+God's grace alone can we resist this devil.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night-Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the
+castle._
+
+
+When Johann and Sidonia proposed to the band that they should
+pillage the castle of Daber, they all shouted with delight, and
+swore that life and limb might be perilled, but the castle should
+be theirs that night. Nevertheless my knave Johann thought it a
+dangerous undertaking, for they knew no one inside the walls, and
+Anna Wolde, the witch, could not come with them, seeing that she
+was lame. So at last he thought of sending Konnemann disguised as
+a beggar, to examine the courtyard and all the out
+offices--perchance he might spy out some unguarded door by which
+they could effect an entrance.
+
+Then Sidonia said she would go too, and although Johann tried hard
+to persuade her, yet she begged so earnestly for leave that
+finally he consented. Yes, she must see the very spot where the
+viper was hatched which had stung her to death. Ah, she would brew
+something for her in return; pity only that the wedding was over,
+otherwise the little bride should never have touched a
+wedding-ring, if she could help it; but it was too late now.
+
+So the three Satan's children slipped out upon the highway from
+the wood, and travelled on so near to the castle that the noise,
+and talking, and laughing, and barking of dogs, and neighing of
+horses, were all quite audible to their ears.
+
+Now the castle of Daber is built upon a hill which is entirely
+surrounded by water, so that the castle can be approached only by
+two bridges--one southwards, leading from the town; the other
+eastwards, leading direct through the castle gardens. The castle
+itself was a noble, lofty pile, with strong towers and
+spires--almost as stately a building as my gracious lord's castle
+at Saatzig.
+
+When Johann observed all this, his heart failed him, and as he and
+his two companions peeped out at it from behind a thorn-bush, they
+agreed that it would be hard work to take such a castle,
+garrisoned, as it was now, by four hundred men or more, with their
+mere handful of partisans.
+
+But Satan knows how to help his own, for what happened while they
+were crouching there and arguing? Behold, the old Dewitz, as an
+offering to the church at Daber upon his daughter's marriage, had
+promised twenty good acres of land to be added to the glebe. And
+he comes now up the hill, with a great crowd of men to dig the
+boundary. So the Satan's children behind the thorn-bush feared
+they would be discovered; but it was not so, and the crowd passed
+on unheeding them.
+
+Old Dewitz now called the witnesses, and bid them take note of the
+position of the boundary. There where the hill, the wild
+apple-tree, and the town tower were all in one line, was the
+limit; let them keep this well in their minds. Then calling over
+six lads, he bid them take note likewise of the boundary, that
+when the old people were dead they might stand up as witnesses;
+but as such things were easily forgotten, he, the priest, and the
+churchwarden would write it down for them, so that it never, by
+any chance, could escape their memory.
+
+Upon which the good knight, being lord and patron, took a stout
+stick the first, and cudgelled the young lads well, asking them
+between terms--
+
+"Where is the boundary?"
+
+To which they answered, screaming and roaring--
+
+"Where the hill, the apple-tree, and the town tower are all in one
+line."
+
+Then the knight, laughing, handed over the stick to the priest,
+saying--
+
+"It was still possible they might forget; they better, therefore,
+have another little memorandum from his reverence."
+
+"No! no!" screamed the boys, "we will remember it to eternity."
+
+However, his reverence just gave them a little touch of the stick
+in fun, till they roared out the boundary marks a second time.
+
+But now stepped forth the churchwarden, to take his turn with the
+stick on the boys' backs. This man had been a forester of the old
+Baron Dewitz, and had often taken note of one of the young fellows
+present, how he had poached and stolen the buck-wheat, so he
+gladly seized this opportunity to punish him for all his misdeeds,
+and laying the cudgel on his shoulders, thrashed and belaboured
+him so unmercifully, that the lad ran, shrieking, cursing,
+howling, and roaring, far away in amongst the bushes to hide
+himself, while the churchwarden cried out--
+
+"Well! if all the other lads forget the boundary, I think my fine
+fellow here will bear the memorandum to the day of judgment."
+
+And so they went away laughing from the place, and returned to the
+castle.
+
+But the devil drew his profit from all this, for where should the
+lad run to, but close to the very spot where the robbers were
+hiding, and there he threw himself down upon the grass, writhing
+and howling, and swearing he would be revenged upon the
+churchwarden. This is a fine hearing for my knave in the bush, so
+he steps forward, and asks--
+
+"What vile Josel had dared to ill-treat so brave a youth? He would
+help him to a revenge upon the base knave, for injustice was a
+thing he never could suffer. The tears really were in his eyes to
+think that such wickedness should be in the world;" and here he
+pretended to wipe his eyes. So the lad, being quite overcome by
+such compassionate sympathy, howled and cried ten times more--
+
+"It was the forester Kell, the shameless hound; but he would play
+him a trick for it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. He owed the fellow a drubbing already
+himself, and now he would have a double one, if he could only get
+hold of him."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would run and tell him that a great lord wanted
+to speak to him here in the forest."
+
+_Ille_.-"No, no; that would scarcely answer; but where did
+the fellow live?"
+
+_Hic_.-"In the castle, where his father lived likewise."
+
+_Ille_.-"Who was his father?"
+
+_Hic_.--"His father was the steward."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ah, then, he kept the keys of the castle?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Oh yes, and the key of the back entrance also, which
+led through the gardens. His father kept one key, and the gardener
+the other."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, he would tell him a secret. This very Kell
+had deceived him once, like a knave as he was, and he was watching
+to punish him, but he daren't go up to the castle in the broad
+daylight, particularly now while the wedding was going on. How
+long would it last?"
+
+_Hic_.--"For three days more; it had lasted three days
+already, and the castle was full of company, and great lords from
+all the country round, a great deal grander even than old Dewitz,
+were there."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, it would be quite impossible to go up
+to the castle and flog the churchwarden before all the company--he
+could see that himself. But supposing he let him in at night
+through the garden door, couldn't they get the knave out on some
+pretence, and then drub him to their heart's content?"
+
+So the lad was delighted with the plan, particularly on hearing
+that he was to help in the drubbing; but then if the forester
+recognised him, what was to be done? he would be ruined. To which
+Johann answered--
+
+"Just put on an old cloak, and speak no word; then, neither by
+dress nor voice will he know thee; besides, the night will be
+quite dark, so fear nothing. We'll teach him, I engage, how to
+beat a fine young fellow again, or to rob me of my gold, as he
+did, the base, unworthy knave."
+
+Here the lad laughed outright with joy. "Yes, yes, that would just
+do; and he could put on his father's old mantle, and bring a stout
+crab-stick along with him."
+
+_Hic_.--"All right, young friend; but how was he to get into
+the castle garden? Was there not a drawbridge which was lifted
+every night?"
+
+_Hic._--"Oh yes; but his father very often sent him to draw
+it up, and he could leave it down for tonight; then he would get
+the forester, by some means, into the shrubbery, where it was dark
+as pitch, and they could thrash the dog there without any one
+knowing a word about it."
+
+_Ille._-"Good! Then when the tower-clock struck nine, let him
+come himself and admit him into the garden--time enough after to
+run for the forester, while he was hiding himself in the
+shrubbery, for no one must know a word about his being there."
+Then he gave the lad a knife, and told him if all turned out well
+he should have a piece of gold in addition. "Ah! they would give
+him a warm greeting, this dog of a forester! But after he had
+called him out, the lad must pretend as if he had nothing to do
+with the matter, and go back to the house, or slip down some
+by-path."
+
+So the lad jumped with joy when he got hold of the knife, and
+skipped off to the castle, promising to be at the drawbridge when
+nine o'clock struck from the tower, to admit his good friend into
+the garden.
+
+Meanwhile my gracious Lady of Wolgast was making preparations for
+her departure on the morrow from the castle, for she had been
+attending the wedding festivities with her four sons, and Ulrich,
+the Grand Chamberlain; but previous to taking leave of her dear
+son, Duke Johann Frederick, she wished to make one more attempt to
+induce him to take off the interdict from the country, and allow
+the courts of justice to be re-opened, for thus would the land be
+freed from these wild hordes who haunted every road, and filled
+all hearts with fear.
+
+For this purpose she went up to his own private chamber in the
+castle, bringing old Ulrich along with her; and when they entered,
+old Ulrich, having closed the door, began--"Now, gracious lady,
+speak to your son as befits a mother and your princely Grace to
+do."
+
+Upon which he took his seat at the table, looking around him as
+sour as a vinegar-cruet.
+
+So the Duchess lifted up her voice with many tears, and prayed his
+Highness of Stettin to stem all this violence that raged in the
+land, as a loving Prince and father towards his subjects. He had
+resisted all her entreaties until now, with those of his dear
+brothers and old Ulrich; and had not even his host and the whole
+nobility tried to soften his heart towards his people, who were
+suffering by his hard resolve? But surely he would not refuse her
+now, for she had come to take her leave of him, and had brought
+his old guardian and his brothers to plead along with her;
+besides, who knew what might happen next? For she heard, to her
+astonishment, that Sidonia was not dead at all, as they supposed,
+but roaming through the country with her accursed paramour. Had
+she known this, never would she have permitted this long journey,
+dear even as the bride was to her heart, but would have stayed at
+Wolgast to watch over her heart's dear son, Ernest, and his young
+spouse, who rightly feared to put themselves in danger again,
+after the sore peril they had encountered in the Stettin forest;
+and who knew what might happen to her on the journey homeward? for
+if she encountered Sidonia, what could she expect from her but the
+bitterest death? (weeping.) Ah, this all came upon them because
+the young Duke had despised the admonitions of his blessed father
+upon his death-bed, and thought not of that Scripture which saith,
+"The father's blessing buildeth the children's houses, but the
+curse of the mother pulleth them down." [Footnote: Sirach iii.
+II.] She had never cursed him yet, but that day might come.
+
+Then Duke Johann answered, "He was sad to see his darling mother
+chafe and fret about these same courts of justice, but his
+princely honour was pledged, and he could not retract one word
+until the states came back to their duty, and gave him the gold he
+demanded. For how could he stand before the world as a fool? He
+had begun this castle of Friedrichswald, and had ordered all kinds
+of statues, paintings, &c., from Italy, for which gold must be
+paid. How, then, if he had none?"
+
+"But those were idle follies," his mother answered, "and showed
+how true were the words of Solomon--'When a prince wanteth
+understanding, there is great oppression.'" [Footnote: Prov.
+xxviii. 16.]
+
+Here the Duke grew angry. "It was false; he did not want
+understanding. Well it was that no one had dared to say this to
+him but his mother."
+
+But my gracious lady could not hear him plainly; for his Serene
+Highness, Barnim the younger, who had drunk rather freely at
+dinner, began to snore so loudly, that he snored away a paper
+which lay before old Ulrich, upon which he had been sketching a
+list of _propositions_ for the reconciliation of the Duke and
+the estates of the kingdom.
+
+Hereupon the old chamberlain cursed and swore--"May the seven
+thousand devils take them! One snarls at his mother, and the other
+snores away his paper! Did the Prince think that Pomerania was
+like Saxony, when he began these fine buildings at Friedrichswald?
+His Grace had a house at Stettin; what did he want with a second?
+Was his Grace better than his forefathers? And would not his Grace
+have Oderburg when old Duke Barnim died? and castles and towns all
+round the land?"
+
+But the Duke answered proudly, "That Ulrich should remember his
+guardianship had ended. He knew himself what to do and what to
+leave undone."
+
+Herewith the young Lord Bogislaff broke in--"Yet, dearest brother,
+be advised by us. Bethink you how I resigned my chance of the
+duchy at the Diet of Wollin, and now I am ready to give you up the
+annuity which I then received, if it will help your necessities,
+and that you promise thereupon to release the land from the
+interdict, that all this fearful villainy and lawlessness which is
+devastating the country may have an end."
+
+_Ille_.--"Matters were not so bad as he thought; besides, why
+cannot the people defend themselves, and take care of their own
+skin?"
+
+_Hic_.--"So they do; but this only increased injustice and
+lawlessness." Then he related many examples of how the despairing
+people of the different towns had executed justice, after their
+own manner, upon the robbers who fell into their hands. In
+Stolpschen, for instance, three fellows had been caught plundering
+the corn, and the peasants nailed them up to a tree, and whipped
+them till they dropped down dead. Well might Satan laugh over the
+sin and wickedness that reigned now in poor Pomerania.
+
+_Item_, he related how the peasants in Marienfliess were
+going to burn a witch, without trial or sentence. _Item_, how
+many peasants and villagers had hung up their own bailiffs, or
+strangled them. _Item_, how the priests had been chased away
+from many places, so that they now had to beg their bread upon the
+highway; and in such towns God's service was no more heard, but
+each one lived as it pleased him, and the peasants did as they
+chose. And now he would ask his heart's dear brother, which would
+be more upright and honourable in the sight of the great God--to
+build up this castle of Friedrichswald, or to let it fall, and
+build up the virtue and happiness of his people? He could not
+build the castle without money, and he had none; but he could
+restore his land to peace and happiness by a word. Let him, then,
+open these long-closed courts of justice, for this was his duty as
+a Prince; and let him remember that every prince was ordained of
+God, and must answer to Him for his government.
+
+Hereupon the Stettin Duke made answer--"Pity, good Bogislaff, thou
+wert not a village priest! Hast thou finished thy sermon? Truly
+thou wert never meant for a prince, as we heard from thy own lips,
+the day of the Diet at Wollin. Thou hast no sense of princely
+honour, I see, but I stand by mine; and now, by my princely
+honour, I pledge my princely word, that, until the states give me
+the money, the land shall remain in all things as it is."
+
+Here old Ulrich sprang to his feet (while my gracious lady sobbed
+aloud), clapped the table, and roared--"Seven thousand devils, my
+lord! are we to be robbed and murdered by those vile cut-throats
+that infest the land, and your Grace will fold your hands and do
+nothing, till they drive your Grace yourself out of the land, or
+run a spear through your body, as they would have done to your
+princely brother of Wolgast, only he had faithful vassals to
+defend him? If it is so to be, then must the nobles make their
+petition to the Emperor, and we shall see if his Imperial Majesty
+cannot bring your Grace to reason, though your mother and we all
+have failed to move you."
+
+Here the little Casimir, who was playing with the paper which his
+brother had snored away, ran up to his mother, and pulling her by
+the gown, said, "Gracious lady mamma, what ails my brother, the
+Stettin Duke? Is he drunk, too?"
+
+At which they all laughed, except Duke Johann, who gave a kick to
+his little brother, and then strode out of the room, exclaiming,
+"Sooner my life than my honour; I shall stay here no longer to be
+tutored and lectured, but will take my journey homewards this very
+night." And so he departed, but by a small side-door, for old
+Ulrich had locked the chief door on entering.
+
+Now, indeed, her Grace wept bitterly: ah! she thought the evil had
+left her house, which the fatal business at her wedding had
+wrought on it, when Dr. Martinus dropped the ring; but, alas! it
+was only beginning now; and yet she could not curse him, for he
+was her son, and she had borne him in pain and sorrow.
+
+_Summa_.--If many were displeased at these proceedings of his
+Grace, so also was the Lord God, as was seen clearly by many
+strange signs; for on that same night Duke Barnim the elder died
+at Oderburg, and all the crosses, knobs, and spires throughout the
+whole town turned quite black, though they had only been newly
+gilded a year before, and no rain, lightning, or thunder had been
+observed. [Footnote: The Duke died 29th September 1573, aged 72
+years.--_Micraelius_. 369.]
+
+But this was all clearly to show the anger of God over the sins of
+the young Duke, and by these signs He would admonish him to
+repentance, as a father might gently threaten a refractory child.
+As to what further happened his Grace when he went out by the
+little door, and the danger that befell him there, we shall hear
+more in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann
+by the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner._
+
+
+The castle was now almost quite still, for as the festival had
+already lasted three days, the guests were pretty well tired of
+dancing and drinking, and most of them, like young Prince Barnim,
+had lain down to snore. Yet still there were many drinking in the
+great hall, or dancing in the saloon, for the fiddles fiddled away
+merrily until far in the night.
+
+And it was a beautiful night this one; not too dark, but starry,
+bright, and soft and still, so that Marcus and his young bride
+glided away from the dancing and drinking, to wander in the cool,
+fresh air of the shrubbery, before they retired to their chamber.
+So they passed down the broad path that led from the garden to the
+drawbridge by the water-mill, and seating themselves on a bank
+under the shade of the trees, began to kiss and caress, as may
+well become a young bridal pair to do.
+
+Soon they heard nine o'clock strike from the town, and immediately
+after, stealthy footsteps coming along the shrubbery towards them.
+They held their breath, and remained quite still, thinking it was
+some half-drunken guest from the castle wandering this way; but
+then the drawbridge was lowered, and three persons advanced to a
+youth, as they could see plainly. One said, "Now?" to which
+another answered, "No, when I whistle!" He who had so asked, then
+went back again, but Sidonia and my knave came on with the
+boundary lad over the bridge (for, of course, every one will have
+guessed them) and entered the shrubbery where the young bridal
+pair were seated, but perfectly hidden, by reason of the darkness.
+
+The boundary lad would now have drawn up the bridge, but the knave
+hindered him--"Let him leave it down; how would he escape else, if
+the carl roared, and all came running out of the castle to see
+what was the matter?" Then Sidonia asked the boy, if he thought
+the castle folk would hear him? To which he answered, no. They
+could thrash the hound securely, and he had brought a short cudgel
+with him for the purpose. Upon which my knave murmured to him,
+"Lead on, then; I must get out of this dark place to see what I am
+about. And when we get to the end of it, do you run and bring him
+out here. Then we shall both pay him off bravely."
+
+So they crept on in the darkness towards the castle, but the young
+wedded pair had plenty of time to recognise both Sidonia and
+Appelmann by their voices. Therefore Marcus argued truly that the
+knave and his paramour could be about no good, for the whole land
+rang with their wickedness. And, no doubt, the band was in the
+vicinity, because Appelmann had answered, "No, when I whistle!"
+
+So the good Marcus grew wroth over the villainy of this shameless
+pair, who had evidently resolved on nothing less than the
+destruction of the whole princely race, and even this castle of
+Daber was not to be spared, which belonged to his dear bride's
+father, so that their wicked purposes might be fulfilled. Then he
+whispered, did his dear wife know of any byway that led to the
+castle? as she was born here, perhaps some such little path might
+be known to her, so that she would escape meeting the villain. And
+as she whispered in return, "Yes, there was such a path," he bid
+her run along it quick as thought, have all the bells rung when
+she reached the castle, and even the cannon fired, which was ready
+loaded for the farewell salute to the Lady of Wolgast on the
+morrow; and to gather as many people together, of all stations and
+ages, as could be summoned on the instant, and let them shout
+"Murder! murder!" Meanwhile he would run and draw up the bridge,
+then track the fellow along the shrubbery, and seize him if
+possible.
+
+How Clara trembled and hesitated, as a young girl might; but soon
+collecting herself, she said, although with much agitation, "I
+will trust in God: the Lord is my strength, of whom then should I
+be afraid?" and plunged alone into the darkest part of the
+shrubbery.
+
+Marcus instantly ran down to the garden door, and began to draw up
+the bridge with as little noise as possible. "What are you doing?"
+called out a voice to him from the other side. "I hear steps," he
+answered, "and perchance it is the castellan on his rounds; he
+would discover all." So he draws up the bridge, and then glided
+along the shrubbery after my knave.
+
+Meanwhile Appelmann and Sidonia, with the boundary lad, had
+reached the door of the castle, through which he was determined to
+make good his entrance after the lad by any means.
+
+But at that very instant it opened, and my gracious lord Duke
+Johann Frederick stood before them. For it has been already
+mentioned, that he left the chamber in which the family council
+was held, by a small private door which led down to this portion
+of the castle. Here he was looking about for his court-jester,
+Clas Hinze, to bid him order the carriages to convey him and his
+suite that very night to Freienwald, and by chance opened this
+very door which led out to the shrubbery.
+
+Seeing no one from the darkness, the Duke called out, "Is Clas
+there?" to which Appelmann answered, "Yes, my lord" (for he had
+recognised the Duke by his voice), and at the same time he
+retreated a few steps into the shrubbery, hoping the Duke would
+follow him.
+
+But the Duke called out again, "Where art thou, Clas?" "Here!"
+responded Appelmann, retreating still further. Whereupon the
+boundary lad whispered, "That is not him!" His Grace, however,
+heard the whisper, and called out angrily, while he advanced from
+the door, "What meanest thou, knave? It is I who call! Art thou
+drunk, fool? If so, thou must have a bucket of water on thy head,
+for we ride away this night."
+
+So speaking, his Highness went on still further into the
+shrubbery, upon which my knave makes a spring at his throat and
+hurls him to the ground, while he gives a loud, shrill whistle
+through the fingers of his other hand. Now the boundary lad
+screamed in earnest; but Sidonia threatened him, and bade him hold
+his tongue, and run for the other fellows, and not mind them. But
+she screamed yet louder herself, when a powerful arm seized her
+round the waist, and she found herself in the grasp of Marcus
+Bork.
+
+Appelmann, who had stuffed his kerchief into the Duke's mouth to
+stifle his cries, and placed one knee upon his breast, now sprang
+up in terror at her scream, while at the same instant the bells
+rang, the cannon was fired, and all the court was filled with
+people shouting, "Murder! murder!" So he let go his hold of the
+Duke, and without waiting to release Sidonia, darted down the
+shrubbery, reached the bridge, and finding it raised, plunged into
+the water, and swam to the other side.
+
+And here we see the hand of the all-merciful God; for had the
+bridge been down, the band would have rushed over at their
+captain's whistle, and then, methinks, there would have been a sad
+end to the whole princely race, for, as I have said, half the
+guests were drunk and half were snoring, so that but for Marcus
+this evil and accursed woman would have destroyed them all, as she
+had sworn. True, they were destroyed by her at last, but not until
+God gave them over to destruction, in consequence of their sins,
+no doubt, and of the wickedness of the land.
+
+_Summa_.--When my gracious lord felt himself free, he sprang
+up, crying, "Help! help!" and ran as quick as he could back into
+the castle. Marcus Bork followed with Sidonia, who drew a knife to
+stab him, but he saw the glitter of the blade by the light of the
+lanterns (for one can easily imagine that the bells and the cannon
+had brought all the snorers to their legs), and giving her a blow
+upon the arm that made her drop the knife, dragged her through the
+little door, after the Duke, as fast as he was able.
+
+So the whole princely party stood there, and great and small
+shouted when the upright Marcus appeared, holding Sidonia firmly
+by the back, while she writhed and twisted, and kicked him with
+her heels till the sweat poured down his face.
+
+But when old Ulrich beheld her, he exclaimed, "Seven thousand
+devils!--do my eyes deceive me, or is this Sidonia again?" Her
+Grace, too, turned pale, and all were horrified at seeing the evil
+one, for they knew her wickedness.
+
+Then Marcus must relate the whole story, and how he came to bring
+to nought the counsel of the devil.
+
+And when Duke Johann heard the whole extent of the danger from
+which he had been saved, he fell upon the neck of the loyal
+Marcus, and, pressing him to his heart, exclaimed, "Well-beloved
+Marcus, and dear friend, thou hast saved my brother of Wolgast in
+the Stettin forest, so hast thou saved me this night, therefore
+accept knighthood from my hands; and I make thee governor of my
+fortress of Saatzig."
+
+To which the other answered, "He thanked his Grace heartily for
+the honours; but he had already promised to remain in the service
+of his princely brother of Wolgast; and for that object had made
+purchase of the lands of Crienke."
+
+But his Highness would hear of no refusal. Only let him look at
+Saatzig; it was the finest fortress in the land. What would he do
+in a miserable fishing village? The castle was almost grander than
+his own ducal house at Stettin; and the knights' hall, with its
+stone pillars and carved capitals, was the most stately work of
+architecture in the kingdom. Where would he find such a dwelling
+in his village nest? Old Kleist, the governor, had just died, and
+to whom could he give the castle sooner than to his right worthy
+and loyal Marcus?
+
+When old Dewitz heard this (he was a little, dry old man, with
+long grey hair), he pressed forward to his son-in-law, and bade
+him by no means refuse a Prince's offer; besides, Saatzig was but
+two miles off, and they could see each other every Sunday. Also,
+if they had a hunt, a standard erected on the tower of one castle
+could be seen plainly from the tower of the other, and so they
+could lead a right pleasant, neighbourly life, almost as if they
+all lived together.
+
+Still Marcus will not consent. Upon which his mother-in-law can no
+longer suppress her feelings, and comes forward to entreat him.
+(She was a good, pious matron, and as fat as her husband was
+thin.) So she stroked his cheeks--"And where in the land, as far
+as Usdom, could he find such fine muranes and maranes [Footnote:
+The great marana weighs from ten to twelve pounds, and is a
+species of salmon-trout. The murana is of the same race, but not
+larger than the herring. It must not be confounded with the
+_murana_ of which the Romans were so fond, which was a
+species of eel.]--this fish he loved so much?--and where was such
+fine flax to be had, for his young wife to spin?--no flax in the
+land equalled that of Saatzig!--since ever she was a little girl,
+people talked of the fine Saatzig flax. Let her dear daughter
+Clara come over, and see could she prevail aught with her stern
+husband. Why, they could send pudding hot to each other, the
+castles were so near."
+
+And now the mild young bride approached her husband, and taking
+his hand gently, looked up into his eyes with soft, beseeching
+glances, but spake no word; so that the princely widow of Wolgast
+was moved, and said, "Good Marcus, if you only fear to offend my
+son of Wolgast by taking service at Saatzig, be composed on that
+head, for I myself will make your peace. Great, indeed, would be
+my joy to have you and your young spouse settled at Crienke,
+which, you know, is but half a mile from Pudgla, my dower-castle,
+where I mean to reside; yet these beseeching glances of my little
+Clara fill my heart with compassion, for do I not read in her
+clear eyes that she would love to stay near her dear parents, as
+indeed is natural? Therefore, in God's name accept the offer of
+your Prince. I myself command you."
+
+Hereupon Marcus inclined himself gracefully to the Duchess and
+Duke Johann, and pressed his little wife to his heart. "But what
+need, gracious Prince, of a governor at Saatzig, when all the
+courts are closed and no justice can be done? I shall eat my bread
+in idleness, like a worn-out hound. But, marry, if your Grace
+consents to open the courts, I will accept your offer with thanks,
+and do my duty as governor with all justice and fidelity." Then
+his Grace answered, "What! good Marcus, dost thou begin again on
+that old theme which roused my wrath so lately, and made me fall
+into that peril? But I bethink me of thy bravery, and will say no
+bitter word; only, thou mayest hold thy peace, for I have sworn by
+my princely honour, and from that there is no retreating. However,
+thou hast leave to hold jurisdiction in thy own government, and
+execute justice according to thy own upright judgment."
+
+So Marcus was silent; but the Duchess and the other princes took
+up the subject, and assailed his Highness with earnest
+petitions--"Had he not himself felt and seen the danger of
+permitting these freebooters to get such a head in the land? Had
+not the finger of God warned him this very night, in hopes of
+turning him back to the right path? Let him reflect, for the peace
+of his land was at stake." But all in vain. Even though old Ulrich
+tumbled into the argument with his seven thousand devils, yet
+could they obtain no other answer from his Highness but--"If the
+states give me gold, I shall open the courts; if they give no
+gold, the courts shall remain closed for ever. Were he to be
+brought before the Emperor, or Pontius Pilate himself, it was all
+alike; they might tear him in pieces, but not one nail's breadth
+of his princely word would he retreat from, or break it like a
+woman, for their prayers."
+
+Then he rose, and calling his fool Clas to him, bid him run to the
+old priest, and tell him he would sleep at his quarters that
+night, for he must have peace; but the merry Clas, as he was
+running out, got behind his Highness, and stuck his fool's cap
+upon the head of his Grace, crying out, "Here, keep my cap for
+me."
+
+However, his Highness did not relish the joke, for every one
+laughed; and he ran after the fool, trying to catch him, and
+threatening to have his head cut off; but Clas got behind the
+others, and clapping his hands, cried out, "You can't, for the
+courts are closed. Huzza! the courts are closed!" Whereupon he
+runs out at the door, and my gracious lord after him, with the
+fool's cap upon his head. Nor did he return again to the hall, but
+went to sleep at the priest's quarters, as he had said; and next
+morning, by the first dawn of day, set off on his journey
+homeward.
+
+All this while no one had troubled himself about Sidonia. My
+gracious lady wept, the young lords laughed, old Ulrich swore,
+whilst the good Marcus murmured softly to his young wife, "Be
+happy, Clara; for thy sake I shall consent to go to Saatzig. I
+have decided."
+
+This filled her with such joy that she danced, and smiled, and
+flung herself into her mother's arms; nothing was wanting now to
+her happiness! Just then her eyes rested upon Sidonia, who was
+leaning against the wall, as pale as a corpse. Clara grew quite
+calm in a moment, and asked, compassionately, "What aileth thee,
+poor Sidonia?"
+
+"_I am hungry!_" was the answer. At this the gentle bride was
+so shocked, that the tears filled her eyes, and she exclaimed,
+"Wait, thou shalt partake of my wedding-feast;" and away went she.
+
+The attention of the others was, by this time, also directed to
+Sidonia. And old Ulrich said, "Compose yourself, gracious lady; I
+trust your son, the Prince, will not be so hard and stern as he
+promises; now that the water has touched his own neck, methinks he
+will soon come to reason. But what shall we do now with Sidonia?"
+
+Upon which my Lady of Wolgast turned to her, and asked if she were
+yet wedded to her gallows-bird? "Not yet," was the answer; "but
+she would soon be." Then my gracious lady spat out at her; and,
+addressing Ulrich, asked what he would advise.
+
+So the stout old knight said, "If the matter were left to him, he
+would just send for the executioner, and have her ears and nose
+slit, as a warning and example, for no good could ever come of her
+now, and then pack her off next day to her farm at Zachow; for if
+they let her loose, she would run to her paramour again, and come
+at last to gallows and wheel; but if they just slit her nose, then
+he would hold her in abhorrence, as well as all other men-folk."
+
+During this, Clara had entered, and set fish, and wild boar, and
+meat, and bread, before the girl; and as she heard Ulrich's last
+words, she bent down and whispered, "Fear nothing, Sidonia, I hope
+to be able to protect thee, as I did once before; only eat,
+Sidonia! Ah! hadst thou followed my advice! I always meant well by
+thee; and even now, if I thought thou wouldst repent truly, poor
+Sidonia, I would take thee with me to the castle of Saatzig, and
+never let thee want for aught through life."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she wept, and promised amendment. Only
+let Clara try her, for she could never go to Zachow and play the
+peasant-girl. Upon which Clara turned to her Highness, and prayed
+her Grace to give Sidonia up to her. See how she was weeping;
+misfortune truly had softened her, and she would soon be brought
+back to God. Only let her take her to Saatzig, and treat her as a
+sister. At this, however, old Ulrich shook his head--"Clara,
+Clara," he exclaimed, "knowest thou not that the Moor cannot
+change his skin, nor the leopard his spots? I cannot, then, let
+the serpent go. Think on our mother, girl; it is a bad work
+playing with serpents."
+
+Her Grace, too, became thoughtful, and said at last--
+
+"Could we not send her to the convent at Marienfliess, or
+somewhere else?"
+
+"What the devil would she do in a convent?" exclaimed the old
+knight. "To infect the young maidens with her vices, or plague
+them with her pride? Now, there was nothing else for her but to be
+packed off to Zachow."
+
+Now Clara looked up once again at her husband with her soft,
+tearful eyes, for he had said no word all this time, but remained
+quite mute; and he drew her to him, and said--
+
+"I understand thy wish, dear Clara, but the old knight is right.
+It is a dangerous business, dear Clara! Let Sidonia go."
+
+At this Sidonia crawled forth like a serpent from her corner, and
+howled--
+
+"Clara had pity on her, but he would turn her out to starve--he,
+who bore her own name, and was of her own blood."
+
+Alas! the good knight was ashamed to refuse any longer, and
+finally promised the evil one that she should go with them to
+Saatzig. So her Grace at last consented, but old Ulrich shook his
+grey head ten times more.
+
+"He had lived many years in the world, but never had it come to
+his knowledge that a godless man was tamed by love. Fear was the
+only teacher for them. All their love would be thrown away on this
+harlot; for even if the stout Marcus kept her tight with bit and
+rein, and tried to bring her back by fear, yet the moment his back
+was turned, Clara would spoil all again by love and kindness."
+
+However, nobody minded the good knight, though it all came to pass
+just as he had prophesied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage._
+
+
+Summa.--Sidonia went to the castle of Saatzig, and her worthy
+cousin Marcus gave her a little chamber to herself, in the third
+story, close to the tower. It was the same room in which she
+afterwards sat as a witch, for some days ere she was taken to
+Oderburg. There was a right cheerful view from the windows down
+upon the lake, which was close to the castle, and over the little
+town of Jacobshagen, as far even as the meadows beyond. Here, too,
+was left a Bible for her, and the _Opera Lutheri_ in
+addition, with plenty of materials for spinning and embroidery,
+for she had refused to weave. _Item_, a serving-wench was
+appointed to attend on her, and she had permission to walk where
+she pleased within the castle walls; but if ever seen beyond the
+domain, the keepers had orders to bring her back by force, if she
+would not return willingly.
+
+In fine, the careful knight took every precaution possible to
+render her presence as little baneful as could be, for, truth to
+say, he had no faith whatever in her tears and seeming repentance.
+
+First, he strictly forbade all his secretaries to interchange a
+word with her, or even look at her. They need not know his reason,
+but any one who transgressed his slightest command in this
+particular, should be chased away instantly from the castle.
+
+Secondly, he prayed his dear wife to let Sidonia eat her meals
+alone, in her own little room, and never to see her but in the
+presence of a third person.
+
+Also, never to accept the slightest gift from her hand--fruit,
+flower, or any kind of food whatsoever. These injunctions were the
+more necessary, as the young bride had already given hopes of an
+heir. Sidonia's rage and jealousy at this prospect of complete
+happiness for Clara may be divined from her words to her maid,
+Lene Penkun, a short time after she reached the castle--
+
+"Ha! they are talking of the baptism already, forsooth; but it
+might have been otherwise if I had come across her a little
+sooner!"
+
+This same maid also she sent to Daber for the spirit Chim, which
+had been left behind at the last resting-place of the robbers,
+never telling her it was a spirit, however, only a tame cat, that
+was a great pet of hers. "It must be half dead with hunger now,
+for it was four days since she had left it in the hollow of an old
+oak in the forest, the poor creature! So let the maid take a flask
+of sweet milk and a little saucer to feed it. She could not miss
+her way, for, when she stepped out of the high-road at Daber into
+the forest, there was a thorn-bush to her left hand, and just
+beyond it a large oak where the ravens had their nests; in a
+hollow of this oak, to the north side, lay her dear little cat.
+But she must not tell any one about the matter, or they would
+laugh at her for sending her maid two miles and more to look for a
+cat. Men had no compassion or tenderheartedness nowadays to each
+other, much less to a poor dumb animal. No; just let her say that
+she went to fetch a robe which her mistress had left in the oak.
+Here was an old gown; take this with her, and it would do to wrap
+up the poor little pussy in it after she had fed it and warmed it,
+so that no one might see it, for what a mock would all these
+pitiless men make of her, if they heard the object of her message;
+but she was not cruel like them."
+
+Now, after some time, it happened that the states of the duchy
+assembled at Wollin, to come to some arrangement with his Highness
+respecting the opening of the courts of justice; and Marcus Bork,
+along with all the other nobles, was summoned to attend the Diet.
+So, with great grief, he had to leave his dear wife, but promised,
+if possible, to return before she was taken with her illness. Then
+he bid her be of good courage, and, above all things, to guard
+herself, against Sidonia, and mind strictly all his injunctions
+concerning her.
+
+Alas! she too soon flung them all to the winds! For, behold,
+scarcely had the good knight arrived at Wollin, when Clara was
+delivered of a little son, at which great joy filled the whole
+castle. And one messenger was despatched to Marcus, and another to
+old Dewitz and his wife, with the tidings; but woe, alas! the good
+old mother was going to stand sponsor for a nobleman's child in
+the neighbourhood, and could not hasten then to save her dear
+daughter from a terrible and cruel death. She cooked some broth,
+however, for the young mother, and pouring it into a silver flask,
+bid the messenger ride back with all speed to Saatzig, that it
+might not be too cold. She herself would be over in the morning
+early with her husband, and let her dear little daughter keep
+herself warm and quiet.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia had heard of the birth, and sent her maid to
+wish the young mother joy, and ask her permission just to give one
+little kiss to her new cousin, for they told her he was a
+beautiful infant.
+
+Alas, alas! that Clara's joy should make her forget the judicious
+cautions of her husband! Permission was given to the murderess,
+and down she comes directly to offer her congratulations; even
+affecting to weep for joy as she kissed the infant, and praying to
+be allowed to act as nurse until her mother came from Daber.
+
+"Why, she had no one about her but common serving-women! How could
+she leave her dearest friend to the care of these old hags, when
+she was in the castle, who owed everything to her dear Clara?"
+
+And so she went on till poor Clara, even if she did not quite
+believe her, felt ashamed to doubt so much apparent affection and
+tenderness.
+
+_Summa_.--She permitted her to remain, and we shall soon see
+what murderous deeds Sidonia was planning against the poor young
+mother. But first I must relate what happened at the Diet of
+Wollin, to which Marcus Bork had been summoned.
+
+His Highness Duke Johann had become somewhat more gracious to the
+states since they had come to the Diet at their own cost, which
+was out of the usage; and further, because, as old Ulrich
+prophesied, he himself had felt the inconveniences resulting from
+the present lawless state of the country.
+
+Still he was ill-tempered enough, particularly as he had a fever
+on him; and when the states promised at last that they would let
+him have the money, he said, "So far good; but, till he saw the
+gold, the courts should not be opened. Not that he misdoubted
+them, but then he knew that they were sometimes as tedious in
+handing out money as a peasant in paying his rent. The courts,
+therefore, should not be opened until he had the gold in his pot,
+so it would be to their own profit to use as much diligence as
+possible." At this same Diet his Grace related how he first met
+Clas, his fool, which story I shall set down here for the reader's
+pastime.
+
+This same fool had been nothing but a poor goose-herd; and one day
+as he was on the road to Friedrichswald with his flock, my
+gracious lord rode up, and growing impatient at the geese running
+hither and thither in his path, bid the boy collect them together,
+or he would strike them all dead.
+
+Upon which the knave took up goose after goose by the throat, and
+stuck them by their long necks into his girdle, till a circle of
+geese hung entirely round his body, all dangling by the head from
+his waist.
+
+This merry device pleased my lord so much, that he made the lad
+court-jester from that day, and many a droll trick he had played
+from that to this, particularly when his Highness was gloomy, so
+as to make him laugh again. Once, for instance, when the Duke was
+sore pressed for money, by reason of the opposition of the states,
+he became very sad, and all the doctors were consulted, but could
+do nothing. For unless his Grace could be brought to laugh (they
+said to the Lady Erdmuth), it was all over with him. Then my
+gracious lady had the fool whipped for a stupid jester, who could
+not drive his trade; for if he did not make the Duke laugh, why
+should he stay at all in the castle?
+
+What did my fool? He collected all the princely soldatesca, and
+got leave from their Graces to review them; and surely never were
+seen such strange evolutions as he put them through, for they must
+do everything he bid them. And when his Highness came forth to
+look, he laughed so loud as never had fool made him laugh before;
+and calling the Duchess, bid him repeat his _experimentum_
+many times for her. In fine, the fool got the good town of
+Butterdorf for his fee, which changed its name in honour of him,
+and is called Hinzendorf to this day (for his name was Hinze).
+
+But Clas Hinze had not been able to cure my Lord Duke of his
+fever, which attacked him at the Diet at Wollin, nor all the
+doctors from Stettin, nor even Doctor Pomius, who had been sent
+from Wolgast by the old Duchess, to attend her dear son; and as
+the doctor (as I have said) was a formal, priggish little man, he
+and the fool were always bickering and snarling.
+
+Now, one day at Wollin, the weather being beautiful, his Grace,
+with several of the chief prelates, and many of the nobility, went
+forth to walk by the river's side, and the fool ran along with
+them; _item_, Doctor Pomius, who, if he could not run, at
+least tried to walk majestically; and he munched a piece of sugar
+all the time, for he never could keep his mouth still a moment.
+Seeing his Grace now about to cross the bridge, the doctor started
+forward with as much haste as was consistent with his dignity, and
+seizing his Highness by the tail of the coat, drew him back,
+declaring, "That he must not pass the water; all water would give
+strength to the fever-devil." But his Highness, who was talking
+Latin to the Deacon of Colberg, turned on the doctor with--"Apage
+te asine!" and strode forward, whilst one of the nobles gave a
+free translation aloud for the benefit of the others, saying, "And
+that means: Begone, thou ass!"
+
+When the fool heard this, he clapped the little man on the back,
+shouting, "Well done, ass! and there is thy fee for curing our
+gracious Prince of his fever."
+
+This so nettled the doctor that he spat out the lump of sugar for
+rage, and tried to seize the fool; but the crowd laughed still
+louder when Clas jumped on the back of an old woman, giving her
+the spur with his yellow boots in the side, and shaking his head
+with the cap and bells at the little doctor in mockery, who could
+not get near him for the crowd. So the woman screamed and roared,
+and the people laughed, till at last the Duke stopped in the
+middle of the bridge to see what was the matter. When the fool
+observed this, he sprang off the old woman's back, and calling out
+to the doctor--"See how I cure our gracious lord's fever," ran
+upon the bridge like wind, and, seizing the Duke with all his
+force, jumped with him into the water.
+
+Now the people screamed from horror, as much as before from mirth,
+and thirty or forty burghers, along with Marcus Bork, plunged in
+to rescue his Highness, whilst others tried to seize the fool,
+threatening to tear him in pieces. This was a joyful hearing to
+Doctor Pomius. He drew forth his knife--"Would they not finish the
+knave at once? Here was a knife just ready."
+
+But the fool, who was strong and supple, swung himself up to the
+bridge, and crouched in between the arches, catching hold of the
+beams, so that no one dared to touch him there, and his Highness
+was soon carried to land. He was in a flaming rage as he shook off
+the water.
+
+"Where is that accursed fool? He had only threatened to cut off
+his head at Daber, but now it should be done in earnest."
+
+So the fool shouted from under the bridge--"Ho! ho! the courts are
+all closed! the courts are all closed!" At which the crowd laughed
+so heartily, that my Lord Duke grew still more angry, and
+commanded them to bring the fool to him dead or alive.
+
+Hearing this, the fool crept forward of himself, and whimpered in
+his Low Dutch, "My good Lord Duke, praise be to God that we've
+made the doctor fly. I'll give him a little piece of drink-money
+for his journey, and then I'll be your doctor myself. For if the
+fright has not cured you, marry, let the deacon be your fool, and
+I will be your deacon as long as I live."
+
+However, my gracious lord was in no humour for fun, but bid them
+carry off the fool to prison, and lock him up there; for though,
+indeed, the fever had really quite gone, as his Highness perceived
+to his joy, yet he was resolved to give the fool a right good
+fright in return.
+
+Therefore, on the third day from that, he commanded him to be
+brought out and beheaded on the scaffold at Wollin. He wore a
+white shroud, bordered with black gauze, over his motley jacket,
+and a priest and melancholy music accompanied him all the way; but
+Master Hansen had directions that, when the fool was seated in the
+chair with his eyes bound, he should strike the said fool on the
+neck with a sausage in place of the sword.
+
+However, no one suspected this, and a great crowd followed the
+poor fool up to the scaffold; even Doctor Pomius was there, and
+kept close up to the condemned. As the fool passed the ducal
+house, there was my lord seated at a window looking out, and the
+fool looked up, saying, "My gracious master, is this a fool's jest
+you are playing me, or is it earnest?"
+
+To which the Duke answered, "You see it is earnest."
+
+Then answered the fool, "Well, if I must, I must; yet I crave one
+boon!"
+
+When the promise was granted, the knave, who could not give up his
+jesting even on the death-road, said, "Then make Doctor Pomius
+herewith to be fool in my place, for look how he is learning all
+my tricks from me--sticking himself close up to my side."
+
+Hereat a great shout of laughter pealed from the crowd, and the
+Duke motioned with the hand to proceed to the scaffold.
+
+Still the poor fool kept looking round every moment, thinking his
+Grace would send a message after them to stop the execution, but
+no one appeared. Then his teeth chattered, and he trembled like an
+aspen leaf; for Master Hansen seized hold of him now, and put him
+down upon the chair, and bound his eyes. Still he asked, with his
+eyes bound, "Master, is any one coming?"
+
+"No!" replied the executioner; and throwing back his red cloak,
+drew forth a large sausage in place of a sword, to the great
+amusement of the people. With this he strikes my fool on the neck,
+who thereupon tumbles down from the stool, as stone dead from the
+mere fright as if his head and body had parted company--yea, more
+dead, for never a finger or a muscle did the poor fool move more.
+
+This sad ending moved his Grace even to tears; and he fell into a
+yet greater melancholy than before, crying, "Woe! alas! He gave me
+my life through fright, and through fright I have taken away his
+poor life! Ah, never shall I meet with so good and merry a fool
+again!"
+
+Then he gave command to all the physicians to try and restore him,
+and he himself stood by while they bled him and felt his pulse,
+but all was in vain; even Doctor Pomius tried his skill, but
+nothing would help, so that my lord cried out angrily--
+
+"Marry, the fool was right. The fools should be doctors, for the
+doctors are all fools. Away with ye all, and your gibberish, to
+the devil!"
+
+After this he had the said fool placed in a handsome black coffin,
+and conveyed to his own town of Hinzendorf, there to be buried;
+and over his grave my lord erected a stately monument, on which
+was represented the poor fool, as large as life, with his cap and
+bells, and staff in his hand; and round his waist was a girdle,
+from which many geese dangled, all cut like life, while at his
+side lay his shepherd's bag, and at his feet a beer-can. The
+figure is five feet two inches long, and bears a Latin inscription
+above it, which I forget; but the initials G. H. are carved upon
+each cheek. [Footnote: His original name was Gürgen Hinze, not
+Clas. The Latin inscription is nearly effaced, but the beginning
+is still visible, and runs thus: "Caput ecce manus gestus que;"
+from which Oelrichs concludes that the whole was written in
+hexameters. (See his estimable work, "Memoirs of the Pomeranian
+Dukes," p. 41.)]
+
+Shortly after the death of the fool a messenger arrived from
+Saatzig to Marcus Bork, bringing him the joyful tidings that the
+Lord God had granted him the blessing of a little son. So he is
+away to my Lord Duke, to solicit permission to leave the Diet and
+return to his castle. This the Duke readily granted, seeing that
+he himself was going away to attend the funeral of the poor fool
+at Hinzendorf. Then he wished Marcus joy with all his heart, which
+so emboldened the knight that he ventured to make one more effort
+about the opening of the courts, praying his Grace to put faith in
+the word of his faithful states, and open the courts and the
+treasury without further delay.
+
+But his Grace is wroth: "What should he be troubled for? The
+states could give the money when they chose, and then all would be
+right. Let the nobles do their duty. He never saw a penny come out
+of their pockets for their Prince."
+
+"But his Highness knew the poor peasants were all beggared; and
+where could the nobles get the money?"
+
+"Let them go to their saving-pots, then, where the money was
+turning green from age; better for them if they had less avarice.
+Why did not he himself bring him some gold, in place of dressing
+up his wife in silks and jewels, finer than the Princess Erdmuth
+herself, his own princely spouse? Then, indeed, the courts might
+be soon opened," &c. So the sorrowing knight took his leave, and
+each went his different way.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the
+great mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on
+her coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church._
+
+
+I must first state that this horrible wickedness of Sidonia, which
+no eye had seen nor ear heard, neither had it entered into the
+heart of man to conceive (for only in hell could such have been
+imagined), never would have come to light but that she herself
+made confession thereof to Dr. Cramero, thy well-beloved
+godfather, in her last trial. And he, to show how far Satan can
+lead a poor human creature who has once fallen from God, related
+the same to my worthy father-in-law, Master David Reutzio, some
+time superintendent at the criminal court, from whose own lips I
+received the story.
+
+And this was her confession:--That when the messenger returned
+from Daber with the broth, he had ridden so fast that it was
+still, in truth, quite hot, but she (the horrible Sidonia), who
+was standing at the bed of the young mother, along with the other
+women, pretended that it was too cold for a woman in her state,
+and must just get one little heating on the fire.
+
+The poor Clara, indeed, showed unwillingness to permit this, but
+she ran down with it, and secretly, without being seen by any of
+the other women, poured in a philtrum that had been given her by
+the gipsy hag, and then went back again for a moment. This
+philtrum was the one which produced all the appearance of death.
+It had no taste, except, perhaps, that it was a little saltish.
+Therefore Clara perceived nothing wrong, only when she tasted it,
+said, "My heart's dearest mother, in her joy, has put a little too
+much salt into her broth; still, what a heart's dearest mother
+sends, must always taste good!" However, in one hour after that,
+Clara lay as stiff and cold as a corpse, only her breath came a
+little; but even this ceased in a short time, and then a great cry
+and lamentation resounded through the whole castle. No one
+suspected Sidonia, for many said that young women died so often;
+but even the old mother, who arrived a few hours after, and
+hearing the cries from the castle while she was yet far off, began
+to weep likewise; for her mother's heart revealed the cause to her
+ere she had yet descended from the carriage.
+
+But it was a sadder sight next evening, when the husband arrived
+at the castle from Wollin. He could not take his eyes from the
+corpse. One while he kissed the infant, then fixed his eyes again
+upon his dead wife, and sighed and groaned as if he lay upon the
+rack. He alone suspected Sidonia, but when she cried more than
+they all, and wrung her hands, exclaiming, who would have pity on
+her now, for her best friend lay there dead! and flung herself
+upon the seeming corpse, kissing it and bedewing it with her
+tears, and praying to have leave to watch all night beside it, for
+how could she sleep in her sore grief and sorrow? the knight was
+ashamed of his suspicions, and even tried to comfort her himself.
+
+Then came the physicians out of Stargard and other places, who had
+been summoned in all haste, and they gabbled away, saying, "It
+could not have been the broth, but puerperal fever." This at least
+was Dr. Hamster's opinion, who knew all along it would be a bad
+case. Indeed, the last time he was at the castle visiting the
+mower's wife, he was frightened at the look of the poor lady.
+Still, if they had only sent for him in time, this great evil
+could not have happened, for his _pulvis antispasmodicus_ was
+never known to fail; and so he went on chattering, by which one
+can see that doctors have always been the same from that time even
+till now.
+
+_Summa_.--On the third day the poor Clara was laid in her
+coffin, and carried to her grave, with such weeping and
+lamentation of the mourners and bearers as never had been heard
+till then. And all the nobles of the vicinage, with the knights
+and gentlemen, came to attend her funeral at Saatzig Cathedral,
+for she was to be buried in this new church just finished by his
+Grace Duke Johann, and but one corpse had been laid in the vaults
+before her. [Footnote: The beautifully painted escutcheon of Duke
+Johann and his wife, Erdmuth of Brandenburg, is still to be seen
+on the chancel windows of this stately staircase.]
+
+But what does the devil's sorceress do now? She knew that the poor
+Clara would awake the next day (which was Sunday) about noon, and
+if any should hear her cries, her plans would be detected.
+Therefore, about ten of the clock she ran to Marcus, with her hair
+all flowing down her shoulders, saying, that he must let her away
+that very day to Zachow, for what would the world say if she, a
+young unmarried thing, should remain here all alone with him in
+his castle? No; sooner would she swallow the bitter cup her father
+had left her than peril her name. But first, would he allow her to
+go and pray alone in the church? Surely he would not deny her
+this.
+
+Thereupon the simple knight gave her instant leave--"Let her go
+and pray, in God's name. He himself would soon be there to hear
+the Reverend Dr. Wudargensis preach the funeral sermon over his
+heart's dear wife. And after service he would desire a carriage to
+be in readiness to convey her to Zachow."
+
+Then he called to the warder from the window, bidding him let
+Sidonia pass. So she went forth in deep mourning garments, glided
+through the castle gardens, and concealing herself by the trees,
+slipped into the church without any one having perceived her; for
+the sexton had left the door open to admit fresh air, on account
+of the corpse. Then she stepped over to the little grated door
+near the altar, which led down into the vault, and softly lifting
+it, stepped down, drawing the door down again close over her head.
+Clara's coffin was lying beneath, and first she laid her ear on it
+and listened, but all was quite still within. Then removing the
+pall, she sat herself down upon the lid. Time passed, and still no
+sound. The sexton began to ring the bell, and the people were
+assembling in the church above. Soon the hymn commenced, "Now in
+peace the loved one sleepeth," and ere the first verse had ended,
+a knocking was heard in the coffin, then a cry--"Where am I? What
+brought me here? Let me out, for God's sake let me out! I am not
+dead. Where is my child? Where is my good Marcus? Ah! there is
+some one near me. Who is it? Let me out! let me out!" Then (oh!
+horror of horrors!) the devil's harlot on her coffin answered, "It
+is I, Sidonia! this pays thee for acting the spy at Wolgast. Lie
+there and writhe till thou art stifled in thy blood!" Now the
+voice came again from the coffin, praying and beseeching, so that
+many times it went through her stony heart like a sword. And just
+then the first verse of the hymn ended, and the voice of the
+priest was heard asking the lord governor whether they should go
+and sing the remainder over the vault of his dear spouse, for it
+was indeed sung in her honour, seeing she had been ever a mother
+to the orphan, and a holy, pious, and Christian wife; or, since
+the people all knew her worth, and mourned for her with bitter
+mourning, should they sing it here in the nave, that the whole
+congregation might join in chorus? [Footnote: These interruptions
+were by no means unusual at that period.]
+
+To this the governor, in a loud yet mournful voice, gave answer--
+
+"Alas, good friends, do what you will in this sad case; I am
+content."
+
+But Sidonia, this devil's witch, was in a horrible fright, lest
+the priest would come up to the altar to sing the hymn, and so
+hear the knocking within the coffin. However, the devil protects
+his own, for, at that instant, many voices called out--
+
+"Let the hymn be sung here, that we may all join to the honour of
+the blessed soul of the good lady."
+
+And mournfully the second verse was heard pealing through the
+church, from the lips of the whole congregation, so that poor
+Clara's groans were quite smothered. For, when the voice of her
+dear husband reached her ear, she had knocked and cried out with
+all her strength--
+
+"Marcus! Marcus! Alas, dear Lord, will you not come to me!" Then
+again--"Sidonia, by the Jesu cross, I pray thee have pity on me.
+Save me--save me--I am stifling. Oh, run for some one, if thou
+canst not lift the lid thyself!"
+
+But the devil made answer to the poor living corpse--
+
+"Dost thou take me for a silly fool like thyself, that I should
+now undo all I have done?"
+
+And as the voice went on from the coffin, but feebler and
+fainter--
+
+"Think on my husband--on my child, Sidonia!"
+
+She answered--
+
+"Didst thou think of that when, but for thee, I might have been a
+Duchess of Pomerania, and the proud mother of a prince, in place
+of being as I now am."
+
+Then all became still within the coffin, and Sidonia sprang upon
+it and danced, chanting the 109th psalm; [Footnote: Superstition
+has found many sinful usages for this psalm. The Jews, for
+example, took a new vessel, poured a mixture of mustard and water
+therein, and after repeating this psalm over it for three
+consecutive days, poured it out before the door of their enemy, as
+a certain means to ensure his destruction. In the middle ages
+monks and nuns were frequently obliged to repeat it in
+superstitious ceremonies, at the command of some powerful
+revengeful man. And that its efficacy was Considered as something
+miraculously powerful, even by the evangelical Church, is proved
+by this example of Sidonia, who made frequent use of this terrible
+psalm in her sorceries, as any one may see by referring to the
+records of the trial in Dähnert. And other interesting examples
+are found in the treatise of Job. Andreas Schmidii, _Abusus
+Psalmi 109 imprecatorii_; vulgo, _The Death Prayer_,
+Helmstadt, 1708.] and as she came to the words, "Let none show
+mercy to him; let none have pity on his orphans; let his posterity
+be cut off and his name be blotted out," there was a loud knocking
+again within the coffin, and a faint, stifled cry--"I am dying!"
+then followed a gurgling sound, and all became still. At that
+moment the congregation above raised the last verse of the hymn:--
+
+  "In the grave, with bitter weeping,
+    Loving hands have laid her down;
+  There she resteth, calmly sleeping,
+    Till an angel lifts the stone."
+
+But the sermon which now followed she remembered her life long. It
+was on the tears, the soft tears of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. And as her spirit became oppressed by the silence in the
+vault, now that all was still within the coffin, she lifted the
+lid after the exordium, to see if Clara were indeed quite dead.
+
+It was an easy matter to remove the cover, for the screws were not
+fastened; but--O God! what has she beheld? A sight that will never
+more leave her brain! The poor corpse lay all torn and disfigured
+from the writhings in the coffin, and a blood-vessel must have
+burst at last to relieve her from her agony, for the blood lay yet
+warm on the hands as she lifted the cover. But more horrible than
+all were the fixed glassy eyes of the corpse, staring immovably
+upon her, from which clear tears were yet flowing, and blending
+with the blood upon the cheek; and, as if the priest above had
+known what was passing beneath, he exclaimed--
+
+"Oh, let us moisten our couch with tears; let tears be our meat
+day and night. They are noble tears that do not fall to earth, but
+ascend up to God's throne. Yea, the Lord gathers them in His
+vials, like costly wine. They are noble tears, for if they fill
+the eyes of God's chosen in this life, yet, in that other world,
+the Lord Jesus will wipe away tears from off all faces, as the dew
+is dried by the morning sun. Oh, wondrous beauty of those eyes
+which are dried by the Lord Jesus! Oh, blessed eyes! Oh, sun-clear
+eyes! Oh, joyful and ever-smiling eyes!"
+
+She heard no more, but felt the eyes of the corpse were upon her,
+and fell down like one dead beside the coffin; and Clara's eyes
+and the sermon never left her brain from that day, and often have
+they risen before her in dreams.
+
+But the Holy Spirit had yet a greater torment in store for her, if
+that were possible.
+
+For, after the sermon, a consistorium was held in the church upon
+a grievous sinner named Trina Wolken, who, it appeared, had many
+times done penance for her unchaste life, but had in no wise
+amended. And she heard the priest asking, "Who accuseth this
+woman?" To which, after a short silence, a deep, small voice
+responded--
+
+"I accuse her; for I detected her in sin, and though I besought
+her with Christian words to turn from her evil ways, and that I
+would save her from public shame if she would so turn, yet she
+gave herself up wholly to the devil, and out of revenge bewitched
+my best sheep, so that it died the very day after it had brought
+forth a lamb. Alas! what will become of the poor lamb? And it was
+such a beautiful little lamb!"
+
+When Marcus Bork heard this, he began to sob aloud; and each word
+seemed to run like a sharp dagger through Sidonia's heart, so that
+she bitterly repented her evil deeds. And all the congregation
+broke out into loud weeping, and even the priest continued, in a
+broken voice, to ask the sinner what she had to say to this
+terrible accusation.
+
+Upon which a woman's voice was heard swearing that all was a
+malignant lie, for her accuser was a shameless liar and open
+sinner, who wished to ruin her because she had refused his son.
+
+Then the priest commanded the witnesses to be called, not only to
+prove the unchastity, but also the witchcraft. And after this, she
+was asked if she could make good the loss of the sheep? No; she
+had no money. And the people testified also that the harlot had
+nothing but her shame. Thereupon the priest rose up, and said--
+
+"That she had long been notorious in the Christian communion for
+her wicked life, and that all her penance and repentance having
+proved but falsehood and deceit, he was commissioned by the
+honourable consistorium to pronounce upon her the solemn curse and
+sentence of excommunication. For she had this day been convicted
+of strange and terrible crimes, on the testimony of competent
+witnesses. Therefore he called upon the whole Christian
+congregation to stand up and listen to the words of the anathema,
+by which he gave over Trina Wolken to the devil, in the name of
+the Almighty God."
+
+And as he spoke the curse, it fell word by word upon the head of
+Sidonia, as if he were indeed pronouncing it over herself--
+
+"Dear Christian Friends,--Because Trina Wolken hath broken her
+baptismal vows, and given herself over to the devil, to work all
+uncleanness with greediness; and though divers times admonished to
+repentance by the Church, yet hath stiffened her neck in
+corruption, and hardened her heart in unrighteousness, therefore
+we herewith place the said Trina Wolken under the ban of the
+excommunication. Henceforth she is a thing accursed--cast off from
+the communion of the Church, and participation in the holy
+sacraments. Henceforth she is given up to Satan for this life and
+the next, unless the blessed Saviour reach forth His hand to her
+as He did to the sinking Peter, for all things are possible with
+God. And this we do by the power of the keys granted by Christ to
+His Church, to bind and loose on earth as in heaven, in the name
+of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
+
+And now Sidonia heard distinctly the screams of the wretched
+sinner, as she was hunted out of the church, and all the
+congregation followed soon after, and then all was still above.
+
+Now, indeed, terror took such hold of her that she trembled like
+an aspen leaf, and the lid fell many times from her hand with
+great clatter on the ground, as she tried to replace it on the
+coffin. For she had closed her eyes, for fear of meeting the
+ghastly stare of the corpse again. At last she got it up, and the
+corpse was covered; but she would not stay to replace the screws,
+only hastened out of the vault, closing the little grated door
+after her, reached the church door, which had no lock, but only a
+latch, and plunged into the castle gardens to hide herself amongst
+the trees.
+
+Here she remained crouched for some hours, trying to recover her
+self-possession; and when she found that she could weep as well as
+ever when it pleased her, she set off for the castle, and met her
+cousin Marcus with loud weeping and lamentations, entreating him
+to let her go that instant to Zachow. Eat and drink could she not
+from grief, though she had eaten nothing the whole morning. So the
+mournful knight, who had himself risen from the table without
+eating, to hasten to his little motherless lamb, asked her where
+she had passed the morning, for he had not seen her in the church?
+To which she answered, that she had sunk down almost dead on the
+altar-steps; and, as he seemed to doubt her, she repeated part of
+the sermon, and spoke of the curse pronounced upon the girl, and
+told how she had remained behind in the church, to weep and pray
+alone. Upon which he exclaimed joyfully--
+
+"Now, I thank God that my blessed spouse counselled me to take
+thee home with us. Ah! I see that thou hast indeed repented of thy
+sins. Go thy ways, then; and, with God's help, thou shalt never
+want a true and faithful friend while I live."
+
+He bid her also take all his blessed wife's wardrobe with her,
+amongst which was a brocaded damask with citron flowers, which she
+had only got a year before; _item_, her shoes and kerchiefs:
+_summa_, all that she had worn, he wished never to see them
+again. And so she went away in haste from the castle, after having
+given a farewell kiss to the little motherless lamb. For though
+the evil spirit Chim, which she carried under her mantle,
+whispered to her to give the little bastard a squeeze that would
+make him follow his mother, or to let him do so, she would not
+consent, but pinched him for his advice till he squalled, though
+Marcus certainly could not have heard him, for he was attending
+Sidonia to the coach; but then the good knight was so absorbed in
+grief that he had neither ears nor eyes for anything.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night._
+
+
+When Sidonia left Saatzig, the day was far advanced, so that the
+good knight recommended her to stop at Daber that night with his
+blessed wife's mourning parents, and, for this purpose, sent a
+letter by her to them. Also he gave a fine one-year-old foal in
+charge to the coachman, who tied it to the side of the carriage;
+and Marcus bid him deliver it up safely to the pastor of
+Rehewinkel, his good friend, for he had only been keeping the
+young thing at grass for him, and the pastor now wished it
+back--they must therefore go by Rehewinkel. So they drove away;
+but many strange things happened by reason of this same foal; for
+it was so restive and impatient at being tied, that many times
+they had to stop and quiet it, lest the poor beast might get hurt
+by the wheel.
+
+This so delayed their journey, that evening came on before they
+were out of the forest; and as the sun went down, the wolves began
+to appear in every direction. Finally, a pack of ten or twelve
+pursued the carriage; and though the coach-man whipped his horses
+with might and main, still the wolves gained on them, and stared
+up in their faces, licking their jaws with their red tongues. Some
+even were daring enough to spring up behind the carriage, but
+finding nothing but trunks, had to tumble down again.
+
+This so terrified Sidonia that she screamed and shrieked, and,
+drawing forth a knife, cut the cords that bound the foal, which
+instantly galloped away, and the wolves after it. How the carl
+drove now, thinking to get help in time to save the poor foal! but
+not so. The poor beast, in its terror, galloped into the town of
+Rehewinkel; and as the paddock is closed, it springs into the
+churchyard, the wolves after it, and runs into the belfry-tower,
+the door of which is lying open--the wolves rush in too, and there
+they tear the poor animal to pieces, before the pastor could
+collect peasants enough to try and save it.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia has reached the town likewise; and as there is a
+great uproar, some of the peasants crowding into the churchyard,
+others setting off full chase after the wolves, which had taken
+the road to Freienwald, Sidonia did not choose to move on (for she
+must have travelled that very road), but desired the coachman to
+drive up to the inn; and as she entered, lo! there sat my knave,
+with two companions, at a table, drinking. Up he jumps, and seizes
+Sidonia to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Let him not attempt
+to come near her. She had done with such low fellows."
+
+So the knave feigned great sorrow--"Alas! had she quite forgotten
+him--and he treasured her memory so in his heart! Where had she
+come from? He saw a great many trunks and bags on the carriage.
+What had she in them?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! he would, no doubt, like to get hold of them;
+but she would take care and inform the people what sort of robber
+carls they had now in the house. She came from Saatzig, and was
+going to Daber; for as old Dewitz had lost his daughter, he
+intended to adopt her in the place of one. Therefore let him not
+attempt to approach her, for she was now, more than ever, a castle
+and land dowered maiden, and from such a low burgher carl as he
+was, would cross and bless herself."
+
+But my knave knew her well; so he answered--"Woe is me, Sidonia!
+do not grieve me by such words; for know that I have given up my
+old free courses of which you talk; and my father is so pleased
+with my present mode of life, that he has promised to give me my
+heritage, and even this very night I am to receive it at
+Bruchhausen, and am on my way there, as you see. Truly I meant to
+purchase some land in Poland with the money, and then search
+throughout all places for you, that we might be wedded like pious
+Christians. Alas! I thought to have sold your poor cabins at
+Zachow, and brought you home to my castle in Poland; but for all
+my love you only give me this proud answer!"
+
+Now Sidonia scarcely believed the knave; so she called one of his
+comrades aside, and asked him was it true, and where they came
+from. Upon which he confirmed all that Johann had said--"The devil
+had dispersed the whole band, so that only two were left with the
+captain--himself and Konnemann; and they came from Nörenburg,
+where the master had been striking a bargain with Elias von Wedel,
+for a town in Poland. The town was called Lembrowo, and there was
+a stately castle there, as grand almost as the castle of old
+Dewitz at Daber. They were going this very night to Bruchhausen,
+to get gold from the old stiff-neck of Stargard, so that the
+bargain might be concluded next day."
+
+This was a pleasant hearing for Sidonia. She became more friendly,
+and said, "He could not blame her for doubting him, as he had
+deceived her so often; still it was wonderful how her heart clung
+to him through all. Where had he been so long? and what had
+happened since they parted?"
+
+Hereupon he answered, "That he could not speak while the people
+were all going to and fro in the inn; but if she came out with him
+(as the night was fine), they could walk down to the river-side,
+and he would tell her all."
+
+_Summa_.--She went with him, and they sat down upon the green
+grass to discourse, never knowing that the pastor of Rehewinkel
+was hid behind the next tree; for he had gone forth to lament over
+the loss of his poor foal, and sat there weeping bitterly. He had
+got it home to sell, that he might buy a warm coat for the winter,
+which now he cannot do; therefore the old man had gone forth
+mournfully into the clear night, thrown himself down, and wept.
+
+By this chance he heard the whole story from my knave, and related
+it afterwards to the old burgomaster in Stargard. It was as
+follows:--
+
+Some time after his flight from Daber, a friend from Stettin told
+him that Dinnies von Kleist (the same who had spoiled their work
+in the Uckermund forest) had got a great sum of gold in his
+knapsack, and was off to his castle at Dame, [Footnote: A town
+near Polzin, in Lower Pomerania, and an ancient feudal hold of the
+Kleists.] while the rest were feasting at Daber. This sum he had
+won by a wager from the Princes of Saxony, Brandenburg, and
+Mecklenburg. For he had bet, at table, that he would carry five
+casks of Italian wine at once, and without help, up from the
+cellar to the dining-hall, in the castle of Old Stettin. Duke
+Johann refused the bet, knowing his man well, but the others took
+it up; upon which, after grace, the whole noble company stood up
+and accompanied him to the cellar. Here Dinnies took up a cask
+under each arm, another in each hand by the plugs, and a fifth
+between his teeth by the plug also; thus laden, he carried the
+five casks up every step from the cellar to the dining-hall. So
+the money was paid to him, as the lacqueys witnessed, and having
+put the same in his knapsack, he set off for his castle at Dame,
+to give it to his father. And the knave went on--"After I heard
+this news from my good friend, I resolved to set off for Dame and
+revenge myself on this strong ox, burn his castle, and take his
+gold. The band agreed; but woe, alas! there was one traitor
+amongst them. The fellow was called Kaff, and I might well have
+suspected him; for latterly I observed that when we were about any
+business, particularly church-robbing, he tried to be off, and
+asked to be left to keep the watch. Divers nights, too, as I
+passed him, there was the carl praying; and so I ought to have
+dismissed the coward knave at once, or he would have had half the
+band praying likewise before long.
+
+"In short, this arrant villain slips off at night from his post,
+just as we had all set ourselves down before the castle, waiting
+for the darkest hour of midnight to attack the foxes in their den,
+and betrays the whole business to Kleist himself, telling him the
+strength of the band, and how and when we were to attack him, with
+all other particulars. Whereupon a great lamentation was heard in
+the castle, and old Kleist, a little white-headed man, wrung his
+hands, and seemed ready to go mad with fear; for half the
+retainers were at the annual fair, others far away at the
+coal-mines, and finally, they could scarcely muster in all ten
+fighting men. Besides this, the castle fosse was filled with
+rubbish, though the old man had been bidding his sons, for the
+last year, to get it cleared, but they never minded him, the idle
+knaves. All this troubled stout Dinnies mightily; and as he walked
+up and down the hall, his eyes often rested on a painting which
+represented the devil cutting off the head of a gambler, and
+flying with it out of the window.
+
+"Again and again he looked at the picture, then called out for a
+hound, stuck him under his arm, and cut off his head, as if it had
+been only a dove; then he called for a calf from the stall, put it
+under his arm likewise, and cut off the head. Then he asked for
+the mask which represented the devil, and which he had got from
+Stettin to frighten his dissolute brothers, when they caroused too
+late over their cups. The young Johann, indeed, had sometimes
+dropped the wine-flask by reason of it, but Detloff still ran
+after the young maidens as much as ever, though even he had got
+such a fright that there was hope for his poor soul yet. So the
+mask was brought, and all the proper disguise to play the
+devil--namely, a yellow jerkin slashed with black, a red mantle,
+and a large wooden horse's foot.
+
+"When Dinnies beheld all this, and the man who played the devil
+instructed him how to put them on, he rejoiced greatly, and
+declared that now he alone could save the castle. I knew nothing
+of all this at the time," said Johann, "nor of the treason,
+neither did the band. We were all seated under a shed in the wood,
+that had been built for the young deer in the winter time, and had
+stuck a lantern against the wall while we gamed and drank, and our
+provider poured us out large mugs of the best beer, when, just at
+midnight, we heard a report like a clap of thunder outside, so
+that the earth shook under us (it was no thunder-clap, however,
+but an explosion of powder, which the traitor had laid down all
+round the shed, for we found the trace of it next day).
+
+"And as we all sprang up, in strode the devil himself bodily, with
+his horse's foot and cocks' feathers, and a long calf's tail,
+making the most horrible grimaces, and shaking his long hair at
+us. Fire came out of his mouth and nostrils, and roaring like a
+wild boar, he seized the little dwarf (whom you may remember,
+Sidonia), tucked him under his arm like a cock--and just as he was
+uttering a curse over his good game being interrupted--and cut his
+head clean off; then, throwing the head at me, growled forth--
+
+  "'Every day one,
+  Only Sundays none"
+
+and disappeared through the door like a flash of lightning,
+carrying the headless trunk along with him.
+
+"When my comrades heard that the devil was to carry off one of
+them every day but Sunday, they all set up a screaming, like so
+many rooks when a shot is fired in amongst them, and rushed out in
+the night, seizing hold of horses or waggons, or whatever they
+could lay their hands on, and rode away east and west, and west
+and east, or north and south, as it may be.
+
+"_Summa_.--When I came to my senses (for I had sunk down
+insensible from horror, when the head of the dwarf was thrown at
+me), I found that the said head had bit me by the arm, so that I
+had to drag it away by force; then I looked about me, and every
+knave had fled--even my waggon had been carried off, and not a
+soul was left in the place of all these fine fellows, who had
+sworn to be true to me till death.
+
+"This base desertion nearly broke my heart, and I resolved to
+change my course of life and go to some pious priest for
+confession, telling him how the devil had first tempted me to sin,
+and then punished me in this terrible manner (as, indeed, I well
+deserved).
+
+"So next morning I took my way to the town, after observing, to my
+great annoyance, that the castle could have been as easily taken
+as a bird's nest; and seeing a beer-glass painted on a sign-board,
+I guessed that here was the inn. Truth to say, my heart wanted
+strengthening sorely, and I entered. There was a pretty wench
+washing crabs in the kitchen, and as I made up to her, after my
+manner, to have a little pastime, she drew back and said,
+laughing, 'May the devil take you, as he took the others last
+night in the barn!' upon which she laughed again so loud and long,
+that I thought she would have fallen down, and could not utter a
+word more for laughing.
+
+"This seemed a strange thing to me, for I had never heard a
+Christian man, much less a woman, laugh when the talk was of the
+bodily Satan himself. So I asked what there was so pleasant in the
+thought? whereupon she related what the young knight Dinnies
+Kleist had done to save his castle from the robbers. I would not
+believe her, but while I sat myself down on a bench to drink, the
+host comes in and confirmed her story. _Summa_, I let the
+conversion lie over for a time yet, and set about looking for my
+comrades, but not finding one, I fell into despair, and resolved
+to get into Poland, and take service in the army there--especially
+as all my money had vanished."
+
+Here the old parson said that Sidonia cried out, "How now, sir
+knave, you are going to buy castle and lands forsooth, and have no
+money? Truly the base villain is deceiving me yet again."
+
+But my knave answered, "Alas! woe that thou shouldst think so
+hardly of me! Have I not told thee that my father is going to give
+me my heritage? So listen further what I tell thee:--In Poland I
+met with Konnemann and Stephen Pruski, who had one of my waggons
+with them, in which all my gold was hid, and when I threatened to
+complain to the authorities, the cowards let me have my own
+property again, on condition that I would take them into my
+service, when I went to live at my own castle. This I promised;
+therefore they are here with me, as you see. And Konnemann went
+lately to my father at my request, and brought me back the joyful
+intelligence that he would assign me over my portion of his goods
+and property."
+
+So far the Pastor Rehewinkelensis heard. What follows concerning
+the wicked knave was related by his own sorrowing father to my
+worthy father-in-law, along with other pious priests, and from him
+I had the story when I visited him at Marienfliess.
+
+For what was my knave's next act? When he returned to the town,
+and heard from his comrades that the coachman of Saatzig was
+snoring away there in the stable with open mouth, he stuffed in
+some hay to prevent him screaming, and tied him hands and feet,
+then drew his horses out of the stall, yoked them to the carriage,
+and drove it himself a little piece out of the town down into the
+hollow, then went back for Sidonia, telling her that her stupid
+coachman had made some mistake and driven off without her, but he
+had put all her baggage on his own carriage, which was now quite
+ready, if she would walk with him a little way just outside the
+town. Hereupon she paid the reckoning, mine host troubling himself
+little about the affair of the waggon, and they set off on foot.
+
+When they reached the carriage, Sidonia asked if all her baggage
+were really there, for she could not see in the darkness. And when
+she felt, and reckoned all her bundles and trunks, and found all
+right, my knave said, "Now, she saw herself that he meant truly by
+her. Here was even a nice place made in the straw sack for her,
+where he had sat down first himself, that she might have an easy
+seat. _Item_, she now saw his own carriage which he had
+fished up in Poland and kept till now, that he might travel in it
+to Bruchhausen to receive his heritage, and he was going there
+this very night. She saw that he had lied in nothing."
+
+Whereupon Sidonia got into the carriage with him, never
+discovering his knavery on account of the darkness, and about
+midnight they reached the inn at Bruchhausen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby._
+
+
+My knave halted a little way before they reached the inn, for he
+had his suspicions that all was not quite right, and sent on the
+forenamed Pruski to ascertain whether the money was really come
+for him. For there was a bright light in the tap-room, and the
+sound of many voices, which was strange, seeing that it was late
+enough for every one to be in bed. Pruski was back again
+soon--yes, it was all right. There were men in there from
+Stargard, who said they had brought gold for the young
+burgomaster.
+
+Marry! how my knave jumped down from the carriage, and brought
+Sidonia along with him, bidding Pruski to stay and watch the
+things. But, behold, as my knave entered, six men seized him,
+bound him firmly, and bid him sit down quietly on a bench by the
+table, till his father arrived. So he cursed and swore, but this
+was no help to him; and when Sidonia saw that she had been
+deceived again, she tried to slip out and get to the carriage, but
+the men stopped her, saying, unless she wished a pair of handcuffs
+on, she had better sit down quietly on another bench opposite
+Johann. And she asked in vain what all this meant. _Item_, my
+knave asked in vain, but no one answered them.
+
+They had not long been waiting, when a carriage stopped before the
+door, more voices were heard, and, alas! who should enter but the
+old burgomaster himself, with Mag. Vito, Diaconus of St. John's.
+And after them came the executioner, with six assistants bearing a
+black coffin.
+
+My knave now turned as white as a corpse, and trembled like an
+aspen leaf; no word could he utter, but fell with his back against
+the wall. Then a dead silence reigned throughout the chamber, and
+Sidonia looked as white as her paramour.
+
+When the assistants had placed the coffin on the ground, the old
+father advanced to the table, and spake thus--"Oh, thou fallen and
+godless child! thou thrice lost son! how often have I sought to
+turn thee from evil, and trusted in thy promises; but in place of
+better, thou hast grown worse, and wickedness has increased in
+thee day by day, as poison in the young viper. On thy infamous
+hands lie so many robberies, murders, and seductions, that they
+cannot be reckoned. I speak not of past years, for then truly the
+night would not be long enough to count them; I speak only of thy
+last deeds in Poland, as old Elias von Wedel related them to me
+yesterday in Stargard. Deny, if thou darest, here in the face of
+thy death and thy coffin, how thou didst join thyself to the
+Lansquenets in Poland, and then along with two vile fellows got
+entrance into Lembrowo, telling the old castellan, Elias von
+Wedel, that thou wast a labourer, upon which he took thee into his
+service. But at night thou (O wicked son!) didst rise up and beat
+the old Elias almost unto death, demanding all his money, which,
+when he refused, thou and thy robber villains seized his cattle
+and his horses, and drove them away with thee. _Item_, canst
+thou deny that on meeting the same old Elias at Norenberg by the
+hunt in the forest, thou didst mock him, and ask, would he sell
+his castle of Lembrowo in Poland, for thou wouldst buy it of him,
+seeing thy father had promised thee plenty of gold?
+
+"_Item_, canst thou deny having written me a threatening
+letter, declaring that if by this very night a hundred dollars
+were not sent to thee here at Bruchhausen, a red beacon should
+rise up from my sheepfolds and barns, which meant nothing else
+than that thou wouldst burn the whole good town of Stargard, for
+thou knowest well that all the sheepfolds and barns of the
+burghers adjoin one to the other? Canst thou deny this, O thou
+lost son? If so, deny it now."
+
+Here Johann began again with his old knavery. He wept, and threw
+himself on the ground, crawling under the table to get to his
+father's feet, then howled forth, that he repented of his sins,
+and would lead a better life truly for the future, if his hard,
+stern father would only forgive him now.
+
+But Sidonia screamed aloud, and as the burgomaster in his sorrow
+had not observed her before, he turned his eyes now on her, and
+exclaimed, "Woe, alas! thou godless son, hast thou this noble
+maiden with thee yet? I thought she was at Saatzig; or perchance
+thou hast made her thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, no; but he would marry her soon, to make
+amends for the wrong he had done her."
+
+_Hic_.--"This thou hast ten times promised, but in vain, and
+thy sins have increased a hundredfold; because, like all
+profligates, thou hast shunned the holy estate of matrimony, and
+preferred to wallow in the mire of unchastity, with any one who
+fell in the way of thy adulterous and licentious eyes."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas! his heart's dearest father was right; but he
+would amend his evil life; and, in proof of it, let the reverend
+deacon, M. Vitus, here present, wed him now instantly to Sidonia."
+
+_Hic_.--"It is too late. I counsel thee rather to wed thy
+poor soul to the holy Saviour, like the repentant thief on the
+cross. See--here is a priest, and there is a coffin."
+
+Here the executioner broke in upon the old, deeply afflicted
+father, telling him the coffin was too short, as, indeed, his
+worship had told him, but he would not believe the young man was
+so tall. Where could he put the head? It must be stuck between his
+feet, or under his arm, cried out another. So some proposed one
+thing and some another, till a great uproar arose.
+
+Upon which the old mourning father cried out--"Do you want to
+break my heart? Is there not time enough to talk of this after?"
+
+Then he turned again to his profligate son, and asked him--
+
+"Would he not repent, and take the holy body and blood of our Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a passport with him on this long
+journey? If so, let him go into the little room and pray with the
+priest, and repent of his sins; there was yet time."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, he had repented already. What had he ever
+done so wicked that his own bodily father should thirst after his
+blood? The courts were all closed, and law or justice could no man
+have in all Pomerania. What wonder then if club-law and the right
+of the strongest should obtain in all places, as in the olden
+time?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That law and justice had ceased in the land was,
+alas! but too true. However, he was not to answer for this, but
+his princely Grace of Stettin. And because they had ceased in the
+land, was he, as an upright magistrate, called upon to do his duty
+yet more sternly, even though the criminal were his own born son.
+For the Lord, the just Judge, the Almighty and jealous God, called
+to him daily, from His holy Word--'Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is
+God's.' [Footnote: Deut. i. 17.] Woe to the land's Prince who had
+not considered this, but compelled him, the miserable judge, to
+steep his father's hands in the blood of his own son. But
+righteous Abraham conquered through faith, because he was obedient
+unto God, and bound his own innocent son upon the altar, and drew
+forth his knife to slay him. Therefore he, too, would conquer
+through faith, if he bound his _guilty_ son, and drew out the
+sword against him, obedient to the words of the Lord. Therefore
+let him prepare himself for death, and follow the priest into the
+adjoining little chamber."
+
+When Johann found that his father could in no wise be softened, he
+began horribly to curse him and the hour of his birth, so that the
+hair of all who heard him stood on end. And he called the devil to
+help him, and adjured him to come and carry away this fierce and
+unnatural father, who was more bloodthirsty than the wild beasts
+of the forest--for who had ever heard that they murdered their own
+blood?
+
+"Come, devil," he screamed; "come, devil, and tear this
+bloodthirsty monster of a father to pieces before my eyes, so will
+I give myself to thee, body and soul! Hearest thou, Satan! Come
+and destroy my father, and all who have here come out to murder
+me, only leave me a little while longer in this life to do thy
+service, and then I am thine for eternity!"
+
+Now all eyes were turned in fear and horror to the door, but no
+Satan entered, for the just God would not permit it, else,
+methinks, he would have run to catch such a morsel for his supper.
+However, the old man trembled, and seemed dwindling away into
+nothing before the eyes of the bystanders as his son uttered the
+curse. But he soon recovered, and laying his quivering hands upon
+the head of the imprecator, broke forth into loud weeping, while
+he prayed thus--
+
+"O Thou just and Almighty God, who bringest the devices of the
+wicked to nought, close Thine ears against this horrible curse of
+my false son; remember Thine own word--'Into an evil soul wisdom
+cannot enter, nor dwell in a body subject unto sin.' [Footnote:
+Wisdom i. 4.] Thou alone canst make the sinful soul wise, and the
+body of sin a temple of the Holy Ghost. O Lord Jesus Christ, hast
+Thou no drop of living water, no crumb of strengthening manna for
+this sinful and foolish soul? Hast Thou no glance of Thy holy eyes
+for this denying Peter, that he may go forth and weep bitterly?
+Hast Thou no word to strike the heart of this dying thief--of this
+lost son, who, here bound for death, has cursed his own father,
+and given himself up, body and soul, to the enemy of mankind? O
+blessed Spirit, who comest and goest as the wind, enter the
+heavenly temple, which is yet the work of Thy hands, and make it,
+by Thy presence, a temple of the Most High! O Lord God, dwell
+there but one moment, that so in his death-anguish he may feel the
+sweetness of Thy presence, and the heaven-high comfort of Thy
+promise! O Thou Holy Trinity, who hast kept my steps from falling,
+through so much care and trouble, through so much shame and
+disgrace, through so much watching and tears, and even now through
+these terrible curses of my son, come and say Amen to this my last
+blessing, which I, poor father, give him for his curse.
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee in the death hour.
+The Lord shed his grace on thee, and give thee peace in thy last
+agonies!
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee, and give thee
+peace upon earth, and peace above the earth! Amen, amen, amen!"
+
+When the trembling old man had so prayed, many wept aloud, and his
+son trembled likewise, and followed the priest, silently and
+humbly, into the neighbouring chamber.
+
+Then the old man turned to Sidonia, and asked why she had left her
+worthy cousin Marcus of Saatzig?
+
+Upon which she told him, weeping, how his son had deceived her, in
+order to get her once more into his power, in order that he might
+rob her, and all she wanted now was to be let go her way in peace
+to her farm-houses in Zachow.
+
+But this the old man refused.
+
+"No; this must not be yet. She was as evil-minded as his own son,
+and needed an example to warn her from sin. Not a step should she
+move till his head was off."
+
+And, for this purpose, he bid two burghers seize hold of her by
+the hands, and carry her to the scaffold when the execution was
+going to take place. The grave must be nearly ready now, which he
+bade them dig in a corner of the churchyard close by, and he had
+ordered a car-load of sand likewise to be laid down there, for the
+execution should take place in the churchyard.
+
+Meanwhile the poor criminal has come out of the inner chamber with
+M. Vitus, and going up to the bench where the poor father had sunk
+down exhausted by emotion, he flings himself at his feet,
+exclaiming, with the prodigal son in the parable--
+
+"Father, I have sinned before heaven and in thy sight, and am no
+more worthy to be called thy son."
+
+Then he kissed his feet, and bedewed them with his tears.
+
+Now the father thought this was all pretence, as formerly, so he
+gave no answer. Upon which the poor sinner rose up, and reached
+his hand to each one in the chamber, praying their forgiveness for
+all the evil he had done, but which he was now going to expiate in
+his blood. _Item,_ he advanced to Sidonia, sighing--
+
+"Would not she too forgive him, for the love of God? Woe, alas!
+She had more to forgive than any one; but would not she give him
+her pardon, for some comfort on this last journey; and so would he
+bear her remembrance before the throne of God?"
+
+But Sidonia pushed away his hand.
+
+"He should be ashamed of such old-womanish weakness. Did he not
+see that his father was only trying to frighten him? For were he
+in earnest, then were he more cruel even than her own unnatural
+father, who, though he had only left her two cabins in Zachow, out
+of all his great riches, yet had left her, at least, her poor
+life."
+
+Hereupon the poor sinner made answer--
+
+"Not so; I know my father; he is not cruel; what he does is right;
+therefore I willingly die, trusting in my blessed Saviour, whose
+body will sanctify my body in the grave. For had I committed no
+other sin, yet the curse I uttered just now is alone sufficient to
+make me worthy of death, as it is written--'He that curseth father
+or mother shall surely be put to death.'" [Footnote: Exodus xxi.
+17.]
+
+When the old man heard such-like words, he resolved to put his
+son's sincerity to the test, for truly it seemed to him impossible
+that the Almighty God should so suddenly make the crooked
+straight, and the dead to live, and a child of heaven out of a
+child of hell. So he spake--
+
+"Thy repentance seemeth good unto me, my son, what sayest thou?
+will it last, think you, if I now bestow thy life on thee?"
+
+Hereat Sidonia laughed aloud, exclaiming--
+
+"Said I not right? It was all a jest of thy dear father's." But
+the poor sinner would not turn again to his wallowing in the mire.
+He sat down upon a bench, covering his face with his hands, and
+sobbed aloud. At last he answered--
+
+"Alas! father, life is sweet and death is bitter; but since the
+Holy Spirit hath entered into me with the body of our Lord, I say,
+death is sweet and life is bitter. No; off with my head! 'I find a
+law in my members warring against the law of my spirit, and making
+me a prisoner under the law of sin;' [Footnote: Romans vii. 23.]
+for if I see my neighbour rich and I am poor, then the demon of
+covetousness rises in me, and my fingers itch to seize my share.
+Or, if the foaming flask is before me, how can I resist to drain
+it, for the spirit of gluttony is within me? Or, if I see a
+maiden, the blood throbs in my veins, and the demon of lust has
+taken possession of me. 'Oh, wretched man that I am, who will
+deliver me from the body of this death?' You will, dearest father.
+You will release me from this life, as you once gave it to me, for
+it is now a life in death. Ah! show mercy! Come quickly, and
+release me from the body of this death!"
+
+When he ceased, the old man sprung up like a youth, and pressing
+his lost son to his heart, sobbed forth like him of the Gospel--
+
+"O friends, see! 'This my son was dead, but is alive again; he was
+lost, and is found.' Yea, yea, see all that nothing is impossible
+with God. O Thou Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now I
+have nothing more to ask, but that I too may soon be released from
+the body of this death, and go forth to meet my new-found son
+amidst the bright circle of the Holy Angels."
+
+Then the son answered--
+
+"Let me go now, father. See, the morning dawn shines already
+through the window; so hath the loving mercy of my God come to me,
+who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. Farewell, father; let
+me go now. Away with this head in the clear early morning light,
+so that my feet be fixed for evermore upon the path to peace."
+
+And so speaking, he seized M. Vitus by the hand, who was sobbing
+loudly, as well as most of the burghers, and the executioner with
+his assistants bearing the coffin were going to follow, when the
+old man, who had sunk down upon a bench, called back his son,
+though he had already gone out at the door, and prayed the
+executioner to let him stay one little while longer. For he
+remembered that his son had a welt upon his neck, and he must see
+whether it would interfere with the sword. Woe, woe! if he should
+have to strike twice or thrice before the head fell!
+
+So the executioner removed the neck-cloth from the poor sinner
+(who, by the great mercy of God, was stronger than any of them),
+and having felt the welt, said--
+
+"No; the welt was close up to the head, but he would take the neck
+in the middle, as indeed was his usual custom. His worship may
+make his mind quite easy; he would stake his life on it that the
+head would fall with the first blow. This was his one hundred and
+fiftieth, and he never yet had failed."
+
+Then the unhappy criminal tied his cravat on again, took M. Vitus
+by the hand, and said--
+
+"Farewell, my father; once more forgive me for all that I have
+done!"
+
+After which he went out quickly, without waiting to hear a word
+more from his father, and the executioner followed him.
+
+Meanwhile the afflicted father was sore troubled in mind. Three
+times he repeated the text--"Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is
+God's." Then he called upon God to forgive the Prince who, by
+taking away law and justice from the land, had obliged him to be
+the judge and condemner of his son. How the Lord dealt with the
+Prince we shall hear farther on. One while he sent mine host to
+look over the hedge, and tell him if the head were off yet. Then
+he would begin to pray that he might soon follow this poor son,
+who had never given him one moment of joy but through his death,
+and pass quickly after him through the vale of tears.
+
+The son, however, is steadfast unto the end. For when they reached
+the churchyard, he stood still a while gazing on the heap of sand.
+Then he desired to be led to the spot where his grave was dug; and
+near this same grave there being a tombstone, on which was figured
+a man kneeling before a crucifix, he asked--
+
+"Who was to share his grave bed here?"
+
+Whereupon M. Vitus replied--
+
+"He was a _rector scholæ_ out of Stargard, a very learned
+man, who had retired from active life, and settled down here at
+Bruchhausen, where he died not long since."
+
+Whereat the poor sinner stood still a while, and then repeated
+this beautiful distich, no doubt by the inspiration of the Holy
+Ghost, to warn all learned sinners against that demon of pride and
+vain-glory which too often takes possession of them.
+
+  "Quid juvat innumeros scire atque evolvere casus
+   Si facieuda fugis et fugienda facis?"
+
+   ["What is the use of knowledge and all our infinite learning,
+    If we fly what is right and do what we ought to fly?"]
+
+Then he looked calmly at his grave, and only prayed the
+executioner not to put his head between his feet; after which he
+returned to the sand-heap and exclaimed--
+
+"Now to God!"
+
+Upon which, M. Vitus blessed him yet again, and spake--
+
+"O God, Father, who hast brought back this lost son, and filled
+this foolish soul with wisdom; ah! Jesus, Saviour, who, in truth,
+hast turned Thy holy eyes on him as on the denying Peter and on
+the dying thief. O Holy Spirit, who hast not scorned to make this
+poor vessel a temple for Thyself to dwell in, that in the
+death-anguish this sinner may find the sweetness of Thy presence
+and the heaven-high comfort of Thy promises! O Thou Holy
+Trinity--to Thee--to Thee--to Thee--to Thy grace, Thy power, Thy
+protection, we resign this dying mortal in his last agonies. Help
+him, Lord God! _Kyrle Eleison!_ Give Thy holy angels command
+to bear this poor soul into Abraham's bosom. O come, Lord Jesus;
+help him, O Lord our God. _Kyrie Eleison!_ Amen."
+
+And hereupon he pronounced a last blessing over him. And when the
+executioner took off his upper garment and bound the kerchief over
+his eyes, M. Vitus again spake--
+
+"Think on the holy martyrs, of whom Basilius Magnus testifies that
+they exclaimed, when undressing for their death--_Non vestes
+exuimus, sed veterem hommem deponimus." [Footnote: "We lay not off
+our clothes, but the old man."--Basil the Great, Archbishop of
+Caesarea, A.D. 379.]
+
+Upon which he answered from under the kerchief something in Latin,
+but the executioner had laid the cloth so thickly even over his
+mouth and chin, that no one could catch the words. Then he kneeled
+down, and while the executioner drew his sword, M. Vitus chanted--
+
+  "When my lips no more can speak,
+     May Thy Spirit in me cry;
+   When my eyes are faint and weak,
+     May my soul see Heaven nigh!
+
+   When my heart is sore dismayed,
+     This dying frame has lost its strength,
+   May my spirit, with Thy aid,
+     Cry--Jesu, take me home at length!"
+
+And all who stood round saw, as it were, a wonderful sign from
+God; for as the executioner let the sword fall, head and sun
+appeared at the same moment--the head upon the earth, the sun
+above the earth; and there was a deep silence. Sidonia alone
+laughed out loud, and cried, "So ends the conversion!" And while
+the psalm was singing, "Now, pray we to the Holy Ghost," the
+executioner acting as clerk, she disappeared, and for thirty
+years, as we shall hear presently, no one could ascertain where
+she went to or how she lived; though sometimes, like a horrible
+ghost, she was seen occasionally here and there.
+
+_Summa_.--The miserable criminal was laid in his coffin, and
+as, in truth, it was too short for the corpse, and the poor sinner
+had requested that his head might not be placed between his feet,
+so it was laid upon his chest, with his hands folded over it, and
+thus he was buried.
+
+The old father rejoiced greatly that his son remained steadfast in
+the truth until the last, and thanked God for it. Then he returned
+to Stargard; and I may just mention, to conclude concerning him,
+that the merciful God heard the prayer of this His faithful
+servant, for he scarcely survived his son a year, but, after a
+short illness, fell asleep in Jesus. [Footnote: For further
+particulars concerning this truly worthy man, who may well be
+called the Pomeranian Manlius, see Friedeborn, "Description of Old
+Stettin," vol. ii. p. 113; and Barthold, "Pomeranian History," pp.
+46, 419.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+_Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the
+young Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and
+of the sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of
+Pomerania._
+
+
+I have said that Sidonia disappeared after the execution at
+Bruchhausen, and that for thirty years no one knew where she lived
+or how she lived. At her farm-house at Zachow she never appeared;
+but the _Acta Criminalia_ set forth that during that period
+she wandered about the towns of Freienwald, Regenwald, Stargard,
+and other places, in company with Peter Konnemann and divers other
+knaves.
+
+However, the ducal prosecutor, although he instituted the
+strictest inquiries at the period of her trial, could ascertain
+nothing beyond this, except that, in consequence of her evil
+habits and licentious tongue, she was held everywhere in fear and
+abhorrence, and was chased away from every place she entered after
+about six or eight o'clock. Further, that some misfortune always
+fell upon every one who had dealings with her, particularly young
+married people. To the said Konnemann, she betrothed herself after
+the death of her first paramour, but afterwards gave him fifty
+florins to get rid of the contract, as she confessed at the
+seventeenth question upon the rack, according to the _Actis
+Lothmanni_. Meantime her brother and cousins were so completely
+turned against her, that her brother even took those two
+farm-houses to himself; and though Sidonia wrote to him, begging
+that an annuity might be settled on her, yet she never received a
+line in answer--and this was the manner in which the whole
+cousinhood treated her in her despair and poverty.
+
+I myself made many inquiries as to her mode of life during those
+thirty years, but in vain. Some said that she went into Poland and
+there kept a little tavern for twenty years; some had seen her
+living at Riigen at the old wall, where in heathen times the
+goddess Hertha was honoured. Some said she went to Riiden, a
+little uninhabited island between Riigen and Usdom, where the wild
+geese and other birds flock in the moulting season and drop their
+feathers. Thence, they said, she gathered the eggs, and killed the
+birds with clubs. At least this was the story of the Usdom
+fishermen, but whether it were Sidonia or some other outcast
+woman, I cannot in strict verity declare. Only in Freienwald did I
+hear for certain that she lived there twelve years with some earl
+whom she called her shield-knight; but one day they quarrelled,
+and beat each other till the blood flowed, after which they both
+ran out of the town, and went different ways.
+
+_Summa._--On the 1st of May 1592, when the witches gather in
+the Brocken to hold their Walpurgis night, and the princely castle
+of Wolgast was well guarded from the evil one by white and black
+crosses placed on every door, an old wrinkled hag was seen about
+eight o'clock of the morning (just the time she had returned from
+the Blocksberg, according to my thinking), walking slowly up and
+down the great corridor of the princely castle. And the providence
+of the great God so willed it that at that moment the young and
+beautiful Princess Elizabeth Magdalena (who had been betrothed to
+the Duke Frederick of Courland) opened her chamber-door and
+slipped forth to pay her morning greetings to her illustrious
+father, Duke Ernest, and his spouse, the Lady Sophia Hedwig of
+Brunswick, who sat together drinking their warm beer, [Footnote:
+Before the introduction of coffee or chocolate, warm beer was in
+general use at breakfast] and had sent for her.
+
+So the hag advanced with much friendliness and cried out, "Hey,
+what a beautiful young damsel! But her lord papa was called 'the
+handsome' in his time, and wasn't she as like him as one egg to
+another. Might she take her ladyship's little hand and kiss it?"
+Now as the hag was bold in her bearing, and the young Princess was
+a timid thing, she feared to refuse; so she reached forth her
+hand, alas! to the witch, who first three times blew on it,
+murmuring some words before she kissed it; then as the young
+Princess asked her who she was and what she wanted, the evil hag
+answered, "I would speak with your gracious father, for I have
+known him well. Ask his princely Grace to come to me, for I have
+somewhat to say to him." Now the Princess, in her simplicity,
+omitted to ask the hag's name, whereby much evil came to pass, for
+had she told her gracious father that SIDONIA wished to speak to
+him, assuredly he never would have come forth, and that fatal and
+malignant glance of the witch would not have fallen upon him.
+
+However, his Serene Grace, having a mild Christian nature, stepped
+out into the corridor at the request of his dear daughter, and
+asked the hag who she was and what she wanted. Upon this, she
+fixed her eyes on him in silence for a long while, so that he
+shuddered, and his blood seemed to turn to ice in his veins.
+[Footnote: This belief in the witchcraft of a glance was very
+general during the witch period. And even the ancients notice it
+(Pliny, Hist. Nat. vii. 2), also Aul. Gell. Noct. Attic, ix. 4;
+and Virgil, Eclog. in. 103. The glance of a woman with double
+pupils was particularly feared.] At last she spake: "It is a
+strange thing, truly, that your Grace should no longer remember
+the maiden to whom you once promised marriage." At this his Grace
+recoiled in horror, and exclaimed, "Ha, Sidonia! but how you are
+changed." "Ah!" she answered, with a scornful laugh, "you may well
+triumph, now that my cheek is hollow, and my beauty gone, and that
+I have come to you for justice against my own brother in Stramehl,
+who denies me even the means of subsistence--you, who brought me
+to this pass."
+
+Upon which his Grace answered that her brother was a subject of
+the Duke of Stettin. Let her go then to Stettin, and demand
+justice there.
+
+_Illa._--"She had been there, but the Duke refused to see
+her, and to her request for a _proebenda_ in the convent of
+Marienfliess had returned no answer. She prayed his Grace,
+therefore, out of old good friendship, to take up her cause, and
+use his influence with the Lord Duke of Stettin to obtain the
+_proebenda_ for her, also to send a good scolding to her
+brother at Stramehl under his own hand."
+
+Now my gracious Prince was so anxious to get rid of her, that he
+promised everything she asked. Whereupon she would kiss his hand,
+but he drew it back shuddering, upon which she went down the great
+castle steps again, murmuring to herself.
+
+But her wickedness soon came to light; for mark--scarcely a few
+days had passed over, when the beautiful young Princess was
+possessed by Satan; she rolls herself upon the ground, twists and
+writhes her hands and feet, speaks with a great coarse voice like
+a common carl, blasphemes God and her parents; and what was more
+wonderful than all, her throat swelled, and when they laid their
+hand on it, something living seemed creeping up and down in it.
+Then it went up to her mouth, and her tongue swelled so, that her
+eyes seemed starting from their sockets, and the gracious young
+lady became fearful to look at.
+
+_Item,_ then she began to speak Latin, though she had never
+learned this tongue, whereupon many, and in particular Mag.
+Michael Aspius, the court chaplain (for Dr. Gerschovius was long
+since dead) pronounced that Satan himself verily must be in the
+maiden. [Footnote: The ancients name three distinguishing marks of
+demoniacal possession:--
+
+1st, When the patient blasphemes God and cannot repeat the leading
+articles of his Christian belief.
+
+2nd, When he foretells events which afterwards come to pass.
+
+3rd, When he speaks in a strange tongue, which it can be proved he
+never learned.
+
+Now the somnambulists of our day fulfil the second and third
+conditions without dispute; and some account for the divining
+power by saying it is the effect of the increased activity of the
+soul. They also assert that the patient speaks in a strange tongue
+only when the magnetiser with whom he is in _en rapport_
+understands the tongue himself, and the patient speaks it because
+all the thoughts, feelings, words, &c., of the operator become
+his--in short, their souls become one. This explanation, however,
+is very improbable, and has not been confirmed by facts; for the
+phenomenon of speaking in a strange tongue often appears before a
+perfect _rapport_ has been obtained between the patient and
+the operator. Indeed, Psellus gives an instance to show that it is
+not even at all necessary. (Psellus lived about the eleventh
+century, and wrote _De Operatione Doemonum,_ also _De
+Mysteriis AEgyptiorum,_ his works are very remarkable, and well
+worth a perusal.) He states that a sick woman all at once began to
+speak in a strange and barbarous tongue no one had ever heard
+before. At last some of the women about her brought an Armenian
+magician to see her, who instantly found that she spoke Armenian,
+though she had never in her life beheld one of that nation.
+Psellus describes him as an old lean wrinkled man. He acted quite
+differently from our modern magnetisers, for he never sought to
+place himself in sympathetic relation with her by passes or
+touches; on the contrary, he drew his sword, and placing himself
+beside the bed, began tittering the most harsh and cruel words he
+could think of in the Armenian tongue _(acriter conviciatus
+est)_. The woman retorted in the Armenian tongue likewise, and
+tried to get out of bed to fight with him. Then the barbarian grew
+as if mad, and endeavoured to stab her, upon which she shrunk back
+terrified and trembling, and soon fell into a deep sleep. Psellus
+seems to have witnessed this, for he says the woman was wife to
+his eldest brother. As further regards demoniacal possession, the
+New Testament is full of examples thereof; and though in the last
+century the reality of the fact was assailed, yet Franz Meyer has
+again defended it with arguments that cannot be overthrown.
+Remarkable examples of possession in modern times we find in the
+_Didiskalia,_ No. 81, of the year 1833, and in Berner's
+"History of Satanic Possession," p. 20.] This was fully proved on
+the following Sunday; for during divine service in the Church of
+St. Peter, the young Princess was carried in on a litter and laid
+down before the altar, whereupon she commenced uttering horrible
+blasphemies, and mocking the holy prayer in a coarse bass voice,
+while she foamed and raged so violently, that eight men could
+scarcely hold her in her bed. Whereat the whole Christian
+congregation were admonished to pray to the Lord for this poor
+maiden, that she might be freed from the devil within her; and
+during the week all priests throughout the land were commanded to
+offer up prayers day and night for her princely Grace. But on
+Sundays all the people were to unite in one common supplication to
+the throne of grace for the like object.
+
+And it seemed, after some weeks, as if God had heard their
+prayers, and commanded Satan to leave the body of the young
+maiden, for she had now rest for fourteen days, and was able to
+pray again. Also her rosy cheeks began to bloom once more, so that
+her parents were filled with joy, and resolved to hold a
+thank-festival throughout the land, and receive the Holy Sacrament
+in St. Peter's Church with their beloved daughter.
+
+But what happened? For as the godly discourse had ended, and their
+Graces stepped to the altar to make a rich offering on the plate
+which lay upon the little desk, free of approach from all sides,
+my knave Satan has again begun his work. Truly, he waited with
+cunning till her Grace had swallowed the Sacrament, that his
+blasphemies might seem more horrible. And this was the way he
+manifested himself.
+
+After the court marshal and the castellan had laid down a black
+velvet carpet, embroidered in gold with the Pomeranian and
+Brandenburg arms, for their Graces to kneel upon, they took
+another black velvet cloth, on which the Holy Supper was
+represented embroidered in silver, to hold before their Graces
+like a serviette, while they received the blessed elements. Then
+advanced the priest with the Sacrament, but scarcely had the
+gracious young Princess swallowed the same, when she uttered a
+loud cry and fell backwards with her head upon the ground, while
+Satan raged so in her that it might have melted the heart of a
+stone.
+
+So M. Aspius bade the organ cease, and then placed the young lady
+upon a seat, after which he called upon their Graces and the whole
+congregation to join him in offering up a prayer. Then he solemnly
+adjured the evil spirit to come out of her; it, however, had grown
+so daring that it only laughed at the priest; and when asked where
+it had been for so long, and in particular where it had lain while
+the Jesu bride was wedded to her Holy Saviour in the Blessed
+Sacrament, it impatiently answered that it had lain under her
+tongue; many knaves might lie under a bridge while an honourable
+seigneur passed overhead, and why should not it do the like? And
+here, to the unspeakable horror of the whole congregation, it
+seemed to move up and down in the chest and throat of the young
+Princess, like some animal.
+
+But the long-suffering of God was now at an end, for while the
+Reverend Dr. Aspius was talking himself weary with adjurations,
+and gaining no good by it, for the evil spirit only mocked and
+jeered him, crying, "Look at the fat parson how he sweats, maybe
+it will help as much as his chattering over the wine," who should
+enter the church (sent no doubt by the all-merciful God) but the
+Reverend Dr. Joel, Professor at Grypswald, for he had heard how
+this lusty Satan had taken possession of the princely maiden. When
+the devil saw him, he began to tremble through all the limbs of
+the young Princess, and exclaimed in Latin, _"Consummatum
+est."_ [Footnote: "It is over."] For this Dr. Joel was a
+powerful man, and learned in all the cunning shifts of the
+arch-enemy, having many times disputed de Magis. [Footnote: Of
+Witchcraft; see Barthold, iv. 2, 412.]
+
+Now when he advanced to the young Princess, and saw how the evil
+spirit ran up and down her poor form, like a mouse in a net, he
+was filled with horror, and removing his hat, exclaimed, without
+taking much heed of his Latin, _"Deus misereatur
+peccatoris."_ Upon which the devil, in a deep bass voice,
+corrected him, crying, _"Die peccatricls, die peccatricls."_
+[Footnote: Peccatoris is masculine, Peccatricis feminine.]
+
+However, Satan himself felt that his hour had come; for when
+Doctor Joel laid his hand upon the maiden, and repeated a powerful
+adjuration from the _Clavilcula Salomonis,_ Satan immediately
+promised to obey if he were allowed to take away the
+oblation-cloth which lay upon the desk.
+
+_Ille._--"What did he want with the oblation-cloth?"
+
+_Satanas._--"There was a coin in it which vexed him."
+
+_Ille._--"What coin could it be, and wherefore did it vex
+him?"
+
+_Satanas._--"He would not say."
+
+_Ille._--(Adjures him again.)
+
+_Satanas._--"Let him have it, or he would tear the young
+maiden to pieces." And here he began to foam and rage so horribly,
+that her eyes turned in her head, and she gnashed with her teeth,
+so that father and mother had to cover their eyes not to see her
+great agony. Whereupon Doctor Joel bent down and wrote with his
+finger upon her breast the Tetragrammaton, crying out-- [Footnote:
+The four letters which compose the name Jehovah ( [Hebrew Text]).
+It was employed by the Theurgists in all their most powerful
+conjurations.]
+
+"Away, thou unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost!"
+
+Upon which the young maiden sank down as quiet as a corpse, and
+the oblation-cloth, which lay upon the desk, whirled round of
+itself in the middle of the church with great noise and clatter,
+as if seized by a storm-wind, and the money therein was all
+scattered about the church, so that the old wives who sat upon the
+benches fell down upon the floor, right and left, to try and catch
+it. Great horror and amazement now filled the whole congregation;
+yet as some had expressed an opinion that the young Princess was
+only afflicted by a sickness, and not possessed at all, Doctor
+Joel thought it needful to admonish them in the following words:--
+
+"Those wise persons who, forsooth, would not credit such a thing
+as Satanic possession, might see now of a truth, by the
+oblation-cloth, that Satan bodily had been amongst them. He knew
+there were many such wise knaves in the church; therefore let them
+hold their tongue for evermore, and remember that such signs had
+been permitted before of God, to testify of the real bodily
+presence of the devil. Example (Matt. viii.), where, on the
+command of Christ, a legion of devils went into the swine of the
+Gergasenes; so that these animals, contrary to their nature, ran
+down into the sea and were drowned. But the wise people of this
+day little heed these divine signs; so he will add two from
+historical records which he happened to remember.
+
+"First, the Jew Josephus relates that, in presence of the
+world-renowned Roman captain Vespasian, of his son Titus, also of
+all the officers and troops of the army, an acquaintance of his,
+by name Eleazer, adjured the devil out of one possessed by means
+of the ring of Solomon, repeating at the same time the powerful
+spell which, no doubt, the great king himself employed to control
+the demons, and which, probably, was the very one he had just now
+exorcised the devil with, out of the _Clavicula Salomonis._
+And to show the bystanders that it was indeed a devil which he had
+exorcised out of the nose of the patient, the said Eleazer bid
+him, as he was passing, to overturn a vessel of water that lay
+there, which indeed was done, to the great wonderment of all
+present. Thus even the blind heathen were convinced, though the
+would-be wise of the present day ignorantly doubted.
+
+"But people might say this happened in old times, and was only
+told by a stupid Jew; therefore he would give a modern example.
+
+"There was a woman named Kronisha (she was still well remembered
+by the old people of Stralsund), who was sorely given to pomp and
+vanity, wherefore a devil was sent into her to punish her; and
+after the preacher at St. Nicholas had exorcised him to the best
+of his power, the wicked spirit said, mockingly, that he would go
+if they gave him a pane of glass out of the window over the tower
+door; and this being granted, one of the panes was instantly
+scattered with a loud clang, and the devil flew away through the
+opening. [Note: See Sastrowen, his family, birth, and adventures.
+Edited by Mohnike, part i. 73.]
+
+"So the Christian congregation might now see what silly fools
+these wise people were who presumed to doubt," &c. Then Doctor
+Joel admonished the Prince himself to keep a diligent eye over
+this Satan, who, day by day, was growing more impudent in the
+land--no doubt because the pure doctrine of Dr. Luther vexed him
+sorely.
+
+And indeed his Highness, to show his gratitude for the recovery of
+his dear daughter, did not cease in his endeavours to banish
+witches from the land, knowing that Sidonia had brought all the
+evil upon the young Princess. Fifteen were seized and burned at
+this time, to the great joy of the country; but, alas! these truly
+princely and Christian measures little helped among the godless
+race, for evil seemed still to strengthen in the land, and many
+wonderful signs appeared, one of which I would not set down here,
+as it was only seen by the court-fool, but that events confirmed
+it.
+
+I mean that strange thing, along with a three-legged hare, which
+appeared eighty years before at the death of Duke Bogislaus the
+Great, and since at the death of each Duke of his house. By a
+strange whim of Satan's, this apparition was only visible to
+fools; until indeed (as we shall hear anon) it appeared to the
+nuns at Marienfliess, who bore witness of it.
+
+_Summa._--On the very day wherein the devil's brides were
+burned at Wolgast, the fool was walking at evening time up and
+down the great corridor, when a little manikin, hardly three hands
+high, started out from behind a beer-barrel, riding on a
+three-legged hare. He was dressed all in black, except little red
+boots which he had on, and he rides up and down the corridor--hop!
+hop! hop!--stares at my fool and makes a face at him; then rides
+off again--hop! hop! hop!--till he vanished behind the barrel.
+
+No one would believe the fool's story; but woe, alas! it soon
+became clear what the little manikin Puck denoted. For my gracious
+Prince, who had grown quite weak ever since this horrible
+witch-work, which had been raging for some weeks--so that
+Pomerania never had seen the like--became daily worse, and not
+even the fine Falernian wine from Italy, which used to cure him,
+helped him now. So he died on the 17th July 1591, aged forty-six
+years, seven months, and fifteen days, leaving his only son,
+Philippus Julius, a child of eight years old, to reign in his
+place. Whereupon the deeply afflicted widow placed the boy under
+the tutelage and guardianship of his uncle, the princely Lord of
+Stettin; but, woe! woe! the guardian must soon follow his dear
+brother! and all through the evil wickedness of Sidonia, as we
+shall hear in the following chapters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of
+Marienfliess--Item, how their Princely and Electoral Graces of
+Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to
+Wolgast, and of the divers pastimes of the journey._
+
+
+After this, Sidonia disappeared again for a couple of years, and
+no man knew whither she had flown or what she did, until one
+morning she appeared at the convent of Marienfliess, driving a
+little one-horse waggon herself, and dressed no better than a
+fish-wife. On driving into the court, she desired to speak with
+the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf; and when she came, Sidonia
+ordered the cell of the deceased nun, Barbara Kleist, to be got
+ready for her reception, as his Highness of Stettin had presented
+her to a _præbenda_ here.
+
+So the pious old abbess believed the story, and forthwith
+conducted her to the cell, No. 11; but Sidonia spat out at it,
+said it was a pig-sty, and began to run clattering through all the
+cells till she reached the refectory, a large chamber where the
+nuns assembled for evening prayer. This, she said, was the only
+spot fit for her to put her nose in, and she would keep it for
+herself. Meanwhile, the whole sisterhood ran together to the
+refectory to see Sidonia; and as most of them were girls under
+twenty, they tittered and laughed, as young women-folk will do
+when they behold a hag. This angered her.
+
+"Ha!" she exclaimed, "the flesh and the devil have not been
+destroyed in them yet, but I will soon give them something else to
+think of than their lovers."
+
+And here, as one of them laughed louder than the rest, Sidonia
+gave her a blow on the mouth.
+
+"Let that teach the peasant-girl more respect for a castle and
+land dowered maiden."
+
+When the good abbess saw and heard all this, she nearly fainted
+with shame, and had to hold by a stool, or she would have fallen
+to the ground. However she gained fresh courage, when, upon asking
+for Sidonia's documents, she found that there were none to show.
+Without more ado, therefore, she bade her leave the convent; and,
+amidst the jeers and laughter of all the sisterhood, Sidonia was
+obliged to mount her one-horse cart again, or the convent porter
+had orders to force her out.
+
+By this all may perceive that, in place of repenting, Sidonia had
+fallen still further in the mire, wherein she wallowed yet for
+many years, as if it were, indeed, her true and natural element,
+like that beetle of which Albertus Magnus speaks, that died if one
+covered it with rose-leaves, but came to life again when laid in
+dung.
+
+Hardly had she left the convent-gate when the old abbess bade a
+carl get ready a carriage, and flew in it to Stettin herself, to
+lay the whole case before my gracious Prince, and entreat him,
+even on her knees, not to send such a notorious creature amongst
+them; for what blessing could the convent hope to obtain if they
+harboured such an infamous sinner? So his Grace wonders much over
+the daring of the harlot; for he had given her no
+_proebenda,_ though she was writing to him constantly
+requesting one. Nor would he ever think of giving her one; for why
+should he send such a hell-besom to sweep the pious convent of
+Marienfliess? The good abbess might rise up, for as long as he
+lived Sidonia should never enter the convent.
+
+And his Grace held by his word, though it cost him his life, as I
+shall just now relate with bitter sighs.
+
+It happened that, A.D. 1600, there was a terribly hard winter, so
+that the fresh Haff [Footnote: The river Haff] was quite frozen
+over, and able to bear heavy beams. Now, as the ice was smooth and
+beautiful as a mirror, my Lord of Stettin proposed to his
+guests--Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg, his
+brother-in-law, and old Duke Ulrich of Mecklenburg, his uncle, to
+go over the Haff in sleighs, and pay a visit to the princely widow
+and her little son.
+
+Their Graces were well pleased at the idea. Whereupon his Highness
+of Stettin gave orders to have such a procession formed as never
+had been seen in Pomerania before for magnificence and beauty, and
+therefore I shall note down some particulars here.
+
+There were a hundred sleighs, some drawn by reindeer caparisoned
+like horses, and all decorated gaily. The three ducal sleighs in
+particular were entirely girded and lined with sable skin; each
+was drawn by four Andalusian horses; and my Lady Erdmuth, who was
+a great lover of show and pomp, had hers hung with little tinkling
+bells and chains of gold, so that no one to look at them could
+imagine how very little of the dear gold her gracious lord and
+husband had in his purse, by reason of the hardness of the times.
+
+The adornments of the other sleighs were less costly. Upon them
+came the ministers, the officials, and others pertaining to the
+retinue of the three princes: _item_, the ladies-in-waiting,
+and divers of the reverend clergy; last of all came the Duke's
+henchman, with a pack of wolf-dogs in leash: _item,_ several
+live hares and foxes; a live bear, which they purposed to let
+slip, for the pleasure and pastime of their Graces. But the young
+men out of the town, fifty head strong, and many of the knights,
+ran along on skates, headed by Dinnies Kleist, that mighty man,
+who bore in one hand the blood-banner of Pomerania, and in the
+other that of Brandenburg. Barthold von Ramin ran by his side with
+the Mecklenburg standard. He was a strong knight too. But ah! my
+God! how my Ramin, with his ox-head, was distanced by the wild men
+of Pomerania, as they ran upon the ice over the Haff! [Footnote:
+The blood-standard was granted by the Emperor Maximilian II. to
+Duke Johann Friedrich of Pomerania because he carried the imperial
+banner during the Turkish war of 1566. It only differed from the
+old banner by having a red ground--from thence its name. Both
+Pomerania and Brandenburg had wild men in their escutcheon, while
+Mecklenburg bore an ox's head.] Two reserve sleighs, drawn by six
+Frisian horses, finished the procession; they were laden with
+axes, planks, ropes, and dry garments, both for men and women.
+
+When their Graces mounted the sleighs amidst the ringing of bells
+and roaring of cannon, great was their astonishment to see their
+own initials stamped into the hard ice by Dinnies Kleist, as thus:
+F. U. J. E. J. F., which, however, afterwards caused much dismay
+to the honest burghers, for one of them--M. Faber, _a
+præceptor_--mistaking the J. for a G., read plainly upon the
+ice: "Fuge, J. F."--that is, "Fly, Johann Frederick!"
+
+Ah! truly has the gracious Prince flown from thence; but it is to
+a bitter death.
+
+During the journey, Duke Johann had much jesting with his
+brother-in-law, the Elector, who was filled with wonder at the
+strength of Dinnies Kleist, for he kept ahead even of the
+Andalusian stallions, and waved aloft the two banners of Pomerania
+and Brandenburg, while his long hair floated behind him; and
+sometimes he stopped, kissed the banners, and then inclined them
+to their Serene Princely Graces. Whereupon Duke Johann exclaimed,
+"Ay, brother, you might well give me a thousand of your
+wide-mouthed Berliners for this carl; though, methinks, if he had
+his will, he would make their wide mouths still wider." At this,
+his Electoral Grace looked rather vexed, and began to uphold the
+men of Cologne. Upon which his Highness cut him short, saying,
+"Marry, brother, you know the old proverb--
+
+   'The men of Cologne
+   Have no hues of their own,
+   But the men of Stettin
+   Are the true ever-green.'
+
+For where truly could your fellows find the true green in their
+sandy dust-box? Marry, cousin, one Pomerania is worth ten
+Margravates; and I will show your Grace just now that my land in
+winter is more productive than yours even in autumn."
+
+His Grace here alluded to the fisheries; for along the way, for
+twelve or fourteen miles, the fishermen had been ordered to set
+their nets by torchlight the night before, in holes dug through
+the ice, so that on the arrival of the princely party the nets
+might be drawn up, and the draught exhibited to their Graces.
+
+Now, when they entered the fresh Haff, which lay before them like
+a large mirror, six miles long and four broad, his Grace of
+Pomerania called out--
+
+"See here, brother, this is my first storeroom; let us try what it
+will give us to eat."
+
+Upon which he signed to Dinnies Kleist to steer over to the first
+heap of nets, which lay like a black wood in the distance. These
+belonged to the Ziegenort fishermen, as the old schoolmaster,
+Peter Leisticow, himself told me; and as they had taken a great
+draught the day before, many people from the towns of Warp,
+Stepenitz, and Uckermund were assembled there to buy up the fish,
+and then retail it, as was their custom, throughout the country.
+They had made a fire upon a large sheet of iron laid upon the ice,
+while their horses were feeding close by upon hay, which they
+shook out before them. And having taken a merry carouse together,
+they all set to dancing upon the ice with the women to the
+bagpipe, so that the encampment looked right jovial as their
+Graces arrived.
+
+Now when the grand train came up, the peasants roared out--
+
+"Donnerwetter, [Note: A common oath.] look at the plötz-eaters!
+See the cursed plötz-eaters! Donnerwetter, what plötz-eaters!"
+[Note: Plötz-eaters was a nickname given by the Pomeranians to the
+people of the Margravates. For the plötz (_Cyprinus
+Exythrophthalmus_) is a very poor tasteless fish, while the
+rivers of Pomerania are stocked with the very finest of all kinds.
+In return, the men of the Marks called the Pomeranians
+"Feather-heads," from the quantity of moor-palms (_Eriophorum
+vaginatum_) which grow in their numerous rich meadows.]
+
+And now they observed, during their shouting, that the water had
+risen up to their knees; and when the ducal procession rushed up,
+the abyss re-echoed with a noise like thunder, so that the foreign
+princes were alarmed, but soon grew accustomed thereto. Then the
+pressure of such a crowd upon the ice caused the water to spout
+out of the holes to the height of a man. So that by the time they
+were two bowshots from the nets, all the folk, the women and
+children especially, were running, screaming, in every direction,
+trying to save themselves on the firm ice, to the great amusement
+of their Graces, while a peasant cried out to the sleigh drivers--
+
+"Stop, stop! or ye'll go into the cellar!"
+
+Hereupon his Grace of Pomerania beckoned over the Ziegenort
+schoolmaster, and asked him what they had taken, to which he
+answered--
+
+"Gracious Prince, we have taken bley; the nets are all loaded;
+we've taken seventy schümers, [Footnote: A schümer was a measure
+which contained twelve bushels.] and your Grace ought to take one
+with you for supper."
+
+Now his Highness the Elector wished to see the nets emptied, so
+they rested a space while the peasants shovelled out the fish, and
+pitched them into the aforesaid schümers. But ah! woe to the
+fish-thieves who had come over from Warp and other places; for the
+water having risen up and become all muddy with fish-slime, they
+never saw the great holes, and tumbled in, to the great amusement
+of the peasants and pastime of their Graces.
+
+How their Highnesses laughed when the poor carls in the water
+tried to get hold of a net or a rope or a firm piece of ice, while
+they floundered about in the water, and the peasants fished them
+up with their long hooks, at the same time giving many of them a
+sharp prod on the shoulder, crying out--
+
+"Ha! will ye steal again? Take that for your pains, you robbers!"
+
+Now when their Graces were tired laughing and looking at the fish
+hauled, they prepared to depart; but the schoolmaster prayed his
+Highness of Stettin yet again to take a schümer of fish for their
+supper, as their Graces were going to stop for the night in
+Uckermund.
+
+"But what could I do with all the fish?" quoth the Duke.
+
+To which the carl answered in his jargon--
+
+"Eh! gracious master, give them to the plotz-eaters; that will be
+something new for them. Never fear but they'll eat them all up!"
+
+Hereupon his Highness the Elector grew nettled, and cried out--
+
+"Ho! thou damned peasant, thinkest thou we have no bley?"
+
+"Well, ye've none here," replied the man cunningly.
+
+So their Graces laughed, and ordered a couple of bushels of the
+largest to be placed upon the safety sleigh.
+
+Now when they had gone a little farther and found the ice as
+smooth as glass, the henchman let loose the bear and the wolf-dogs
+after it. My stout Bruin first growls and paws the ice, then sets
+himself in earnest for the race, and, on account of his sharp
+claws, ran on straight for Uckermund without ever slipping, while
+the hounds fell down on all sides, or tumbled on their backs,
+howling with rage and disappointment.
+
+Yet more pleasant was the hare-hunt, for hounds and hares both
+tumbled down together, and the hares squeaked and the hounds
+yelped; some hares indeed were killed, but only after infinite
+trouble, while others ran away after the bear.
+
+After the hunt they came to another fishery, and so on till they
+reached Uckermund, passing six fisheries in succession, whereof
+each draught was as large as the first, so that his Grace the
+Elector marvelled much at the abundance, and seeing the nets full
+of zannats at the last halting-place, cried out--
+
+"Marry, brother, your storeroom is well furnished. I might grow
+dainty here myself. Let us take a bushel of these along with us
+for supper, for zannat is the fish for me!"
+
+This greatly rejoiced his Grace of Stettin, who ordered the fish
+to be laid on the sumpter sleigh, and in good time they reached
+the ducal house at Uckermund, Dinnies Kleist still keeping
+foremost, and waving his two banners over his head, while Barthold
+Barnim and the other skaters hung weary and tired upon the backs
+of the sleighs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+_How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably._
+
+
+The next morning early the whole train set off from Uckermund in
+the highest spirits, passing net after net, till the Duke of
+Mecklenburg, as well as the Elector, lifted their hands in
+astonishment. From the Haff they entered the Pene, and from that
+the Achterwasser. [Footnote: A large bay formed by the Pene.] Here
+a great crowd of people stood upon the ice, for the town of
+Quilitz lay quite near; besides, more fish had been taken here
+than had yet been seen upon the journey, so that people from
+Wolgast, Usdom, Lassahn, and all the neighbouring towns had run
+together to bid for it. But what happened?
+
+Alas! that his Grace should have desired to halt, for scarcely had
+his sleigh stopped, when a little old woman, meanly clad, with
+fisher's boots, and a net filled with bley-fish in her hand,
+stepped up to it and said--
+
+"My good Lord, I am Sidonia von Bork; wherefore have you not
+replied to my demand for the _proebenda_ of Barbara von
+Kleist in Marienfliess?"
+
+"How could he answer her? He knew nothing at all of her mode of
+living, or where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"She had bid him lay the answer upon the altar of
+St. Jacob's in Stettin. Why had he not done so?"
+
+"That was no place for such letters, only for the words of the
+Holy Spirit and the Blessed Sacrament of his Saviour; therefore,
+let her say now where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"The richest maiden in Pomerania could ill say where
+the poorest now dwelt," weeping.
+
+"The richest maiden had only herself to blame if she were now the
+poorest; better had she wept before. The _proebenda_ she
+could never have; let her cease to think of it; but here was an
+alms, and she might now go her ways."
+
+_Illa_.--(Refuses to take it, and murmurs.) "Your Grace will
+soon have bitter sorrow for this."
+
+As she so menaced and spat out three times, the thing angered
+Dinnies Kleist (who held her in abhorrence ever since the
+adventure in the Uckermund forest), and as he had lost none of his
+early strength, he hit her a blow with the blood-standard over the
+shoulder, exclaiming, "Pack off to the devil, thou shameless hag!
+What does the witch mean by her spittings? The _proebenda_ of
+my sister Barbara shall thou never have!"
+
+However, the hag stirred not from the spot, answered no word, but
+spat out again; and as the illustrious party drove off she still
+stood there, and spat out after them.
+
+What this devil's sorcery denoted we shall soon see; for as they
+approached Ziemitze, and the ducal house of Wolgast appeared in
+sight, Dinnies Kleist started on before the safety sleigh; and as
+soon as the high towers of the castle rose above the trees, he
+waved the two banners above his head, and brought them together
+till they kissed. Having so held them for a space, he set forward
+again with giant strides, in order to be the first to
+arrive--although, indeed, the town was aware of the advance of the
+princely train, for the bells were ringing, and the blood-standard
+waved from St. Peter's and the three other towers.
+
+But woe, alas! Dinnies, in his impatience, never observed a
+windwake direct in his path, and down he sank, while the sharp ice
+cut his head clean off, as if an executioner had done it; and the
+head, with the long hair, rolled hither and thither, while the
+body remained fast in the hole, only one arm stuck up above the
+ice--it was that which held the Brandenburg standard, but the
+blood-banner of Pomerania had sunk for ever in the abyss.
+[Footnote: A windwake is a hole formed by the wind in the thawing
+season, and which afterwards becomes covered with a thin coating
+of ice by a subsequent frost.]
+
+When his Grace of Stettin beheld this, he was filled with more
+sorrow than even at the death of his fool; and, weeping bitterly,
+commanded seven sleighs to return and seize the evil hag; then
+with all speed, and for a terrible example, to burn her upon the
+Quilitz mountain.
+
+But when many present assured his Grace that such-like accidents
+were very common, and many skaters had perished thus, whereof even
+Duke Ulrich named several instances, so that his Grace of Stettin
+need not impute such natural accidents to witchcraft or the power
+of the hag, he was somewhat calmed. Still he commanded the seven
+sleighs to return and bring the witch bound to Wolgast, that he
+might question her as to wherefore she had spat out.
+
+So the sleighs returned, but the vile sorceress was no longer on
+the ice, neither did any one know whither she had gone; whereupon
+the sleighs hastened back again after the others.
+
+Now it was the Friday before Shrove Tuesday, about mid-day, when
+the princely party arrived at Wolgast; and Prince Bogislaff of
+Barth was there to receive them, with his five sons--namely,
+Philip, Franz, George, Ulrich, and Bogislaff. [Footnote: Marginal
+note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"This is not true; for I had a fever
+at the time, and remained at home."] And there was a great uproar
+in the castle--some of the young lords playing ball in the castle
+court with the young Prince, Philip Julius, others preparing for
+the carnival mummeries, which were to commence next evening by a
+great banquet and dance in the hall. Indeed, that same evening
+their Graces had a brave carouse, to try and make Duke Johann
+forget his grief about his well-beloved Dinnies Kleist: and his
+Grace thus began to discourse concerning him:--
+
+"Truly, brothers, who knows what the devil may have in store for
+us? for it was a strange thing how my blood-standard sunk in the
+abyss, while that of my brother of Brandenburg floated above it.
+Think you that our male line will become extinct, and the heritage
+of fair Pomerania descend to Brandenburg? For, in truth, it is
+strange that, out of five brothers, two of us only have
+heirs--Bogislaff and Ernest Ludovicus, who has left indeed but one
+only son."
+
+Then Duke Bogislaff (whom our Lord God had surely blessed for his
+humility in resigning the government, and also because of his
+dutiful conduct ever towards his mother, even in his youth having
+brought her a tame seagull) made answer, laughingly: "Dear
+brother, I think Herr Bacchus has done more to turn Frau Venus
+against our race than Sidonia or any of her spells, therefore ye
+need not wonder if ye have no heirs. However, if my five young
+Princes listen to my warnings and shun the wine-cup, trust me the
+blood-standard will be lifted up again, and our ancient name never
+want a fitting representative."
+
+Meanwhile, as they so discoursed, and the gracious ladies looked
+down for shame upon the ground, young Lord Philip began a Latin
+argument with the Rev. Dr. Glambecken, court chaplain at Wolgast
+_de monetis;_ and pulled out of his pocket a large bag of old
+coins, which had been presented to him by Doctor Chytraeus,
+professor of theology at Rostock, with whom his Grace interchanged
+Latin epistles. [Foonote: See the Latin letters of the talented
+young Prince in Oelrich's "Contributions to the Literary History
+of the Pomeranian Dukes," vol. i. p. 67. He fell a victim to
+intemperance, though his death was imputed likewise to Sidonia,
+and formed the subject of the sixth torture examination.]
+
+This gave the conversation a new turn, and the ladies particularly
+were much pleased examining the coins; but the devil himself
+surely must have anagrammatised one of them, for over the letters,
+Pomerania, figures were scratched  356412789
+--thus--Pomerania--giving the terrible meaning, _rape omnia_
+(rob all); and many said that this must have been the very coin
+which the devil took that time he rent the oblation-table, at the
+exorcism of the young Princess.
+
+This discovery filled the Pomeranian Duke with strong
+apprehensions, and young Prince Franz handed over the coin to the
+Elector of Brandenburg, saying bitterly, "Yes, rob all! Doctor
+Joel of Grypswald has long since told me that it would all end
+this way--even as Satan himself has scratched down here--but my
+lord father will not credit him, he is so proud of his five sons.
+Doctor Joel, however, is a right learned man, and no one knows the
+mysteries of the black art better; besides, who reads the stars
+more diligently each night than he?"
+
+And behold, while he is speaking, the fool runs into the hall,
+pale, and trembling in every limb.
+
+"Alas! Lord Franz," he exclaimed, "I have seen the manikin again
+on his three-legged hare, which appeared at the death of Duke
+Ernest Ludovicus."
+
+But the young lord boxed him, crying, "Away, thou knave! must thy
+chatter help to make us more melancholy?"
+
+However Duke Bogislaff bid the fool stay, and tell them when and
+where he had seen the imp.
+
+My fool wiped his eyes, and began: "The young Lord Franz had bid
+him put on his best jacket (that which had been given him as a
+Christmas-box) for the carnival mummings on Shrove Tuesday; so he
+went up to the garret to get it himself out of the trunk, but,
+before he had quite reached the trunk, the black dwarf, with his
+little red boots, rode out from behind it on his three-legged
+hare--hop! hop! hop!--made a frightful face at him, and after a
+little while rode back again--hop! hop! hop! behind his old boots,
+which stood in a corner, and disappeared!"
+
+What the malicious Puck denoted we shall soon see--Oh, woe! woe!
+
+Next day all sorts of amusements were set on foot, to chase away
+gloomy thoughts out of the hearts of the illustrious guests--such
+as tilting with lances, dancing upon stilts, wrestling,
+rope-dancing. _Item,_ pickleherring and harlequins. Amongst
+these last the fool showed off to great advantage, for who could
+twist his face into more laughable grimaces? _Item,_ in the
+evening there was a mask of mummers, in which one fellow played
+the angel, and another dressed as Satan, with a large horse's foot
+and cock's plume, spat red fire from his mouth, and roared
+horribly when the angel overcame him (but withal I think the
+gloomy thoughts stayed there yet).
+
+And mark what in truth soon happened! When the drums and trumpets
+struck up the last mask dance in the great Ritter Hall, which
+every one joins in, old and young, his Grace, Duke Johann, went to
+the room of his dear cousin Hedwig, the princely widow, and prayed
+her to tread the dance with him; but she refuses, and sits by the
+fire and weeps.
+
+"Let not my dear cousin fret," said the Duke, "about the chatter
+of the fool."
+
+To which she replied, "Alas! wherefore not? For surely it betokens
+death to my darling little son, Philip Julius."
+
+"No," exclaimed the Duke quickly, "it betokens mine!" and he fell
+flat upon the ground.
+
+One can easily imagine how the gracious lady screamed, so that all
+ran in from the Knight's Hall in their masks and mumming-dresses,
+to see indeed the mumming of the true bodily Satan; and Doctor
+Pomius, who was at the mask likewise, ran in with a
+smelling-bottle, but all was in vain. His Grace lingered for three
+days, and then having received the Holy Sacrament from Doctor
+Glambecken, died in the same chamber in which he was born, having
+lived fifty-seven years, five months, twelve days, and fourteen
+hours. How can I describe the lamentations of the princely
+company--yea, indeed, of the whole town; for every one saw now
+plainly that the anger of God rested upon this ancient and
+illustrious Pomeranian race, and that He had given it over
+helplessly to the power of the evil one.
+
+_Summa._--On the 9th February the princely corse was laid in
+the very sleigh which had brought it a living body, and, followed
+by a grand train of princes, nobles, and knights, along with a
+strong guard of the ducal soldatesca, was conveyed back to
+Stettin; and there, with all due and befitting ceremonies, was
+buried on Palm Sunday in the vault of the castle church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+_How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how
+Sidonia meets him as she is gathering bilberries. Item, of the
+unnatural witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir
+refuses, in consequence, to succeed him._
+
+
+Now Barnim the Tenth succeeded to that very duchy about which he
+had been so wroth the day of the Diet at Wollin, but it brought
+him little good. He was, however, a pious Prince, and much beloved
+at his dower of Rügenwald, where he spent his time in making a
+little library of all the Lutheran hymn-books which he could
+collect, and these he carried with him in his carriage wherever he
+went; so that his subjects of Rügenwald shed many tears at losing
+so pious a ruler.
+
+_Item,_ the moment his Grace succeeded to the government, he
+caused all the courts to be reopened, along with the treasury and
+the chancery, which his deceased Grace had kept closed to the
+last; and for this goodness towards his people, the states of the
+kingdom promised to pay all his debts, which was done; and thus
+lawlessness and robbery were crushed in the land.
+
+But woe, alas!--Sidonia can no man crush! She wrote immediately to
+his Grace, soliciting the _proebenda,_ and even presented
+herself at the ducal house of Stettin; but his Grace positively
+refused to lay eyes on her, knowing how fatal a meeting with her
+had proved to each of his brothers, who no sooner met her evil
+glance than they sickened and died.
+
+Therefore his Highness held all old women in abhorrence. Indeed,
+such was his fear of them, that not one was allowed to approach
+the castle; and when he rode or drove out, lacqueys and squires
+went before with great horsewhips, to chase away all the old women
+out of his Grace's path, for truly Sidonia might be amongst them.
+From this, it came to pass that as soon as it was rumoured in the
+town, "His Grace is coming," all the old mothers seized up their
+pattens, and scampered off, helter-skelter, to get out of reach of
+the horsewhips.
+
+But who can provide against all the arts of the devil? for though
+it is true that Sidonia destroyed his two brothers, also his Grace
+himself, along with Philip II., by her breath and glance, yet she
+caused a great number of other unfortunate persons to perish,
+without using these means, as we shall hear further on; whereby
+many imagined that her familiar Chim could not have been so weak a
+spirit as she represented him, on the rack, in order to save her
+life, but a strong and terrible demon. These things, however, will
+come in their proper place.
+
+_Summa._--After Duke Barnim had reigned several years, with
+great blessing to his people, it happened that word came from
+Rügenwald how that his brother, Duke Casimir, was sick. This was
+the Prince whom, we may remember, Sidonia had whipped with her
+irreverent hands upon his princely _podex,_ when he was a
+little boy.
+
+Now Duke Barnim had quarrelled with the estates because they
+refused funds for the Turkish war; however, he became somewhat
+merrier that evening with the Count Stephen of Naugard, when the
+evil tidings came to him of his beloved brother (yet more bitter
+sorrow is before him, I think). So the next morning the Duke set
+off with a train of six carriages to visit his sick brother, and
+by the third evening they reached the wood which lies close beside
+Rügenwald. Here there was a large oak, the stem of which had often
+served his Grace for a target, when he amused himself by
+practising firing. So he stopped the carriage, and alighted to see
+if the twenty or thirty balls he had shot into it were still
+there.
+
+But alas! as he reached the oak, that devil's spectre (I mean
+Sidonia) stepped from behind it; she had an old pot in her hand
+filled with bilberries, and asked his Grace, would he not take
+some to refresh himself after his journey.
+
+His Highness, however, recoiled horror-struck, and asked who she
+was.
+
+She was Sidonia von Bork, and prayed his Grace yet once more for
+the _proebenda_ in Marienfliess.
+
+Hereat the Duke was still more horrified, and exclaimed, "Curse
+upon thy _proebenda,_ but thou shalt get something else, I
+warrant thee! Thou art a vile witch, and hast in thy mind to
+destroy our whole noble race with thy detestable sorceries."
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! no one had called her a witch before; how
+could she bewitch them? It was a strange story to tell of her."
+
+_The Duke._--"How did it happen, then, that he had no
+children by his beloved Amrick?" [Footnote: Anna Maria, second
+daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg.]
+
+_Illa_ (laughing).--"He better ask his beloved Amrick
+herself. How could she know?"
+
+But here she began to contort her face horribly, and to spit out,
+whereupon the Duke called out to his retinue--"Come here, and hang
+me this hag upon the oak-tree; she is at her devil's sorceries
+again! And woe! woe! already I feel strange pains all through my
+body!"
+
+Upon this, divers persons sprang forward to seize her, but the
+nimble night-bird darted behind a clump of fir-trees, and
+disappeared. Unluckily they had no bloodhounds along with them,
+otherwise I think the devil would have been easily seized, and
+hung up like an acorn on the oak-tree. But God did not so will it,
+for though they sent a pack of hounds from Rügenwald, the moment
+they arrived there, yet no trace of the hag could be found in the
+forest.
+
+And now mark the result: the Duke became worse hour by hour, and
+as Duke Casimir had grown much better by the time he arrived, and
+was in a fair way of recovery, his Grace resolved to take leave of
+him and return with all speed to his own house at Stettin; but on
+the second day, while they were still a mile from Stettin, Duke
+Barnim grew so much worse, that they had to stop at Alt-Damm for
+the night. And scarcely had he laid himself down in bed when he
+expired. This was on the 1st of September 1603, when he was
+fifty-four years, six months, sixteen days, and sixteen hours old.
+
+But the old, unclean night-bird would not let his blessed Highness
+go to his grave in peace (probably because he had called her an
+accursed witch). For the 18th of the same month, when all the
+nobles and estates were assembled to witness the ceremonial of
+interment, along with several members of the ducal house, and
+other illustrious personages, such a storm of hail, rain, and
+wind, came on just at a quarter to three, as they had reached the
+middle of the service, that the priest dropped the book from his
+hands, and the church became so suddenly dark, that the sexton had
+to light the candles to enable the preacher to read his text.
+Never, too, was heard such thunder, so that many thought St.
+Jacob's Tower had fallen in, and the princes and nobles rushed out
+of the church to shelter themselves in the houses, while the most
+terrific lightning flashed round them at every step.
+
+Yet truly it must have been all witch-work, for when the funeral
+was over, the weather became as serene and beautiful as possible.
+
+And a great gloom fell upon every one in consequence, for that it
+was no natural storm, a child could have seen. Indeed, Dr. Joel,
+who was wise in these matters, declared to his Highness Duke
+Bogislaff XIII. that without doubt it was a witch-storm, for the
+doctor was present at the funeral, as representative of the
+University of Grypswald. And respecting the clouds, he observed
+particularly that they were formed like dogs' tails, that is, when
+a dog carries his tail in the air so that it forms an arc of a
+circle. And this, indeed, was the truth.
+
+_Summa._--As by the death of Duke Barnim the government
+devolved upon Duke Casimir of Rügenwald, the estates proceeded
+thither to offer him their homage, but the Prince hesitated, said
+he was sickly, and who could tell whether it would not go as ill
+with him as with his brothers? But the estates, both temporal and
+spiritual, prayed him so earnestly to accept the rule, that he
+promised to meet them on the next morning by ten of the clock, in
+the great Rittersaal (knights' hall), and make them acquainted
+with his decision.
+
+The faithful states considered this a favourable answer, and were
+in waiting next morning, at the appointed hour, in the Rittersaal.
+But what happened? Behold, as the great door was thrown open, in
+walked the Duke, not with any of the insignia of his princely
+station, but in the dress of a fisherman. He wore a linen jacket,
+a blue smock, a large hat, and great, high fisher's boots,
+reaching nearly to his waist. _Item,_ on his back the Duke
+carried a fisherman's basket; six fishermen similarly dressed
+accompanied him, and others in a like garb followed.
+
+All present wondered much at this, and a great murmur arose in the
+hall; but the Duke threw his basket down by his side, and leaned
+his elbow on it, while he thus went on to speak: "Ye see here, my
+good friends, what government I intend to hold in future with
+these honest fishers, who accompanied me up to my dear brother's
+funeral. I shall return this day to Rügenwald. The devil may rule
+in Pomerania, but I will not; if you kill an ox there is an end of
+it, but here there is no end. Satan treats us worse than the poor
+ox. Choose a duke wheresoever you will; but as for me, I think
+fishing and ruling the rudder is pleasanter work than to rule your
+land."
+
+And when the unambitious Prince had so spoken, he drew forth a
+little flask containing branntwein [Footnote: Whisky] (a new drink
+which some esteemed more excellent than wine, which, however, I
+leave in its old pre-eminence; I tasted the other indeed but once,
+but it seemed to me to set my mouth on fire--such is not for my
+drinking), and drank to the fishers, crying, "What say you,
+children--shall we not go and flounder again upon the Rügenwald
+strand?" Upon which they all shouted, "Ay! ay!"
+
+His Grace then drank to the states for a farewell, and leaving the
+hall, proceeded with his followers to the vessel, which he
+ascended, singing gaily, and sailed home directly to his new
+fishing-lodge at Neuhausen.
+
+Such humility, however, availed his Grace nothing in preserving
+him from the claws of Satan; for scarcely a year and a half had
+elapsed when he was seized suddenly, even as his brothers, and
+died on the 10th May 1605, at the early age of forty-eight years,
+one month, twenty-one days, and seventeen hours.
+
+But to return to the states. They were dumb with grief and despair
+when his Grace left the hall. The land marshal stood with the
+staff, the court marshal with the sword, and the chancellor with
+the seals, like stone statues there, till a noble at the window
+called out--
+
+"Let us hasten quickly to Prince Bogislaff, before he journeys
+off, too, with his five sons, and we are left without any ruler.
+See, there are the horses just putting to his carriage!"
+
+Upon this, they all ran out to the coach, and the chancellor
+asked, in a lamentable voice, "If his Grace were indeed going to
+leave them, like that other gracious Prince who owned the dukedom
+by right? The states would promise everything he desired--they
+would pay all his debts--only his Grace must not leave them and
+their poor fatherland in their sore need."
+
+Hereat his Grace laughed, and told them, "He was not going to his
+castle of Franzburg, only as far as Oderkrug, with his dear sons,
+to look at the great sheep-pens there, and drink a bowl of ewe's
+milk with the shepherds under the apple-tree. He hoped to arrive
+there before his brother Casimir in his boat, and then they might
+discuss the _casus_ together; indeed, when he showed him the
+sheep-pens, it was not probable that he would refuse a duchy which
+had a fold of twenty thousand sheep, for his brother Casimir was a
+great lover of sheep as well as of fish."
+
+Upon this, the states and privy council declared that they would
+follow him to Oderkrug to learn the result, but meanwhile begged
+of his Grace not to delay setting off, lest Duke Casimir might
+have left Oderkrug before he reached it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired
+_proebenda_--_Item,_ of her arrival at the convent of
+Marienfliess.
+
+
+Now my gracious Lord Bogislaff had scarcely alighted at Oderkrug
+from his carriage, and drunk a bowl of milk under the apple-tree,
+when he spied the yellow sails of his brother's boat above the
+high reeds; upon which he ran down to the shore, and called out
+himself--
+
+"Will you not land, brother, and drink a bowl of ewe's milk with
+us, or take a glance at the great sheep-pen? It is a rare wonder,
+and my lord brother was always a great lover of sheep!"
+
+But Prince Casimir went on, and never slackened sail. Whereupon
+his Highness called out again, "The states and privy councillors
+are coming, brother, and want to have a few words with you."
+
+Hereat Prince Casimir laughed in the boat, and returned for
+answer--"He knew well enough what they wanted; but no--he had no
+desire to be bewitched to death. Just give him the lands of
+Lauenburg and Butow as an addition to his dower, and then his dear
+Bogislaff might take all Pomerania to himself if he pleased."
+
+After which, doffing his hat for an _addio,_ he steered
+bravely through the _Pappenwasser_.
+
+When young Prince Franz heard this, he laughed loud, and said,
+"Truly our uncle is the wisest--he will not be bewitched to death,
+as he says--but what will my lord father do now, for see, here
+come the states already in their carriages over the hill!"
+
+Duke Bogislaff answered, "What else remains for me to do but to
+accept the government?"
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, and be struck dead by witchcraft, like my
+three uncles! Ah, my gracious lord father, before ever you accept
+the rule of the duchy, let the witch be seized and burned. Doctor
+Joel hath told me much about these witches; and believe me, there
+is no wiser man in all Pomerania than this magister. He can do
+something more than eat bread." Then he fell upon his father's
+neck, and caressed him--"Ah, dear father, do not jump at once into
+the government; burn the witch first: we cannot spare our dear
+lord father!"
+
+And the two young Princes George and Ulrich prayed him in like
+manner; but young Philip Secundus spake--"I think, brothers, it
+were better if our dear father gave this long-talked-of
+_proebenda_ to the witch at once; then, whether she bewitches
+or not, we are safe at all events."
+
+Hereupon his Highness answered--"My Philip is right; for in truth
+no one can say whether your uncles died by Sidonia's sorceries or
+by those of the evil man Bacchus. Therefore I warn you, dear
+children, flee from this worst of all sorcerers; not starting at
+appearances, as a horse at a shadow, for appearance is the shadow
+of truth. Be admonished, therefore, by St. Peter, and 'gird up the
+loins of your spirit: be sober, and watch unto prayer.' Then ye
+may laugh all witches to scorn; for God will turn the devices of
+your enemy to folly."
+
+Meanwhile the states have arrived; and having alighted from their
+coaches at the great sheep-pen, they advanced respectfully to the
+Duke, who was seated under the apple-tree--the land marshal first,
+with the staff, then the court marshal with the sword, and lastly
+the chancellor with the seals.
+
+The had seen from the hill how Duke Casimir sailed away without
+waiting to hear them, and prayed and hoped that his Highness would
+accept the insignia which they here respectfully tendered, and not
+abandon his poor fatherland in such dire need. The devil and
+wicked men could do much, but God could do more, as none knew
+better than his Highness.
+
+Herewith his Grace sighed deeply, and taking the insignia, laid
+staff and sword beside him; then, taking up the sword hastily
+again, he held it in his hand while he thus spake:--
+
+"My faithful, true, and honourable states, ye know how that I
+resigned the government, out of free will, at the Diet at Wollin,
+because I thought, and still think, that nothing weighs heavier
+than this sword which I hold in my hand. Therefore I went to my
+dower at Barth, and have founded the beautiful little town of
+Franzburg to keep the Stralsund knaves in submission, and also to
+teach our nobles that there is some nobler work for a man to do in
+life than eating, drinking, and hunting. _Item,_ I have
+encouraged commerce, and especially given my protection to the
+woollen trade; but all my labours will now fall to the ground, and
+the Stralsund knaves be overjoyed; [Footnote: The apprehension was
+justified by the event; for on the departure of Duke Bogislaff,
+Franzburg fell rapidly to a mere village, to the great joy of the
+Stralsunders, who looked with much envy on a new town springing up
+in their vicinity.] however, I must obey God's will, and not kick
+against the pricks. Therefore I take the sword of my father,
+hoping that it will not prove too heavy for me, an old man;
+[Footnote: The Duke was then sixty.] and that He who puts it into
+my hand (even the strong God) will help me to bear it. So let His
+holy will be done. Amen."
+
+Then his Highness delivered back the insignia to the states, who
+reverently kissed his hand, and blessed God for having given so
+good and pious a Prince to reign over them. Then they approached
+the five young lords, and kissed their hands likewise, wishing at
+the same time that many fair olive-branches might yet stand around
+their table. This made the old Duke laugh heartily, and he prayed
+the states to remain a little and drink ewe's milk with them for a
+pleasant pastime; the shepherds would set out the bowls.
+
+Duke Philip alone went away into the town to examine the library,
+and all the vases, pictures, statues, and other costly works of
+art, which his deceased uncle, Duke Johann Frederick, had
+collected; and these he delivered over to the marshal's care, with
+strict injunctions as to their preservation. But a strange thing
+happened next day; for as the Duke and his sons were sitting at
+breakfast, and the wine-can had just been locked up, because each
+young lord had drunk his allotted portion, namely, seven glasses
+(the Duke himself only drank six), a lacquey entered with a note
+from Sidonia, in which she again demanded the _proebenda,_
+and hoped that his Highness would be more merciful that his dead
+brothers, now that he had succeeded to the duchy. Let him
+therefore send an order for her admission to the cloister of
+Marienfliess. The answer was to be laid upon St. Mary's altar.
+
+Here young Lord Francis grew quite pale, and dropped the fork from
+his hands, then spake--"Now truly we see this hag learns of the
+devil, for how else could she have known that our gracious father
+had accepted the government, unless Satan had visited her in her
+den? But let his dearest father be careful. In his opinion, the
+Duke should promise her the _proebenda;_ but as soon as the
+accursed hag showed herself at the cloister (for the devil now
+kept her concealed), let her be seized and burned publicly, for a
+terrible warning and example."
+
+This advice did not please the old Duke. "Franz," he said, "thou
+art a fool, and God forbid that ever thou shouldst reign in the
+land; for know that the word of a Prince is sacred. Yes, Sidonia
+shall have the _proebenda;_ but I will not entrap my enemy
+through deceit to death, but will try to win her over by
+gentleness. The chancellor shall answer her instantly, and write
+another letter to the abbess of Petersdorf; and Sidonia's shall be
+laid upon the altar of St. Mary's this night, as she requested, by
+one of my lacqueys."
+
+Then Duke Philip kissed his pious father's hand, and the tears
+fell from the good youth's eyes as he exclaimed--
+
+"Alas, if she should murder you too!"
+
+And here are the two letters, according to the copies which are
+yet to be seen in the princely chancery. _Sub. Hit. Marienfliess
+K, No. 683._
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, POMERANIA,
+CASSUBEN, AND WENDEN; PRINCE OF RUGEN; COUNT OF CUTZKOW, OF THE
+LANDS OP LAUENBURG AND BUTOW; LORD, &c.
+
+"In consequence of your repeated entreaties for a _proetenda_
+in the cloister of Marienfliess, We, of our great goodness, hereby
+grant the same unto you; hoping that, in future, you will lead an
+humble, quiet life, as beseems a cloistered maiden, and, in
+especial, that you will always show yourself an obedient and
+faithful servant of our princely house. So we commit you to God's
+keeping!
+
+Signatum, Old Stettin, the 2oth October 1603. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The other letter, to the abbess of Petersdorf, was sent by a
+salmon lad to the convent, as we shall hear further on, and ran
+thus:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, &c.
+
+"WORTHY ABBESS, TRUSTY AND WELL-BELOVED FRIEND!
+
+"Hereby we send to you a noble damsel, named Sidonia von Bork, and
+desire a cell for her in your cloisters, even as the other nuns.
+We trust that misery may have softened her heart towards God; but
+if she do not demean herself with Christian sobriety, you have our
+commands to send her, along with the fish peasants and others, to
+our court for judgment.
+
+"God keep you; pray for us! Signatum, &c. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The letter to Sidonia was, in truth, laid that same night upon the
+altar of St. Mary's, by a lacquey, who was further desired to hide
+himself in the church, and see what became of it. Now, the fellow
+had a horrible dread of staying alone in the church by night, so
+he took the cook, Jeremias Bild, along with him; and after they
+had laid the letter down upon the altar, they crept both of them
+into a high pew close by, belonging to the Aulick Counsellor,
+Dieterick Stempel.
+
+Now mark what happened. They had been there about an hour, and the
+moon was pouring down as clear as daylight from the high altar
+window; when, all at once, the letter upon the altar began to move
+about of itself, as if it were alive, then it hopped down upon the
+floor, from that danced down the altar steps, and so on all along
+the nave, though no human being laid hands on it the while, and
+not a breath or stir was heard in the church. [Footnote: Something
+similar is related in the _Seherin of Prevorst_, where a
+glass of water moved of its own accord to another place.]
+
+Our two carls nearly died of the fright, and solemnly attested by
+oath to his Highness the truth of their relation. Thereby young
+Lord Franz was more strengthened in his belief concerning
+Sidonia's witchcraft, and had many arguments with his father in
+consequence.
+
+"His lord father might easily know that a letter could not move of
+itself without devil's magic. Now, this letter had moved of
+itself; _ergo_," &c.
+
+Whereupon his Highness answered--
+
+"When had he ever doubted the power of Satan? Ah, never; but in
+this instance who could tell what the carls in their fright had
+seen or not seen? For, perhaps, Sidonia, when she observed them
+hiding in the pew, had stuck a fish-hook into the letter, and so
+drawn it over to herself. He remembered in his youth a trick that
+had been played on the patron--for this patron always went to
+sleep during the sermon. So the sexton let down a fish-hook
+through the ceiling of the church, which, catching hold of the
+patron's wig, drew it up in the sight of the whole congregation,
+who afterwards swore that they had seen the said wig of their
+patron carried up to the roof of the church by witchcraft, and
+disappear through a hole in the ceiling, as if it had been a bird.
+Some time after, however, the sexton confessed his knavery, and
+the patron's flying wig had been a standing joke in the country
+ever since."
+
+But the young lord still shook his head--
+
+"Ah, they would yet see who was right. He was still of the same
+opinion."
+
+But I shall leave these arguments at once, for the result will
+fully show which party was in the right.
+
+_Summa._--Sidonia, next day, drove in her one-horse cart
+again to the convent gate at Marienfliess, accompanied by another
+old hag as her servant. Now the peasants had just arrived with the
+salmon, which the Duke despatched every fortnight as a present to
+the convent, and the letter of his Grace had arrived also. So,
+many of the nuns were assembled on the great steps looking at the
+fish, and waiting for the abbess to divide it amongst them, as was
+her custom. Others were gathered round the abbess, weeping as she
+told them of the Duke's letter, and the good mother herself nearly
+fainted when she read it.
+
+So Sidonia drove straight into the court, as the gates were lying
+open, and shouted--
+
+"What the devil! Is this a nuns' cloister, where all the gates lie
+open, and the carls come in and out as if it were a dove-cot?
+Shame on ye, for light wantons! Wait; Sidonia will bring you into
+order. Ha! ye turned me out; but now ye must have me, whether ye
+will or no!"
+
+At such blasphemies the nuns were struck dumb. However, the abbess
+seemed as though she heard them not, but advancing, bid Sidonia
+welcome, and said--
+
+"It was not possible to receive her into the cloister, until she
+had command from his Grace so to do, which command she now held in
+her hand."
+
+This softened Sidonia somewhat, and she asked--
+
+"What are the nuns doing there with the fish?"
+
+"Dividing the salmon," was the answer.
+
+Whereupon she jumped out of the cart, and declared that she must
+get her portion also, for salmon was a right good thing for
+supper.
+
+Whereupon the sub-prioress, Dorothea von Stettin, cut her off a
+fine large head-piece, which Sidonia, however, pushed away
+scornfully, crying--
+
+"Fie! what did she mean by that? The devil might eat the
+head-piece, but give her the tail. She had never in her life eaten
+anything but the tail-piece; the tail was fatter."
+
+So the abbess signed to them to give her the tail-end; after
+which, she asked to see her cell, and, on being shown it, cried
+out again--
+
+"Fie on them! was that a cell for a lady of her degree? Why, it
+was a pig-sty. Let the abbess put her young litter of nuns there;
+they would be better in it than running up and down the convent
+court with the fish-carls. She must and will have the refectory."
+
+And when the abbess answered--
+
+"That was the prayer-room, where the sisters met night and morning
+for vespers and matins," she heeded not, but said--
+
+"Let them pray in the chapel--the chapel is large enough."
+
+And so saying, she commanded her maid, who was no other than Wolde
+Albrechts, though not a soul in the convent knew her, to carry all
+her luggage straight into the refectory.
+
+What could the poor abbess do? She had to submit, and not only
+give her up the refectory, but, finding that she had no bed, order
+one in for her. _Item,_ seeing that Sidonia was in rags, she
+desired black serge for a robe to be brought, and a white veil,
+such as the sisterhood wore, and bid the nuns stitch them up for
+her, thinking thus to win her over by kindness. Also she desired
+tables, stools, &c., to be arranged in the refectory, since she so
+ardently desired to possess this room. But what fruit all this
+kindness brought forth we shall see in _liber tertius_.
+
+
+END OF SECOND BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS UP
+TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19th, 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and
+extols her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairywoman,
+and how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Serene Highness will
+surely pardon me if I pass over, in _libra tertio_, many of
+the quarrels, bickerings, strifes, and evil deeds, with which
+Sidonia disturbed the peace of the convent, and brought many a
+goodly person therein to a cruel end; first, because these things
+are already much known and talked of; and secondly, because such
+dire and Satanic wickedness must not be so much as named to gentle
+ears by me.
+
+I shall therefore only set down a few of the principal events of
+her convent life, by which your Grace and others may easily
+conjecture much of what still remains unsaid; for truly wickedness
+advanced and strengthened in her day by day, as decay in a rotting
+tree.
+
+The morning after her arrival in the convent, while it was yet
+quite early, and Wolde Albrechts, her lame maid, was sweeping out
+the refectory, the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, came to pay her
+a visit. She had a piece of salmon, and a fine haddock's liver, on
+a plate, to present to the lady, and was full of joy and gratitude
+that so pious and chaste a maiden should have entered this
+convent. "Ah, yes! it was indeed terrible to see how the convent
+gates lay open, and the men-folk walked in and out, as the lady
+herself had seen yesterday. And would sister Sidonia believe it,
+sometimes the carls came in bare-legged? Not alone old Matthias
+Winterfeld, the convent porter, but others--yea, even in their
+shirt-sleeves sometimes--oh, it was shocking even to think of! She
+had talked about it long enough, but no one heeded her, though
+truly she was sub-prioress, and ought to have authority. However,
+if sister Sidonia would make common cause with her from this time
+forth, modesty and sobriety might yet be brought back to their
+blessed cloister."
+
+Sidonia desired nothing better than to make common cause with the
+good, simple Dorothea--but for her own purposes. Therefore she
+answered, "Ay, truly; this matter of the open gates was a grievous
+sin and shame. What else were these giddy wantons thinking of but
+lovers and matrimony? She really blushed to see them yesterday."
+
+_Illa._--"True, true; that was just it. All about love and
+marriage was the talk for ever amongst them. It made her heart die
+within her to think what the young maidens were nowadays."
+
+_Hæc._--"Had she any instances to bring forward; what had
+they done?"
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! instances enough. Why, not long since, a nun
+had married with a clerk, and this last chaplain, David Grosskopf,
+had taken another nun to wife himself."
+
+_Hæc._--"Oh, she was ready to faint with horror."
+
+_Illa _ (sobbing, weeping, and falling upon Sidonia's
+neck).--"God be praised that she had found one righteous soul in
+this Sodom and Gomorrah. Now she would swear friendship to her for
+life and death! And had she a little drop of wine, just to pour on
+the haddock's liver? it tasted so much better stewed in wine! but
+she would go for some of her own. The liver must just get one turn
+on the fire, and then the butter and spices have to be added. She
+would teach her how to do it if she did not know, only let the old
+maid make up the fire."
+
+_Hæc_.--"What was she talking about? Cooking was child's play
+to her; she had other things to cook than haddocks' livers."
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"Ah! let not her chaste sister be angry;
+she had meant it all in kindness."
+
+_Hæc_.--"No doubt--but why did she call the convent a Sodom
+and Gomorrah? Did the nuns ever admit a lover into their cells?"
+
+_Illa_ (screaming with horror).--"No, no, fie! how could the
+chaste sister bring her lips to utter such words?"
+
+_Hæc_.--"What did she mean, then, by the Sodom and Gomorrah?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! the whole world was a Sodom and Gomorrah,
+why, then, not the convent, since it lay in the world? For though
+we do not sin in words or works, yet we may sin in thought; and
+this was evidently the case with some of these young things, for
+if the talk in their hearing was of marriage, they laughed and
+tittered, so that it was a scandal and abomination!"
+
+_Hæc_.--"But had she anything else to tell her--what had she
+come for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she had forgotten. The abbess sent to say, that
+she must begin to knit the gloves directly for the canons of
+Camyn. Here was the thread."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Thousand devils! what did she mean?" _Illa_
+(crossing herself).--"Ah! the pious sister might let the devils
+alone, though (God be good to us) the world was indeed full of
+them!"
+
+_Hæc_.--"What did she mean, then, by this knitting--to talk
+to her so--the lady of castles and lands?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the matter was thus. The reverend canons of
+Camyn, who were twelve in number, purchased their beer always from
+the convent--for such had been the usage from the old Catholic
+times--and sent a waggon regularly every half-year to fetch it
+home. In return for this goodness, the nuns knit a pair of thread
+gloves for each canon in spring, and a pair of woollen ones in
+winter."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Then the devil may knit them if he chooses, but she
+never will. What! a lady of her rank to knit gloves for these old
+fat paunches! No, no; the abbess must come to her! Send a message
+to bid her come."
+
+And truly, in a little time, the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf,
+came as she was bid; for she had resolved to try and conquer
+Sidonia's pride and insolence by softness and humility.
+
+But what a storm of words fell upon the worthy matron!
+
+"Was this treatment, forsooth, for a noble lady? To be told to
+knit gloves for a set of lazy canons. Marry, she had better send
+the men at once to her room, to have them tried on. No wonder that
+levity and wantonness should reign throughout the convent!"
+
+Here the good mother interposed--
+
+"But could not sister Sidonia moderate her language a little? Such
+violence ill became a spiritual maiden. If she would not hold by
+the old usage, let her say so quietly, and then she herself, the
+abbess, would undertake to knit the gloves, since the work so
+displeased her."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room, but, on opening the door,
+tumbled right against sister Anna Apenborg, who was stuck up close
+to it, with her ear against the crevice, listening to what was
+passing inside. Anna screamed at first, for the good mother's head
+had given her a stout blow, but recovering quickly, as the two
+prioresses passed out, curtsied to Sidonia--
+
+"Her name was Anna Apenborg. Her father, Elias, dwelt in
+Nadrensee, near Old Stettin, and her great-great-grandfather,
+Caspar, had been with Bogislaff X. in the Holy Land. She had come
+to pay her respects to the new sister, for she was cooking in the
+kitchen yesterday when the lady arrived, and never got a sight of
+her, but she heard that this dear new sister was a great lady,
+with castles and lands. Her father's cabin was only a poor thing
+thatched with straw," &c.
+
+All this pleased the proud Sidonia mightily, so she beckoned her
+into the room, where the aforesaid Anna immediately began to stare
+about her, and devour everything with her eyes; but seeing such
+scanty furniture, remarked inquiringly--
+
+"The dear sister's goods are, of course, on the road?"
+
+This spoiled all Sidonia's good-humour in a moment, and she
+snappishly asked--
+
+"What brought her there?"
+
+Hereupon the other excused herself--
+
+"The maid had told her that the dear sister was going to eat her
+salmon for her lunch, with bread and butter, but it was much
+better with kale, and if she had none, her maid might come down
+now and cut some in the garden. This was what she had to say. She
+heard, indeed, that the sub-prioress and Agnes Kleist ate their
+salmon stewed in butter, but that was too rich; for one should be
+very particular about salmon, it was so apt to disagree. However,
+if sister Sidonia would just mind her, she would teach her all the
+different ways of dressing it, and no one was ever the worse for
+eating salmon, if they followed her plan."
+
+But before Sidonia had time to answer, the chatterbox had run to
+the door and lifted the latch--
+
+"There was a strange woman in the courtyard, with something under
+her apron. She must go and see what it was, but would be back
+again instantly with the news."
+
+In a short time she returned, bringing along with her Sheriff
+Sparling's dairy-woman, who carried a large bundle of flax under
+her apron. This she set down before Sidonia--
+
+"And his worship bid her say that she must spin all this for him
+without delay, for he wanted a new set of shirts, and the thread
+must be with the weaver by Christmas."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she fell into a right rage in earnest--
+
+"May the devil wring his ears, the peasant carl! To send such a
+message to a lady of her degree!"
+
+Then she pitched the flax out of the door, and wanted to shove the
+dairy-woman out after it, but she stopped, and said--
+
+"His worship gave all the nuns a bushel of seed for their trouble,
+and sowed it for them; so she had better do as the others did."
+
+Sidonia, however, was not to be appeased--
+
+"May the devil take her and her flax, if she did not trot out of
+that instantly."
+
+So she pushed the poor woman out, and then panting and blowing
+with rage, asked Anna Apenborg to tell her what this boor of a
+sheriff was like?
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a strange man. Ate fish every day, and
+always cooked the one way, namely, in beer. How this was possible
+she could not understand. To-day she heard he was to have pike for
+his dinner."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Was she asking the fool what he ate? What did she
+care about his dinners? But what sort of man was he, and did all
+the nuns, in truth, spin for him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, except Barbara Schetzkow; she was dead
+now. But once when he went storming to her cell, she just turned
+him out, and so she had peace ever after. For he roared like a
+bear, but, in truth, was a cowardly rabbit, this same sheriff. And
+she heard, that one time, when he was challenged by a noble, he
+shrank away, and never stood up to his quarrel."
+
+But just then in walked the sheriff himself, with a horse-whip in
+his hand. He was a thick-set, grey-headed fellow, and roared at
+Sidonia--
+
+"What! thou old, lean hag--so thou wilt spin no flax? May the
+devil take thee, but thou shalt obey my commands!"
+
+While he thus scolded, Sidonia quietly caught hold of the broom,
+and grasping it with both hands, gave such a blow with the handle
+on the grey pate of the sheriff, that he tumbled against the door,
+while she screamed out--
+
+"Ha! thou peasant boor, take that for calling me a hag--the lady
+of castle and lands!"
+
+Then she struck him again and again, till the sheriff at last got
+the door open and bolted out, running down the stairs as hard as
+he could, and into the courtyard, where, when he was safely
+landed, he shook the horsewhip up at Sidonia's windows, crying
+out--
+
+"I will make you pay dear for this. Anna Apenborg was witness of
+the assault. I will swear information this very day before his
+Highness, how the hag assaulted me, the sheriff, and
+superintendent of the convent, in the performance of my duty, and
+pray him to deliver an honourable cloister from the presence of
+such a vagabond."
+
+Then he went to the abbess, and begged her and the nuns to sustain
+him in his accusation--
+
+"Such wickedness and arrogance had never yet been seen under the
+sun. Let the good abbess only feel his head; there was a lump as
+big as an egg on it. Truly, he had had a mind to horsewhip her
+black and blue; but that would have been illegal; so he thanked
+God that he had restrained himself."
+
+Then he made the abbess feel his head again; also Anna Apenborg,
+who happened to come in that moment. But the worthy mother knew
+not what to do. She told the sheriff of Sidonia's behaviour as she
+drove into the convent; also how she had possessed herself of the
+refectory by force, refused to knit or spin, and had sent for her,
+the abbess, bidding her come to her, as if she were no better than
+a serving-wench.
+
+At last the sheriff desired all the nuns to be sent for, and in
+their presence drew up a petition to his Highness, praying that
+the honourable convent might be delivered from the presence of
+this dragon, for that no peace could be expected within the walls
+until this vagabond and evil-minded old hag were turned out on the
+road again, or wherever else his Highness pleased. Every one
+present signed this, with the exception of Anna Apenborg and the
+sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin. And many think that in
+consideration of this gentleness, Sidonia afterwards spared their
+lives, and did not bring them to a premature grave, like as she
+did the worthy abbess and others.
+
+For the next time that she caught Anna at her old habit of
+listening, Sidonia said, while boxing her--
+
+"You should get something worse than a box on the ear, only for
+your refusal to sign that lying petition to his Highness."
+
+_Summa_.--After a few days, an answer arrived from his Grace
+the Duke of Stettin, and the abbess, with the sheriff, proceeded
+with it to Sidonia's apartment.
+
+They found her brewing beer, an art in which she excelled; and the
+letter which they handed to her ran thus, according to the copy
+received likewise by the convent:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, &c.
+
+"Having heard from our sheriff and the pious sisterhood of
+Marienfliess, of thy unseemly behaviour, in causing uproars and
+tumults in the convent; further, of thy having struck our worthy
+sheriff on the head with a broom-stick--We hereby declare, desire,
+and command, that, unless thou givest due obedience to the
+authorities, lay and spiritual, doing this well, with humility and
+meekness, even as the other sisters, the said authorities shall
+have full power to turn thee out of the convent, by means of their
+bailiffs or otherwise, as they please, giving thee back again to
+that perdition from which thou wast rescued. Further, thou art
+herewith to deliver up the refectory to the abbess, of which We
+hear thou hast shamefully possessed thyself.
+
+"Old Stettin, 10th November, 1603.
+
+"BOGISLAFF."
+
+Sidonia scarcely looked at the letter, but thrust it under the pot
+on the fire, where it soon blazed away to help the brewing, and
+exclaimed--
+
+"They had forged it between them; the Prince never wrote a line of
+it. Nor would he have sent it to her by the hands of her enemies.
+Let it burn there. Little trouble would she take to read their
+villainy. But never fear, they should have something in return for
+their pains."
+
+Hereupon she blew on them both, and they had scarcely reached the
+court, after leaving her apartment, when both were seized with
+excruciating pains in their limbs; both the sheriff and the abbess
+were affected in precisely the same way--a violent pain first in
+the little finger, then on through the hand, up the arm, finally,
+throughout the whole frame, as if the members were tearing
+asunder, till they both screamed aloud for very agony. Doctor
+Schwalenberg is sent for from Stargard, but his salve does no
+good; they grow worse rather, and their cries are dreadful to
+listen to, for the pain has become intolerable.
+
+So my brave sheriff turns from a roaring ox into a poor cowardly
+hare, and sends off the dairy-woman with a fine haunch of venison
+and a sweetbread to Sidonia: "His worship's compliments to the
+illustrious lady with these, and begged to know if she could send
+him anything good for the rheumatism, which had attacked him quite
+suddenly. The Stargard doctor was not worth the air he breathed,
+and his salve had only made him worse in place of better. He would
+send the illustrious lady also some pounds of wax-lights; she
+might like them through the winter, but they were not made yet."
+
+When Sidonia heard this she laughed loudly, danced about, and
+repeated the verse which was then heard for the first time from
+her lips; but afterwards she made use of it, when about any evil
+deed:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+  Meine Hunde und meine Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    My dogs and my cats."]
+
+The dairy-woman stood by in silent wonder, first looking at
+Sidonia, then at Wolde, who began to dance likewise, and
+chanted:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+   Unsre Hunde und unsre Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    Our dogs and our cats."]
+
+At last Sidonia answered, "This time I will help him; but if he
+ever bring the roaring ox out of the stall again, assuredly he
+will repent it."
+
+Hereon the dairy-mother turned to depart, but suddenly stood quite
+still, staring at Anne Wolde; at length said, "Did I not see thee
+years ago spinning flax in my mother's cellar, when the folk
+wanted to bring thee to an ill end?"
+
+But the hag denied it all--"The devil may have been in her
+mother's cellar, but she had never seen Marienfliess in her life
+before, till she came hither with this illustrious lady."
+
+So the other seemed to believe her, and went out; and by the time
+she reached her master's door, his pains had all vanished, so that
+he rode that same day at noon to the hunt.
+
+The poor abbess heard of all this through Anna Apenborg, and
+thereupon bethought herself of a little embassy likewise.
+
+So she bid Anna take all sorts of good pastry, and a new kettle,
+and greet the Lady Sidonia from her--"Could the dear sister give
+her anything for the rheumatism?" She heard the sheriff was quite
+cured, and all the doctor's salves and plasters were only making
+her worse. She sent the dear sister a few dainties--_item_, a
+new kettle, as her own kettle had not yet arrived. _Item_,
+she begged her acceptance of all the furniture, &c., which she had
+lent her for her apartment.
+
+At this second message, the horrible witch laughed and danced as
+before, repeating the same couplet; and the old hag, Wolde, danced
+behind her like her shadow.
+
+Now Anna Apenborg's curiosity was excited in the highest degree at
+all this, and her feet began to beat up and down on the floor as
+if she were dying to dance likewise; at last she exclaimed, "Ah,
+dear lady! what is the meaning of that? Could you not teach it to
+me, if it cures the rheumatism? that is, if there be no devil's
+work in it (from which God keep us). I have twelve pounds of wool
+lying by me; will you take it, dear lady, for teaching me the
+secret?"
+
+But Sidonia answered, "Keep your wool, good Anna, and I will keep
+my secret, seeing that it is impossible for me to teach it to you;
+for know, that a woman can only learn it of a man, and a man of a
+woman; and this we call the doctrine of sympathies. However, go
+your ways now, and tell the abbess that, if she does my will, I
+will visit her and see what I can do to help her; but, remember,
+my will she must do."
+
+Hereupon sister Anna was all eagerness to know what her will was,
+but Sidonia bade her hold her tongue, and then locked up the
+viands in the press, while Wolde went into the kitchen with the
+kettle, where Anna Apenborg followed her slowly, to try and pick
+something out of the old hag, but without any success, as one may
+easily imagine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent._
+
+
+When Sidonia went to visit the abbess, as she had promised, she
+found her lying in bed and moaning, so that it might have melted
+the heart of a stone; but the old witch seemed quite
+surprised--"What could be the matter with the dear, good mother?
+but by God's help she would try and cure her. Only, concerning
+this little matter of the refectory, it might as well be settled
+first, for Anna Apenborg told her the room was to be taken from
+her; but would not the good mother permit her to keep it?"
+
+And when the tortured matron answered, "Oh yes; keep it, keep it,"
+Sidonia went on--
+
+"There was just another little favour she expected for curing her
+dear mother (for, by God's help, she expected to cure her). This
+was, to make her sub-prioress in place of Dorothea Stettin; for,
+in the first place, the situation was due to her rank, she being
+the most illustrious lady in the convent, dowered with castles and
+lands; secondly, because her illustrious forefathers had helped to
+found this convent; and thirdly, it was due to her age, for she
+was the natural mother of all these young doves, and much more
+fitted to keep them in order and strict behaviour than Dorothea
+Stettin."
+
+Here the abbess answered, "How could she make her sub-prioress
+while the other lived? This was not to be done? Truly sister
+Dorothea was somewhat prudish and whining, this she could not
+deny, for she had suffered many crosses in her path; but, withal,
+she was an upright, honest creature, with the best and simplest
+heart in the world; and so little selfishness, that verily she
+would lay down her life for the sisterhood, if it were necessary."
+
+_Illa_.--"A good heart was all very well, but what could it
+do without respect? and how could a poor fool be respected who
+fell into fits if she saw a bride, particularly here, where the
+young sisters thought of nothing but marriage from morning till
+night."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Yet she was held in great respect and honour by all
+the sisterhood, as she herself could testify."
+
+_Illa_.--"Stuff! she must be sub-prioress, and there was an
+end of it, or the abbess might lie groaning there till she was as
+stiff as a pole."
+
+"Alas! Sidonia," answered the abbess, "I would rather lie here as
+stiff as a pole--or, in other words, lie here a corpse, for I
+understand thy meaning--than do aught that was unjust."
+
+_Illa_.--"What was unjust? The old goose need not be turned
+out of her office by force, but persuaded out of it--that would be
+an easy matter, if she were so humble and excellent a creature."
+
+_Hæc_.--"But then deceit must be practised, and that she
+could never bring herself to."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yet you could all practise deceit against me, and
+send off that complaint to his Highness the Prince."
+
+_Hæc_.--"There was no falsehood there nor deceit, but the
+openly expressed wish of the whole convent, and of his worship the
+sheriff."
+
+_Illa_.--"Then let the whole convent and his worship the
+sheriff make her well again; she would not trouble herself about
+the matter."
+
+Whereupon she rose to depart, but the suffering abbess stretched
+out her hands, and begged, for the sake of Jesus, that she would
+release her from this torture! "Take everything--everything thou
+wishest, Sidonia--only leave me my good conscience. Thy dying hour
+must one day come too; oh! think on that."
+
+_Illa_.--"The dying hour is a long way off yet" (and she
+moved to the door).
+
+_Hæc _(murmuring):--
+
+  "Why should health from God estrange thee?
+  Morning cometh and may change thee;
+  Life, to-day, its hues may borrow
+  Where the grave-worm feeds to-morrow."
+
+_Illa_.--"Look to yourself then. Speak! Make me sub-prioress,
+and be Cured on the instant."
+
+_Hæc _ (turning herself back upon the pillow).--"No, no,
+temptress; begone:--
+
+  "'Softest pillow for the dying,
+  Is a conscience void of dread.'
+
+Go, leave me; my life is in the hand of God. 'For if we live, we
+live unto the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord. Living,
+therefore, or dying, we are the Lord's.'"
+
+So saying, the pious mother turned her face to the wall, and
+Sidonia went out of the chamber.
+
+In a little while, however, she returned--"Would the good mother
+promise, at least, to offer no opposition, if Dorothea Stettin
+proposed, of her own free will, to resign the office of
+sub-prioress? If so, let her reach forth her hand; she would soon
+find the pains leave her."
+
+The poor abbess assented to this, and oh, wonder! as it came, so
+it went; first out of the little finger, and then by degrees out
+of the whole body, so that the old mother wept for joy, and
+thanked her murderess.
+
+Just then the door opened, and David Ludeck, the chaplain, whom
+the abbess had sent for, entered in his surplice. He was a fine
+tall man, of about thirty-five years, with bright red lips and
+jet-black beard.
+
+He wondered much on hearing how the abbess had been cured by what
+Sidonia called "sympathies," and smelled devil's work in it, but
+said nothing--for he was afraid; spoke kindly to the witch-hag
+even, and extolled her learning and the nobility of her race;
+declaring that he knew well that the Von Borks had helped mainly
+to found this cloister.
+
+This mightily pleased the sorceress, and she grew quite friendly,
+asking him at last, "What news he had of his wife and children?"
+And when he answered, "He had no wife nor children," her eyes lit
+up again like old cinders, and she began to jest with him about
+his going about so freely in a cloister, as she observed he did.
+But when she saw that the priest looked grave at the jestings, she
+changed her tone, and demurely asked him, "If he would be ready
+after sermon on Sunday to assist at her assuming the nun's dress;
+for though many had given up this old usage, yet she would hold by
+it, for love of Jesu." This pleased the priest, and he promised to
+be prepared. Then Sidonia took her leave; but scarcely had she
+reached her own apartment when she sent for Anna Apenborg. "What
+sort of man was this chaplain? she saw that he went about the
+convent at his pleasure. This was strange when he was unmarried."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a right friendly and well-behaved gentleman.
+Nothing unseemly in word or deed had ever been heard of him."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Then he must have some private love-affair."
+
+_Illa_.--"Some said he was paying court to Bamberg's sister
+there in Jacobshagen."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Ha! very probable. But was it true? for otherwise he
+should never go about amongst the nuns the way he did. It was
+quite abominable: an unmarried man; Dorothea Stettin was right.
+But how could they ascertain the fact?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was easily done. She was going next morning to
+Jacobshagen, and would make out the whole story for her. Indeed,
+she herself, too, was curious about it."
+
+_Hæc_.--"All right. This must be done for the honour of the
+cloister. For according to the rules of 1569, the court chaplain
+was to be an old man, who should teach the sisters to read and
+write. Whereas, here was a fine carl with red lips and a black
+beard--unmarried too. Did he perchance ever teach any of them to
+read or write?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; for they all knew how already."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Still there was something wrong in it. No, no, in
+such matters youth has no truth; Dorothea Stettin was quite right.
+Ah, what a wonderful creature, that excellent Dorothea! Such
+modesty and purity she had never met with before. Would that all
+young maidens were like her, and then this wicked world would be
+something better."
+
+_Illa_ (sighing).--"Ah, yes; but then sister Dorothea went
+rather far in her notions."
+
+_Hæc_.--"How so? In these matters one could never go too
+far."
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, when a couple were called in church, or a
+woman was churched, Dorothea nearly fainted. Then, there was a
+niche in the chancel for which old Duke Barnim had given them an
+Adam and Eve, which he turned and carved himself. But Dorothea was
+quite shocked at the Adam, and made a little apron to hang before
+him, though the abbess and the whole convent said that it was not
+necessary. But she told them, that unless Adam wore his apron,
+never would she set foot in the chapel. Now, truly this was going
+rather far. _Item_, she has been heard to wonder how the Lord
+God could send all the animals naked into the world; as cats,
+dogs, horses, and the like. Indeed, she one day disputed sharply
+on the matter with the chaplain; but he only laughed at her,
+whereupon Dorothea went away in a sulk."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed outright too; but soon said with grave
+decorum, "Quite right. The excellent Dorothea was a treasure above
+all treasures for the convent. Ah, such chastity and virtue were
+rarely to be met with in this wicked world."
+
+Now Anna Apenborg had hardly turned her back, to go and chatter
+all this back again to the sub-prioress, when Sidonia proceeded to
+tap some of her beer, and called the convent porter to her,
+Matthias Winterfeld, bidding him carry it with her greetings to
+the chaplain, David Ludeck. (For her own maid, Wolde, was lame,
+ever since the racking she got at Wolgast. So Sidonia was in the
+habit of sending the porter all her messages, much to his
+annoyance.) When he came now he was in his shirt-sleeves, at which
+Sidonia was wroth--"What did he mean by going about the convent in
+shirt-sleeves? Never let him appear before her eyes in such
+unseemly trim. And was this a time even for shirt-sleeves, when
+they were in the month of November? But winter or summer, he must
+never appear so,"
+
+Hereupon the fellow excused himself. He was killing geese for some
+of the nuns, and had just put off his coat, not to have it spoiled
+by the down; but she is nothing mollified--scolds him still, so
+the fellow makes off without another word, fearing he might get a
+touch of the rheumatism, like the abbess and his worship the
+sheriff, and carries the beer-can to the reverend chaplain; from
+whom he soon brings back "his grateful acknowledgments to the Lady
+Sidonia."
+
+Two days now passed over, but on the third morning Anna Apenborg
+trotted into the refectory full of news. She was quite tired from
+her journey yesterday; for the snow was deep on the roads, but to
+pleasure sister Sidonia (and besides, as it was a matter that
+concerned the honour of the convent) she had set off to
+Jacobshagen, though indeed the snow lay ankle-deep. However, she
+was well repaid, and had heard all she wanted; oh, there was great
+news!
+
+_Illa_.--"Quick! what? how? why? Remember it is for the
+honour and reputation of the entire convent."
+
+_Hæc_.--"She had first gone to one person, who pretended not
+to know anything at all of the matter; but then another person had
+told her the whole story--under the seal of the strictest secrecy,
+however."
+
+_Illa_.--"What is it? what is it? How she went on chattering
+of nothing."
+
+_Hæc_.--"But will the dear sister promise not to breathe it
+to mortal? She would be ruined with her best friend otherwise."
+
+_Illa_.--"Nonsense, girl; who could I repeat it to? Come, out
+with it!"
+
+So Anna began, in a very long-winded manner, to explain how the
+burgomaster's wife in Jacobshagen said that her maid said that
+Provost Bamberg's maid said, that while she was sweeping his study
+the other morning, she heard the provost's sister say to her
+brother in the adjoining room, that she could not bear the
+chaplain, David Ludeck, for he had been visiting there off and on
+for ever so long, and yet never had asked her the question. He was
+a faint-hearted coward evidently, and she hated faint-hearted men.
+
+Sidonia grew as red as a lire-beacon when she heard this, and
+walked up and down the apartment as if much perturbed, so that
+Anna asked if the dear sister were ill? "No," was the answer. "She
+was only thinking how best to get rid of this priest, and prevent
+him running in and out of the convent whenever he pleased. She
+must try and have an order issued, that he was only to visit the
+nuns when they were sick. This very day she would see about it.
+Could the good Anna tell her what the sheriff had for lunch
+to-day?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, could she; for the milk-girl, who had
+brought her some fresh milk, told her that he had got plenty of
+wild fowl, which the keeper had snared in the net; and there was
+to be a sweetbread besides. But what was the dear sister herself
+to eat?"
+
+_Hæc_.--"No matter--but did she not hear a great ringing of
+bells? What could the ringing be for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was a strange thing, truly. And there was no
+one dead, nor any child to be christened, that she had heard of.
+She would just run out and see, and bring the dear sister word."
+
+_Illa_.-"Well then, wait till evening, for it is near noon
+now, and I expect a guest to lunch."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Eh? a guest!--and who could it be?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the chaplain himself. I want to arrange about
+his dismissal."
+
+So, hardly had she got rid of the chatterbox, when Sidonia called
+the porter, Matthias, and bid him greet the reverend chaplain from
+her, and say, that as she had somewhat to ask him concerning the
+investiture on Sunday, would he be her guest that day at dinner?
+She hoped to have some game with a sweetbread, and excellent beer
+to set before him.
+
+When the porter returned with the answer from his reverence,
+accepting the invitation, she sent him straight to the sheriff
+with a couple of covered dishes, and a message, begging his
+worship to send her half-a-dozen brace or so of game, for she
+heard that a great many had been taken in his nets; and a
+sweetbread, if he had it, for she had a guest to-day at dinner.
+
+So the dishes came back full--everything just ready to be served;
+for the cunning hag knew well that he dare not refuse her; and
+immediately afterwards the priest arrived to dinner. He was very
+friendly, but Sidonia caught him looking very suspiciously at a
+couple of brooms which she had laid crosswise under the table. So
+she observed, "I lay these brooms there, to preserve our dear
+mother and the sheriff from falling again into this sickness. It
+is part of the doctrine of sympathies, and I learned it out of my
+Herbal, as I can show you." Upon which she went to her trunk and
+got the book for the priest, whose fears diminished when he saw
+that it was _printed_; but he could not prevail on her to
+lend it to him.
+
+_Summa_.--The priest grew still more friendly over the good
+eating and drinking; and she, the old hypocrite, discoursed him
+the while about her heavenly bridegroom, and threw up her eyes and
+sighed, at the same time pressing his hand fervently. But the
+priest never minded it, for she was old enough to be his mother,
+and besides, he remembered the Scripture--"No man can call Jesus
+Lord, except through the Holy Ghost." So as her every third word
+was "Jesus," he looked upon her as a most discreet and pious
+Christian, and went away much satisfied by her and the good
+dinner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails
+through a mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she
+bewitched the whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the
+grievous sorrow of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto
+this day._ [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"Ay, and
+will to the last day, _vaeh mihi_."]
+
+
+As soon as the pious abbess was able to leave her bed, she sent
+for the priest, for she had strange suspicions about Sidonia, and
+asked the reverend clerk, if indeed her cure could have been
+effected by sympathy? and were it not rather some work of the
+bodily Satan himself? But my priest assured her concerning
+Sidonia's Christian faith; _item_, told, to the great
+wonderment of the abbess, that she no longer cared for the
+sub-prioret (we know why--she would sooner have the priest than
+the prioret), but was content to let Dorothea Stettin keep it or
+resign it, just as she pleased.
+
+After this, the investiture of Sidonia took place, and the priest
+blessed her at the altar, and admonished her to take as her model
+the wise virgins mentioned Matt. xxv. (but God knows, she had
+followed the foolish virgins up to that period, and never ceased
+doing so to the end of her days).
+
+Even on that very night, we shall see her conduct; for she bid her
+maid, Wolde, run and call up the convent porter, and despatch him
+instantly for the priest, saying that she was very ill, and he
+must come and pray with her. This excited no suspicion, since she
+herself had forbade the priest entering the convent, unless any of
+the sisters were sick. But Anna Apenborg slipped out of bed when
+she heard the noise, and watched from the windows for the porter's
+return. Then she tossed up the window, though the snow blew in all
+over her bed, and called out, "Well, what says he? will he come?
+will he come?"
+
+And when the fellow grunted in answer, "Yes, he's coming," she
+wrapped a garment round her, and set herself to watch, though her
+teeth were chattering from cold all the time. In due time the
+priest came, whereupon the curious virgin crept out of her garret,
+and down the stairs to a little window in the passage which looked
+in upon the refectory, and through which, in former times,
+provisions were sometimes handed in. There she could hear
+everything that passed.
+
+When the priest entered, Sidonia stretched out her meagre arms
+towards him, and thanked him for coming; would he sit down here on
+the bed, for there was no other seat in the room? she had much to
+tell him that was truly wonderful. But the priest remained
+standing: let her speak on.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! it concerned himself. She had dreamt a strange
+dream (God be thanked that it was not a reality), but it left her
+no peace. Three times she awoke, and three fell asleep and dreamt
+it again. At last she sent for him, for there might be danger in
+store for him, and she would turn it away if possible."
+
+_Hic_.--"It was strange, truly. What, then, had she dreamed?"
+
+_Illa_.--"It seemed to her that murderers had got up into his
+room through the window, and just as they were on the point of
+strangling him, she had appeared and put them to flight,
+whereupon--" (here she paused and sighed).
+
+_Hic _(in great agitation).--"Go on, for God's sake go
+on--what further?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Whereupon--ah! she must tell him now, since he
+forced her to do it. Whereupon, out of gratitude, he took her to
+be his wife, and they were married" (sighing, and holding both
+hands before her eyes).
+
+_Hic_ (clasping his hands).--"Merciful Heaven! how strange! I
+dreamt all that precisely myself." [Footnote: The power of
+producing particular dreams by volition, was recognised by the
+ancients and philosophers of the Middle Ages. _Ex._ Albertus
+Magnus relates (_De Mirabilibus Mundi_ 205) that horrible
+dreams can be produced by placing an ape's skin under the pillow.
+He also gives a receipt for making women tell their secrets in
+sleep (but this I shall keep to myself). Such phenomena are
+neither physiologically nor psychologically impossible, but our
+modern physiologists are content to take the mere poor form of
+nature, dissect it, anatomise it, and then bury it beneath the
+sand of their hypotheses. Thus, indeed, "the dead bury their
+dead," while all the strange, mysterious, inner powers of nature,
+which the philosophers of the Middle Ages, as Psellus, Albertus
+Magnus, Trithemius, Cardanus, Theophastus, &c., did so much to
+elucidate, are at once flippantly and ignorantly placed in the
+category of "Superstitions," "Absurdities," and "Artful
+Deceptions."]
+
+Upon which Sidonia cried out, "How can it be possible? Oh, it is
+the will of God, David--it is the will of God" (and she seized him
+by both hands).
+
+But the priest remained as cold as the snow outside, drew back his
+head, and said, "Ah! no doubt these absurdities about marriage
+came into my head because I had been thinking so much over our
+young Lord Philip of Wolgast, who was wedded to-day at Berlin."
+
+Sidonia started up at this, and screamed in rage and anger--"What!
+Duke Philip married to-day in Berlin? The accursed prioress told
+me the wedding was not to be for eight days after the next new
+moon."
+
+The priest now was more astonished at her manner than even at the
+coincidence of the dreams, and he started back from the bed.
+Whereupon, perceiving the mistake she had made, the horrible witch
+threw herself down again, and letting her head fall upon the
+pillow, murmured, "Oh! my head! my head! She must have locked up
+the moon in the cellar. How will the poor people see now by
+night?--why did the prioress lock up the moon? Oh! my head! my
+head!" Then she thanked the priest for coming--it was so good of
+him; but she was worse--much worse. "Ah! her head! her head!
+Better go now--but let him come again in the morning to see her."
+So the good priest believed in truth that the detestable hag was
+very ill, and evidently suffering from fever; so he went his way
+pitying her much, and without the least suspicion of her wicked
+purposes.
+
+Scarcely, however, had he closed the door, when Sidonia sprang
+like a cat from her bed, and called out, "Wolde, Wolde!" And as
+the old witch hobbled in with her lame leg, Sidonia raged and
+stamped, crying out, "The accursed abbess has lied to me. Ernest
+Ludovicus' brat was married to-day at Berlin. Oh! if I am too late
+now, as on his father's marriage, I shall hang myself in the
+laundry. Where is Chim--the good-for-nothing spirit?--he should
+have seen to this." And she dragged him out and beat him, while he
+quaked like a hare.
+
+Whereupon Wolde called out, "Bring the padlock from the trunk."
+The other answered, "What use now?--the bridal pair are long since
+wedded and asleep." To which the old witch replied, "No; it is
+twelve o'clock here, but in Berlin it wants a quarter to it yet.
+There is time. The Berlin brides never retire to their apartment
+till the clock strikes twelve. There is time still."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Sidonia, "since the devil cannot tell me on what
+day they hold bridal, I will make an end now of the whole accursed
+griffin brood, in all its relationships, branch and root, now and
+for evermore, in Wolgast as in Stettin; be they destroyed and
+rooted out for ever and for ever." Then she took the padlock, and
+murmured some words over it, of which Anna Apenborg could only
+catch the names, Philip, Francis, George, Ulrich, Bogislaff, who
+were all sons to Duke Bogislaff XIII., and, in truth, died each
+one without leaving an heir. And, during the incantation, the
+light trembled and burned dim upon the table, and the thing which
+she had beaten seemed to speak with a human voice, and the bells
+on the turret swung in the wind with a low sound, so that Anna
+fell on her knees from horror, and scarcely dared to breathe. Then
+the accursed sorceress gave the padlock and key to Wolde, bidding
+her go forth by night and fling it into the sea, repeating the
+words:--
+
+   "Hid deep in the sea
+   Let my dark spell be,
+   For ever, for ever!
+   To rise up never!"
+
+Then Wolde asked, "Had she forgotten Duke Casimir?" Whereat
+Sidonia laughed and said, "The spell had long been on him." And
+immediately after, Anna Apenborg beheld _three_ shadows, in
+place of two, thrown upon the white wall opposite the little
+window. So she strengthened her heart to look in, and truly there
+was _another_ form present now. And the three danced
+together, and chanted strange rhymes, while the shadows on the
+wall danced up and down likewise. Then a deep bass voice called
+out, "Ha! there is Christian flesh here! Ha! there is Christian
+flesh!" Whereupon Anna, though nearly dead with fright, crept up
+to her garret on her knees, while loud laughter resounded behind
+her; and it seemed as if old pots were flung up the stairs after
+her. [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Incredibile sane, et
+tamen verum. Cur, mi Deus?--(It seems impossible, and yet how
+true. Wherefore, my God?)
+
+The spell by knotting the girdle is noticed by Virgil, 8th
+eclogue:
+
+  "Necte tribus nodis ternos Amarylli colores;
+  Necte Amarylli modo, et Veneris die vincula necto."
+
+  [In three knots Amaryllis weaves three different colours;
+  Amaryllis knots and says: I knot the girdle of Venus.]
+
+The use of the padlock is not mentioned until the Middle Ages,
+when it seems to have been so much employed that severe ordinances
+were directed against its use.] For the rest of that night she
+could not close her eyes.
+
+Next morning, one can easily imagine with what eagerness she
+hurried to the abbess, to relate the past night's horrible tale.
+Sidonia likewise is astir early, for by daybreak she despatched
+her old lame Wolde to the chaplain (the porter was not up yet)
+with a can of beer for his great trouble the night before, and
+trusted it would strengthen his heart. In this beer she had poured
+her detestable love-philtrum, to awaken a passion for herself in
+the breast of the reverend David, but it turned out quite
+otherwise, and ended after the most ludicrous fashion, no doubt
+all owing to the malice of the spirit Chim, in revenge for the
+blows she had given him the night previous; for, behold, as soon
+as the priest had swallowed a right good draught of beer, he began
+to stare at the old hag and murmur; then he passed his hand over
+his eyes, and motioned her to remain. Again he looked at
+her--twice, thrice--put some silver into her hand, and at last
+spake--"Ah! Wolde, what a beautiful creature you are! Where have
+my eyes been, that I never discovered this before?"
+
+The cunning hag saw now plainly what the drink had done, and which
+way the wind blew. So she sat herself down simpering, by the
+stove, and my priest crept up close beside her; he took her
+hand--"Ah! how fat and plump it was--such a beautiful hand."
+
+But the old hag drew it back, saying, "Let me go, Mr. David!" To
+which he answered, "Yes, go, my treasure! I love to see you walk!
+What an exquisite limp! How stupid are men nowadays not to see all
+the beauty of a limp! Ah! Venus knew it well, and therefore chose
+Vulcan, for he, too, limped like my Wolde. Give me a kiss then,
+loveliest of women! Ah! what enchanting snow-white hair, like the
+purest silver, has my treasure on her head."
+
+No wonder the old lame hag was tickled with the commendations,
+for, in all the sixty years of her life, she never had heard the
+like before. But she played the prude, and pushed away the priest
+with her hand, just as, by good fortune, a messenger from the
+abbess knocked at the door, with a request that the chaplain would
+come to the good mother without delay. So the old hag went away
+with the maid of the abbess, and the priest stopped to dress
+himself more decently.
+
+But in some time the abbess, who was on the watch, saw him
+striding past her door; so she opened the window and called out to
+know "Where was he going? Had he forgotten that she lived there?"
+To which he answered, "He must first visit Sidonia." At this the
+worthy matron stared at him in horror; but my priest went on; and
+as he cared more for the maid than the mistress now, ran at once
+into the kitchen, without waiting to see Sidonia in the refectory;
+and seizing hold of Wolde, whispered, "That she must give him the
+kiss now--she need not be such a prude, for he had no wife. And
+what beautiful hair! Never in his life had he seen such beautiful
+white hair!" But the old hag still resisted; and in the struggle a
+stool, on which lay a pot, was thrown down.
+
+Sidonia rushed in at the noise; and behold! there was my priest
+holding Wolde by the hand. She nearly fainted at the sight. What
+was he doing with her maid? Then seizing a heavy log of wood, she
+began to lay it on Wolde's shoulders, who screamed and roared,
+while my priest slunk away ashamed, without a word; and as he ran
+down the steps, heard the blows and the screams still resounding
+from the kitchen.
+
+As he passed the door of the abbess's room, again she called him
+in; but as he entered, she exclaimed in terror, "My God, what ails
+your reverence? You look as black and red in the face as if you
+had had a fit, and had grown ten years older in one night!"
+
+"Nothing ails me," he answered; then sighed, and walked up and
+down the room, murmuring, "What is the world to me? Why should I
+care what the world thinks?" Then falls flat on the ground as if
+he were dead, while the good abbess screams and calls for help. In
+runs Anna Apenborg--_item_, several other sisters with their
+maids, and they stretch the priest out upon a bench near the
+stove, where he soon begins to foam at the mouth, and throw up all
+the beer, with the love-philtrum therein, which he had drunk
+(Sidonia's power effected this, no doubt, since she saw how
+matters stood).
+
+Then he heaved a deep sigh, opened his eyes, and asked, "Where am
+I?" Whereupon, finding that his reason and clear understanding had
+been restored to him, he requested the sisterhood to depart (for
+they had all rushed in to hear what was going on) and leave him
+alone with the abbess, as he had matter of grave import to discuss
+with her. Whereupon they all went out, except Anna Apenborg, who
+said that she, too, had matter of grave import to relate. So
+finding she would not stir, the priest took her by the hand, and
+put her out at the door along with the others.
+
+Now when they were both left alone, we can easily imagine the
+subject of their conversation. The poor priest made his
+confession, concealing nothing, only lamenting bitterly how he had
+disgraced his holy calling; but he had felt like one in a dream,
+or under some influence which he could not shake off. In return,
+the abbess told him of the horrible scene witnessed by Anna
+Apenborg the night before; upon which they both agreed that no
+more accursed witch and sorceress was in the world than their poor
+cloister held at that moment. Finally, putting all the
+circumstances together, the reverend David began to perceive what
+designs Sidonia had upon him, particularly when he heard of Anna
+Apenborg's visit to Jacobshagen, and the news which she had
+brought back from thence. So to destroy all hope at once in the
+accursed sorceress, and save himself from further importunity and
+persecution on her part, he resolved to offer his hand the very
+next day to Barbara Bamberg, for, in truth, he had long had an eye
+of Christian love upon the maiden, who was pious and discreet, and
+just suited to be a pastor's wife.
+
+Then they agreed to send for the sheriff, and impart the whole
+matter to him, he being cloister superintendent; but his answer
+was, "Let them go to him, if they wanted to speak to him; for, as
+to him, he would never enter the convent again--his poor body had
+suffered too much there the last time."
+
+Whereupon they went to him; but he could give no counsel, only to
+leave the matter in the hands of God the Lord; for if they
+appealed to the Prince, the sorceress would surely bewitch them
+again, and they would be screaming day and night, or maybe die at
+once, and then what help for them, &c.
+
+Sidonia meanwhile was not idle; for she sent messages throughout
+the whole convent that she lay in her bed sick unto death, and
+they must needs come and pray with her, along with the priest,
+before they assembled in the chapel for service. At this open
+blasphemy and hypocrisy, a great fear and horror fell upon the
+abbess, likewise upon the priest, since the witch had specially
+named him, and desired that he would come _before_ service to
+pray with her. For a long while he hesitated, at last promised to
+visit her _after_ service; but again bethought himself that
+it would be more advisable to visit her before, for he might
+possibly succeed in unveiling all her iniquities, or if not, he
+could pray afterwards in the church, "that if indeed Sidonia were
+really sick, and a child of God, the just and merciful Father
+would raise her up and strengthen her in her weakness; but if she
+were practising deceit, and were no child of God, but an accursed
+limb of Satan, then he would give her up into the hands of God for
+punishment, for had He not said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
+repay, saith the Lord'? (Romans xii. 19.)"
+
+This pleased the abbess, and forthwith the reverend David
+proceeded to the refectory.
+
+Now Sidonia had not expected him so early, and she was up and
+dressed, busily brewing another hellish drink to have ready for
+him by the time he arrived; but when his step sounded in the
+passage, she whipped into bed and covered herself up with the
+clothes, not so entirely, however, but that a long tail of her
+black robe fell outside from under the white sheet--this,
+unluckily for herself, she knew nothing of. The priest, however,
+saw it plainly, and had, moreover, heard the jump she gave into
+bed just as he opened the door; but he made no remark, only
+greeted her as usual, and asked what she wanted with him.
+
+_Illa.--"Ah! she was sick, sick unto death--would he not pray
+for her? for the night before she was too ill to pray, and no
+doubt the Lord was angry with her, by reason of the omission. This
+morning, indeed, she had crept out of bed, just to scold her
+awkward maid for breaking all the pots and pans, as he himself
+saw, but had to go to bed again, and was growing weaker and weaker
+every quarter of an hour. But the good priest must taste her beer;
+let him drink a can of it first to strengthen his heart. It was
+the best beer she had made yet, and her maid had just tapped a
+fresh barrel."
+
+Here the reverend David made answer--"He thanked her for her beer,
+but would drink none. He could not believe, either, that she was
+as ill as she said, and had been lying in bed all the morning."
+
+But she persisted so vehemently in her falsehoods that the very
+boards under her must have felt ashamed, if they had possessed any
+consciousness. Whereupon the priest shuddered in horror and
+disgust, bent down silently, and lifted up the piece of her robe
+which lay outside.
+
+"What did this mean? did she wear her nun's dress in bed? or was
+she not rather making a mock of him, and the whole convent, by her
+pretended sickness?"
+
+Here Sidonia grew red with shame and wrath; but, ere she could
+utter a word, the priest continued with a holy and righteous
+anger--
+
+"Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou art a byword amongst the people.
+Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou hast passed thy youth in wantonness
+and thy old age in sin. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thy hellish arts
+brought thy mother the abbess, and thy father the superintendent,
+nearly to their graves. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for this past night
+thou hast taken a horrible revenge upon the whole princely race,
+and cursed them by the power which the devil gives thee. Woe to
+thee, Sidonia! for by thy hellish drink thou didst seek to destroy
+me, the servant of the living God, to thy horrible maid still more
+horribly attracting me. Woe to thee, Sidonia! accursed witch and
+sorceress, blasphemer of God and man! Behold, thy God liveth, and
+thy Prince liveth, and they will rain fire and brimstone upon thy
+infamous head. Woe to thee! woe to thee! woe to thee! thou false
+serpent--thou accursed above all the generations of vipers--how
+wilt thou escape eternal damnation?"
+
+When the righteous priest of God had ended his fearful
+malediction, he started at himself, for he knew not how the words
+had come into his mouth; then turned from the bed and went out,
+while a peal of laughter followed him from the room. But no evil
+happened to him at that time, as he had fully expected, from
+Sidonia (probably she feared to exasperate the convent and the
+Prince against her too much); but she treasured up her vengeance
+to another opportunity, as we shall hear further on.
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Sidonia the Sorceress V1, by William Meinhold
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sidonia the Sorceress V1, by William Meinhold
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Sidonia the Sorceress V1
+
+Author: William Meinhold
+
+Posting Date: June 16, 2013 [EBook #6700]
+Release Date: October, 2004
+First Posted: January 17, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIDONIA THE SORCERESS V1 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from
+images generously made available by the CWRU Preservation
+Department Digital Library
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED DESTROYER OF THE WHOLE REIGNING DUCAL HOUSE OF
+POMERANIA
+
+TRANSLATED BY LADY WILDE
+
+MARY SCHWEIDLER
+
+
+THE AMBER WITCH
+
+BY
+
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I.
+
+1894
+
+
+
+DEDICATION OF THE GERMAN EDITION.
+
+TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
+
+_LADY LUCY DUFF GORDON,_
+
+THE
+
+YOUNG AND GIFTED TRANSLATOR
+
+OF
+
+_"THE AMBER WITCH,"_
+
+THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Amongst all the trials for witchcraft with which we are
+acquainted, few have attained so great a celebrity as that of the
+Lady Canoness of Pomerania, Sidonia von Bork. She was accused of
+having by her sorceries caused sterility in many families,
+particularly in that of the ancient reigning house of Pomerania,
+and also of having destroyed the noblest scions of that house by
+an early and premature death. Notwithstanding the intercessions
+and entreaties of the Prince of Brandenburg and Saxony, and of the
+resident Pomeranian nobility, she was publicly executed for these
+crimes on the 19th of August 1620, on the public scaffold, at
+Stettin; the only favour granted being, that she was allowed to be
+beheaded first and then burned.
+
+This terrible example caused such a panic of horror, that
+contemporary authors scarcely dare to mention her name, and, even
+then, merely by giving the initials. This forbearance arose partly
+from respect towards the ancient family of the Von Borks, who
+then, as now, were amongst the most illustrious and wealthy in the
+land, and also from the fear of offending the reigning ducal
+family, as the Sorceress, in her youth, had stood in a very near
+and tender relation to the young Duke Ernest Louis von
+Pommern-Wolgast.
+
+These reasons will be sufficiently comprehensible to all who are
+familiar with the disgust and aversion in which the paramours of
+the evil one were held in that age, so that even upon the rack
+these subjects were scarcely touched upon.
+
+The first public, judicial, yet disconnected account of Sidonia's
+trial, we find in the Pomeranian Library of Daehnert, fourth
+volume, article 7, July number of the year 1755.
+
+Daehnert here acknowledges, page 241, that the numbers from 302 to
+1080, containing the depositions of the witnesses, were not
+forthcoming up to his time, but that a priest in Pansin, near
+Stargard, by name Justus Sagebaum, pretended to have them in his
+hands, and accordingly, in the fifth volume of the above-named
+journal (article 4, of April 1756), some very important extracts
+appear from them.
+
+The records, however, again disappeared for nearly a century,
+until Barthold announced, some short time since, [Footnote:
+"History of Rugen and Pomerania," vol. iv. p. 486.] that he had at
+length discovered them in the Berlin Library; but he does not say
+which, for, according to Schwalenberg, who quotes Daehnert, there
+existed two or three different copies, namely, the _Protocollum
+Jodoci Neumarks,_ the so-called _Acta Lothmanni,_ and that
+of _Adami Moesters,_ contradicting each other in the most
+important matters. Whether I have drawn the history of my Sidonia
+from one or other of the above-named sources, or from some
+entirely new, or, finally, from that alone which is longest known,
+I shall leave undecided.
+
+Every one who has heard of the animadversions which "The Amber
+Witch" excited, many asserting that it was only dressed-up
+history, though I repeatedly assured them it was simple fiction,
+will pardon me if I do not here distinctly declare whether Sidonia
+be history or fiction.
+
+The truth of the material, as well as of the formal contents, can
+be tested by any one by referring to the authorities I have named;
+and in connection with these, I must just remark, that in order to
+spare the reader any difficulties which might present themselves
+to eye and ear, in consequence of the old-fashioned mode of
+writing, I have modernised the orthography, and amended the
+grammar and structure of the phrases. And lastly, I trust that all
+just thinkers of every party will pardon me for having here and
+there introduced my supernatural views of Christianity. A man's
+principles, as put forward in his philosophical writings, are in
+general only read by his own party, and not by that of his
+adversaries. A Rationalist will fly from a book by a
+Supernaturalist as rapidly as this latter from one by a Friend of
+Light. But by introducing my views in the manner I have adopted,
+in place of publishing them in a distinct volume, I trust that all
+parties will be induced to peruse them, and that many will find,
+not only what is worthy their particular attention, but matter for
+deep and serious reflection.
+
+I must now give an account of those portraits of Sidonia which are
+extant.
+
+As far as I know, three of these (besides innumerable sketches)
+exist, one in Stettin, the other in the lower Pomeranian town
+Plathe, and a third at Stargard, near Regenwalde, in the castle of
+the Count von Bork. I am acquainted only with the last-named
+picture, and agree with many in thinking that it is the only
+original.
+
+Sidonia is here represented in the prime of mature beauty--a gold
+net is drawn over her almost golden yellow hair, and her neck,
+arms, and hands are profusely covered with jewels. Her bodice of
+bright purple is trimmed with costly fur, and the robe is of azure
+velvet. In her hand she carries a sort of pompadour of brown
+leather, of the most elegant form and finish. Her eyes and mouth
+are not pleasing, notwithstanding their great beauty--in the
+mouth, particularly, one can discover an expression of cold
+malignity.
+
+The painting is beautifully executed, and is evidently of the
+school of Louis Kranach.
+
+Immediately behind this form there is another looking over the
+shoulder of Sidonia, like a terrible spectre (a highly poetical
+idea), for this spectre is Sidonia herself painted as a Sorceress.
+It must have been added, after a lapse of many years, to the
+youthful portrait, which belongs, as I have said, to the school of
+Kranach, whereas the second figure portrays unmistakably the
+school of Rubens. It is a fearfully characteristic painting, and
+no imagination could conceive a contrast more shudderingly awful.
+The Sorceress is arrayed in her death garments--white with black
+stripes; and round her thin white locks is bound a narrow band of
+black velvet spotted with gold. In her hand is a kind of a
+work-basket, but of the simplest workmanship and form.
+
+Of the other portraits I cannot speak from my own personal
+inspection; but to judge by the drawings taken from them to which
+I have had access, they appear to differ completely, not only in
+costume, but in the character of the countenance, from the one I
+have described, which there is no doubt must be the original, not
+only because it bears all the characteristics of that school of
+painting which approached nearest to the age in which Sidonia
+lived--namely, from 1540 to 1620--but also by the fact that a
+sheet of paper bearing an inscription was found behind the
+painting, betraying evident marks of age in its blackened colour,
+the form of the letters, and the expressions employed. The
+inscription is as follows:--
+
+"This Sidonia von Bork was in her youth the most beautiful and the
+richest of the maidens of Pomerania. She inherited many estates
+from her parents, and thus was in her own right a possessor almost
+of a county. So her pride increased, and many noble gentlemen who
+sought her in marriage were rejected with disdain, as she
+considered that a count or prince alone could be worthy of her
+hand. For these reasons she attended the Duke's court frequently,
+in the hopes of winning over one of the seven young princes to her
+love. At length she was successful; Duke Ernest Louis von Wolgast,
+aged about twenty, and the handsomest youth in Pomerania, became
+her lover, and even promised her his hand in marriage. This
+promise he would faithfully have kept if the Stettin princes, who
+were displeased at the prospect of this unequal alliance, had not
+induced him to abandon Sidonia, by means of the portrait of the
+Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, the most beautiful princess in all
+Germany. Sidonia thereupon fell into such despair, that she
+resolved to renounce marriage for ever, and bury the remainder of
+her life in the convent of Marienfliess, and thus she did. But the
+wrong done to her by the Stettin princes lay heavy upon her heart,
+and the desire for revenge increased with years; besides, in place
+of reading the Bible, her private hours were passed studying the
+_Amadis_, wherein she found many examples of how forsaken
+maidens have avenged themselves upon their false lovers by means
+of magic. So she at last yielded to the temptations of Satan, and
+after some years learned the secrets of witchcraft from an old
+woman. By means of this unholy knowledge, along with several other
+evil deeds, she so bewitched the whole princely race that the six
+young princes, who were each wedded to a young wife, remained
+childless; but no public notice was taken until Duke Francis
+succeeded to the duchy in 1618. He was a ruthless enemy to
+witches; all in the land were sought out with great diligence and
+burned, and as they unanimously named the Abbess of Marienfliess
+[Footnote: Sidonia never attained this dignity, though Micraelius
+and others gave her the title.] upon the rack, she was brought to
+Stettin by command of the Duke, where she freely confessed all the
+evil wrought by her sorceries upon the princely race.
+
+"The Duke promised her life and pardon if she would free the other
+princes from the ban; but her answer was that she had enclosed the
+spell in a padlock, and flung it into the sea, and having asked
+the devil if he could restore the padlock again to her, he
+replied, 'No; that was forbidden to him;' by which every one can
+perceive that the destiny of God was in the matter.
+
+"And so it was that, notwithstanding the intercession of all the
+neighbouring courts, Sidonia was brought to the scaffold at
+Stettin, there beheaded, and afterwards burned.
+
+"Before her death the Prince ordered her portrait to be painted,
+in her old age and prison garb, behind that which represented her
+in the prime of youth. After his death, Bogislaff XIV., the last
+Duke, gave this picture to my grandmother, whose husband had also
+been killed by the Sorceress. My father received it from her, and
+I from him, along with the story which is here written down.
+
+"HENRY GUSTAVUS SCHWALENBERG."
+
+[Footnote: The style of this "Inscription" proves it to have been
+written in the beginning of the preceding century, but it is first
+noticed by Daehnert. I have had his version compared with the
+original in Stargord--through the kindness of a friend, who
+assures me that the transcription is perfectly correct, and yet
+can he be mistaken? for Horst (Magic Library, vol. ii. p. 246),
+gives the conclusion thus: "From whom my father received it, and I
+from him, along with the story precisely as given here by H. G.
+Schwalenberg." By this reading, which must have escaped my friend,
+a different sense is given to the passage; by the last reading it
+would appear that the "I" was a Bork, who had taken the tale from
+Schwalenberg's history of the Pomeranian Dukes, a work which
+exists only in manuscript, and to which I have had no access; but
+if we admit the first reading, then the writer must be a
+Schwalenberg. Even the "grandmother" will not clear up the matter,
+for Sidonia, when put to the torture, confessed, at the seventh
+question, that she had caused the death of Doctor Schwalenberg (he
+was counsellor in Stettin then), and at the eleventh question,
+that her brother's son, Otto Bork, had died also by her means. Who
+then is this "I"? Even Sidonia's picture, we see, utters
+mysteries.
+
+In my opinion the writer was Schwalenberg, and Horst seems to have
+taken his version from Paulis's "General History of Pomerania,"
+vol. iv. p. 396, and not from the original of Daehnert.
+
+For the picture at that early period was not in the possession of
+a Bork, but belonged to the Count von Mellin in Schillersdorf, as
+passages from many authors can testify. This is confirmed by
+another paper found along with that containing the tradition, but
+of much more modern appearance, which states that the picture was
+removed by successive inheritors, first from Schillersdorf to
+Stargord, from thence to Heinrichsberg (there are three towns in
+Pomerania of this name), and finally from Heinrichsberg, in the
+year 1834, was a second time removed to Stargord by the last
+inheritor.
+
+This Schillersdorf lies between Gartz and Stettin on the Oder.
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD.]
+
+
+LETTER OF DR. THEODORE PLOeNNIES
+
+TO BOGISLAFF THE FOURTEENTH, THE LAST DUKE OF POMERANIA.
+
+MOST EMINENT PRINCE AND GRACIOUS LORD,--Serene Prince, your
+Highness gave me a commission in past years to travel through all
+Pomerania, and if I met with any persons who could give me certain
+"information" respecting the notorious and accursed witch Sidonia
+von Bork, to set down carefully all they stated, and bring it
+afterwards into _connexum_ for your Highness. It is well
+known that Duke Francis, of blessed memory, never would permit the
+accursed deeds of this woman to be made public, or her confession
+upon the rack, fearing to bring scandal upon the princely house.
+But your Serene Highness viewed the subject differently, and said
+that it was good for every one, but especially princes, to look
+into the clear mirror of history, and behold there the faults and
+follies of their race. For this reason may no truth be omitted
+here.
+
+To such princely commands I have proved myself obedient,
+collecting all information, whether good or evil, and concealing
+nothing. But the greater number who related these things to me
+could scarcely speak for tears, for wherever I travelled
+throughout Pomerania, as the faithful servant of your Highness,
+nothing was heard but lamentations from old and young, rich and
+poor, that this execrable Sorceress, out of Satanic wickedness,
+had destroyed this illustrious race, who had held their lands from
+no emperor, in feudal tenure, like other German princes, but in
+their own right, as absolute lords, since five hundred years, and
+though for twenty years it seemed to rest upon five goodly
+princes, yet by permission of the incomprehensible God, it has now
+melted away until your Highness stands the last of his race, and
+no prospect is before us that it will ever be restored, but with
+your Highness (God have mercy upon us!) will be utterly
+extinguished, and for ever. "Woe to us, how have we sinned!"
+(Lament, v. 16). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff
+XIV.-"In tuas manus commendo spiritum meum, quia tu me redemisti
+fide deus,"]
+
+I pray therefore the all-merciful God, that He will remove me
+before your Highness from this vale of tears, that I may not
+behold the last hour of your Highness or of my poor fatherland.
+Rather than witness these things, I would a thousand times sooner
+lie quiet in my grave.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS.
+
+BOOK I.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UNTIL HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM._
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the education of Sidonia.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that befell
+there.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law, Vidante
+von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor Gerschovius
+comforts him out of God's Word.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how Clara
+von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How Sidonia wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how she
+whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness was
+celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back to
+Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia resolved
+on there.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and how
+in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+_FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UP TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians, and
+how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and locks
+him up in the Red Sea.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Of Otto Bork's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to wed
+her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of Stettin
+received her.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at Wollin,
+and what happened there.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann Appelmann.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure at Alten Damm--Item, of
+their reception by the robber-band.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night--Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the castle.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann by
+the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the great
+mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on her
+coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon, and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the young
+Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and of the
+sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of Pomerania.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of Marienfliess--Item,
+how their Princely and Electoral Graces of Pomerania, Brandenburg,
+and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to Wolgast, and of the divers
+pastimes of the journey.
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably.
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how Sidonia
+meets him as she is gathering bilberries--Item, of the unnatural
+witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir refuses,
+in consequence, to succeed him.
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired praebenda--Item, of her
+arrival at the convent of Marienfliess.
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS
+UP TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19TH, 1620._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and extols
+her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairy-woman, and
+how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails through a
+mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she bewitched the
+whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the grievous sorrow
+of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto this day.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I.
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UNTIL
+HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM.
+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the education of Sidonia._
+
+
+The illustrious and high-born prince and lord, Bogislaff,
+fourteenth Duke of Pomerania, Prince of Cassuben, Wenden, and
+Rugen, Count of Guezkow, Lord of the lands of Lauenburg and Butow,
+and my gracious feudal seigneur, having commanded me, Dr. Theodore
+Ploennies, formerly bailiff at the ducal court, to make search
+throughout all the land for information respecting the world-famed
+sorceress, Sidonia von Bork, and write down the same in a book, I
+set out for Stargard, accompanied by a servant, early one Friday
+after the _Visitationis Mariae_, 1629; for, in my opinion, in
+order to form a just judgment respecting the character of any one,
+it is necessary to make one's self acquainted with the
+circumstances of their early life; the future man lies enshrined
+in the child, and the peculiar development of each individual
+nature is the result entirely of education. Sidonia's history is a
+remarkable proof of this. I visited first, therefore, the scenes
+of her early years; but almost all who had known her were long
+since in their graves, seeing that ninety years had passed since
+the time of her birth. However, the old inn-keeper at Stargard,
+Zabel Wiese, himself very far advanced in years (whom I can
+recommend to all travellers--he lives in the Pelzerstrasse), told
+me that the old bachelor, Claude Uckermann of Dalow, an aged man
+of ninety-two years old, was the only person who could give me the
+information I desired, as in his youth he had been one of the many
+followers of Sidonia. His memory was certainly well nigh gone from
+age, still all that had happened in the early period of his life
+lay as fresh as the Lord's Prayer upon his tongue. Mine host also
+related some important circumstances to me myself, which shall
+appear in their proper place.
+
+I accordingly proceeded to Dalow, a little town half a mile from
+Stargard, and visited Claude Uckermann. I found him seated by the
+chimney corner, his hair as white as snow. "What did I want? He
+was too old to receive strangers; I must go on to his son Wedig's
+house, and leave him in quiet," &c. &c. But when I said that I
+brought him a greeting from his Highness, his manner changed, and
+he pushed the seat over for me beside the fire, and began to chat
+first about the fine pine-trees, from which he cut his
+firewood--they were so full of resin; and how his son, a year
+before, had found an iron pot in the turf moor under a tree, full
+of bracelets and earrings, which his little grand-daughter now
+wore.
+
+When he had tired himself out, I communicated what his Highness
+had so nobly commanded to be done, and prayed him to relate all he
+knew and could remember of this detestable sorceress, Sidonia von
+Bork. He sighed deeply, and then went on talking for about two
+hours, giving me all his recollections just as they started to his
+memory. I have arranged what he then related, in proper order. It
+was to the following effect:--
+
+Whenever his father, Philip Uckermann, attended the fair at
+Stramehl, a town belonging to the Bork family, he was in the habit
+of visiting Otto von Bork at his castle, who, being very rich,
+gave free quarters to all the young noblemen of the vicinity, so
+that from thirty to forty of them were generally assembled at his
+castle while the fair lasted; but after some time his father
+discontinued these visits, his conscience not permitting him
+further intercourse. The reason was this. Otto von Bork, during
+his residence in Poland, had joined the sect of the enthusiasts,
+[Footnote: Probably the sect afterwards named Socinians; for we
+find that Laelius Socinus taught in Poland, even before
+Melancthon's death (1560).] and had lost his faith there, as a
+young maiden might her honour. He made no secret of his new
+opinions, but openly at Martinmas fair, 1560, told the young
+nobles at dinner that Christ was but a man like other people, and
+ignorance alone had elevated Him to a God; which notion had been
+encouraged by the greed and avarice of the clergy. They should
+therefore not credit what the hypocritical priests chattered to
+them every Sunday, but believe only what reason and their five
+senses told them was truth, and that, in fine, if he had his will,
+he would send every priest to the devil.
+
+All the young nobles remained silent but Claude Zastrow, a feudal
+retainer of the Borks, who rose up (it was an evil moment to him)
+and made answer: "Most powerful feudal lord, were the holy
+apostles then filled with greed and covetousness, who were the
+first to proclaim that Christ was God, and who left all for His
+sake? Or the early Christians who, with one accord, sold their
+possessions, and gave the price to the poor?" Claude had before
+this displeased the knight, who now grew red with anger at the
+insolence of his vassal in thus answering him, and replied: "If
+they were not preachers for gain, they were at least stupid
+fellows." Hereupon a great murmur arose in the hall, but the
+aforesaid Zastrow is not silenced, and answered: "It is
+surprising, then, that the twelve stupid apostles performed more
+than twelve times twelve Greek or Roman philosophers. The knight
+might rage until he was black in the face, and strike the table.
+But he had better hold his tongue and use his understanding;
+though, after all, the intellect of a man who believed nothing but
+what he received through his five senses was not worth much; for
+the brute beasts were his equals, inasmuch as they received no
+evidence either but from the senses."
+
+Then Otto sprang up raging, and asked him what he meant; to which
+the other answered: "Nothing more than to express his opinion that
+man differed from the brute, not through his understanding, but by
+his faith, for that animals had evidently understanding, but no
+trace of faith had ever yet been discovered in them." [Footnote:
+This axiom is certainly opposed to modern ontology, which denies
+all ideas to the brute creation, and explains each proof of their
+intellectual activity by the unintelligible word "instinct." The
+ancients held very different opinions, particularly the new
+Platonists, one of whom (Porphyry, liber ii. _De
+abstinentia_) treats largely of the intellect and language of
+animals. Since Cartesius, however, who denied not only
+understanding, but even feeling, to animals, and represented them
+as mere animated machines (_De passionib. Pars i. Artic. iv. et
+de Methodo,_ No. 5, page 29, &c.), these views upon the
+psychology of animals produced the most mischievous results; for
+they were carried out until if not feeling, at least intellect,
+was denied to all animals more or less; and modern philosophy at
+length arrived at denying intelligence even to God, in whom and by
+whom, as formerly, man no longer attains to consciousness, but it
+is by man and through man that God arrives to a conscious
+intelligent existence. Some philosophers of our time, indeed, are
+condescending enough to ascribe _Understanding_ to animals
+and _Reason_ to man as the generic difference between the
+two. But I cannot comprehend these new-fashioned distinctions; for
+it seems to me absurd to split into the two portions of reason and
+understanding one and the same spiritual power, according as the
+object on which it acts is higher or lower; just as if we adopted
+two names for the same hand that digs up the earth and directs the
+telescope to heaven, or maintained that the latter was quite a
+different hand from the former. No. There is but one understanding
+for man and beasts, as but one common substance for their material
+forms. The more perfect the form, so much the more perfect is the
+intellect; and human and animal intellects are only dynamically
+different in human and animal bodies.
+
+And even if, among animals of the more perfect form, understanding
+has been discovered, yet in man alone has been found the innate
+feeling of connection with the supernatural, or _Faith_. If
+this, as the generic sign of difference, be called _Reason_,
+I have nothing to object, except that the word generally conveys a
+different meaning. But _Faith_ is, in fact, the pure Reason,
+and is found in all men, existing alike in the lowest
+superstitions as well as in the highest natures.]
+
+Otto's rage now knew no bounds, and he drew his dagger, roaring,
+"What! thou insolent knave, dost thou dare to compare thy feudal
+lord to a brute?" And before the other had time to draw his
+poignard to defend himself, or the guests could in any way
+interfere to prevent him, Otto stabbed him to the heart as he sat
+there by the table. (It was a blessed death, I think, to die for
+his Lord Christ.) And so he fell down upon the floor with
+contorted features, and hands and feet quivering with agony. Every
+one was struck dumb with horror at such a death; but the knight
+laughed loudly, and cried, "Ha! thou base-born serf, I shall teach
+thee how to liken thy feudal lord to a brute," and striding over
+his quivering limbs, he spat upon his face.
+
+Then the murmuring and whispering increased in the hall, and those
+nearest the door rushed out and sprang upon their horses; and
+finally all the guests, even old Uckermann, fled away, no one
+venturing to take up the quarrel with Otto Bork. After that, he
+fell into disrepute with the old nobility, for which he cared
+little, seeing that his riches and magnificence always secured him
+companions enough, who were willing to listen to his wisdom, and
+were consoled by his wine.
+
+And when I, Dr. Theodore Ploennies, inquired from the old bachelor
+if his Serene Highness had not punished the noble for his shameful
+crime, he replied that his wealth and powerful influence protected
+him. At least it was whispered that justice had been blinded with
+gold; and the matter was probably related to the prince in quite a
+different manner from the truth; for I have heard that a few years
+after, his Highness even visited this godless knight at his castle
+in Stramehl.
+
+As to Otto, no one observed any sign of repentance in him. On the
+contrary, he seemed to glory in his crime, and the neighbouring
+nobles related that he frequently brought in his little daughter
+Sidonia, whom he adored for her beauty, to the assembled guests,
+magnificently attired; and when she was bowing to the company, he
+would say, "Who art thou, my little daughter?" Then she would
+cease the salutations which she had learned from her mother, and
+drawing herself up, proudly exclaim, "I am a noble maiden, dowered
+with towns and castles!" Then he would ask, if the conversation
+turned upon his enemies--and half the nobles were so--"Sidonia,
+how does thy father treat his enemies?" Upon which the child would
+straighten her finger, and running at her father, strike it into
+his heart, saying, "_Thus_ he treats them." At which Otto
+would laugh loudly, and tell her to show him how the knave looked
+when he was dying. Then Sidonia would fall down, twist her face,
+and writhe her little hands and feet in horrible contortions. Upon
+which Otto would lift her up, and kiss her upon the mouth. But it
+will be seen how the just God punished him for all this, and how
+the words of the Scriptures were fulfilled: "Err not, God is not
+mocked; for what a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
+
+The parson of Stramehl, David Dilavius, related also to old
+Uckermann another fact, which, though it hardly seems credible,
+the bachelor reported thus to me:--
+
+This Dilavius was a learned man whom Otto had selected as
+instructor to his young daughter; "but only teach her," he said,
+"to read and write, and the first article of the Ten Commandments.
+The other Christian doctrines I can teach her myself; besides, I
+do not wish the child to learn so many dogmas."
+
+Dilavius, who was a worthy, matter-of-fact, good, simple
+character, did as he was ordered, and gave himself no further
+trouble until he came to ask the child to recite the first article
+of the creed out of the catechism for him. There was nothing wrong
+in that; but when he came to the second article, he crossed
+himself, not because it concerned the Lord Christ, but her own
+father, Otto von Bork, and ran somewhat thus:--
+
+"And I believe in my earthly father, Otto von Bork, a
+distinguished son of God, born of Anna von Kleist, who sitteth in
+his castle at Stramehl, from whence he will come to help his
+children and friends, but to slay his enemies and tread them in
+the dust."
+
+The third article was much in the same style, but he had partly
+forgotten it, neither could he remember if Dilavius had called the
+father to any account for his profanity, or taught the daughter
+some better Christian doctrine. In fine, this was all the old
+bachelor could tell me of Sidonia's education. Yes--he remembered
+one anecdote more. Her father had asked her one day, when she was
+about ten or twelve years old, "What kind of a husband she would
+like?" and she replied, "One of equal birth." _Ille:_
+[Footnote: In dialogue the author makes use of the Latin pronouns,
+_Ille_, he; _Illa_, she, to denote the different
+characters taking part in it; and sometimes _Hic_ and
+_Haec_, for the same purposes. _Summa_ he employs in the
+sense of "to sum up," or "in short."] "Who is her equal in the
+whole of Pomerania?" _Illa:_ "Only the Duke of Pomerania, or
+the Count von Ebersburg." _Ille:_ "Right! therefore she must
+never marry any other but one of these."
+
+It happened soon after, old Philip Uckermann, his father, riding
+one day through the fields near Stramehl, saw a country girl
+seated by the roadside, weeping bitterly. "Why do you weep?" he
+asked. "Has any one injured you?" "Sidonia has injured me," she
+replied. "What could she have done? Come dry your tears, and tell
+me." Whereupon the little girl related that Sidonia, who was then
+about fourteen, had besought her to tell her what marriage was,
+because her father was always talking to her about it. The girl
+had told her to the best of her ability; but the young lady beat
+her, and said it was not so, that long Dorothy had told her quite
+differently about marriage, and there she went on tormenting her
+for several days; but upon this evening Sidonia, with long
+Dorothy, and some of the milkmaids of the neighbourhood, had taken
+away one of the fine geese which the peasants had given her in
+payment of her labour. They picked it alive, all except the head
+and neck, then built up a large fire in a circle, and put the
+goose and a vessel of water in the centre. So the fat dripped down
+from the poor creature alive, and was fried in a pan as it fell,
+just as the girls eat it on their bread for supper. And the goose,
+having no means of escape, still went on drinking the water as the
+fat dripped down, whilst they kept cooling its head and heart with
+a sponge dipped in cold water, fastened to a stick, until at last
+the goose fell down when quite roasted, though it still screamed,
+and then Sidonia and her companions cut it up for their amusement,
+living as it was, and ate it for their supper, in proof of which,
+the girl showed him the bones and the remains of the fire, and the
+drops of fat still lying on the grass.
+
+Then she wept afresh, for Sidonia had promised to take away a
+goose every day, and destroy it as she had done the first. So my
+father consoled her by giving her a piece of gold, and said, "If
+she does so again, run by night and cloud, and come to Dalow by
+Stargard, where I will make thee keeper of my geese." But she
+never came to him, and he never heard more of the maiden and her
+geese.
+
+So far old Uckermann related to me the first evening, promising to
+tell me of many more strange doings upon the following morning,
+which he would try to think over during the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that
+befell there._
+
+
+The following morning, by seven o'clock, the old man summoned me
+to him, and on entering I found him seated at breakfast by the
+fire. He invited me to join him, and pushed a seat over for me
+with his crutch, for walking was now difficult to him. He was very
+friendly, and the eyes of the old man burned as clear as those of
+a white dove. He had slept little during the night, for Sidonia's
+form kept floating before his eyes, just as she had looked in the
+days when he paid court to her. Alas! he had once loved her
+deeply, like all the other young nobles who approached her, from
+the time she was of an age to marry. In her youth she had been
+beautiful; and old and young declared that for figure, eyes,
+bosom, walk, and enchanting smile, there never had been seen her
+equal in all Pomerania.
+
+"Nothing shall be concealed from you," he said, "of all that
+concerns my foolish infatuation, that you and your children may
+learn how the all-wise God deals best with His servants when He
+uses the rod and denies that for which they clamour as silly
+children for a glittering knife." Here he folded his withered
+hands, murmured a short prayer, and proceeded with his story.
+
+"You must know that I was once a proud and stately youth, upon
+whom a maiden's glance in no wise rested indifferently, trained in
+all knightly exercise, and only two years older than Sidonia. It
+happened in the September of 1566, that I was invited by Caspar
+Roden to see his eel-nets, as my father intended laying down some
+also at Krampehl [Footnote: A little river near Dalow] and along
+the coast. When we returned home weary enough in the evening, a
+letter arrived from Otto von Bork, inviting him the following day
+to a bear-hunt; as he intended, in honour of the nuptials of his
+eldest daughter Clara, to lay bears' heads and bears' paws before
+his guests, which even in Pomerania would have been a rarity, and
+desiring him to bring as many good huntsmen with him as he
+pleased. So I accompanied Caspar Roden, who told me on the way
+that Count Otto had at first looked very high for his daughter
+Clara, and scorned many a good suitor, but that she was now
+getting rather old, and ready, like a ripe burr, to hang on the
+first that came by. Her bridegroom was Vidante von Meseritz, a
+feudal vassal of her father's, upon whom, ten years before, she
+would not have looked at from a window. Not that she was as proud
+as her young sister Sidonia. However, their mother was to blame
+for much of this; but she was dead now, poor lady, let her rest in
+peace.
+
+So in good time we reached the castle of Stramehl, where thirty
+huntsmen were already assembled, all noblemen, and we joined them
+in the grand state hall, where the morning meal was laid out.
+Count Otto sat at the head of the table, like a prince of
+Pomerania, upon a throne whereon his family arms were both carved
+and embroidered. He wore a doublet of elk-skin, and a cap with a
+heron's plume upon his head. He did not rise as we entered, but
+called to us to be seated and join the feast, as the party must
+move off soon. Costly wines were sent round; and I observed that
+on each of the glasses the family arms were cut. They were also
+painted upon the window of the great hall, and along the walls,
+under the horns of all the different wild animals killed by Otto
+in the chase--bucks, deers, harts, roes, stags, and elks--which
+were arranged in fantastical groups.
+
+After a little while his two daughters, Clara and Sidonia,
+entered. They wore green hunting-dresses, trimmed with
+beaver-skin, and each had a gold net thrown over her hair. They
+bowed, and bid the knights welcome. But we all remained breathless
+gazing upon Sidonia, as she lifted her beautiful eyes first on
+one, and then on another, inviting us to eat and drink; and she
+even filled a small wine-glass herself, and prayed us to pledge
+her. As for me, unfortunate youth, from the moment I beheld her I
+breathed no more through my lungs, but through my eyes alone, and,
+springing up, gave her health publicly. A storm of loud, animated,
+passionate voices soon responded to my words with loud vivas. The
+guests then rose, for the ladies were impatient for the hunt, and
+found the time hang heavily.
+
+So we set off with all our implements and our dogs, and a hundred
+beaters went before us. It happened that my host, Caspar Roden,
+and I found an excellent sheltered position for a shot near a
+quarry, and we had not long been there (the beaters had not even
+yet begun their work) when I spied a large bear coming down to
+drink at a small stream not twenty paces from me. I fired; but she
+retired quickly behind an oak, and, growling fiercely, disappeared
+amongst the bushes. Not long after, I heard the cries of women
+almost close to us; and running as fast as possible in the
+direction from whence they came, I perceived an old bear trying to
+climb up to the platform where Clara and Sidonia stood. There was
+a ruined chapel here--which, in the time of papacy, had contained
+a holy image--and a scaffolding had been erected round it, adorned
+with wreaths of evergreen and flowers, from which the ladies could
+obtain an excellent view of the hunt, as it commanded a prospect
+of almost the entire wood, and even part of the sea. Attached to
+this scaffolding was a ladder, up which Bruin was anxiously trying
+to ascend, in order to visit the young ladies, who were now
+assailed by two dangers--the bear from below, and a swarm of bees
+above, for myriads of these insects were tormenting them, trying
+to settle upon their golden hair-nets; and the young ladies,
+screaming as if the last day had come, were vainly trying to beat
+them off with their girdles, or trample them under their feet. A
+huntsman who stood near fired, indeed, at Bruin, but without
+effect, and the bees assailing his hands and face at the same
+time, he took to flight and hid himself, groaning, in the quarry.
+
+In the meantime I had reached the chapel, and Sidonia stretched
+forth her beautiful little hands, crying, along with her sister,
+"Help! help! He will eat us. Will you not kill him?" But the bear,
+as if already aware of my intention, began now to descend the
+ladder. However, I stepped before him, and as he descended, I
+ascended. Luckily for me, the interval between each step was very
+small, to accommodate the ladies' little feet, so that when Bruin
+tried to thrust his snout between them to get at me, he found it
+rather difficult work to make it pass. I had my dagger ready; and
+though the bees which he brought with him in his fur flew on my
+hands, I heeded them not, but watching my opportunity, plunged it
+deep into his side, so that he tumbled right down off the ladder;
+and though he raised himself up once and growled horribly, yet in
+a few seconds he lay dead before our eyes. How the ladies now
+tripped down the ladder, not two or three, but four or five steps
+at a time! and what thanks poured forth from their lips! I rushed
+first to Sidonia, who laid her little head upon my breast, while I
+endeavoured to remove the bees which had got entangled in her
+hair-net. The other lady went to call the huntsman, who was hiding
+in the quarry, and we were left alone. Heavens! how my heart
+burned, more than my inflamed hands all stung by the bees, as she
+asked, how could she repay my service. I prayed her for one kiss,
+which she granted. She had escaped with but one sting from the
+bees, who could not manage to get through her long, thick,
+beautiful hair, and she advanced joyfully to meet her father and
+the hunting-train, who had heard the cries of the ladies. When
+Count Otto heard what had happened, and saw the dead bear, he
+thanked me heartily, praying me to attend his daughter Clara's
+wedding, which was to be celebrated next week at the castle, and
+to remain as his guest until then. There was nothing in the world
+I could have desired beyond this, and I gratefully accepted his
+offer. Alas! I suffered for it after, as the cat from poisoned
+dainties.
+
+But to return to our hunt. No other bear was killed that day, but
+plenty of other game, as harts, stags, roes, boars--more than
+enough. And now we discovered what an old hunter had conjectured,
+that the dead bear was the father, who had been alarmed by the
+growls of his partner, at whom I had fired whilst he was
+endeavouring to carry off the honey from a nest of wild bees in a
+neighbouring tree. For looking around us, we saw, at the distance
+of about twenty paces, a tall oak-tree, about which clouds of bees
+were still flying, in which he had been following his occupation.
+No one dared to approach it, to bring away the honeycombs which
+still lay beneath, by reason of the bees, and, moreover, swarms of
+ants, by which they were covered. At length Otto Bork ordered the
+huntsman to sound the return; and after supper I obtained another
+little kiss from Sidonia, which burned so like fire through my
+veins that I could not sleep the whole night. I resolved to ask
+her hand in marriage from her father.
+
+Stupid youth as I was, I then believed that she looked upon me
+with equal love; and although I knew all about the mode in which
+she had been brought up, and many other things beside, which have
+now slipped from my memory, yet I looked on them but as idle
+stories, and was fully persuaded that Sidonia was sister to the
+angels in beauty, goodness, and perfection. In a few days,
+however, I had reason to change my opinion.
+
+Next day the two young ladies were in the kitchen, overseeing the
+cooking of the bear's head, and, as I passed by and looked in,
+they began to titter, which I took for a good omen, and asked,
+might I not be allowed to enter. They said, "Yes, I might come in,
+and help them to cleave the head." So I entered, and they both
+began to give me instructions, with much laughter and merry
+jesting. First, the bear's head had to be burned with hot irons;
+and when I said to Sidonia that thus she burned my heart, she
+nearly died of laughter. Then I cut some flesh off the mouth,
+broke the nose, and handed it all over to the maidens, who set it
+on the fire with water, wine, and vinegar. As I now played the
+part of kitchen-boy, they sent me to the castle garden for thyme,
+sage, and rosemary, which I brought, and begged them for a taste
+of the head; but they said it was not fit to eat yet--must be
+cooled in brine first; so in place of it I asked one little kiss
+from each of the maidens, which Sidonia granted, but her sister
+refused. However, I was not in the least displeased at her
+refusal, seeing it was only the little sister I cared for.
+
+But judge of my rage and jealousy, that same day a cousin arrived
+at the castle, and I observed that Sidonia allowed him to kiss her
+every moment. She never even appeared to offer any resistance, but
+looked over at me languishingly every time to see what I would
+say. What could I say? I became pale with jealousy, but said
+nothing. At last I rushed from the hall, mute with despair, when I
+observed him finally draw her on his knee. I only heard the peal
+of laughter that followed my exit, and I was just near leaving the
+whole wedding-feast, and Stramehl for ever, when Sidonia called
+after me from the castle gates to return. This so melted my heart,
+that the tears came into my eyes, thinking that now indeed I had a
+proof of her love. Then she took my hand, and said, "I ought not
+to be so unkind. That was her manner with all the young nobles.
+Why should she refuse a kiss when she was asked? Her little mouth
+would grow neither larger nor smaller for it." But I stood still
+and wept, and looked on the ground. "Why should I weep?" she
+asked. Her cousin Clas had a bride of his own already, and only
+took a little pastime with her, and so she must cure me now with
+another little kiss.
+
+I was now again a happy man, thinking she loved me; and the
+heavens seemed so propitious, that I determined to ask her hand.
+But I had not sufficient courage as yet, and resolved to wait
+until after her sister's marriage, which was to take place next
+day. What preparations were made for this event it would be
+impossible adequately to describe. All the country round the
+castle seemed like a royal camp. Six hundred horses were led into
+the stables next day to be fed, for the Duke himself arrived with
+a princely retinue. Then came all the feudal vassals to offer
+homage for their fiefs to Lord Otto. But as the description is
+well worth hearing, I shall defer it for another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law,
+Vidante von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast._
+
+
+Next morning the stir began in the castle before break of day, and
+by ten o'clock all the nobles, with their wives and daughters, had
+assembled in the great hall. Then the bride entered, wearing her
+myrtle wreath, and Sidonia followed, glittering with diamonds and
+other costly jewels. She wore a robe of crimson silk with a cape
+of ermine, falling from her shoulders, and looked so beautiful
+that I could have died for love, as she passed and greeted me with
+her graceful laugh. But Otto Bork, the lord of the castle, was
+sore displeased because his Serene Highness the Prince was late
+coming, and the company had been waiting an hour for his presence.
+A platform had been erected at the upper end of the hall covered
+with bearskin; on this was placed a throne, beneath a canopy of
+yellow velvet, and here Otto was seated dressed in a crimson
+doublet, and wearing a hat half red and half black, from which
+depended plumes of red and black feathers that hung down nearly to
+his beard, which was as venerable as a Jew's. Every instant he
+despatched messengers to the tower to see if the prince were at
+hand, and as the time hung heavy, he began to discourse his
+guests. "See how this turner's apprentice [Footnote: So this
+prince was called from his love of turning and carving dolls.]
+must have stopped on the road to carve a puppet. God keep us from
+such dukes!" For the prince passed all his leisure hours in
+turning and carving, particularly while travelling, and when the
+carriage came to bad ground, where the horses had to move slowly,
+he was delighted, and went on merrily with his work; but when the
+horses galloped, he grew ill-tempered and threw down his tools.
+
+At length the warder announced from the tower that the duke's six
+carriages were in sight, and the knight spoke from his throne: "I
+shall remain here, as befits me, but Clara and Sidonia, go ye
+forth and receive his Highness; and when he has entered, the
+kinsman [Footnote: This was the feudal term for the next relation
+of a deceased vassal, upon whom it devolved to do homage for the
+lands to the feudal lord.] in full armour shall ride into the hall
+upon his war-horse, bearing the banner of his house in his hand,
+and all my retainers shall follow on horses, each bearing his
+banner also, and shall range themselves by the great window of the
+hall; and let the windows be open, that the wind may play through
+the banners and make the spectacle yet grander."
+
+Then all rushed out to meet the Duke, and I, too, went, for truly
+the courtyard presented a gorgeous sight--all decorated as it was,
+and the pride and magnificence of Lord Otto were here fully
+displayed; for from the upper storey of the castle floated the
+banner of the Emperor, and just beneath it that of Lord Otto (two
+crowned wolves with golden collars on a field or for the shield),
+and the crest, a crowned red-deer springing. Beneath this banner,
+but much inferior to it in size and execution, waved that of the
+Dukes of Pomerania; and lowest of all, hung the banner of Otto's
+feudal vassals--but they themselves were not visible. Neither did
+the kinsman appear to receive and greet his Highness. Otto knew
+well, it seems, that he could defy the Duke (however, I think if
+my gracious Lord of Wolgast had been there, he would not have
+suffered such insults, but would have taken Otto's banner and
+flung it in the mud). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff,
+"And so would I."] Be this as it may, Duke Barnim never appeared
+to notice anything except Otto's two daughters. He was a little
+man with a long grey beard, and as he stepped slowly out of the
+carriage held a little puppet by the arm, which he had been
+carving to represent Adam. It was intended for a present to the
+convent at Kobatz. His _superintendens generalis_, Fabianus
+Timaeus (a dignified-looking personage), accompanied him in the
+carriage, for his Highness was going on the same day to attend the
+diet at Treptow, and only meant to pay a passing visit here. But
+Lord Otto concealed this fact, as it hurt his pride. The other
+carriages contained the equerries and pages of his Highness, and
+then followed the heavy waggons with the cooks, valets, and
+stewards.
+
+When the Prince entered the state hall, Lord Otto rose from his
+throne and said: "Your Highness is welcome, and I trust will
+pardon me for not having gone forth with my greetings; but those
+of a couple of young damsels were probably more agreeable than the
+compliments of an old knight like myself, who besides, as your
+Grace perceives, is engaged here in the exercise of his duty. And
+now, I pray your Highness to take this seat at my right hand."
+Whereupon he pointed to a plain chair, not in the least raised
+from the ground, and altogether as common a seat as there was to
+be found in the hall; but his Highness sat down quietly (at which
+every one wondered in silence) and took the little puppet in his
+lap, only exclaiming in low German, "What the devil, Otto! you
+make more of yourself, man, than I do;" to which the knight
+replied, "Not more than is necessary."
+
+"And now," continued the old man, "the ceremony of offering homage
+commenced, which is as fresh in my memory as if all had happened
+but yesterday, and so I shall describe it that you may know what
+were the usages of our fathers, for the customs of chivalry are,
+alas! fast passing away from amongst us.
+
+When Otto Bork gave the sign with his hand, six trumpets sounded
+without, whereupon the doors of the hall were thrown wide open as
+far as they could go, and the kinsman Vidante von Meseritz entered
+on a black charger, and dressed in complete armour, but without
+his sword. He carried the banner of his house (a pale gules with
+two foxes running), and riding straight up to Lord Otto, lowered
+it before him. Otto then demanded, "Who art thou, and what is thy
+request?" to which he answered, "Mighty feudal Lord, I am kinsman
+of Dinnies von Meseritz, and pray you for the fief." "And who are
+these on horseback who follow thee?" "They are the feudal vassals
+of my Lord, even as my father was." And Otto said, "Ride up, my
+men, and do as your fathers have done." Then Frederick Ubeske rode
+up, lowered his banner (charged with a sun and peacock's tail)
+before the knight, then passed on up to the great windows of the
+hall, where he took his place and drew his sword, while the wind
+played through the folds of his standard.
+
+Next came Walter von Locksted--lowered his banner (bearing a
+springing unicorn), rode up to the window, and drew his sword.
+After him, Claud Drosedow, waving his black eagle upon a white and
+red shield, rode up to the window and drew his sword; then Jacob
+Pretz, on his white charger, bearing two spears transverse through
+a fallen tree on his flag; and Dieterich Mallin, whose banner fell
+in folds over his hand, so that the device was not visible; and
+Lorenz Prechel, carrying a leopard gules upon a silver shield; and
+Jacob Knut, with a golden becker upon an azure field, and three
+plumes on the crest; and Tesmar von Kettler, whose spurs caught in
+the robe of a young maiden as he passed, and merry laughter
+resounded through the hall, many saying it was a good omen, which,
+indeed, was the truth, for that evening they were betrothed; and
+finally came Johann Zastrow, bearing two buffaloes' horns on his
+banner, and a green five-leaved bush, rode up to the window after
+the others, and drew his sword.
+
+There stood the nine, like the muses at the nuptials of Peleus,
+[Footnote: The nine muses were present at the marriage of Peleus
+and Thetis.--_See Pindar, pyth._. 3, 160] and the wind played
+through their banners. Then Lord Otto spoke--
+
+"True, these are my leal vassals. And now, kinsman of Meseritz,
+dismount and pay homage, as did thy father, ere thou canst ride up
+and join them." So the young man dismounted, threw the reins of
+his horse to a squire, and ascended the platform. Then Otto,
+holding up a sword, spoke again--
+
+"Behold, kinsman, this is the sword of thy father; touch it with
+me, and pronounce the feudal oath." Here all the vassals rode up
+from the window, and held their swords crosswise over the
+kinsman's head, while he spake thus--
+
+"I, Vidante von Meseritz, declare, vow, and swear to the most
+powerful, noble, and brave Otto von Bork, lord of the lands and
+castles of Labes, Pansin, Stramehl, Regenwalde, and others, and my
+most powerful feudal lord, and to his lawful heirs, a right loyal
+fealty, to serve him with all duty and obedience, to warn him of
+all evil, and defend him from all injury, to the best of my
+ability and power."
+
+Then he kissed the knight's hand, who girded his father's sword on
+him, and said--
+
+"Thus I acknowledge thee for my vassal, as my father did thy
+father."
+
+Then turning to his attendants he cried, "Bring hither the camp
+furniture." Hereupon the circle of spectators parted in two, and
+the pages led up, first, Vidante's horse, upon which he sprung;
+then others followed, bearing rich garments and his father's
+signet, and laid them down before him, saying, "Kinsman, the
+garments and the seal of thy father." A third and a fourth bore a
+large couch with a white coverlet, set it down before him, and
+said, "Kinsman, a couch for thee and thy wife." Then came a great
+crowd, bearing plates and dishes, and napkins, and table-covers,
+besides eleven tin cans, a fish-kettle, and a pair of iron
+pot-hooks; in short, a complete camp furniture; all of which they
+set down before the young man, and then disappeared.
+
+During this entire time no one noticed his Highness the Duke,
+though he was indeed the feudal head of all. Even when the
+trumpets sounded again, and the vassals passed out in procession,
+they lowered their standards only before Otto, as if no princely
+personage were present. But I think this proud Lord Otto must have
+commanded them so to do, for such an omission or breach of respect
+was never before seen in Pomerania. Even his Highness seemed, at
+last, to feel displeasure, for he drew forth his knife, and began
+to cut away at the little wooden Adam, without taking further
+notice of the ceremony.
+
+At length when the vassals had departed, and many of the guests
+also, who wished to follow them, had left the hall, the Duke
+looked up with his little glittering eyes, scratched the back of
+his head with the knife, and asked his Chancellor, Jacob Kleist,
+who had evidently been long raging with anger, "Jacob, what dost
+thou think of this _spectaculo?_" who replied, "Gracious
+lord, I esteem it a silly thing for an inferior to play the part
+of a prince, or for a prince to be compelled to play the part of
+an inferior." Such a speech offended Otto mightily, who drew
+himself up and retorted scornfully, "Particularly a poor inferior
+who, as you see, is obliged to draw the plough by turns with his
+serfs." Hereupon the Chancellor would have flung back the scorn,
+but his Highness motioned with the hand that he should keep
+silence, saying, "Remember, good Jacob, that we are here as
+guests; however, order the carriages, for I think it is time that
+we proceed on our journey."
+
+When Otto heard this, he was confounded, and, descending from his
+throne, uttered so many flattering things, that his Highness at
+length was prevailed upon to remain (I would not have consented,
+to save my soul, had I been the Prince--no, not even if I had to
+pass the night with the bears and wolves in the forest before I
+could reach Treptow); so the good old Prince followed him into
+another hall, where breakfast was prepared, and all the lords and
+ladies stood there in glittering groups round the table,
+particularly admiring the bear's head, which seemed to please his
+Highness mightily also. Then each one drained a large goblet of
+wine, and even the ladies sipped from their little wine-glasses,
+to drink themselves into good spirits for the dance.
+
+Otto now related all about the hunt, and presented me to his
+Grace, who gave me his hand to kiss, saying, "Well done, young
+man--I like this bravery. Were it not for you, in place of a
+wedding, and a bear's head in the dish, Lord Otto might have had a
+funeral and two human heads in a coffin." His Grace then pledged
+me in a silver becker of wine; and afterwards the bride and
+bridegroom, who had sat till then kissing and making love in a
+corner; but they now came forward and kissed the hand of the Duke
+with much respect. The bridegroom had on a crimson doublet, which
+became him well; but his father's jack-boots, which he wore
+according to custom, were much too wide, and shook about his legs.
+The bride was arrayed in a scarlet velvet robe, and bodice furred
+with ermine. Sidonia carried a little balsam flask, depending from
+a gold chain which she wore round her neck. (She soon needed the
+balsam, for that day she suffered a foretaste of the fate which
+was to be the punishment for her after evil deeds.) And now, as we
+set forward to the church, a group of noble maidens distributed
+wreaths to the guests; but the bride presented one to the Duke,
+and Sidonia (that her hand might have been withered) handed one to
+me, poor love-stricken youth.
+
+It was the custom then, as now, in Pomerania, for all the
+bride-maidens, crowned with beautiful wreaths, to precede the
+bride and bridegroom to church. The crowd of lords, and ladies,
+and young knights pouring out of the castle gates, in order to see
+them, separated Sidonia from this group, and she was left alone
+weeping. Now the whole population of the little town were running
+from every street leading to the church; and it happened that a
+courser [Footnote: A man who courses greyhounds.] of Otto Bork's
+came right against Sidonia with such violence, that, with a blow
+of his head, he knocked her down into the puddle (she was to lie
+there really in after-life). Her little balsam-flask was of no use
+here. She had to go back, dripping, to the castle, and appeared no
+more at her sister's nuptials, but consoled herself, however, by
+listening to the bellowing of the huntsman, whom they were beating
+black and blue by her orders beneath her window.
+
+I would willingly have returned with her, but was ashamed so to
+do, and therefore followed the others to church. All the common
+people that crowded the streets were allowed to enter. Then the
+bridegroom and his party, of whom the Duke was chief, advanced up
+to the right of the altar, and the bride and her party, of which
+Fabianus Timaeus was the most distinguished, arrayed themselves on
+the left.
+
+I had now an opportunity of hearing the learned and excellent
+parson Dilavius myself; for he represented his patron (who was not
+present at the feast, but apologised for his absence by alleging
+that he must remain at the castle to look after the preparations)
+almost as an angel, and the young ladies, especially the bride,
+came in for even a larger share of his flattery; but he was so
+modest before these illustrious personages, that I observed,
+whenever he looked up from the book, he had one eye upon the Duke
+and another on Fabianus.
+
+When we returned to the castle, Sidonia met the bridemaidens again
+with joyous smiles. She now wore a white silk robe, laced with
+gold, and dancing-slippers with white silk hose. The diamonds
+still remained on her head, neck, and arms. She looked beautiful
+thus; and I could not withdraw my eyes from her. We all now
+entered the bridechamber, as the custom is, and there stood an
+immense bridal couch, with coverlet and draperies as white as
+snow; and all the bridemaids and the guests threw their wreaths
+upon it. Then the Prince, taking the bridegroom by the hand, led
+him up to it, and repeated an old German rhyme concerning the
+duties of the holy state upon which he had entered.
+
+When his Highness ceased, Fabianus took the bride by the hand, who
+blushed as red as a rose, and led her up in the same manner to the
+nuptial couch, where he uttered a long admonition on her duties to
+her husband, at which all wept, but particularly the
+bride-maidens. After this we proceeded to the state hall, where
+Otto was seated on his throne waiting to receive them, and when
+his children had kissed his hand the dancing commenced. Otto
+invited the Prince to sit near him, and all the young knights and
+maidens who intended to dance ranged themselves on costly carpets
+that were laid upon the floor all round by the walls. The trumpets
+and violins now struck up, and a band was stationed at each end of
+the hall, so that while the dancers were at the top one played,
+and when at the lower end the other.
+
+I hastened to Sidonia, as she reclined upon the carpet, and
+bending low before her, said, "Beautiful maiden! will you not
+dance?" [Footnote: It will interest my fair readers to know that
+this was, word for word, the established form employed in those
+days for an invitation to dance.] Upon which she smilingly gave me
+her little hand, and I raised her up, and led her away.
+
+I have said that I was a proficient in all knightly exercises, so
+that every one approached to see us dance. When Sidonia was tired
+I led her back, and threw myself beside her on the carpet. But in
+a little while three other young nobles came and seated themselves
+around her, and began to jest, and toy, and pay court to her. One
+played with her left hand and her rings, another with the gold net
+of her hair, while I held her right hand and pressed it. She
+coquettishly repelled them all--sometimes with her feet, sometimes
+with her hands. And when Hans von Damitz extolled her hair, she
+gave him such a blow on the nose with her head that it began to
+bleed, and he was obliged to withdraw. Still one could see that
+all these blows, right and left, were not meant in earnest. This
+continued for some time until an Italian dance began, which she
+declined to join, and as I was left alone with her upon the
+carpet, "Now," thought I, "there can be no better time to decide
+my fate;" for she had pressed my hand frequently, both in the
+dance and since I had lain reclining beside her.
+
+"Beautiful Sidonia!" I said, "you know not how you have wounded my
+heart. I can neither eat nor sleep since I beheld you, and those
+five little kisses which you gave me burn through my frame like
+arrows."
+
+To which she answered, laughing, "It was your pastime, youth. It
+was your own wish to take those little kisses."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I said, "it was my will; but give me more now and make
+me well."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, "you desire more kisses? Then will your
+pain become greater, if, as you say, with every kiss an arrow
+enters your heart, so at last they would cause your death."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I answered, "unless you take pity on me, and promise to
+become my wife, they will indeed cause my death." As I said this,
+she sprang up, tore her hand away from me, and cried with mocking
+laughter, "What does the knave mean? Ha! ha! the poor, miserable
+varlet!"
+
+I remained some moments stupefied with rage, then sprung to my
+feet without another word, left the hall, took my steed from the
+stable, and turned my back on the castle for ever. You may imagine
+how her ingratitude added to the bitterness of my feelings, when I
+considered that it was to me she owed her life. She afterwards
+offered herself to me for a wife, but she was then dishonoured,
+and I spat out at her in disgust. I never beheld her again till
+she was carried past my door to the scaffold.
+
+All this the old man related with many sighs; but his
+after-meeting with her shall be related more _in extenso_ in
+its proper place. I shall now set down what further he
+communicated about the wedding-feast.
+
+You may imagine, he said, that I was curious to know all that
+happened after I left the castle, and my friend, Bogislaff von
+Suckow of Pegelow, told me as follows.
+
+After my departure, the young lords grew still more free and
+daring in their manner to Sidonia, so that when not dancing she
+had sufficient exercise in keeping them off with her hands and
+feet, until my friend Bogislaff attracted her whole attention by
+telling her that he had just returned from Wolgast, where the
+ducal widow was much comforted by the presence of her son, Prince
+Ernest Ludovick, whom she had not seen since he went to the
+university. He was the handsomest youth in all Pomerania, and
+played the lute so divinely that at court he was compared to the
+god Apollo.
+
+Sidonia upon this fell into deep thought. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that his Highness old Duke Barnim was greatly struck by
+her beauty, and wished to get near her upon the carpet; for his
+Grace was well known to be a great follower of the sex, and many
+stories are whispered about a harem of young girls he kept at St.
+Mary's--but these things are allowable in persons of his rank.
+
+However, Fabianus Timaeus, who sat by him, wished to prevent him
+approaching Sidonia, and made signs, and nudged him with his
+elbow; and finally they put their heads together and had a long
+argument.
+
+At last the Prince started up, and stepping to Otto, asked him,
+Would he not dance? "Yes," he replied, "if your Grace will dance
+likewise." "Good," said the Prince, "that can be soon arranged,"
+and therewith he solicited Sidonia's hand. At this Fabianus was so
+scandalised that he left the hall, and appeared no more until
+supper. After the dance, his Highness advanced to Otto, who was
+reseated on his throne, and said, "Why, Otto, you have a beautiful
+daughter in Sidonia. She must come to my court, and when she
+appears amongst the other ladies, I swear she will make a better
+fortune than by staying shut up here in your old castle."
+
+On which Otto replied, sarcastically smiling, "Ay, my gracious
+Prince, she would be a dainty morsel for your Highness, no doubt;
+but there is no lack of noble visitors at my castle, I am proud to
+say." Jacob Kleist, the Chancellor, was now so humbled at the
+Duke's behaviour that he, too, left the hall and followed
+Fabianus. Even the Duke changed colour; but before he had time to
+speak, Sidonia sprang forward, and having heard the whole
+conversation, entreated her father to accept the Duke's offer, and
+allow her either to visit the court at Wolgast or at Old Stettin.
+What was she to do here? When the wedding-feast was over, no one
+would come to the castle but huntsmen and such like.
+
+So Otto at last consented that she might visit Wolgast, but on no
+account the court at Stettin.
+
+Then the young Sidonia began to coax and caress the old Duke,
+stroking his long beard, which reached to his girdle, with her
+little white hands, and prayed that he would place her with the
+princely Lady of Wolgast, for she longed to go there. People said
+that it was such a beautiful place, and the sea was not far off,
+which she had never been at in all her life. And so the Duke was
+pleased with her caresses, and promised that he would request his
+dear cousin, the ducal widow of Wolgast, to receive her as one of
+her maids of honour. Sidonia then further entreated that there
+might be no delay, and he answered that he would send a note to
+his cousin from the Diet at Treptow, by the Grand Chamberlain of
+Wolgast, Ulrich von Schwerin, and that she would not have to wait
+long. But she must go by Old Stettin, and stop at his palace for a
+while, and then he would bring her on himself to Wolgast, if he
+had time to spare.
+
+While Sidonia clapped her hands and danced about for joy, Otto
+looked grave, and said, "But, gracious Lord, the nearest way to
+Wolgast is by Cammin. Sidonia must make a circuit if she goes by
+Old Stettin."
+
+The conversation was now interrupted by the lacqueys, who came to
+announce that dinner was served.
+
+Otto requested the Duke to take a place beside him at table, and
+treated him with somewhat more distinction than he had done in the
+morning; but a hot dispute soon arose, and this was the cause. As
+Otto drank deep in the wine-cup, he grew more reckless and daring,
+and began to display his heretical doctrines as openly as he had
+hitherto exhibited his pomp and magnificence, so that every one
+might learn that pride and ungodliness are twin brothers. May God
+keep us from both!
+
+And one of the guests having said, in confirmation of some fact,
+"The Lord Jesus knows I speak the truth!" the godless knight
+laughed scornfully, exclaiming, "The Lord Jesus knows as little
+about the matter as my old grandfather, lying there in his vault,
+of our wedding-feast to-day."
+
+There was a dead silence instantly, and the Prince, who had just
+lifted up some of the bear's paw to his lips, with mustard sauce
+and pastry all round it, dropped it again upon his plate, and
+opened his eyes as wide as they could go; then, hastily wiping his
+mouth with the salvet, exclaimed in low German, "What the devil,
+Otto! art thou a freethinker?" who replied, "A true nobleman may,
+in all things, be a freethinker, and neither do all that a prince
+commands nor believe all that a pope teaches." To which the Duke
+answered, "What concerns me I pardon, for I do not believe that
+you will ever forget your duty to your Prince. The times are gone
+by when a noble would openly offer violence to his sovereign; but
+for what concerns the honour of our Lord Christ, I must leave you
+in the hands of Fabianus to receive proper chastisement."
+
+Now Fabianus, seeing that all eyes were fixed on him, grew red and
+cleared his throat, and set himself in a position to argue the
+point with Lord Otto, beginning--"So you believe that Christ the
+Lord remained in the grave, and is not living and reigning for all
+eternity?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; that is my opinion."
+
+_Hic_.--"What do you believe, then? or do you believe in
+anything?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; I believe firmly in an all-powerful and
+omniscient God."
+
+_Hic_.--"How do you know He exists?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Because my reason tells me so."
+
+_Hic_.--"Your reason does not tell you so, good sir. It
+merely tells you that something supermundane exists, but cannot
+tell you whether it be one God or two Gods, or a hundred Gods, or
+of what nature are these Gods--whether spirits, or stars, or
+trees, or animals, or, in fine, any object you can name, for
+paganism has imagined a Deity in everything, which proves what I
+assert. You only believe in _one_ God, because you sucked in
+the doctrine with your mother's milk." [Footnote: The history of
+all philosophy shows that this is psychologically true. Even
+Lucian satirises the philosophers of his age who see God or Gods
+in numbers, dogs, geese, trees, and other things. But monotheistic
+Christianity has preserved us for nearly 2000 years from these
+aberrations of philosophy. However, as the authority of
+Christianity declined, the pagan tendency again became visible;
+until at length, in the Hegelian school, we have fallen back
+helplessly into the same pantheism which we left 2000 years ago.
+In short, what Kant asserts is perfectly true: that the existence
+of God cannot be proved from reason. For the highest objects of
+all cognition--God, Freedom, and Immortality--can as little be
+evolved from the new philosophy as beauty from the disgusting
+process of decomposition. And yet more impossible is it to imagine
+that this feeble Hegelian pantheism should ever become the crown
+and summit of all human thought, and final resting-place for all
+human minds. Reason, whether from an indwelling instinct, or from
+an innate causality-law, may assert that something supermundane
+exists, but can know nothing more and nothing further. So we see
+the absurdity of chattering in our journals and periodicals of the
+progress of reason. The advance has been only _formal_, not
+_essential_. The formal advance has been in printing,
+railroads, and such like, in which direction we may easily suppose
+progression will yet further continue. But there has been no
+essential advance whatever. We know as little now of our own
+being, of the being of God, or even of that of the smallest
+infusoria, as in the days of Thales and Anaximander. In short,
+when life begins, begins also our feebleness; "Therefore," says
+Paul, "we walk by faith, not by sight." Yet these would-be
+philosophers of our day will only walk by sight, not by faith,
+although they cannot see into anything--not even into themselves.]
+
+_Ille_.--"How did it happen, then, that Abraham arrived at
+the knowledge of the _one_ God, and called on the name of the
+Lord?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Do you compare yourself with Abraham? Have you ever
+studied Hebrew?"
+
+_Ille_.--"A little. In my youth I read through the book of
+Genesis."
+
+_Hic_.--"Good! then you know that the Hebrew word for
+_name_ is _Shem_?"
+
+_Ille_.-"Yes; I know that."
+
+_Hic_.--"Then you know that from the time of Enos the
+_name_ [Footnote: In order to understand the argument, the
+reader must remember that the _name_ here is taken in the
+sense of the Greek logos, and is considered as referring
+especially to Christ.] was preached (Genesis iv. 26), showing that
+the pure doctrine was known from the beginning. This doctrine was
+darkened and obscured by wise people like you, so that it was
+almost lost at the time of Abraham, who again preached the
+_name_ of the Lord to unbelievers."
+
+_Ille_.--"What did this primitive doctrine contain?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Undoubtedly not only a testimony of the one living
+God of heaven and earth, but also clearly of Christ the Messiah,
+as He who was promised to our fallen parents in paradise (Genesis
+iii. 15)."
+
+_Ille_.--"Can you prove that Abraham had the witness of
+Christ?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Yes; from Christ's own words (John viii.
+56):--'Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw
+it, and was glad.' Item: Moses and all the Prophets have witnessed
+of Him, of whom you say that He lies dead in the grave."
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh, that is just what the priests say."
+
+_Hic_.--"And Christ Himself, Luke xxvi. 25 and 27. Do you not
+see, young man, that you mock the Prince of Life, whom God, that
+cannot lie, promised before the world began--Titus i. 2--ay, even
+more than you mocked your temporal Prince this day? Poor sinner,
+what does it help you to believe in one God?"
+
+"Even the devils believe and tremble," added Jacob Kleist the
+Chancellor. "No, there is no other name given under heaven by
+which you can be saved; and will you be more wise than Abraham,
+and the Prophets, and the Apostles, and all holy Christian
+Churches up to this day? Shame on you, and remember what St. Paul
+says: 'Thinking themselves wise, they became fools.' And in 1st
+Cor. xv. 17: 'If Christ be not risen, than is your faith vain, and
+our preaching also vain. Ye are yet in your sins, and they who
+sleep in Christ are lost.'" [Footnote: This proof of Christ's
+divinity from the Old Testament was considered of the highest
+importance in the time of the Apostles; but Schleiermacher, in his
+strange system, which may be called a mystic Rationalism,
+endeavours to shake the authority of the Old Testament in a most
+unpardonable and incomprehensible manner. This appears to me as if
+a man were to tear down a building from the sure foundation on
+which it had rested for 1000 years, and imagine it could rest in
+true stability only on the mere breath of his words.]
+
+So Otto was silenced and coughed, for he had nothing to answer,
+and all the guests laughed; but, fortunately, just then the
+offering-plate was handed round, and the Duke laid down two
+ducats, at which Otto smiled scornfully, and flung in seven
+rix-dollars, but laughed outright when Fabianus put down only four
+groschen.
+
+This seemed to affront his Highness, for he whispered to his
+Chancellor to order the carriages, and rose up from table with his
+attendants. Then, offering his hand to Otto, said, "Take care,
+Otto, or the devil will have you one day in hell, like the rich
+man in Scripture." To which Otto replied, bowing low, "Gracious
+Lord, I hope at least to meet good company there. Farewell, and
+pardon me for not attending you to the castle gates, but I may not
+leave my guests."
+
+Then all the nobles rose up, and the young knights accompanied his
+Highness, as did also Sidonia, who now further entreated his Grace
+to remove her from her father's castle, since he saw himself how
+lightly God's Word was held there. Fabianus was infinitely pleased
+to hear her speak in this manner, and promised to use all his
+influence towards having her removed from this Egypt.
+
+Here ended all that old Uckermann could relate of Sidonia's youth;
+so I determined to ride on to Stramehl, and learn there further
+particulars if possible.
+
+Accordingly, next day I took leave of the good old man, praying
+God to give him a peaceful death, and arrived at Stramehl with my
+servant. Here, however, I could obtain no information; for even
+the Bork family pretended to know nothing, just as if they never
+had heard of Sidonia (they were ashamed, I think, to acknowledge
+her), and the townspeople who had known her were all dead. The
+girl, indeed, was still living whose goose Sidonia had killed, but
+she was now an old woman in second childhood, and fancied that I
+was myself Sidonia, who had come to take away another goose from
+her. So I rode on to Freienwald, where I heard much that shall
+appear in its proper place; then to Old Stettin; and, after
+waiting three days for a fair wind, set sail for Wolgast,
+expecting to obtain much information there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there._
+
+
+In Wolgast I met with many persons whose fathers had known
+Sidonia, and what they related to me concerning her I have summed
+up into connection for your Highness as follows.
+
+When Duke Barnim reached the Diet at Treptow, he immediately made
+known Sidonia's request to the Grand Chamberlain of Wolgast,
+Ulrich von Schwerin, who was also guardian to the five young
+princes. But he grumbled, and said--"The ducal widow had maids of
+honour enough to dam up the river with if she chose; and he wished
+for no more pet doves to be brought to court, particularly not
+Sidonia; for he knew her father was ambitious, and longed to be
+called 'your Grace.'"
+
+Even Fabianus could not prevail in Sidonia's favour. So the Duke
+and he returned home to Stettin; but scarcely had they arrived
+there, when a letter came from the ducal widow of Wolgast, saying,
+that on no account would she receive Sidonia at her court. The
+Duke might therefore keep her at his own if he chose.
+
+So the Duke took no further trouble. But Sidonia was not so easily
+satisfied; and taking the matter in her own hands she left her
+father's castle without waiting his permission, and set off for
+Stettin.
+
+On arriving, she prayed the Duke to bring her to Wolgast without
+delay, as she knew there was an honourable, noble lady there who
+would watch over her, as indeed she felt would be necessary at a
+court. And Fabianus supported her petition; for he was much
+edified with her expressed desire to crucify the flesh, with the
+affections and lusts.
+
+Ah! could he have known her!
+
+So the kind-hearted Duke embarked with her immediately, without
+telling any one; and having a fair wind, sailed up directly to the
+little water-gate, and anchored close beneath the Castle of
+Wolgast.
+
+Here they landed; the Duke having Sidonia under one arm, and a
+little wooden puppet under the other. It was an Eve, for whom
+Sidonia had served as the model; and truly she was an Eve in sin,
+and brought as much evil upon the land of Pomerania as our first
+mother upon the whole world. Sidonia was enveloped in a black
+mantle, and wore a hood lined with fur covering her face. The Duke
+also had on a large wrapping cloak, and a cap of yellow leather
+upon his head.
+
+So they entered the private gate, and on through the first and
+second courts of the castle, without her Grace hearing a word of
+their arrival. And they proceeded on through the gallery, until
+they reached the private apartments of the princess, from whence
+resounded a psalm which her Grace was singing with her ladies
+while they spun, and which psalm was played by a little musical
+box placed within the Duchess's own spinning-wheel. Duke Barnim
+had made it himself for her Grace, and it was right pleasant to
+hear.
+
+After listening some time, the Duke knocked, and a maid of honour
+opened the door. When they entered, her Grace was so confounded
+that she dropped her thread and exclaimed, "Dear uncle! is this
+maiden, then, Sidonia?" examining her from head to foot while she
+spoke. The Duke excused himself by saying that he had promised her
+father to bring her here; but her Grace cut short his apologies
+with "Dear uncle, Dr. Martin Luther told me on my wedding-day that
+he never allowed himself to be interrupted at his prayers, because
+it betokened the presence of something evil. And you have now
+broken in on our devotions; therefore sit down with the maiden and
+join our psalm, if you know it." Then her Grace took up the reel
+again, and having set the clock-work going with her foot, struck
+up the psalm once more, in a clear, loud voice, joined by all her
+ladies. But Sidonia sat still, and kept her eyes upon the ground.
+
+When they had ended, her Grace, having first crossed herself,
+advanced to Sidonia, and said, "Since you arrived at my court, you
+may remain; but take care that you never lift your eyes upon the
+young men. Such wantons are hateful to my sight; for, as the
+Scripture says, 'A fair woman without discretion is like a circlet
+of gold upon a swine's head.'"
+
+Sidonia changed colour at this; but the Duke, who held quite a
+different opinion about such women, entreated her Grace not to be
+always so gloomy and melancholy--that it was time now for her to
+forget her late spouse, and think of gayer subjects. To which she
+answered, "Dear uncle, I cannot forget my Philip, particularly as
+my fate was foreshadowed at my bridal by a most ominous
+occurrence."
+
+Now, the Duke had heard this story of the bridal a hundred times;
+yet to please her he asked, "And what was it, dear cousin?"
+
+"Listen," she replied. "When Dr. Martin Luther exchanged our
+rings, mine fell from his hand to the ground; at which he was
+evidently troubled, and taking it up, he blew on it; then turning
+round, exclaimed--'Away with thee, Satan! away with thee, Satan!
+Meddle not in this matter!' And so my dear lord was taken from me
+in his forty-fifth year, and I was left a desolate widow." Here
+she sobbed and put her kerchief to her eyes.
+
+"But, cousin," said the Duke, "remember you have a great blessing
+from God in your five fine sons. And that reminds me--where are
+they all now?"
+
+This restored her Grace, and she began to discourse of her
+children, telling how handsome was the young Prince Ernest, and
+that he and the little Casimir were only with her now.
+
+Here Sidonia, as the other ladies remarked, moved restlessly on
+her chair, and her eyes flashed like torches, so that it was
+evident some plan had struck her, for she was strengthening day by
+day in wickedness.
+
+"Ay, cousin," cried the Duke, "it is no wonder a handsome mother
+should have handsome sons. And now what think you of giving us a
+jolly wedding? It is time for you to think of a second husband,
+methinks, after having wept ten years for your Philip. The best
+doctor, they say, for a young widow, is a handsome lover. What
+think you of myself, for instance?" And he pulled off his leather
+cap, and put his white head and beard up close to her Grace.
+
+Now, though her Grace could not help laughing at his position and
+words, yet she grew as sour as vinegar again immediately; for all
+the ladies tittered, and, as to Sidonia, she laughed outright.
+
+"Fie! uncle," said her Grace, "a truce to such folly; do you not
+know what St. Paul says--'Let the widows abide even as I'?"
+
+"Ay, true, dear cousin; but, then, does he not say, too, 'I will
+that the younger widows marry'?"
+
+"Ah, but, dear uncle, I am no longer young."
+
+"Why, you are as young and active as a girl; and I engage, cousin,
+if any stranger came in here to look for the widow, he would find
+it difficult to make her out amongst the young maidens; don't you
+think so, Sidonia?"
+
+"Ah, yes," she replied; "I never imagined her Grace was so young.
+She is as blooming as a rose."
+
+This appeared to please the Princess, for she smiled slightly and
+then sighed; but gave his Grace a smart slap when he attempted to
+seize her hand and kiss it, saying--"Now, uncle, I told you to
+leave off this foolery."
+
+At this moment the band outside struck up Duke Bogislaff's
+march--the same that was played before him in Jerusalem when he
+ascended the Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha; for it was the custom
+here to play this march half-an-hour before dinner, in order to
+gather all the household, knights, squires, pages, and even grooms
+and peasants, to the castle, where they all received
+entertainment. And ten rooms were laid with dinner, and all stood
+open, so that any one might enter under the permission of the
+Court Marshal. All this I must notice here, because Sidonia
+afterwards caused much scandal by these means. The music now
+rejoiced her greatly, and she began to move her little feet, not
+in a pilgrim, but in a waltz measure, and to beat time with them,
+as one could easily perceive by the motion underneath her mantle.
+
+The Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, now entered, and
+having looked at Sidonia with much surprise, advanced to kiss the
+hand of the Duke and bid him welcome to Wolgast. Then, turning to
+her Grace, he inquired if the twelve pages should wait at table to
+do honour to the Duke of Stettin. But the Duke forbade them,
+saying he wished to dine in private for this day with the Duchess
+and her two sons; the Grand Chamberlain, too, he hoped would be
+present, and Sidonia might have a seat at the ducal table, as she
+was of noble blood; besides, he had taken her likeness as Eve, and
+the first of women ought to sit at the first table. Hereupon the
+Duke drew forth the puppet, and called to Ulrich--"Here! you have
+seen my Adam in Treptow; what think you now of Eve? Look, dear
+cousin, is she not the image of Sidonia?"
+
+At this speech both looked very grave. Ulrich said nothing; but
+her Grace replied, "You will make the girl vain, dear uncle." And
+Ulrich added, "Yes, and the image has such an expression, that if
+the real Eve looked so, I think she would have left her husband in
+the lurch and run with the devil himself to the devil."
+
+While the last verse of the march was playing--"To Zion comes
+Pomerania's Prince"--they proceeded to dinner--the Duke and the
+Princes leading, while from every door along the corridor the
+young knights and pages peeped out to get a sight of Sidonia, who,
+having thrown off her mantle, swept by them in a robe of crimson
+velvet laced with gold.
+
+When they entered the dining-hall, Prince Ernest was leaning
+against one of the pillars wearing a black Spanish mantle,
+fastened with chains of gold. He stepped forward to greet the
+Duke, and inquire after his health.
+
+The Duke was well pleased to see him, and tapped him on the cheek,
+exclaiming--
+
+"By my faith, cousin, I have not heard too much of you. What a
+fine youth you have grown up since you left the university."
+
+But how Sidonia's eyes sparkled when (for his misfortune) she
+found herself seated next him at table. The Duchess now called
+upon Sidonia to say the "gratias;" but she blundered and
+stammered, which many imputed to modesty, so that Prince Ernest
+had to repeat it in her stead. This seemed to give him courage;
+for when the others began to talk around the table, he ventured to
+bid her welcome to his mother's court.
+
+When they rose from table, Sidonia was again commanded to say
+grace; but being unable, the Prince came to her relief and
+repeated the words for her. And now the evil spirit without doubt
+put it into the Duke's head, who had drunk rather freely, to say
+to her Grace--
+
+"Dear cousin, I have introduced the Italian fashion at my court,
+which is, that every knight kisses the lady next him on rising
+from dinner--let us do the same here." And herewith he first
+kissed her Grace and then Sidonia. Ulrich von Schwerin looked
+grave at this and shook his head, particularly when the Duke
+encouraged Prince Ernest to follow his example; but the poor youth
+looked quite ashamed, and cast down his eyes. However, when he
+raised them again Sidonia's were fixed on him, and she murmured,
+"Will you not learn?" with such a glance accompanying the words,
+that he could no longer resist to touch her lips. So there was
+great laughing in the hall; and the Duke then, taking his puppet
+under one arm and Sidonia under the other, descended with her to
+the castle gardens, complaining that he never got a good laugh in
+this gloomy house, let him do what he would.
+
+And the next day he departed, though the Prince sent his equerry
+to know would his Grace desire to hunt that day; or, if he
+preferred fishing, there were some excellent carp within the
+domain. But the Duke replied, that he would neither ride nor fish,
+but sail away at ten of the clock, if the wind were favourable.
+
+So many feared that his Grace was annoyed; and therefore the
+Duchess and Prince Ernest, along with the Grand Chamberlain,
+attended him to the gate; and even to please him, Sidonia was
+allowed to accompany them. The Pomeranian standard also was
+hoisted to do him honour, and finally he bade the illustrious
+widow farewell, recommending Sidonia to her care. But the fair
+maiden herself he took in his arms, she weeping and sobbing, and
+admonished her to be careful and discreet; and so, with a fair
+wind, set sail from Wolgast, and never once looked back.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast._
+
+
+Next day, Sunday, her Grace was unable to attend divine service in
+the church, having caught cold by neglecting to put on her mantle
+when she accompanied the Duke down to the water-gate. However,
+though her Grace could not leave her chamber, yet she heard the
+sermon of the preacher all the same; for an ear-tube descended
+from her apartment down on the top of the pulpit, by which means
+every word reached her, and a maid of honour always remained in
+attendance to find out the lessons of the day, and the other
+portions of the divine service, for her Grace, who thus could
+follow the clergyman word for word. Sidonia was the one selected
+for the office on this day.
+
+But, gracious Heavens! when the Duchess said, Find me out the
+prophet Isaiah, Sidonia looked in the New Testament; and when she
+said, Open the Gospel of St. John, Sidonia looked in the Old
+Testament. At first her Grace did not perceive her blunders; but
+when she became aware of them, she started up, and tearing the
+Bible out of her hands, exclaimed, "What! are you a heathen?
+Yesterday you could not repeat a simple grace that every child
+knows by heart, and to-day you do not know the difference between
+the Old and New Testaments. For shame! Alas! what an ill weed I
+have introduced into my house."
+
+So the cunning wench began to weep, and said, her father had never
+allowed her to learn Christianity, though she wished to do so
+ardently, but always made a mock of it, and for this reason she
+had sought a refuge with her Grace, where she hoped to become a
+truly pious and believing Christian. The Duchess was quite
+softened by her tears, and promised that Dr. Dionysius Gerschovius
+should examine her in the catechism, and see what she knew. He was
+a learned man from Daber [Footnote: A small town in Lower
+Pomerania.], and her Grace's chaplain. The very idea of the doctor
+frightened Sidonia so much, that her teeth chattered, and she
+entreated her Grace, while she kissed her hand, to allow her at
+least a fortnight for preparation and study before the doctor
+came.
+
+The Duchess promised this, and said, that Clara von Dewitz,
+another of her maidens, would be an excellent person to assist her
+in her studies, as she came from Daber also, and was familiar with
+the views and doctrines held by Dr. Gerschovius. This Clara we
+shall hear more of in our history. She was a year older than
+Sidonia, intelligent, courageous, and faithful, with a quiet,
+amiable disposition, and of most pious and Christian demeanour.
+She wore a high, stiff ruff, out of which peeped forth her head
+scarcely visible, and a long robe, like a stole, sweeping behind
+her. She was privately betrothed to her Grace's Master of the
+Horse, Marcus Bork by name, a cousin of Sidonia's; for, as her
+Grace discouraged all kinds of gallantry or love-making at her
+court, they were obliged to keep the matter secret, so that no
+one, not even her Grace, suspected anything of the engagement.
+
+This was the person appointed to instruct Sidonia in Christianity;
+and every day the fair pupil visited Clara in her room for an
+hour. But, alas! theology was sadly interrupted by Sidonia's folly
+and levity, for she chattered away on all subjects: first about
+Prince Ernest--was he affianced to any one? was he in love? had
+Clara herself a lover? and if that old proser, meaning the
+Duchess, looked always as sour? did she never allow a feast or a
+dance? and then she would toss the catechism under the bed, or
+tear it and trample on it, muttering, with much ill-temper, that
+she was too old to be learning catechisms like a child.
+
+Poor Clara tried to reason with her mildly, and said--"Her Grace
+was very particular on these points. The maids of honour were
+obliged to assemble weekly once in the church and once in her
+Grace's own room, to be examined by Dr. Gerschovius, not only in
+the Lutheran Catechism, which they all knew well, but also in that
+written by his brother, Dr. Timothy Gerschovius of Old Stettin; so
+Sidonia had better first learn the _Catechismum Lutheri_, and
+afterwards the _Catechismum Gerschovii_." At last Sidonia
+grew so weary of catechisms that she determined to run away from
+court.
+
+But Satan had more for her to do; so he put a little syrup into
+the wormwood draught, and thus it was. One day passing along the
+corridor from Clara's room, it so happened that Prince Ernest
+opened his door, just as she came up to it, to let out the smoke,
+and then began to walk up and down, playing softly on his lute.
+Sidonia stood still for a few minutes with her eyes thrown up in
+ecstasy, and then passed on; but the Prince stepped to the door,
+and asked her did she play.
+
+"Alas! no," she answered. "Her father had forbidden her to learn
+the lute, though music was her passion, and her heart seemed
+almost breaking with joy when she listened to it. If his Highness
+would but play one little air over again for her."
+
+"Yes, if you will enter, but not while you are standing there at
+my door."
+
+"Ah, do not ask me to enter, that would not be seemly; but I will
+sit down here on this beer-barrel in the corridor and listen;
+besides, music is improved by distance."
+
+And she looked so tenderly at the young Prince that his heart
+burned within him, and he stepped out into the corridor to play;
+but the sound reaching the ears of her Grace, she looked out, and
+Sidonia jumped up from the beer-barrel and fled away to her own
+room.
+
+When Sunday came again, all the maids of honour were assembled, as
+usual, in her Grace's apartment, to be examined in the catechism;
+and probably the Duchess had lamented much to the doctor over
+Sidonia's levity and ignorance, for he kept a narrow watch on her
+the whole day. At four of the clock Dr. Gerschovius entered in his
+gown and bands, looking very solemn; for it was a saying of his
+"that the devil invented laughter; and that it were better for a
+man to be a weeping Heraclitus than a laughing Democritus." After
+he had kissed the hand of her Grace, he said they had better now
+begin with the Commandments; and, turning to Sidonia, asked her,
+"What is forbidden by the seventh commandment?"
+
+Now Sidonia, who had only learned the Lutheran Catechism, did not
+understand the question in this form out of the Gerschovian
+Catechism, and remained silent.
+
+"What!" said the doctor, "not know my brother's catechism! You
+must get one directly from the court bookseller--the Catechism of
+Doctor Timothy Gerschovius--and have it learned by next Sunday."
+Then turning to Clara, he repeated the question, and she, having
+answered, received great praise.
+
+Now it happened that just at this time the ducal horse were led up
+to the horse-pond to water, and all the young pages and knights
+were gathered in a group under the window of her Grace's
+apartment, laughing and jesting merrily. So Sidonia looked out at
+them, which the doctor no sooner perceived than he slapped her on
+the hand with the catechism, exclaiming, "What! have you not heard
+just now that all sinful desires are forbidden by the seventh
+commandment, and yet you look forth upon the young men from the
+window? Tell me what are sinful desires?"
+
+But the proud girl grew red with indignation, and cried, "Do you
+dare to strike me?" Then, turning to her Grace, she said, "Madam,
+that sour old priest has struck me on the fingers. I will not
+suffer this. My father shall hear of it."
+
+Hereupon her Grace, and even the doctor, tried to appease her, but
+in vain, and she ran crying from the apartment. In the corridor
+she met the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who hated the doctor
+and all his rigid doctrines. So she complained of the treatment
+which she had received, and pressed his hand and stroked his
+beard, saying, would he permit a castle and land dowered maiden to
+be scolded and insulted by an old parson because she looked out at
+a window? That was worse than in the days of Popery. Now
+Zitsewitz, who had a little wine in his head, on hearing this, ran
+in great wrath to the apartment of her Grace, where soon a great
+uproar was heard.
+
+For the treasurer, in the heat of his remonstrance with the
+priest, struck a little table violently which stood near him, and
+overthrew it. On this had Iain the superb escritoire of her
+Highness, made of Venetian glass, in which the ducal arms were
+painted; and also the magnificent album of her deceased lord, Duke
+Philip. The escritoire was broken, the ink poured forth upon the
+album, from thence ran down to the costly Persian carpet, a
+present from her brother, the Prince of Saxony, and finally
+stained the velvet robe of her Highness herself, who started up
+screaming, so that the old chamberlain rushed in to know what had
+happened, and then he fell into a rage both with the priest and
+the treasurer. At length her Grace was comforted by hearing that a
+chemist in Grypswald could restore the book, and mend the glass
+again as good as new; still she wept, and exclaimed, "Alas! who
+could have thought it? all this was foreshadowed to her by Dr.
+Martinus dropping her ring."
+
+Here the treasurer, to conciliate her Grace, pretended that he
+never had heard the story of the betrothal, and asked, "What does
+your Grace mean?" Whereupon drying her eyes she answered, "O
+Master Jacob, you will hear a strange story"--and here she went
+over each particular, though every child in the street had it by
+heart. So this took away her grief, and every one got to rights
+again, for that day. But worse was soon to befall.
+
+I have said that half-an-hour before dinner the band played to
+summon all within the castle and the retainers to their respective
+messes, as the custom then was; so that the long corridor was soon
+filled with a crowd of all conditions--pages, knights, squires,
+grooms, maids, and huntsmen, all hurrying to the apartments where
+their several tables were laid. Sidonia, being aware of this, upon
+the first roll of the drum skipped out into the corridor, dancing
+up and down the whole length of it to the music, so that the
+players declared they had never seen so beautiful a dancer, at
+which her heart beat with joy; and as the crowd came up, they
+stopped to admire her grace and beauty. Then she would pause and
+say a few pleasing words to each, to a huntsman, if he were
+passing--"Ah, I think no deer in the world could escape you, my
+fine young peasant;" or if a knight, she would praise the colour
+of his doublet and the tie of his garter; or if a laundress, she
+would commend the whiteness of her linen, which she had never seen
+equalled; and as to the old cook and butler, she enchanted them by
+asking, had his Grace of Stettin ever seen them, for assuredly, if
+he had, he would have taken their fine heads as models for Abraham
+and Noah. Then she flung largess amongst them to drink the health
+of the Duchess. Only when a young noble passed, she grew timid and
+durst not venture to address him, but said, loud enough for him to
+hear, "Oh, how handsome! Do you know his name?" Or, "It is easy to
+see that he is a born nobleman"--and such like hypocritical
+flatteries.
+
+The Princess never knew a word of all this, for, according to
+etiquette, she was the last to seat herself at table. So Sidonia's
+doings were not discovered until too late, for by that time she
+had won over the whole court, great and small, to her interests.
+
+Amongst the cavaliers who passed one day were two fine young men,
+Wedig von Schwetzkow, and Johann Appelmann, son of the burgomaster
+at Stargard. They were both handsome; but Johann was a dissolute,
+wild profligate, and Wedig was not troubled with too much sense.
+Still he had not fallen into the evil courses which made the other
+so notorious. "Who is that handsome youth?" asked Sidonia as
+Johann passed; and when they told her, "Ah, a gentleman!" she
+exclaimed, "who is of far higher value in my eyes than a
+nobleman."
+
+_Summa:_ they both fell in love with her on the instant; but
+all the young squires were the same more or less, except her
+cousin Marcus Bork, seeing that he was already betrothed. Likewise
+after dinner, in place of going direct to the ladies' apartments,
+she would take a circuitous route, so as to go by the quarter
+where the men dined, and as she passed their doors, which they
+left open on purpose, what rejoicing there was, and such running
+and squeezing just to get a glimpse of her--the little putting
+their heads under the arms of the tall, and there they began to
+laugh and chat; but neither the Duchess nor the old chamberlain
+knew anything of this, for they were in a different wing of the
+castle, and besides, always took a sleep after dinner.
+
+However, old Zitsewitz, when he heard the clamour, knew well it
+was Sidonia, and would jump up from the marshal's table, though
+the old marshal shook his head, and run to the gallery to have a
+chat with her himself, and she laughed and coquetted with him, so
+that the old knight would run after her and take her in his arms,
+asking her where she would wish to go. Then she sometimes said, to
+the castle garden to feed the pet stag, for she had never seen so
+pretty a thing in all her life; and she would fetch crumbs of
+bread with her to feed it. So he must needs go with her, and
+Sidonia ran down the steps with him that led from the young men's
+quarter to the castle court, while they all rose up to look after
+her, and laugh at the old fool of a treasurer. But in a short time
+they followed too, running up and down the steps in crowds, to see
+Sidonia feeding the stag and caressing it, and sometimes trying to
+ride on it, while old Zitsewitz held the horns.
+
+Prince Ernest beheld all this from a window, and was ready to die
+with jealousy and mortification, for he felt that Sidonia was gay
+and friendly with every one but him. Indeed, since the day of the
+lute-playing, he fancied she shunned him and treated him coldly.
+But as Sidonia had observed particularly, that whenever the young
+Prince passed her in the gallery he cast down his eyes and sighed,
+she took another way of managing him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum._
+
+
+The day preceding that on which Sidonia was to repeat the
+Catechism of Doctor Gerschovius (of which, by the way, she had not
+learned one word), the young Duke suddenly entered his mother's
+apartment, where she and her maidens were spinning, and asked her
+if she remembered anything about a Laplander with a drum, who had
+foretold some event to her and his father whilst they were at
+Penemunde some years before; for he had been arrested at Eldena,
+and was now in Wolgast.
+
+"Alas!" said her Grace, "I perfectly remember the horrible
+sorcerer. One spring I was at the hunt with your father near
+Penemunde, when this wretch suddenly appeared driving two cows
+before him on a large ice-field. He pretended that while he was
+telling fortunes to the girls who milked the cows, a great storm
+arose, and drove him out into the wide sea, which was a terrible
+misfortune to him. But your father told him in Swedish, which
+language the knave knew, that it had been better to prophesy his
+own destiny. To which he replied, a man could as little foretell
+his own fate as see the back of his own head, which every one can
+see but himself. However, if the Duke wished, he would tell him
+his fortune, and if it did not come out true, let all the world
+hold him as a liar for his life long.
+
+"Alas! your father consented. Whereupon the knave began to dance
+and play upon his drum like one frenzied; so that it was evident
+to see the spirit was working within him. Then he fell down like
+one dead, and cried, 'Woe to thee when thy house is burning! Woe
+to thee when thy house is burning!'
+
+"Therefore be warned, my son; have nothing to do with this fellow,
+for it so happened even as he said. On the 11th December '57, our
+castle was burned, and your poor father had a rib broken in
+consequence. Would that I had been the rib broken for him, so that
+he might still reign over the land; and this was the true cause of
+his untimely death. Therefore dismiss this sorcerer, for it is
+Satan himself speaks in him."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite pale, and dropped the thread, as if taken
+suddenly ill. Then she prayed the Duchess to excuse her, and
+permit her to retire to her own room.
+
+The moment the Duchess gave permission, Sidonia glided out; but,
+in place of going to her chamber, she threw herself in a languid
+attitude upon a seat in the corridor, just where she knew Prince
+Ernest must pass, and leaned her head upon her hand. He soon came
+out of his mother's room, and seeing Sidonia, took her hand
+tenderly, asking, with visible emotion--
+
+"Dear lady, what has happened?"
+
+"Ah," she answered, "I am so weak that I cannot go on to my little
+apartment. I know not what ails me; but I am so afraid----"
+
+"Afraid of what, dearest lady?"
+
+"Of that sour old priest. He is to examine me to-morrow in the
+Catechism of Gerschovius, and I cannot learn a word of it, do what
+I will. I know Luther's Catechism quite well" (this was a
+falsehood, we know), "but that does not satisfy him, and if I
+cannot repeat it he will slap my hands or box my ears, and my lady
+the Duchess will be more angry than ever; but I am too old now to
+learn catechisms."
+
+Then she trembled like an aspen-leaf, and fixed her eyes on him
+with such tenderness that he trembled likewise, and drawing her
+arm within his, supported her to her chamber. On the way she
+pressed his hand repeatedly; but with each pressure, as he
+afterwards confessed, a pang shot through his heart, which might
+have excited compassion from his worst enemy.
+
+When they reached her chamber, she would not let him enter, but
+modestly put him back, saying, "Leave me--ah! leave me, gracious
+Prince. I must creep to my bed; and in the meantime let me entreat
+you to persuade the priest not to torment me to-morrow morning."
+
+The Prince now left her, and forgetting all about the Lapland
+wizard whom he had left waiting in the courtyard, he rushed over
+the drawbridge, up the main street behind St. Peter's, and into
+the house of Dr. Gerschovius.
+
+The doctor was indignant at his petition.
+
+"My young Prince," he said, "if ever a human being stood in need
+of God's Word, it is that young maiden." At last, however, upon
+the entreaties of Prince Ernest, he consented to defer her
+examination for four weeks, during which time she could fully
+perfect herself in the catechism of his learned brother.
+
+He then prayed the Prince not to allow his eyes to be dazzled by
+this fair, sinful beauty, who would delude him as she had done all
+the other men in the castle, not excepting even that old sinner
+Zitsewitz.
+
+When the Prince returned to the castle, he found a great crowd
+assembled round the Lapland wizard, all eagerly asking to have
+their fortunes told, and Sidonia was amongst them, as merry and
+lively as if nothing had ailed her. When the Prince expressed his
+surprise, she said, that finding herself much relieved by lying
+down, she had ventured into the fresh air, to recreate herself,
+and have her fortune told. Would not the Prince likewise wish to
+hear his?
+
+So, forgetting all his mother's wise injunctions, he advanced with
+Sidonia to the wizard. The Lapland drum, which lay upon his knees,
+was a strange instrument; and by it we can see what arts Satan
+employs to strengthen his kingdom in all places and by all means.
+For the Laplanders are Christians, though they in some sort
+worship the devil, and therefore he imparts to them much of his
+own power. This drum which they use is made out of a piece of
+hollow wood, which must be either fir, pine, or birch, and which
+grows in such a particular place that it follows the course of the
+sun; that is, the pectines, fibrae, and lineae in the annual rings
+of the wood must wind from right to left. Having hollowed out such
+a tree, they spread a skin over it, fastened down with little
+pegs; and on the centre of the skin is painted the sun, surrounded
+by figures of men, beasts, birds, and fishes, along with Christ
+and the holy Apostles. All this is done with the rind of the
+elder-tree, chewed first beneath their teeth. Upon the top of the
+drum there is an index in the shape of a triangle, from which hang
+a number of little rings and chains. When the wizard wishes to
+propitiate Satan and receive his power, he strikes the drum with a
+hammer made of the reindeer's horn, not so much to procure a sound
+as to set the index in motion with all its little chains, that it
+may move over the figures, and point to whatever gives the
+required answer. At the same time the magician murmurs
+conjurations, springs sometimes up from the ground, screams,
+laughs, dances, reels, becomes black in the face, foams, twists
+his eyes, and falls to the ground at last in an ecstasy, dragging
+the drum down upon his face.
+
+Any one may then put questions to him, and all will come to pass
+that he answers. All this was done by the wizard; but he desired
+strictly that when he fell upon the ground, no one should touch
+him with the foot, and secondly, that all flies and insects should
+be kept carefully from him. So after he had danced, and screamed,
+and twisted his face so horribly that half the women fainted, and
+foamed and raged until the demon seemed to have taken full
+possession of him, he fell down, and then every one put questions
+to him, to which he responded; but the answers sometimes produced
+weeping, sometimes laughing, according as some gentle maiden heard
+that her lover was safe, or that he had been struck by the mast on
+shipboard and tumbled into the sea. And all came out true, as was
+afterwards proved.
+
+Sidonia now invited the Prince to try his fortune; and so,
+forgetting the admonitions of the Duchess, he said, "What dost
+thou prophesy to me?"
+
+"Beware of a woman, if you would live long and happily," was the
+answer.
+
+"But of what woman?"
+
+"I will not name her, for she is present."
+
+Then the Prince turned pale and looked at Sidonia, who grew pale
+also, but made no answer, only laughed, and advancing asked, "What
+dost thou prophesy to me?" But immediately the wizard shrieked,
+"Away! away! I burn, I burn! thou makest me yet hotter than I am!"
+
+Many thought these exclamations referred to Sidonia's beauty,
+particularly the young lords, who murmured, "Now every one must
+acknowledge her beauty, when even this son of Satan feels his
+heart burning when she approaches." And Sidonia laughed merrily at
+their gallantries.
+
+Just then the Grand Chamberlain came by, and having heard what had
+happened, he angrily dismissed the crowd, and sending for the
+executioner, ordered the cheating impostor to be whipped and
+branded, and then sent over the frontier.
+
+The wizard, who had been lying quite stiff, now cried out (though
+he had never seen the Chamberlain before)--"Listen, Ulrich! I will
+prophesy something to thee: if it comes not to pass, then punish
+me; but if it does, then give me a boat and seven loaves, that I
+may sail away to-morrow to my own country."
+
+Ulrich refused to hear his prophecy; but the wizard cried
+out--"Ulrich, this day thy wife Hedwig will die at Spantekow."
+
+Ulrich grew pale, but only answered, "Thou liest! how can that
+be?" He replied, "Thy cousin Clas will visit her; she will descend
+to the cellar to fetch him some of the Italian wine for which you
+wrote, and which arrived yesterday; a step of the stairs will
+break as she is ascending; she will fall forward upon the flask,
+which will cut her throat through, and so she will die."
+
+When he ceased, the alarmed Ulrich called loudly to the chief
+equerry, Appelmann, who just then came by--"Quick! saddle the best
+racer in the stables, and ride for life to Spantekow, for it may
+be as he has prophesied, and let us outwit the devil. Haste,
+haste, for the love of God, and I will never forget it to thee!"
+
+So the equerry rode without stop or stay to Spantekow, and he
+found the cousin Clas in the house; but when he asked for the Lady
+Hedwig, they said, "She is in the cellar." So no misfortune had
+happened then; but as they waited and she appeared not, they
+descended to look for her, and lo! just as the wizard had
+prophesied, she had fallen upon the stairs while ascending, and
+there lay dead.
+
+The mournful news was brought by sunset to Wolgast, and Ulrich, in
+his despair and grief, wished to burn the Laplander; but Prince
+Ernest hindered him, saying, "It is more knightly, Ulrich, to keep
+your word than to cool your vengeance." So the old man stood
+silent a long space, and then said, "Well, young man, if you
+abandon Sidonia, I will release the Laplander."
+
+The Prince coloured, and the Lord Chamberlain thought that he had
+discovered a secret; but as the prophecy of the wizard came again
+into Prince Ernest's mind, he said--
+
+"Well, Ulrich, I will give up the maiden Sidonia. Here is my
+hand."
+
+Accordingly, next morning the wizard was released from prison and
+given a boat, with seven loaves and a pitcher of water, that he
+might sail back to his own country. The wind, however, was due
+north, but the people who crossed the bridge to witness his
+departure were filled with fear when they saw him change the wind
+at his pleasure to suit himself; for he pulled out a string full
+of knots, and having swung it about, murmuring incantations, all
+the vanes on the towers creaked and whirled right about, all the
+windmills in the town stopped, all the vessels and boats that were
+going up the stream became quite still, and their sails flapped on
+the masts, for the wind had changed in a moment from north to
+south, and the north waves and the south waves clashed together.
+
+As every one stood wondering at this, the sailors and fishermen in
+particular, the wizard sprang into his boat and set forth with a
+fair wind, singing loudly, "Jooike Duara! Jooike Duara!"
+[Footnote: This is the beginning of a magic rhyme, chanted even by
+the distant Calmucks--namely, _Dschie jo eie jog_.] and soon
+disappeared from sight, nor was he ever again seen in that
+country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor
+Gerschovius comforts him out of God's Word._
+
+
+This affair with the Lapland wizard much troubled the Grand
+Chamberlain, and his faith suffered sore temptations. So he
+referred to Dr. Gerschovius, and asked him how the prophets of God
+differed from those of the devil. Whereupon the doctor recommended
+him to meditate on God's Word, wherein he would find a source of
+consolation and a solution of all doubts.
+
+So the mourning Ulrich departed for his castle of Spantekow,
+trusting in the assistance of God. And her Grace, with all her
+court, resolved to attend the funeral also, to do him honour. They
+proceeded forth, therefore, dressed in black robes, their horses
+also caparisoned with black hangings, and the Duchess ordered a
+hundred wax lights for the ceremony. Sidonia alone declined
+attending, and gave out that she was sick in bed. The truth,
+however, was, that as Duke Ernest was obliged to remain at home to
+take the command of the castle, and affix his signature to all
+papers, she wished to remain also.
+
+The mourning cortege, therefore, had scarcely left the court, when
+Sidonia rose and seated herself at the window, which she knew the
+young Prince must pass along with his attendants on their way to
+the office of the castle. Then taking up a lute, which she had
+purchased privately, and practised night and morning in place of
+learning the catechism, she played a low, soft air, to attract
+their attention. So all the young knights looked up; and when
+Prince Ernest arrived he looked up also, and seeing Sidonia,
+exclaimed, with surprise, "Beautiful Sidonia, how have you learned
+the lute?" At which she blushed and answered modestly, "Gracious
+Prince, I am only self-taught. No one here understands the lute
+except your Highness."
+
+"Does this employment, then, give you much pleasure?"
+
+"Ah, yes! If I could only play it well; I would give half my life
+to learn it properly. There is no such sweet enjoyment upon earth,
+I think, as this."
+
+"But you have been sick, lady, and the cold air will do you an
+injury."
+
+"Yes, it is true I have been ill, but the air rather refreshes me;
+and besides, I feel the melancholy of my solitude less here."
+
+"Now farewell, dear lady; I must attend to the business of the
+castle."
+
+This little word--"dear lady"--gave Sidonia such confidence, that
+by the time she expected Prince Ernest to pass again on his
+return, she was seated at the window awaiting him with her lute,
+to which she now sang in a clear, sweet voice. But the Prince
+passed on as if he heard nothing--never even once looked up, to
+Sidonia's great mortification. However, the moment he reached his
+own apartment, he commenced playing a melancholy air upon his
+lute, as if in response to hers. The artful young maiden no sooner
+heard this than she opened her door. The Prince at the same
+instant opened his to let out the smoke, and their eyes met, when
+Sidonia uttered a feeble cry and fell fainting upon the floor. The
+Prince, seeing this, flew to her, raised her up, and trembling
+with emotion, carried her back to her room and laid her down upon
+the bed. Now indeed it was well for him that he had given that
+promise to Ulrich. When Sidonia after some time slowly opened her
+eyes, the Prince asked tenderly what ailed her; and she said, "I
+must have taken cold at the window, for I felt very ill, and went
+to the door to call an attendant; but I must have fainted then,
+for I remember nothing more." Alas! the poor Prince, he believed
+all this, and conjured her to lie down until he called a maid, and
+sent for the physician if she desired it; but, no--she refused,
+and said it would pass off soon. (Ah, thou cunning maiden! it may
+well pass off when it never was on.)
+
+However, she remained in bed until the next day, when the Princess
+and her train returned home from the funeral. Her Grace had
+assisted at the obsequies with all princely state, and even laid a
+crown of rosemary with her own hand upon the head of the corpse,
+and a little prayer-book beside it, open at that fine hymn "Pauli
+Sperati" (which also was sung over the grave). Then the husband
+laid a tin crucifix on the coffin, with the inscription from I
+John iii. 8--"The Son of God was manifested that He might destroy
+the works of the devil." After which the coffin was lowered into
+the grave with many tears.
+
+Some days after this, being Sunday, Doctor Gerschovius and the
+Grand Chamberlain were present at the ducal table. Ulrich indeed
+ate little, for he was filled with grief, only sipped a little
+broth, into which he had crumbled some reindeer cheese, not to
+appear ungracious; but when dinner was over, he raised his head,
+and asked Doctor Gerschovius to inform him now in what lay the
+difference between the prophets of God and those of the devil. The
+Duchess was charmed at the prospect of such a profitable
+discourse, and ordered a cushion and footstool to be placed for
+herself, that she might remain to hear it. Then she sent for the
+whole household--maidens, squires, and pages--that they too might
+be edified, and learn the true nature of the devil's gifts. The
+hall was soon as full, therefore, as if a sermon were about to be
+preached; and the doctor, seeing this, stroked his beard, and he
+begun as follows: [Footnote: Perhaps some readers will hold the
+rationalist doctrine that no prophecy is possible or credible, and
+that no mortal can under any circumstances see into futurity; but
+how then can they account for the wonderful phenomena of animal
+magnetism, which are so well authenticated? Do they deny all the
+facts which have been elicited by the great advance made recently
+in natural and physiological philosophy? I need not here bring
+forward proofs from the ancients, showing their universal belief
+in the possibility of seeing into futurity, nor a cloud of
+witnesses from our modern philosophers, attesting the truth of the
+phenomena of somnambulism, but only observe that this very Academy
+of Paris, which in 1784 anathematised Mesmer as a quack, a cheat,
+and a charlatan or fool, and which in conjunction with all the
+academies of Europe (that of Berlin alone excepted) reviled his
+doctrines and insulted all who upheld them, as witches had been
+reviled in preceding centuries, and compelled Mesmer himself to
+fly for protection to Frankfort--this very academy, I say, on the
+12th February 1826, rescinded all their condemnatory verdicts, and
+proclaimed that the wonderful phenomena of animal magnetism had
+been so well authenticated that doubt was no longer possible. This
+confession of faith was the more remarkable, because the members
+of the commission of inquiry had been carefully selected, on
+purpose, from physicians who were totally adverse to the doctrines
+of Mesmer.
+
+There are but two modes, I think, of explaining these
+extraordinary phenomena--either by supposing them effected by
+supernatural agency, as all seers and diviners from antiquity,
+through the Middle Ages down to our somnambulists, have pretended
+that they really stood in communication with spirit; or, by
+supposing that there is an innate latent divining element in our
+own natures, which only becomes evident and active under certain
+circumstances, and which is capable of revealing the _future_
+with more or less exactitude just as the mind can recall the
+_past_. For _past_ and _future_ are but different
+forms of our own subjective intuition of time, and because this
+internal intuition represents no figure, we seek to supply the
+defect by an analogy. For time exists _within_ us, not
+_without_ us; it is not something which subsists of itself,
+but it is the form only of our internal sense.
+
+These two modes of explaining the phenomena present, I know, great
+difficulties; the latter especially. However, the pantheistical
+solution of the Hegelian school adopted by Kieser, Kluge, Wirth,
+Hoffman, pleases me still less. I even prefer that of
+Jung-Stilling and Kerner--but at all events one thing is certain,
+the _facts_ are there; only ignorance, stupidity, and
+obstinacy can deny them. The _cause_ is still a subject of
+speculation, doubt, and difficulty. It is only by a vast induction
+of facts, as in natural philosophy, that we can ever hope to
+arrive at the knowledge of a general law. The crown of all
+creation is _man_; therefore while we investigate so acutely
+all other creatures, let us not shrink back from the strange and
+unknown depths of our own nature which magnetism has opened to
+us.]
+
+I am rejoiced to treat of this subject now, considering how lately
+that demon Lapp befooled ye all. And I shall give you many signs,
+whereby in future a prophet of God may be distinguished from a
+prophet of the devil. 1st, Satan's prophets are not conscious of
+what they utter; but God's prophets are always perfectly
+conscious, both of the inspiration they receive and the
+revelations they make known. For as the Laplander grew frenzied,
+and foamed at the mouth, so it has been with all false prophets
+from the beginning. Even the blind heathen called prophesying
+_mania_, or the wisdom of _madness_. The secret of
+producing this madness was known to them; sometimes it was by the
+use of roots or aromatic herbs, or by exhalations, as in the case
+of the Pythoness, whose incoherent utterances were written by the
+priests of Apollo, for when the fit was over, all remembrance of
+what she had prophesied vanished too. In the Bible we find all
+false prophets described as frenzied. In Isaiah xliv. 25--"God
+maketh the diviners mad." In Ezekiel xiii. 3--"Woe to the foolish
+prophets." Hosea ix. 7--"The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man
+is mad." And Isaiah xxviii. 7 explains fully how this madness was
+produced.
+
+Namely, by wine and the strong drink _Sekar_. [Footnote: It
+is doubtful of what this drink was composed. Hieronymus and Aben
+Ezra imagine that it was of the nature of strong beer. Probably it
+resembled the potion with which the mystery-men amongst the
+savages of the present day produce this divining frenzy. We find
+such in use throughout Tartary, Siberia, America, and Africa, as
+if the usage had descended to them from one common tradition.
+Witches, it is well known, made frequent use of potions, and as
+all somnambulists assert that the seat of the soul's greatest
+activity is in the stomach, it is not incredible what Van Helmont
+relates, that having once tasted the root _napellus_, his
+intellect all at once, accompanied by an unusual feeling of
+ecstasy, seemed to remove from his brain to his stomach.] Further
+examples of this madness are given in the Bible, as Saul when
+under the influence of the evil spirit flung his spear at the
+innocent David; and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal,
+who leaped upon the altar, and screamed, and cut themselves with
+knives and lancets until the blood flowed; and the maiden with the
+spirit of divination, that met Paul in the streets of Philippi;
+with many others.
+
+But all this is an abomination in the sight of God. For as the
+Lord came not to His prophet Elijah in the strong wind, nor in the
+earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice, so does
+He evidence Himself in all His prophets; and we find no record in
+Scripture, either of their madness, or of their having forgotten
+the oracles they uttered, like the Pythoness and others inspired
+by Satan. [Footnote: It is well known that somnambulists never
+remember upon their recovery what they have uttered during the
+crisis. Therefore phenomena of this class appear to belong, in
+some things, to that of the divining frenzy, though in others to
+quite a different category of the divining life.] Further, you may
+observe that the false prophets can always prophesy when they
+choose, Satan is ever willing to come when they exorcise him; but
+the true prophets of God are but instruments in the hand of the
+Lord, and can only speak when He chooses the spirit to enter into
+them. So we find them saying invariably--"This is the word which
+came unto me," or "This is the word which the Lord spake unto me."
+For the Lord is too high and holy to come at the bidding of a
+creature, or obey the summons of his will. St. Peter confirms
+this, 2 Pet. i. 21, that no prophecy ever came at the will of man.
+
+Again, the false prophets were persons of known infamous
+character, and in this differed from the prophets of God, who were
+always righteous men in word and deed. Diodorus informs us of the
+conduct of the Pythoness and the priests of Apollo, and also that
+all oracles were bought with gold, and the answer depended on the
+weight of the sack. As Ezekiel notices, xiii. 19; and Micah iii.
+8. Further, the holy prophets suffered all manner of persecution
+for the sake of God, as Daniel, Elias, Micah, yet remained
+faithful, with but one exception, and were severely punished if
+they fell into crime, and the gift of prophecy taken from them;
+for God cannot dwell in a defiled temple, but Satan can dwell in
+no other.
+
+Also, Satan's prophets speak only of temporal things, but God's
+people of spiritual things. The heathen oracles, for instance,
+never foretold any events but those concerning peace or war, or
+what men desire in riches, health, or advancement--in short,
+temporal matters alone. Whereas God's people, in addition to
+temporal concerns, preached repentance and holiness to the Jewish
+people, and the coming of Christ's kingdom, in whom all nations
+should be blessed. For as the soul is superior to the body, so are
+God's prophets superior to those of the Prince of this world.
+
+And in conclusion, observe that Satan's seers abounded with lies,
+as all heathen history testifies, or their oracles were capable of
+such different interpretations that they became a subject of
+mockery and contempt to the wise amongst the ancient philosophers.
+But be not surprised if they sometimes spoke truth, as the Lapland
+wizard has done, for the devil's power is superior to man's, and
+he can see events which, though close at hand, are yet hidden from
+us, as a father can foretell an approaching storm, though his
+little son cannot do so, and therefore looks upon his father's
+wisdom as supernatural. [Footnote: The somnambulists also can
+prophesy of those events which are near at hand, but never of the
+distant.] But the devil has not the power to see into futurity,
+nor even the angels of God, only God Himself.
+
+The prophets of God, on the contrary, are given power by Him to
+look through all time at a glance, as if it were but a moment; for
+a thousand years to Him are but as a watch of the night; and
+therefore they all from the beginning testified of the Saviour
+that was to come, and rejoiced in His day as if they really beheld
+Him, and all stood together as brothers in one place, and at the
+same time in His blessed presence. But what unanimity and feeling
+has ever been observed by the seers of Satan, when the
+contradictions amongst their oracles were notorious to every one?
+
+And as the eyes of all the holy prophets centred upon Christ, so
+the eyes of the greatest of all prophets penetrated the furthest
+depths of futurity. Not only His own life, sufferings, death, and
+resurrection were foretold by Him, but the end of the Jewish
+kingdom, the dispersion of their race, the rise of His Church from
+the grain of mustard-seed to the wide, world-spreading tree; and
+all has been fulfilled. Be assured, therefore, that this eternal
+glory, which He promised to those who trust in Him, will be
+fulfilled likewise when He comes to judge all nations. So, my
+worthy Lord Ulrich, cease to weep for your spouse who sleeps in
+Jesus, for a greater Prophet than the Lapland wizard has said, "I
+am the resurrection and the life, whosoever believeth in Me shall
+never die." [Footnote: In addition to the foregoing distinctions
+between the Satanic and the holy prophets, I may add the
+following--that almost all the diviners amongst the heathen were
+_women_. For instance, Cassandra, the Pythia in Delphi,
+Triton and Peristhaea in Dodona, the Sybils, the Velleda of
+Tacitus, the Mandragoras, and Druidesses, the witches of the
+Reformation age; and in fine, the modern somnambules are all women
+too. But throughout the whole Bible we find that the prophetic
+power was exclusively conferred upon _men_, with two
+exceptions--namely, Deborah, Judges iv. 4, and Hilda, 2 Chron.
+xxxiv. 22--for there is no evidence that Miriam had a seer spirit;
+she was probably only God-inspired, though classed under the
+general term prophet. We find, indeed, that woe was proclaimed
+against the divining women who prophesy out of their own head,
+Ezekiel xiii. 17-23; so amongst the people of God the revelation
+of the future was confined to _men_, amongst the heathen to
+_women_, or if men are mentioned in these pagan rites, it is
+only as assistants and inferior agents, like animals, metals,
+roots, stones, and such like. See Cicero, _De Divinatione_,
+i. 18.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom._
+
+
+When the discourse had ended, her Grace retired to her apartment
+and Ulrich to his, for it was their custom, as I have said, to
+sleep after dinner. Doctor Gerschovius returned home, and the
+young Prince descended to the gardens with his lute. Now was a
+fine time for the young knights, for they had been sadly disturbed
+in their carouse by that godly prophesying of the doctor's, and
+they now returned to their own quarter to finish it, headed by the
+old treasurer Zitsewitz. Then a merry uproar of laughing, singing,
+and jesting commenced, and as the door lay wide open as usual,
+Sidonia heard all from her chamber; so stepping out gently with a
+piece of bread in her hand, she tripped along the corridor past
+their door. No sooner was she perceived than a loud storm of
+cheers greeted her, which she returned with smiles and bows, and
+then danced down the steps to the courtyard. Several rose up to
+pursue her, amongst whom Wedig and Appelmann were the most eager.
+
+But they were too late, and saw nothing but the tail of her dress
+as she flew round the corner into the second court. Just then an
+old laundress, bringing linen to the castle for her Highness,
+passed by, and told the young men that the young lady had been
+feeding the tame stag with bread, and then jumped on its back
+while she held the horns, and that the animal had immediately
+galloped off like lightning into the second court; so that the
+young knights and squires rushed instantly after her, fearing that
+some accident might happen, and presently they heard her scream
+twice. Appelmann was the first to reach the outer court, and there
+beheld poor Sidonia in a sad condition, for the stag had flung her
+off. Fortunately it was on a heap of soft clay, and there she lay
+in a dead faint.
+
+Had the stag thrown her but a few steps further, against the
+manger for the knights' horses, she must have been killed. But
+Satan had not yet done with her, and therefore, no doubt, prepared
+this soft pillow for her head.
+
+When Appelmann saw that she was quite insensible, he kneeled down
+and kissed first her little feet, then her white hands, and at
+last her lips, while she lay at the time as still as death, poor
+thing. Just then Wedig came up in a great passion; for the
+castellan's son, who was playing ball, had flung the ball right
+between his legs, out of tricks, as he was running by, and nearly
+threw him down, whereupon Wedig seized hold of the urchin by his
+thick hair to punish him, for all the young knights were laughing
+at his discomfiture; but the boy bit him in the hip, and then
+sprang into his father's house, and shut the door. How little do
+we know what will happen! It was this bite which caused Wedig's
+lamentable death a little after.
+
+But if he was angry before, what was his rage now when he beheld
+the equerry, Appelmann, kissing the insensible maiden.
+
+"How now, peasant," he cried, "what means this boldness? How dare
+this tailor's son treat a castle and land dowered maiden in such a
+way? Are noble ladies made for his kisses?" And he draws his
+poignard to rush upon Appelmann, who draws forth his in return,
+and now assuredly there would have been murder done, if Sidonia
+had not just then opened her eyes, and starting up in amazement
+prayed them for her sake to keep quiet. She had been quite
+insensible, and knew nothing at all of what had happened. The old
+treasurer, with the other young knights, came up now, and strove
+to make peace between the two rivals, holding them apart by force;
+but nothing could calm the jealous Wedig, who still cried, "Let me
+avenge Sidonia!--let me avenge Sidonia!" So that Prince Ernest,
+hearing the tumult in the garden, ran with his lute in his hand to
+see what had happened. When they told him, he grew as pale as a
+corpse that such an indignity should have been offered to Sidonia,
+and reprimanded his equerry severely, but prayed that all would
+keep quiet now, as otherwise the Duchess and the Lord Chamberlain
+would certainly be awakened out of their after-dinner sleep, and
+then what an afternoon they would all have. This calmed every one,
+except the jealous Wedig, who, having drunk deeply, cried out
+still louder than before, "Let me go. I will give my life for the
+beautiful Sidonia. I will avenge the insolence of this peasant
+knave!"
+
+When Sidonia observed all this, she felt quite certain that a
+terrible storm was brewing for all of them, and so she ran to
+shelter herself through the first open door that came in her way,
+and up into the second corridor; but further adventures awaited
+her here, for not being acquainted with this part of the castle,
+she ran direct into an old lumber-room, where she found, to her
+great surprise, a young man dressed in rusty armour, and wearing a
+helmet with a serpent crest upon his head. This was Hans von
+Marintzky, whose brain Sidonia had turned by reading the Amadis
+with him in the castle gardens, and as she had often sighed, and
+said that she, too, could have loved the serpent knight, the poor
+love-stricken Hans, taking this for a favourable sign, determined
+to disguise himself as described in the romance, and thus secure
+her love.
+
+So when her beautiful face appeared at the door, Hans screamed for
+joy, like a young calf, and falling on one knee,
+exclaimed--"Adored Princess, your serpent knight is here to claim
+your love, and tender his hand to you in betrothal, for no other
+wife do I desire but thee; and if the Princess Rosaliana herself
+were here to offer me her love, I would strike her on the face."
+
+Sidonia was rather thunderstruck, as one may suppose, and
+retreated a few steps, saying, "Stand up, dear youth; what ails
+you?"
+
+"So I am dear to you," he cried, still kneeling; "I am then really
+dear to you, adored Princess? Ah! I hope to be yet dearer when I
+make you my spouse."
+
+Sidonia had not foreseen this termination to their romance
+reading, but she suppressed her laughter, remembering how she had
+lost her lover Uckermann by showing scorn; so she drew herself up
+with dignity, and said, with as grave a face as a chief mourner--
+
+"If you will not rise, sir knight, I must complain to her
+Highness; for I cannot be your spouse, seeing that I have resolved
+never to marry." (Ah! how willingly, how willingly you would have
+taken any husband half a year after.) "But if you will do me a
+service, brave knight, run instantly to the court, where Wedig and
+Appelmann are going to murder each other, and separate them, or my
+gracious lady and old Ulrich will awake, and then we shall all be
+punished."
+
+The poor fool jumped up instantly, and exclaiming, "Death for my
+adored princess!" he sprung down the steps, though rather
+awkwardly, not being accustomed to the greaves; and rushing into
+the middle of the crowd, with his vizor down, and the drawn sword
+in his hand, he began making passes at every one that came in his
+way, crying, "Death for my adored princess! Long live the
+beautiful Sidonia! Knaves, have done with your brawling, or I
+shall lay you all dead at my feet."
+
+At first every one stuck up close by the wall when they saw the
+madman, to get out of reach of his sword, which he kept whirling
+about his head; but as soon as he was recognised by his voice,
+Wedig called out to him--
+
+"Help, brother, help! Will you suffer that this peasant boor
+Appelmann should kiss the noble Sidonia as she lay there faint and
+insensible? Yet I saw him do this. So help me, relieve me, that I
+may brand this low-born knave for his daring."
+
+"What? My adored princess!" exclaimed the serpent knight. "This
+valet, this groom, dared to kiss her? and I would think myself
+blessed but to touch her shoe-tie;" and he fell furiously upon
+Appelmann.
+
+The uproar was now so great that it might have aroused the Duchess
+and Ulrich even from their last sleep, had they been in the
+castle.
+
+But, fortunately, some time before the riot began, both had gone
+out by the little private gate, to attend afternoon service at St.
+Peter's Church, in the town. For the archdeacon was sick, and
+Doctor Gerschovius was obliged to take his place there. No one,
+therefore, was left in the castle to give orders or hold command;
+even the castellan had gone to hear service; and no one minded
+Prince Ernest, he was so young, besides being under tutelage; and
+as to old Zitsewitz, he was as bad as the worst of them himself.
+
+The Prince threatened to have the castle bells rung if they were
+not quiet; and the uproar had indeed partially subsided just at
+the moment the serpent knight fell upon Appelmann. The Prince then
+ordered his equerry to leave the place instantly, under pain of
+his severe displeasure, for he saw that both had drunk rather
+deeply.
+
+So Appelmann turned to depart as the Prince commanded, but Wedig,
+who had been relieved by Hans the serpent, sprung after him with
+his dagger, limping though, for the bite in his hip made him
+stiff. Appelmann darted through the little water-gate and over the
+bridge; the other pursued him; and Appelmann, seeing that he was
+foaming with rage, jumped over the rails into a boat. Wedig
+attempted to do the same, but being stiff from the bite, missed
+the boat, and came down plump into the water.
+
+As he could not swim, the current carried him rapidly down the
+stream before the others had time to come up; but he was still
+conscious, and called to Hans, "Comrade, save me!" So Hans,
+forgetting his heavy cuirass, plunged in directly, and soon
+reached the drowning man. Wedig, however, in his death-struggles,
+seized hold of him with such force that they both instantly
+disappeared. Then every one sprang to the boats to try and save
+them; but being Sunday, the boats were all moored, so that by the
+time they were unfastened it was too late, and the two unfortunate
+young men had sunk for ever.
+
+What calamities may be caused by the levity and self-will of a
+beautiful woman! From the time of Helen of Troy up to the present
+moment, the world has known this well; but, alas! this was but the
+beginning of that tragedy which Sidonia played in Pomerania, as
+that other wanton did in Phrygia.
+
+Let us hear the conclusion, however. Prince Ernest, now being
+truly alarmed, despatched a messenger to the church for her
+Highness; but as Doctor Gerschovius had not yet ended his
+exordium, her Grace would by no means be disturbed, and desired
+the messenger to go to Ulrich, who no sooner heard the tidings
+than he rushed down to the water-gate. There he found a great
+crowd assembled, all eagerly trying, with poles and hooks, to fish
+out the bodies of the two young men; and one fellow even had tied
+a piece of barley bread to a rope, and flung it into the water--as
+the superstition goes that it will follow a corpse in the stream,
+and point to where it lies. And the women and children were
+weeping and lamenting on the bridge; but the old knight pushed
+them all aside with his elbows, and cried--"Thousand devils! what
+are ye all at here?"
+
+Every one was silent, for the young men had agreed not to betray
+Sidonia. Then Ulrich asked the Prince, who replied, that
+Marintzky, having put on some old armour to frighten the others,
+as he believed, they pursued him in fun over the bridge, and he
+and another fell over into the water. This was all he knew of the
+matter, for he was playing on the lute in the garden when the
+tumult began.
+
+"Thousand devils!" cries Ulrich; "I cannot turn my back a moment
+but there must be a riot amongst the young fellows. Listen! young
+lord--when it comes to your turn to rule land and people, I
+counsel you, send all the young fellows to the devil. Away with
+them! they are a vain and dissolute crew. Get up the bodies, if
+you can; but, for my part, I would care little if a few more were
+baptized in the same way. Speak! some of you: who commenced this
+tavern broil? Speak! I must have an answer."
+
+This adjuration had its effect, for a man answered--"Sidonia made
+the young men mad, and so it all happened." It was her own cousin,
+Marcus Bork, who spoke, for which reason Sidonia never could
+endure him afterwards, and finally destroyed him, as shall be
+related in due time.
+
+When Ulrich found that Sidonia was the cause of all, he raged with
+fury, and commanded them to tell him all. When Marcus had related
+the whole affair, he swore by the seven thousand devils that he
+would make her remember it, and that he would instantly go up to
+her chamber.
+
+But Prince Ernest stepped before him, saying, "Lord Ulrich, I have
+made you a promise--you must now make one to me: it is to leave
+this maiden in peace; she is not to blame for what has happened."
+But Ulrich would not listen to him.
+
+"Then I withdraw my promise," said the Prince. "Now act as you
+think proper."
+
+"Thousand devils! she had better give up that game," exclaimed
+Ulrich. However, he consented to leave her undisturbed, and
+departed with vehement imprecations on her head, just as the
+Duchess returned from church, and was seen advancing towards the
+crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how
+Clara von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways._
+
+
+It may be easily conjectured what a passion her Grace fell into
+when the whole story was made known to her, and how she stormed
+against Sidonia. At last she entered the castle; but Prince
+Ernest, rightly suspecting her object, slipped up to the corridor,
+and met her just as she had reached Sidonia's chamber. Here he
+took her hand, kissed it, and prayed her not to disgrace the young
+maiden, for that she was innocent of all the evil that had
+happened.
+
+But she pushed him away, exclaiming--"Thou disobedient son, have I
+not heard of thy gallantries with this girl, whom Satan himself
+has sent into my royal house? Shame on thee! One of thy noble
+station to take the part of a murderess!"
+
+"But you have judged harshly, my mother. I never made love to the
+maiden. Leave her in peace, and do not make matters worse, or all
+the young nobles will fight to the death for her."
+
+"Ay, and thou, witless boy, the first of all. Oh, that my beloved
+spouse, Philippus Primus, could rise from his grave--what would he
+say to his lost son, who, like the prodigal in Scripture, loves
+strange women and keeps company with brawlers!" (Weeping.)
+
+"Who has said that I am a lost son?"
+
+"Doctor Gerschovius and Ulrich both say it."
+
+"Then I shall run the priest through the body, and challenge the
+knight to mortal combat, unless they both retract their words."
+
+"No! stay, my son," said the Duchess; "I must have mistaken what
+they said. Stay, I command you!"
+
+"Never! Unless Sidonia be left in peace, such deeds will be done
+to-day that all Pomerania will ring with them for years."
+
+In short, the end of the controversy was, that the Duchess at last
+promised to leave Sidonia unmolested; and then retired to her
+chamber much disturbed, where she was soon heard singing the 109th
+psalm, with a loud voice, accompanied by the little spindle clock.
+
+Sidonia, who was hiding in her room, soon heard of all that had
+happened, through the Duchess's maid, whom she kept in
+pay;--indeed, all the servants were her sworn friends, in
+consequence of the liberal largess she gave them; and even the
+young lords and knights were more distractedly in love with her
+than ever after the occurrences of the day, for her cunning turned
+everything to profit.
+
+So next morning, having heard that Prince Ernest was going to
+Eldena to receive the dues, she watched for him, probably through
+the key-hole, knowing he must pass her door. Accordingly, just as
+he went by, she opened it, and presented herself to his eyes
+dressed in unusual elegance and coquetry, and wearing a short robe
+which showed her pretty little sandals. The Prince, when he saw
+the short robe, and that she looked so beautiful, blushed, and
+passed on quickly, turning away his head, for he remembered the
+promise he had given to Ulrich, and was afraid to trust himself
+near her.
+
+But Sidonia stepped before him, and flinging herself at his feet,
+began to weep, murmuring, "Gracious Prince and Lord, accept my
+gratitude, for you alone have saved me, a poor young maiden, from
+destruction."
+
+"Stand up, dear lady, stand up."
+
+"Never until my tears fall upon your feet." And then she kissed
+his yellow silk hose ardently, continuing, "What would have become
+of me, a helpless, forlorn orphan, without your protection?"
+
+Here the young Prince could no longer restrain his emotions; if he
+had pledged his word to the whole world, even to the great God
+Himself, he must have broken it. So he raised her up and kissed
+her, which she did not resist; only sighed, "Ah! if any one saw us
+now, we would both be lost." But this did not restrain him, and he
+kissed her again and again, and pressed her to his heart, when she
+trembled, and murmured scarcely audibly, "Oh! why do I love you
+so! Leave me, my lord, leave me; I am miserable enough."
+
+"Do you then love me, Sidonia? Oh! let me hear you say it once
+more. You love me, enchanting Sidonia!"
+
+"Alas!" she whispered, while her whole frame trembled, "what have
+I foolishly said? Oh! I am so unhappy."
+
+"Sidonia! tell me once again you love me. I cannot credit my
+happiness, for you are even more gracious with the young nobles
+than with me, and often have you martyred my heart with jealousy."
+
+"Yes; I am courteous to them all, for so my father taught me, and
+said it was safer for a maiden so to be--but----"
+
+"But what? Speak on."
+
+"Alas!" and here she covered her face with her hands; but Prince
+Ernest pressed her to his heart, and kissed her, asking her again
+if she really loved him; and she murmured a faint "yes;" then as
+if the shame of such a confession had killed her, she tore herself
+from his arms, and sprang into her chamber. So the young Prince
+pursued his way to Eldena, but took so little heed about the dues
+that Ulrich shook his head over the receipts for half a year
+after.
+
+When mid-day came, and the band struck up for dinner, Sidonia was
+prepared for a similar scene with the young knights, and, as she
+passed along the corridor, she gave them her white hand to kiss,
+glittering with diamonds, thanking them all for not having
+betrayed her, and praying them to keep her still in their favour,
+whereat they were all wild with ecstasy; but old Zitsewitz, not
+content with her hand, entreated for a kiss on her sweet ruby
+lips, which she granted, to the rage and jealousy of all the
+others, while he exclaimed, "O Sidonia, thou canst turn even an
+old man into a fool!"
+
+And his words came true; for in the evening a dispute arose as to
+which of them Sidonia liked best, seeing that she uttered the same
+sweet things to all; and to settle it, five of them, along with
+the old fool Zitsewitz, went to Sidonia's room, and each in turn
+asked her hand in marriage; but she gave them all the same
+answer--that she had no idea then of marriage, she was but a
+young, silly creature, and would not know her own mind for ten
+years to come.
+
+One good resulted from Sidonia's ride upon the stag: her
+promenades were forbidden, and she was restricted henceforth
+entirely to the women's quarter of the castle. Her Grace and she
+had frequent altercations; but with Clara she kept upon good
+terms, as the maiden was of so excellent and mild a disposition.
+
+This peace, however, was destined soon to be broken; for though
+her Grace was silent in the presence of Sidonia, yet she never
+ceased complaining in private to the maids of honour of this
+artful wench, who had dared to throw her eyes upon Prince Ernest.
+So at length they asked why her Highness did not dismiss the girl
+from her service.
+
+"That must be done," she replied, "and without delay. For that
+purpose, indeed, I have written to Duke Barnim, and also to the
+father of the girl, at Stramehl, acquainting them with my
+intention."
+
+Clara now gently remonstrated, saying that a little Christian
+instruction might yet do much for the poor young sinner, and that
+if she did not become good and virtuous under the care of her
+Grace, where else could she hope to have her changed?
+
+"I have tried all Christian means," said her Grace, "but in vain.
+The ears of the wicked are closed to the Word of God."
+
+"But let her Grace recollect that this poor sinner was endowed
+with extraordinary beauty, and therefore it was no fault of hers
+if the young men all grew deranged for love of her."
+
+Here a violent tumult, and much scornful laughing, arose amongst
+the other maids of honour; and one Anna Lepels exclaimed--"I
+cannot imagine in what Sidonia's wonderful beauty consists. When
+she flatters the young men, and makes free with them as they are
+passing to dinner, what marvel if they all run after her? Any girl
+might have as many lovers if she chose to adopt such manners."
+
+Clara made no reply, but turning to her Grace, said with her
+permission she would leave her spinning for a while, to visit
+Sidonia in her room, who perhaps would hearken to her advice, as
+she meant kindly to her.
+
+"You may go," said her Grace; "but what do you mean to do? I tell
+you, advice is thrown away on her."
+
+"Then I will threaten her with the Catechism of Doctor
+Gerschovius, which she must repeat on Sunday, for I know that she
+is greatly afraid of that and the clergyman."
+
+"And you think you will frighten her into giving up running after
+the young men?"
+
+"Oh yes, if I tell her that she will be publicly reprimanded
+unless she can say it perfectly."
+
+So her Grace allowed her to depart, but with something of a weak
+faith.
+
+Although Sidonia had absented herself from the spinning, on the
+pretext of learning the catechism quietly in her own room, yet,
+when Clara entered, no one was there except the maid, who sat upon
+the floor at her work. She knew nothing about the young lady; but
+as she heard a great deal of laughter and merriment in the court
+beneath, it was likely Sidonia was not far off. On stepping to the
+window, Clara indeed beheld Sidonia.
+
+In the middle of the court was a large horse-pond built round with
+stones, to which the water was conducted by metal pipes
+communicating with the river Peene. In the middle of the pond was
+a small island, upon which a bear was kept chained. A plank was
+now thrown across the pond to the island; upon this Sidonia was
+standing feeding the bear with bread, which Appelmann, who stood
+beside her, first dipped into a can of syrup, and several of the
+young squires stood round them laughing and jesting.
+
+The idle young pages were wont to take great delight in shooting
+at the bear with blunt arrows, and when it growled and snarled,
+then they would calm it again by throwing over bits of bread
+steeped in honey or syrup. So Sidonia, waiting to see the fun, had
+got upon the plank ready to give the bread just as the bear had
+got to the highest pitch of irritation, when he would suddenly
+change his growling into another sort of speech after his fashion.
+All this amused Sidonia mightily, and she laughed and clapped her
+hands with delight.
+
+When the modest Clara beheld all this, and how Sidonia danced up
+and down on the plank, while the water splashed over her robe, she
+called to her--"Dear Lady Sidonia, come hither: I have somewhat to
+tell thee." But she answered tartly--"Dear Lady Clara, keep it
+then: I am too young to be told everything." And she danced up and
+down on the plank as before.
+
+After many vain entreaties, Clara had at length to descend and
+seize the wild bird by the wing--I mean thereby the arm--and carry
+her off to the castle. The young men would have followed, but they
+were engaged to attend his Highness on a fishing excursion that
+afternoon, and were obliged to go and see after their nets and
+tackle. So the two maidens could walk up and down the corridor
+undisturbed; and Clara asked if she had yet learned the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"No; I have no wish to learn it."
+
+_Haec_.--"But if the priest has to reprimand you publicly from
+the pulpit?"
+
+_Illa_.--"I counsel him not to do it."
+
+_Haec_.--"Why, what would you do to him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He will find that out."
+
+_Haec_.--"Dear Sidonia, I wish you well; and therefore let me
+tell you that not only the priest, but our gracious lady, and all
+the noble maidens of the court, are sad and displeased that you
+should make so free with the young men, and entice them to follow
+you, as I have seen but too often myself. Do it not, dear Sidonia
+I mean well by you;--do it not. It will injure your reputation."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ha! you are jealous now, you little pious
+housesparrow, that the young men do not run after you too. How can
+I help it?"
+
+_Haec_.--"Every maiden can help it; were she as beautiful as
+could be seen, she can help it. Leave off, Sidonia, or evil will
+come of it, particularly as her Grace has heard that you are
+seeking to entice our young lord the Prince. See, I tell you the
+pure truth, that it may turn you from your light courses. Tell me,
+what can you mean by it?--for when noble youths demand your hand
+in marriage, you reject them, and say you never mean to marry. Can
+you think that our gracious Prince, a son of Pomerania, will make
+thee his duchess--thou who art only a common nobleman's daughter?"
+
+_Illa_.--"A common nobleman's daughter!--that is good from
+the peasant-girl. You are common enough and low enough, I warrant;
+but my blood is as old as that of the Dukes of Pomerania, and
+besides, I am a castle and land dowered maiden. But who are you?
+who are you? Your forefathers were hunted out of Mecklenburg, and
+only got footing here in Pomerania out of charity."
+
+_Haec_.--"Do not be angry, dear lady--you say true; yet I must
+add that my forebears were once Counts in Mecklenburg, and from
+their loyalty to the Dukes of Pomerania were given possessions
+here in Daber, where they have been lords of castles and lands for
+two hundred and fifty years. Yet I will confess that your race is
+nobler than mine; but, dear child, I make no boast of my ancestry,
+nor is it fitting for either of us to do so. The right royal
+Prince, who is given as an example and model to us all--who is
+Lord, not over castle and land, but of the heavens and the
+earth--the Saviour, Jesus Christ--He took no account of His arms
+or His ancestry, though the whole starry universe was His banner.
+He was as humble to the little child as to the learned doctors in
+the temple--to the chiefs among the people, as to the trembling
+sinner and the blind beggar Bartimaeus. Let us take, then, this
+Prince for our example, and mind our life long what He says--'Come
+unto Me, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.' Will
+you not learn of Him, dear lady? I will, if God give me grace."
+
+And she extended her hand to Sidonia, who dashed it away,
+crying--"Stuff! nonsense! you have learned all this twaddle from
+the priest, who, I know, is nephew to the shoe-maker in Daber, and
+therefore hates any one who is above him in rank."
+
+Clara was about to reply mildly; but they happened now to be
+standing close to the public flight of steps, and a peasant-girl
+ran up when she saw them, and flung herself at Clara's feet,
+entreating the young lady to save her, for she had run away from
+Daber, where they were going to burn her as a witch. The pious
+Clara recoiled in horror, and desiring her to rise, said--"Art
+thou Anne Wolde, some time keeper of the swine to my father? How
+fares it with my dearest father and my mother?"
+
+They were well when she ran away, but she had been wandering now
+for fourteen days on the road, living upon roots and wild berries,
+or what the herds gave her out of their knapsacks for charity.
+
+_Haec_.--"What crime wast thou suspected of, girl, to be
+condemned to so terrible a death?"
+
+_Illa_.--"She had a lover named Albert, who followed her
+everywhere, but as she would not listen to him he hated her, and
+pretended that she had given him a love-drink."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed aloud, and asked if she knew how to brew the
+love-drink?
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; she learned from her elder sister how to make
+it, but had never tried it with any one, and was perfectly
+innocent of all they charged her with."
+
+Here Clara shook her head, and wished to get rid of the
+witch-girl; for she thought, truly if Sidonia learns the brewing
+secret, she will poison and destroy the whole castleful, and we
+shall have the devil bodily with us in earnest. So she pushed away
+the girl, who still clung to her, weeping and lamenting. Hereupon
+Sidonia grew quite grave and pious all of a sudden, and said--
+
+"See the hypocrite she is! She first sets before me the example of
+Christ, and then treats this poor sinner with nothing but cross
+thorns! Has not Christ said, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy'? But only see how this bigot can have Christ
+on her tongue, but not in her heart!"
+
+The pious Clara grew quite ashamed at such talk, and raising up
+the wretch who had again fallen on her knees, said--
+
+"Well, thou mayest remain; so get thee to my maid, and she will
+give thee food. I shall also write to my father for thy pardon,
+and meanwhile ask leave from her Grace to allow thee to remain
+here until it arrives; but if thou art guilty, I cannot promise
+thee my protection any longer, and thou wilt be burned here, in
+place of at Daber."
+
+So the witch-girl was content, and importuned them no further.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How Sidonia Wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince._
+
+
+When Prince Ernest returned home after an absence of some days,
+Sidonia had changed her tactics, for now she never lifted up her
+eyes when they met, but passed on blushing and confused, and in
+place of speaking, as formerly, only sighed. This turned his head
+completely, and sent the blood so quickly through his veins that
+he found it a hard matter to conceal his feelings any longer. For
+this reason he determined to visit Sidonia in her own room as soon
+as he could hit upon a favourable opportunity, and bring her then
+a beautiful lute, inlaid with gold and silver, which he had
+purchased for her at Grypswald.
+
+Now, it happened soon after, that her Grace and Clara went away
+one day into the town to purchase a jerkin for the little Prince
+Casimir, who accompanied them. Sidonia was immediately informed of
+their absence, and sought out Clara's maid without delay, put a
+piece of gold into her hand, and said--
+
+"Send the strange girl from Daber to my room for a few minutes;
+she can perhaps give me some tidings of my dear father and family,
+for Daber is only a little way from Stramehl. But mind," she
+added, "keep this visit a secret, as well from her Grace as from
+your mistress Clara; otherwise we shall all be scolded."
+
+So the maid very willingly complied, and brought the witch-girl
+directly to Sidonia's little apartment, and then ran to Clara's
+room to watch for the return of her Grace in time to give notice.
+
+The witch-girl was quite confounded (as she afterwards confessed
+upon the rack) when Sidonia began--
+
+"Thou knowest, Anne, that my entreaties alone obtained thee a
+shelter here, for I pitied thee from the first; and from what I
+hear, it is certain that her Grace means to deal no better with
+thee than thy judges at Daber, therefore my advice is--escape if
+thou canst."
+
+_Illa_, weeping.--"Where can I go? I shall die of hunger, or
+they will arrest me again as an evil-minded witch, and carry me
+back to Daber."
+
+"But do not tell them, stupid goose, that thou hast come from
+Daber."
+
+_Illa_.--"But what could she say? Besides, she had no money,
+and so must be lost and ruined for ever."
+
+"Well, I shall give thee gold enough to get thee through all
+dangers. I give it, mind, out of pure Christian charity; but now
+tell me honestly--canst thou really make a love-drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; her sister had taught her."
+
+"Is the drink of equal power for men and women?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; without doubt, it would make either mad with
+love."
+
+"Has it ever an injurious effect upon them? does it take away
+their strength?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; they fall down like flies. Some lose their
+memory, others become blind or lame."
+
+"Has she ever tried its effects upon any one herself?"
+
+_Illa_.--"But will the lady betray me?"
+
+"Out, fool! When I have promised thee gold enough to insure thy
+escape! I betray thee!"
+
+_Illa_.--"Then she will tell the lady the whole truth. She
+did give a love-drink to Albert, because he grew cross, and spent
+the nights away from her, and complained if she idled a little, so
+that her master beat her. Therefore she determined to punish him,
+and a rash came out over his whole body, so that he could neither
+sit nor lie for six weeks, and at night he had to be tied to a
+post with a hand-towel; but all this time his love for her grew so
+burning, that although he had previously hated and beaten her, yet
+now if she only brought him a drink of cold water, for which he
+was always screaming, he would kiss her hands and feet even though
+she spat in his face, and he would certainly have died if his
+relations had not found out an old woman who unbewitched him;
+whereupon his love came to an end, and he informed against her."
+
+That must be a wonderful drink. Would the girl teach her how to
+brew it?
+
+But just then our Lord God sent yet another warning to Sidonia,
+through His angel, to turn her from her villainy, for as the girl
+was going to answer, a knock was heard at the chamber-door. They
+both grew as white as chalk; but Sidonia bethought herself of a
+hiding-place, and bid the other creep under the bed while she went
+to the door to see who knocked, and as she opened it, so there
+stood Prince Ernest bodily before her eyes, with the lute in his
+hand.
+
+"Ah, gracious Prince, what brings you here? I pray your Highness,
+for the sake of God, to leave me. What would be said if any one
+saw you here?"
+
+"But who is to see us, my beautiful maiden? My gracious mother has
+gone out to drive; and now, just look at this lute that I have
+purchased for you in Grypswald. Will it please thee, sweet one?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas, gracious Prince, of what use will it be to
+me, when I have no one to teach me how to play?"
+
+"I will teach thee, oh, how willingly, but--thou knowest what I
+would say."
+
+_Illa_.--"No, no, I dare not learn from your Highness. Now
+go, and do not make me more miserable."
+
+"What makes thee miserable, enchanting Sidonia?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, if your Highness could know how this heart
+burns within me like a fire! What will become of me? Would that I
+were dead--oh, I am a miserable maiden! If your Highness were but
+a simple noble, then I might hope--but now. Woe is me! I must go!
+Yes, I must go!"
+
+"Why must thou go, my own sweet darling? and why dost thou wish me
+to be only a simple noble? Canst thou not love a duke better than
+a noble?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Gracious Prince, what is a poor count's daughter to
+your princely Highness? and would her Grace ever consent? Ah no, I
+must go--I must go!"
+
+Here she sobbed so violently, and covered her eyes with her hands,
+that the young Duke could no longer restrain his feelings. He
+seized her passionately in his arms, and was kissing away the
+crocodile tears, when lo, another knock came to the door, and
+Sidonia grew paler even than the first time, for there was no
+place to hide the Prince in, as the witch-wench was already under
+the bed, and not even quite hidden, for some of her red petticoat
+was visible round the post, and one could easily see by the way it
+moved that some living body was in it, for the girl was trembling
+with the most horrible fear and fright. But the Prince was too
+absorbed in love either to notice all this or to mind the knock at
+the door.
+
+Sidonia, however, knew well that it was over with them now, and
+she pushed away the young Prince, just as the door opened and
+Clara entered, who grew quite pale, and clasped her hands together
+when she saw the Duke and Sidonia together; then the tears fell
+fast from her eyes, and she could utter nothing but--"Ah, my
+gracious Prince--my poor innocent Prince--what has brought you
+here?" but neither of them spoke a word. "You are lost," exclaimed
+Clara; "the Duchess is coming up the corridor, and has just
+stopped to look at her pet cat and the kittens there by the page's
+room. Hasten, young Prince--hasten to meet her before she comes a
+step further."
+
+So the young lord darted out of the chamber, and found his
+gracious mother still examining her kittens, whereupon he prayed
+her then to descend with him to the courtyard and look also at his
+fine hounds, to which she consented.
+
+The moment Prince Ernest disappeared, Clara commenced upbraiding
+Sidonia for her evil ways, which could not be any longer
+denied--for had she not seen all with her own eyes?--and she now
+conjured her by the living God to turn away from the young Duke,
+and select some noble of her own rank as her husband. This could
+easily be done when so many loved her; but as to the Prince, as
+long as her Grace and Ulrich lived, or even one single branch of
+the princely house of Pomerania, this marriage would never be
+permitted, let the young lord do or say what he chose.
+
+"Ah, thou pious old priest in petticoats," exclaimed Sidonia, "who
+told thee I wanted to marry the Prince? How can I help if he
+chooses to come in here and, though I weep and resist, takes me in
+his arms and kisses me? So leave off thy preaching, and tell me
+rather what brings thee spying to my room?"
+
+Then Clara remembered what had really been her errand, although
+the love-scene had put everything else out of her head until now,
+and replied--"I was seeking the witch-girl from Daber, for when I
+went out with her Grace, I left her in charge of my maid; but as
+we returned home by the little garden gate, I slipped up to my
+room by the private stairs without any one seeing me, and found my
+maid looking out of the window, but no girl was to be seen. When I
+asked what had become of her, the maid answered she knew not, the
+girl must have slipped away while her back was turned, so I came
+here to ask if you had seen the impudent hussy, for I fear if her
+wings are not clipped she will do harm to some one."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite indignant--what could she know of a vile
+witch-wench? Besides, she had not been ten minutes there in the
+room.
+
+"But perchance the bird has found herself a nest somewhere," said
+Clara, looking towards the bed; "methinks, indeed, I see some of
+the feathers, for surely a red gown never trembled that way under
+a bed unless there was something living inside of it." When the
+witch-girl heard this her fright increased, so that, to make
+matters worse, she pulled her gown in under the bed, upon which
+Clara kneeled down, lifted the coverlet, and found the owl in its
+nest. Now she had to creep out weeping and howling, and promised
+to tell everything.
+
+But Sidonia gave her a look which she understood well, and
+therefore when she stood up straight by the bed, begged piteously
+that the Lady Clara would not scold her for having tried to
+escape, because she herself had threatened her with being burned
+there as well as at Daber, so not knowing where to hide, and
+seeing the Lady Sidonia's door open, she crept in there and got
+under the bed, intending to wait till night came and then ask her
+aid in effecting her flight, for the Lady Sidonia was the only one
+in the castle who had shown her Christian compassion.
+
+Hereat Sidonia rose up as if in great rage, and said, "Ha! thou
+impudent wench, how darest thou reckon on my protection!" and
+seizing her by the hand--in which, however, she pressed a piece of
+gold--pushed her violently out of the door.
+
+Now Clara, thinking that this was the whole truth, fell weeping
+upon Sidonia's neck, and asked forgiveness for her suspicions.
+"There, that will do," said Sidonia,--"that will do, old preacher;
+only be more cautious in future. What! am I to poke under my bed
+to see if any one is hiding there? You may go, for I suppose you
+have often hidden a lover there, your eyes turn to it so
+naturally."
+
+As Clara grew red with shame, Sidonia drew the witch-girl again
+into the room, and giving her a box on the ear that made her teeth
+chatter--"Now, confess," said she, "what I said to the young lord
+without knowing that you were listening." So the poor girl
+answered weeping, "Nothing but what was good did you say to him,
+namely, that he should go away; and then you pushed him so
+violently when he attempted to kiss you, that he stumbled over
+against the bed."
+
+"See, now, my pious preacher," said Sidonia, "this girl confirms
+exactly what I told you; so now go along with you, you hussy, or
+mayhap you will come off no better than she has done."
+
+Hereupon Clara went away humbly with the witch-girl to her own
+room, and never uttered another word. Nevertheless the affair did
+not seem quite satisfactory to her yet. So she conferred with her
+betrothed, Marcus Bork, on the subject. For when he carried books
+for her Highness from the ducal library, it was his custom to
+scrape with his feet in a peculiar manner as he passed Clara's
+door; then she knew who it was, and opened it. And as her maid was
+present, they conversed together in the Italian tongue; for they
+were both learned, not only in God's Word, but in all other
+knowledge, so that people talk about them yet in Pomeranian land
+for these things.
+
+Clara therefore told him the whole affair in Italian, before her
+maid and the witch-girl--of the visit of the young Prince, and how
+the girl was lying hid under the bed, and asked him was it not
+likely that Sidonia had brought her there to teach her how to brew
+the love-drink, with which she would then have bewitched the
+Prince and all the men-folk in the castle, and ought she not to
+warn her Grace of the danger.
+
+But Marcus answered, that if the witch-girl had been at the castle
+weeks before, he might have supposed that Sidonia had received the
+secret of the love-potion from her, since every man, old and
+young, was mad for love of her--but now he must needs confess that
+Sidonia's eyes and deceiving mouth were magic sufficient; and that
+it was not likely she would bring a vile damsel to her room to
+teach her that which she knew already so perfectly. So he thought
+it better not to tell her Highness anything on the subject.
+Besides, if the wench were examined, who knows what she might tell
+of Sidonia and the young lord that would bring shame on the
+princely house of Wolgast, since she had been hid under the bed
+all the time, and perhaps only kept silence through fear. It were
+well therefore on every account not to let the matter get wind,
+and to shut up the wench safely in the witches' tower until the
+answer came from Daber. If she were pronounced really guilty, it
+would then be time enough to question her on the rack about the
+love-drink and the conversation between the young lord and
+Sidonia.
+
+So this course was agreed on. It is, however, much to be regretted
+that Clara did not follow the promptings of her good angel, and
+tell all to her Grace and old Ulrich; for then much misfortune and
+scandal would have been spared to the whole Pomeranian land. But
+she followed her bride-groom's advice, and kept all secret. The
+witch-girl, however, was locked up that very day in the witches'
+tower, to guard against future evil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how
+she whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness._
+
+
+The Sunday came at last when Sidonia was to be examined publicly
+in the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius. Her Grace was filled with
+anxiety to see how all would terminate, for every one suspected
+(as indeed was the case) that not one word of it would she be able
+to repeat. So the church was crowded, and all the young men
+attended without exception, knowing what was to go forward, and
+fearing for Sidonia, because this Dr. Gerschovius was a stern,
+harsh man; but she herself seemed to care little about the matter,
+for she entered her Grace's closet as usual (which was right
+opposite the pulpit), and threw herself carelessly into a corner.
+However, when the doctor entered the pulpit she became more grave,
+and finally, when his discourse was drawing near to the close, she
+rose up quietly and glided out of the closet, intending to descend
+to the gardens. Her Grace did not perceive her movement, in
+consequence of the hat with the heron's plume which she wore, for
+the feathers drooped down at the side next Sidonia, and the other
+ladies were too much alarmed to venture to draw her attention to
+the circumstance. But the priest from the pulpit saw her well, and
+called out--"Maiden! maiden! Whither go you? Remember ye have to
+repeat your catechism!"
+
+Then Sidonia grew quite pale, for her Grace and all the
+congregation fixed their eyes on her. So when she felt quite
+conscious that she was looking pale, she said, "You see from my
+face that I am not well; but if I get better, doubt not but that I
+shall return immediately." Here all the maids of honour put up
+their kerchiefs to hide their laughter, and the young nobles did
+the same.
+
+So she went away; but they might wait long enough, I think, for
+her to come back. In vain her Grace watched until the priest left
+the pulpit, and then sent two of her ladies to look for the
+hypocrite; but they returned declaring that she was nowhere to be
+seen.
+
+_Summa_.--The whole service was ended, and her Grace looked
+as angry as the doctor; and when the organ had ceased, and the
+people were beginning to depart, she called out from her closet--
+
+"Let every one come this way, and accompany me to Sidonia's
+apartment. There I shall make her repeat the catechism before ye
+all. Messengers shall be despatched in all directions until they
+find out her hiding-place."
+
+This pleased the doctor and Ulrich well. So they all proceeded to
+Sidonia's little room; for there she was, to their great surprise,
+seated upon a chair with a smelling-bottle in her hand. Whereupon
+her Grace demanded what ailed her, and why she had not stayed to
+repeat the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she was so weak, she would certainly have
+fainted, if she had not descended to the garden for a little fresh
+air. She was so distressed that her Grace had been troubled
+sending for her, of which she was not aware until now."
+
+"Are you better now?" asked her Grace.
+
+_Illa_.--"Rather better. The fresh air had done her good."
+
+"Then," quoth her Grace, "you shall recite the catechism here for
+the doctor; for, in truth, Christianity is as necessary to you as
+water to a fish."
+
+The doctor now cleared his throat to begin; but she stopped him
+pertly, saying--
+
+"I do not choose to say my catechism here in my room, like a
+little child. Grown-up maidens are always heard in the church."
+
+Howbeit, her Grace motioned to him not to heed her. So to his
+first question she replied rather snappishly, "You have your
+answer already."
+
+No wonder the priest grew black with rage. But seeing a book lying
+open on a little table beside her bed, and thinking it was the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius which she had been studying, he
+stepped over to look. But judge his horror when he found that it
+was a volume of the _Amadis de Gaul_, and was lying open at
+the eighth chapter, where he read--"How the Prince Amadis de Gaul
+loved the Princess Rosaliana, and was beloved in return, and how
+they both attained to the accomplishment of their desires."
+
+He dashed the book to the ground furiously, stamped upon it, and
+cried--
+
+"So, thou wanton, this is thy Bible and thy catechism! Here thou
+learnest how to make young men mad! Who gave thee this infamous
+book? Speak! Who gave it to thee?"
+
+So Sidonia looked up timidly, and said, weeping, "It was his
+Highness Duke Barnim who gave it to her, and told her it was a
+merry book, and good against low spirits."
+
+Here the Duchess, who had lifted up her hand to give her a box on
+the ear, let it fall again with a deep sigh when she heard of the
+old Prince having given her such an infamous book, and lamented
+loudly, crying--
+
+"Who will free me from this shameless wanton, who makes all the
+court mad? Truly says Scripture, 'A beautiful woman without
+discretion is like a circlet of gold upon a swine's head.' Ah! I
+know that now. But I trust my messengers will soon return whom I
+have despatched to Stettin and Stramehl, and then I shall get rid
+of thee, thou wanton, for which God be thanked for evermore."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room with old Ulrich, who only shook
+his head, but remained as mute as a fish. Doctor Gerschovius,
+however, stayed behind with Sidonia, in order to exhort her to
+virtue; but as she only wept and did not seem to hear him, he grew
+tired, and finally went his way, also with many sighs and
+uplifting of his hands.
+
+A little after, as Sidonia was howling just out of pure
+ill-temper, for, in my opinion, nothing ailed her, the little
+Prince Casimir ran in to look for his mamma--she had gone to hear
+Sidonia her catechism, they told him.
+
+"What did he want with his lady mamma?"
+
+"His new jerkin hurt him, he wanted her to tie it another way for
+him; but is it really true, Sidonia, that you do not know your
+catechism? I can say it quite well. Just come now and hear me say
+it."
+
+It is probable that her Grace and the doctor had devised this plan
+in order to shame Sidonia, by showing her how even a little child
+could repeat it; but she took it angrily, and, calling him over,
+said, "Yes; come--I will hear you your catechism." And as the
+little boy came up close beside her, she slung him across her
+knee, pulled down his hose, and--oh, shame!--whipped his Serene
+Highness upon his princely _podex_, that it would have melted
+the heart of a stone. How this shows her cruel and evil
+disposition--to revenge on the child what she had to bear from the
+mother. Fie on the maiden!
+
+And here my gracious Prince will say--"O Theodore, this matter
+surely might have been passed over, since it brings a disrespect
+upon my princely house."
+
+I answer--"Gracious Lord and Prince, my most humble services are
+due to your Grace, but truth must be still truth, however it may
+displease your Highness. Besides, by no other act could I have so
+well proved the infernal evil in this woman's nature; for if she
+could dare to lay her godless hand upon one of your illustrious
+race, then all her future acts are perfectly comprehensible.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--This is true, and
+therefore I consent to let it remain; and I remember that Prince
+Casimir told me long afterwards that the scene remained indelibly
+impressed on his memory. "For," he said, "the wild eyes and the
+terrible voice of the witch frightened me more even than her cruel
+hand; as if even there I detected the devil in her, though I was
+but a little boy at the time."] When the malicious wretch let the
+boy go, he darted out of the room and ran down the whole corridor,
+screaming out that he would tell his mamma about Sidonia; but
+Zitsewitz met him, and having heard the story, the amorous old
+fool took him up in his arms, and promised him heaps of beautiful
+things if he would hold his tongue and not say a word more to any
+one, and that he would give Sidonia a good whipping himself, in
+return for what she had done to him. So, in short, her Grace never
+heard of the insult until after Sidonia's departure from court."
+
+Had her Highness been in her apartment, she must have heard the
+child scream; but it so happened that just then she was walking up
+and down the ducal gardens, whither she had gone to cool her
+anger.
+
+Soon after a stately ship was seen sailing down the river from
+Penemunde, [Footnote: A town in Pomerania.] which attracted all
+eyes in the castle, for on the deck stood a noble youth, with a
+heron's plume waving from his cap, and he held a tame sea-gull
+upon his hand, which from time to time flew off and dived into the
+water, bringing up all sorts of fish, great and small, in its
+beak, with which it immediately flew back to the handsome youth.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Clara, "there must be the sons of our gracious
+Princess! for to-morrow is her birthday, and here comes the noble
+bishop, Johann Frederick of Camyn, and his brother, Duke Bogislaff
+XIII., to pay their respects to their gracious mother."
+
+Her Grace, however, would scarcely credit that the handsome youth
+who was fishing after so elegant a manner was indeed her own
+beloved son; but Clara clapped her hands now, crying, "Look! your
+Grace--look! there is the flag hoisted!" And indeed there
+fluttered from the mast now the bishop's own arms. So the warder
+blew his horn, which was answered by the warder of St. Peter's in
+the town, and the bells in all the towers rang out, and the
+castellan ordered the cannon in the courtyard to be fired off.
+
+Her Grace was now thoroughly convinced, and weeping for joy, ran
+down to the little water-gate, where old Ulrich already stood
+waiting to receive the princes. As the vessel approached, however,
+they discovered that the handsome youth was not the bishop, but
+Duke Bogislaff, who had been staying on a visit at his brother's
+court at Camyn, along with several high prelates. The bishop,
+Johann Frederick, did not accompany him, for he was obliged to
+remain at home, in order to receive a visit from the Prince of
+Brandenburg.
+
+When the Duke stepped on shore he embraced his weeping mother
+joyfully, and said he came to offer her his congratulations on her
+birthday, and that she must not weep but laugh, for there should
+be a dance in honour of it, and a right merry feast at the castle
+on the morrow.
+
+Then he tumbled out on the bridge all the fish which the bird had
+caught; and her Grace wondered greatly, and stroked it as it sat
+upon the shoulder of the Prince. So he asked if the bird pleased
+her Grace, and when she answered "Yes," he said, "Then, dearest
+mother, let it be my birthday gift to you. I have trained it
+myself, and tried it here, as you see, upon the river. So any
+afternoon that you and your ladies choose to amuse yourselves with
+a sail, this bird will fish for you as long as you please, while
+you row down the river."
+
+Ah, what a good son was this handsome young Duke!--and when I
+think that Sidonia murdered them all--all--even this noble Prince,
+my heart seems to break, and the pen falls from my fingers.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Et quid mihi, misero
+filio? Domine in manus tuas commando spiritum meum, quia tu me
+redemisti fide Deus! (And what remains to me, wretched son? Lord,
+into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me,
+Thou God of truth.)--When one thinks that it was the general
+belief in that age that the whole ducal race had been destroyed
+and blasted by Sidonia's sorceries, it is impossible not to be
+affected by these melancholy yet resigned and Christian words of
+the last orphaned and childless representative of the ancient and
+illustrious house of Wolgast.]
+
+But to continue. The Duchess embraced the fine young Prince, who
+still continued talking of the dance they must have next day. It
+was time now for his gracious mother to give up mourning for her
+deceased lord, he said.
+
+But her Grace would not hear of a dance; and replied that she
+would continue to mourn for her dear lord all the rest of her
+life, to whom she had been wedded by Doctor Martinus. However, the
+Duke repeated his entreaties, and all the young nobles added
+theirs, and finally Prince Ernest besought her Grace not to deny
+them permission to have a festival on the morrow, as it was to
+honour her birthday. So she at last consented; but old Ulrich
+shook his head, and took her Grace aside to warn her of the
+scandal which would assuredly arise when the young nobles had
+drunk and grew excited by Sidonia. Hereupon her Grace made answer
+that she would take care Sidonia should cause no scandal--"As she
+has refused to learn her catechism, she must not appear at the
+feast. It will be a fitting punishment to keep her a prisoner for
+the whole day, and therefore I shall lock her up myself in her own
+room, and put the key in my pocket."
+
+So Ulrich was well pleased, and all separated for the night with
+much contentment and hopes of enjoyment on the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness
+was celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby._
+
+
+Before I proceed further, it will be necessary to state what
+happened a few days before concerning Prince Ernest's chief
+equerry, Johann Appelmann, otherwise many might doubt the facts I
+shall have to relate, though God knows I speak the pure truth.
+
+One came to his lordship the Grand Chamberlain--he was a shoemaker
+of the town--and complained to him of Appelmann, who had been
+courting his daughter for a long while, and running after her
+until finally he had disgraced her in the eyes of the whole town,
+and brought shame and scandal into his house. So he prayed Lord
+Ulrich to make the shameless profligate take his daughter to wife,
+as he had fairly promised her marriage long ago.
+
+Now Ulrich had long suspected the knave of bad doings, for many
+pearls and jewels had lately been missing from her Grace's
+shabrack and horse-trappings, and the groom, who always laid them
+on her Grace's white palfrey, knew nothing about them, though he
+was even put to the torture; but as Appelmann had all these things
+in his sole keeping, it was natural to think that he was not quite
+innocent. Besides, three hundred sacks of oats were missing on the
+new year, and no one knew what had become of them.
+
+Therefore Ulrich sent for the cheating rogue, and upbraided him
+with his profligate courses, also telling him that he must wed the
+shoemaker's daughter immediately. But the cunning knave knew
+better, and swore by all the saints that he was innocent, and
+finally prevailed upon Prince Ernest to intercede for him, so that
+Ulrich promised to give him a little longer grace, but then
+assuredly he would bring him to a strict account.
+
+And Appelmann drove the Prince that same day to Grypswald, to find
+out more musicians for the castle band, as the march of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great was to be played by eighty drums and forty
+trumpets in the grand ducal hall, to honour the birthday of her
+Highness.
+
+One can imagine what Sidonia felt when the Duchess announced that
+as she had refused to learn the catechism, and was neither
+obedient to God nor her Grace, she should remain a strict prisoner
+in her own room during the festival, as a signal punishment for
+her ungodly behaviour. But her maid might bring her food of all
+that she chose from the feast.
+
+Sidonia first prayed her Grace to forgive her for the love of God,
+and she would learn the whole catechism by heart. But as this had
+no effect, then she wept and lamented loudly, and at length fell
+down upon her knees before her Grace, who would, however, be
+neither moved nor persuaded; and when Sidonia threatened at last
+to leave her room, the Duchess went out, locked the door, and put
+the key in her pocket. The prisoner howled enough then, I warrant.
+
+But what did she do now, the cunning minx? She gave her maid a
+piece of gold, and told her to go up and down the corridor, crying
+and wringing her hands, and when any one asked what was the
+matter, to say, "That her beautiful young lady was dying of grief,
+because the Duchess had locked her up, like a little school-girl,
+in her own room, and all for not knowing the catechism of Dr.
+Gerschovius, which indeed was not taught in her part of the
+country, but another, which she had learned quite well in her
+childhood. And so for this, her poor young lady was not to be
+allowed to dance at the festival." The maid was to say all this in
+particular to Prince Ernest; or if he did not pass through the
+corridor, she was to stop weeping and groaning at his
+chamber-door, until he came out to ask what was the matter.
+
+The maid followed the instructions right well, and in less than an
+hour every soul in the castle, down to the cooks and washerwomen,
+knew what had happened, and everywhere the Duchess went she was
+assailed by old and young, great and small, with petitions of
+pardon for Sidonia.
+
+Her Grace, however, bid them all be silent, and threatened if they
+made such shameless requests to forbid the festival altogether.
+But when Prince Ernest likewise petitioned in her favour, she was
+angry, and said, "He ought to be ashamed of himself. It was now
+plain what a fool the girl had made of him. Her maternal heart
+would break, she knew it would--and this day would be one of
+sorrow in place of joy to her; all on account of this girl."
+
+So the young Prince had to hold his peace for this time; but he
+sent a message, nevertheless, to Sidonia, telling her not to fret,
+for that he would take her out of her room and bring her to the
+dance, let what would happen.
+
+Next morning, by break of day, the whole castle and town were
+alive with preparations for the festival. It was now seven
+years--that is, since the death of Duke Philip--since any one had
+danced in the castle except the rats and mice, and even yet the
+splendour of this festival is talked of in Wolgast; and many of
+the old people yet living there remember it well, and gave me many
+curious particulars thereof, which I shall set down here, that it
+may be known how such affairs were conducted in old time at our
+ducal courts.
+
+In the morning, by ten of the clock, the young princes, nobles,
+clergy, and the honourable counsellors of the town, assembled in
+the grand ducal hall, built by Duke Philip after the great fire,
+and which extended up all through the three stories of the castle.
+At the upper end of the hall was the grand painted window, sixty
+feet high, on which was delineated the pilgrimage of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great to Jerusalem, all painted by Gerard Homer;
+[Footnote: A Frieslander, and the most celebrated painter on glass
+of his time.] and round on the walls banners, and shields, and
+helmets, and cuirasses, while all along each side, four feet from
+the ground, there were painted on the walls figures of all the
+animals found in Pomerania: bears, wolves, elks, stags, deer,
+otters, &c., all exquisitely imitated.
+
+When all the lords had assembled, the drums beat and trumpets
+sounded, whereupon the Pomeranian marshal flung open the great
+doors of the hall, which were wreathed with flowers from the
+outside, and the princely widow entered with great pomp, leading
+the little Casimir by the hand. She was arrayed in the Pomeranian
+costume--namely, a white silk under-robe, and over it a surcoat of
+azure velvet, brocaded with silver, and open in front. A long
+train of white velvet, embroidered in golden laurel wreaths, was
+supported by twelve pages dressed in black velvet cassocks with
+Spanish ruffs. Upon her head the Duchess wore a coif of scarlet
+velvet with small plumes, from which a white veil, spangled with
+silver stars, hung down to her feet. Round her neck she had a
+scarlet velvet band, twisted with a gold chain; and from it
+depended a balsam flask, in the form of a greyhound, which rested
+on her bosom.
+
+As her Serene Highness entered with fresh and blushing cheeks, all
+bowed low and kissed her hand, glittering with diamonds. Then each
+offered his congratulations as best he could.
+
+Amongst them came Johann Neander, Archdeacon of St. Peter's, who
+was seeking preferment, considering that his present living was
+but a poor one; and so he presented her Grace with a printed
+_tractatum_ dedicated to her Highness, in which the question
+was discussed whether the ten virgins mentioned in Matt. xxv. were
+of noble or citizen rank. But Doctor Gerschovius made a mock of
+him for this afterwards, before the whole table. [Footnote: Over
+these exegetical disquisitions of a former age we smile, and with
+reason; but we, pedantic Germans, have carried our modern
+exegetical mania to such absurd lengths, that we are likely to
+become as much a laughing-stock to our contemporaries, as well as
+to posterity, as this Johannes Neander. In fact, our exegetists
+are mostly pitiful schoolmasters--word-anatomists--and one could
+as little learn the true spirit of an old classic poet from our
+pedantic philologists, as the true sense of holy Scripture from
+our scholastic theologians. What with their grammar twistings,
+their various readings, their dubious punctuations, their
+mythical, and who knows what other meanings, their
+hair-splittings, and prosy vocable tiltings, we find at last that
+they are willing to teach us everything but that which really
+concerns us, and, like the Danaides, they let the water of life
+run through the sieve of their learning. We may apply to them
+truly that condemnation of our Lord's (Matt, xxiii. 24)--"Ye blind
+guides; ye strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."]
+
+Now, when all the congratulations were over, the Duchess asked
+Prince Ernest if the water-works in the courtyard had been
+completed, [Footnote: The Prince took much interest in hydraulics,
+and built a beautiful and costly aqueduct for the town of
+Wolgast.] and when he answered "Yes," "Then," quoth her Grace,
+"they shall run with Rostock beer to-day, if it took fifty tuns;
+for all my people, great and small, shall keep festival to-day;
+and I have ordered my court baker to give a loaf of bread and a
+good drink to every one that cometh and asketh. And now, as it is
+fitting, let us present ourselves in the church."
+
+So the bells rung, and the whole procession swept through the
+corridor and down the great stairs, with drums and trumpets going
+before. Then followed the marshal with his staff, and the Grand
+Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, wearing his beautiful hat (a
+present from her Highness), looped up with a diamond aigrette, and
+spangled with little golden stars. Then came the Duchess,
+supported on each side by the young princes, her sons; and the
+nobles, knights, pages, and others brought up the rear, according
+to their rank and dignity.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's room, she began to beat the door and cry
+like a little spoiled child; but no one minded her, and the
+procession moved on to the courtyard, where the soldatesca fired a
+salute, not only from their muskets, but also from the great
+cannon called "the Old Aunt," which gave forth a deep joy-sigh.
+From all the castle windows hung banners and flags bearing the
+arms of Pomerania and Saxony, and the pavement was strewed with
+flowers.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's window she opened it, and appeared
+magnificently attired, and glittering with pearls and diamonds,
+but also weeping bitterly. At this sight old Ulrich gnashed his
+teeth for rage, but all the young men, and Prince Ernest in
+particular, felt their hearts die in them for sorrow. So they
+passed on through the great north gate out on the castle wall,
+from whence the whole town and harbour were visible. Here the
+flags fluttered from the masts and waved from the towers, and the
+people clapped their hands and cried "Huzza!" (for in truth they
+had heard about the beer, to my thinking, before the Princess came
+out upon the walls). _Summa_: There was never seen such joy;
+and after having service in church, they all returned to the
+castle in the same order, and set themselves down to the banquet.
+
+I got a list of the courses at the table of the Duchess from old
+Kuessow, and I shall here set it down, that people may see how our
+fathers banqueted eighty years ago in Pomerania; but, God help us!
+in these imperial days there is little left for us to grind our
+teeth upon. So smell thereat, and you will still get a delicious
+savour from these good old times.
+
+_First Course_.--1. A soup; 2. An egg-soup, with saffron,
+peppercorns, and honey thereon; 3. Stewed mutton, with onions
+strewed thereon; 4. A roasted capon, with stewed plums.
+
+_Second Course_.--1. Ling, with oil and raisins; 2. Beef,
+baked in oil; 3. Eels, with pepper; 4. Dried fish, with Leipsic
+mustard.
+
+_Third Course_.--1. A salad, with eggs; 2. Jellies strewed
+with almond and onion seed; 3. Omelettes, with honey and grapes;
+4. Pastry, and many other things besides.
+
+_Fourth Course_.--1. A roast goose with red beet-root,
+olives, capers, and cucumbers; 2. Little birds fried in lard, with
+radishes; 3. Venison; 4. Wild boar, with the marrow served on
+toasted rolls. In conclusion, all manner of pastry, with fritters,
+cakes, and fancy confectionery of all kinds.
+
+So her Grace selected something from each dish herself, and
+despatched it to Sidonia by her maid; but the maiden would none of
+them, and sent all back with a message that she had no heart to
+gormandise and feast; but her Grace might send her some bread and
+water, which was alone fitting for a poor prisoner to receive.
+
+The young men could bear this no longer, their patience was quite
+exhausted, and their courage rose as the wine-cups were emptied.
+So at length Prince Ernest whispered to his brother Bogislaus to
+put in a good word for Sidonia. He refused, however, and Prince
+Ernest was ashamed to name her himself; but some of the young
+pages who waited on her Grace were bold enough to petition for her
+pardon, whereupon her Grace gave them a very sharp reproof.
+
+After dinner the Duchess and Prince Bogislaus went up the stream
+in a pleasure-boat to try the tame sea-gull, and her Grace
+requested Lord Ulrich to accompany them. But he answered that he
+was more necessary to the castle that evening than a night-watch
+in a time of war, particularly if the young Prince was to have
+Rostock beer play from the fountains in place of water.
+
+And soon his words came true, for when the Duchess had sailed away
+the young men began to drink in earnest, so that the wine ran over
+the threshold down the great steps, and the peasants and boors who
+were going back and forward with dried wood to the ducal kitchen,
+lay down flat on their faces, and licked up the wine from the
+steps (but the Almighty punished them for this, I think, for their
+children now are glad enough to sup up water with the geese).
+
+Meanwhile many of the youths sprang up, swearing that they would
+free Sidonia; others fell down quite drunk, and knew nothing more
+of what happened. Then old Ulrich flew to the corridor, and
+marched up and down with his drawn dagger in his hand, and swore
+he would arrest them all if they did not keep quiet; that as to
+those who were lying dead drunk like beasts, he must treat them
+like other beasts--whereupon he sends to the castle fountain for
+buckets of cold water, and pours it over them. Ha! how they sprang
+up and raged when they felt it; but he only laughed and said--if
+they would not hold their peace he would treat them still worse;
+they ought to be ashamed of their filthiness and debauchery.
+[Footnote: Almost all writers of that age speak of the excesses to
+which intoxication was carried in all the ducal courts, but
+particularly that of Pomerania.]
+
+But now to the uproar within was added one from without, for when
+the fountains began to play with Rostock beer, all the town ran
+thither, and drank like leeches, while they begged the
+serving-wenches to bring them loaves to eat with it. How the old
+shoemaker threw up his cap in the air, and shouted--"Long live her
+Grace! no better Princess was in the whole world--they hoped her
+Grace might live for many years and celebrate every birthday like
+this!" Then they would pray for her right heartily, and the women
+chattered and cackled, and the children screamed so that no one
+could hear a word that was saying, and Sidonia tried for a long
+time in vain to make them hear her. At last she waved a white
+kerchief from the window, when the noise ceased for a little, and
+she then began the old song, namely, "Would they release her?"
+
+Now there were some brave fellows among them to whom she had given
+drink-money, or purchased goods from, and they now ran to fetch a
+ladder and set it up against the wall; but old Ulrich got wind of
+this proceeding, and dispersed the mob forthwith, menacing
+Sidonia, before their faces, that if she but wagged a finger, and
+did not instantly retire from the window, and bear her
+well-merited punishment patiently, he would have her carried
+straightway through the guard-room, and locked up in the bastion
+tower. This threat succeeded, and she drew in her head. Meantime
+the Duchess returned from fishing, but when she beheld the crowd
+she entered through the little water-gate, and went up a winding
+stair to her own apartment, to attire herself for the dance.
+
+The musicians now arrived from Grypswald, and all the knights and
+nobles were assembled except Zitsewitz, who lay sick, whether from
+love or jealousy I leave undecided; so the great affair at length
+began, and in the state hall the band struck up Duke Bogislaus'
+march, played, in fact, by eighty drums and forty-three trumpets,
+so that it was as mighty and powerful in sound as if the great
+trumpet itself had played it, and the plaster dropped off from the
+ceiling, and the picture of his Highness the Duke, in the north
+window, was so disturbed by the vibration, that it shook and
+clattered as if it were going to descend from the frame and dance
+with the guests in the hall, and not only the folk outside danced
+to the music, but down in the town, in the great market-place, and
+beyond that, even in the horse-market, the giant march was heard,
+and every one danced to it whether in or out of the house, and
+cheered and huzzaed. Now the Prince could no longer repress his
+feelings, for, besides that he had taken a good Pomeranian draught
+that day, and somewhat rebelled against his lady mother, he now
+flung the fourth commandment to the winds (never had he done this
+before), and taking three companions with him, by name Dieterich
+von Krassow, Joachim von Budde, and Achim von Weyer, he proceeded
+with them to the chamber of Sidonia, and with great violence burst
+open the door. There she lay on the bed weeping, in a green velvet
+robe, laced with gold, and embroidered with other golden
+ornaments, and her head was crowned with pearls and diamonds, so
+that the young Prince exclaimed, "Dearest Sidonia, you look like a
+king's bride. See, I keep my word; come now, and we shall dance
+together in the hall."
+
+Here he would willingly have kissed her, but was ashamed because
+the others were by, so he said, "Go ye now to the hall and see if
+the dance is still going on. I will follow with the maiden."
+Thereat the young men laughed, because they saw well that the
+Prince did not just then desire their company, and they all went
+away, except Joachim von Budde, the rogue, who crept behind the
+door, and peeped through the crevice.
+
+Now, the young lord was no sooner left alone with Sidonia than he
+pressed her to his heart--"Did she love him? She must say yes once
+again." Whereupon she clasped his neck with her little hands, and
+with every kiss that he gave her she murmured, "Yes, yes, yes!"
+"Would she be his own dear wife?" "Ah, if she dared. She would
+have no other spouse, no, not even if the Emperor came himself
+with all the seven electors. But he must not make her more
+miserable than she was already. What could they do? he never would
+be allowed to marry her." "He would manage that." Then he pressed
+her again to his heart, with such ardour that the knave behind the
+door grew jealous, and springing up, called out--"If his Highness
+wishes for a dance he must come now."
+
+When they both entered the hall, her Grace was treading a measure
+with old Ulrich, but he caught sight of them directly, and without
+making a single remark, resigned the hand of her Grace to Prince
+Bogislaus, and excused himself, saying that the noise of the music
+had made his head giddy, and that he must leave the hall for a
+little. He ran then along the corridor down to the courtyard, from
+thence to the guard, and commanded the officer with his troop,
+along with the executioner and six assistants, to be ready to rush
+into the hall with lighted matches, the moment he waved his hat
+with the white plumes from the window.
+
+When he returns, the dance is over, and my gracious lady,
+suspecting nothing as yet, sits in a corner and fans herself. Then
+Ulrich takes Sidonia in one hand and Prince Ernest in the other,
+brings them up straight before her Highness, and asks if she had
+herself given permission for the Prince and Sidonia to dance
+together in the hall. Her Highness started from her chair when she
+beheld them, her cheeks glowing with anger, and exclaimed, "What
+does this mean? Have you dared to release Sidonia?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; for this noble maiden has been treated worse
+than a peasant-girl by my lady mother."
+
+_Illa_.--"Oh, woe is me! this is my just punishment for
+having forgotten my Philip so soon, and even consenting to tread a
+measure in the hall." So she wept, and threw herself again upon
+the seat, covering her face with both hands.
+
+Now old Ulrich began. "So, my young Prince, this is the way you
+keep the admonitions that your father, of blessed memory, gave you
+on his death-bed! Fie--shame on you! Did you not give your promise
+also to me, the old man before you? Sidonia shall return to her
+chamber, if my word has yet some power in Pomerania. Speak,
+gracious lady, give the order, and Sidonia shall be carried back
+to her room."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she laid her white hand, all covered with
+jewels, upon the old man's arm, and looked up at him with
+beseeching glances, and stroked his beard after her manner,
+crying, with tears of anguish, "Spare a poor young maiden! I will
+learn anything you tell me; I will repeat it all on Sunday. Only
+do not deal so hardly with me." But the little hands for once had
+no effect, nor the tears, nor the caresses; for Ulrich, throwing
+her off, gave her such a slap in the face that she uttered a loud
+cry and fell to the ground.
+
+If a firebrand had fallen into a barrel of gunpowder, it could not
+have caused a greater explosion in the hall than that cry; for
+after a short pause, in which every one stood silent as if
+thunderstruck, there arose from all the nobles, young and old, the
+terrible war-cry--"Jodute! Jodute! [Footnote: The learned have
+puzzled their heads a great deal over the etymology of this
+enigmatical word, which is identical in meaning with the terrible
+"_Zettergeschrei_" of the Reformation era. It is found in the
+Swedish, Gothic, and Low German dialects, and in the Italian
+_Goduta_. One of the best essays on the subject--which,
+however, leads to no result--the lover of antiquarian researches
+will find in Hakeus's "Pomeranian Provincial Papers," vol. v. p.
+207.] to arms, to arms!" and the cry was re-echoed till the whole
+hall rung with it. Whoever had a dagger or a sword drew it, and
+they who had none ran to fetch one. But the Prince would at once
+have struck old Ulrich to the heart, if his brother Bogislaus had
+not sprung on him from behind and pinioned his arms. Then Joachim
+von Budde made a pass at the old knight, and wounded him in the
+hand. So Ulrich changed his hat from the right hand to the left,
+and still kept retreating till he could gain the window and give
+the promised sign to the guard, crying as he fought his way
+backward, step by step, "Come on now--come on, Ernest. Murder the
+old grey-headed man whom thy father called friend--murder him, as
+thou wilt murder thy mother this night."
+
+Then reaching the window, he waved his hat until the sign was
+answered; then sprang forward again, seized Sidonia by the hand,
+crying, "Out, harlot!" Hereupon young Lord Ernest screamed still
+louder, "Jodute! Jodute! Down with the grey-headed villain! What!
+will not the nobles of Pomerania stand by their Prince? Down with
+the insolent grey-beard who has dared to call my princely bride a
+harlot!" And so he tore himself from his brother's grasp, and
+sprang upon the old man; but her Grace no sooner perceived his
+intention than she rushed between them, crying, "Hold! hold! hold!
+for the sake of God, hold! He is thy second father." And as the
+young Prince recoiled in horror, she seized Sidonia rapidly, and
+pushing her before Ulrich towards the door, cried, "Out with the
+accursed harlot!" But Joachim Budde, who had already wounded the
+Grand Chamberlain, now seizing a stick from one of the drummers,
+hit her Grace such a blow on the arm therewith that she had to let
+go her hold of Sidonia. When old Ulrich beheld this, he screamed,
+"Treason! treason!" and rushed upon Budde. But all the young
+nobles, who were now fully armed, surrounded the old man, crying,
+"Down with him! down with him!" In vain he tried to reach a bench
+from whence he could defend himself against his assailants; in a
+few moments he was overpowered by numbers and fell upon the floor.
+Now, indeed, it was all over with him, if the soldatesca had not
+at that instant rushed into the hall with fierce shouts, and
+Master Hansen the executioner, in his long red cloak, with six
+assistants accompanying them.
+
+"Help! help!" cried her Grace; "help for the Lord Chamberlain!"
+
+So they sprang to the centre of the hall where he was lying,
+dashed aside his assailants, and lifted up the old man from the
+floor with his hand all bleeding.
+
+But Joachim Budde, who was seated on the very same bench which
+Ulrich had in vain tried to reach, began to mock the old knight.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked if it were he who had struck her Grace with
+the drumstick. "Ay," quoth he, laughing, "and would that she had
+got more of it for treating that darling, sweet, beautiful Sidonia
+no better than a kitchen wench. Where is the old hag now? I will
+teach her the catechism with my drumstick, I warrant you."
+
+And he was going to rise, when Ulrich made a sign to the
+executioner, who instantly dropped his red cloak, under which he
+had hitherto concealed his long sword, and just as Joachim looked
+up to see what was going on, he whirled the sword round like a
+flash of lightning, and cut Budde's head clean off from the
+shoulders, so that not even a quill of his Spanish ruff was
+disturbed, and the blood spouted up like three horse-tails to the
+ceiling (for he drank so much that all the blood was in his head),
+and down tumbled his gay cap, with the heron's plume, to the
+ground, and his head along with it.
+
+In an instant all was quietness; for though some of the ladies
+fainted, amongst whom was her Grace, and others rushed out of the
+hall, still there was such a silence that when the corpse fell
+down at length heavily upon the ground the clap of the hands and
+feet upon the floor was quite audible.
+
+When Ulrich observed that his victory was complete, he waved his
+hat in the air, exclaiming, "The princely house of Pomerania is
+saved! and, as long as I live, its honour shall never be tarnished
+for the sake of a harlot! Remove Prince Ernest and Sidonia to
+separate prisons. Let the rest go their ways;--this devil's
+festival is at an end, and with my consent, there shall never be
+another in Wolgast."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence._
+
+
+Now the Grand Chamberlain was well aware that no good would result
+from having Sidonia brought to a public trial, because the whole
+court was on her side.
+
+Therefore he called Marcus Bork, her cousin, to him in the night,
+and bid him take her and her luggage away next morning before
+break of day, and never stop or stay until they reached Duke
+Barnim's court at Stettin. The wind was half-way round now, and
+before nightfall they might reach Oderkruge. He would first just
+write a few lines to his Highness; and when Marcus had made all
+needful preparation, let him come here to his private apartment
+and receive the letter. He had selected him for the business
+because he was Sidonia's cousin, and also because he was the only
+young man at the castle whom the wanton had not ensnared in her
+toils.
+
+But that night Ulrich had reason to know that Sidonia and her
+lovers were dangerous enemies; for just as he had returned to his
+little room, and seated himself down at the table, to write to his
+Grace of Stettin the whole business concerning Sidonia, the window
+was smashed, and a large stone came plump down upon the ink-bottle
+close beside him, and stained all the paper. As Ulrich went out to
+call the guard, Appelmann, the equerry, came running up to him,
+complaining that his lordship's beautiful horse was lying there in
+the stable groaning like a human creature, for that some wretches
+had cut its tail clean off.
+
+_Ille_.--"Were any of the grooms in the stable lately? or had
+he seen any one go by the window?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; it was impossible to see any one, on account of
+the darkness; but he thought he had heard some one creeping along
+by the wall."
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him come then, fetch a lantern, and summon all
+the grooms; he would give it to the knaves. Had he heard anything
+of her Highness recently?"
+
+_Hic_.--"A maid told him that her Grace was better, and had
+retired to rest."
+
+_Ille_.--"Thank God. Now they might go."
+
+But as they proceeded along the corridor, which was now almost
+quite dark, the old knight suddenly received such a blow upon his
+hat that the beautiful aigrette was broken, and he himself thrown
+against the wall with such violence that he lay a quarter of an
+hour insensible; then he shook his grey head. What could that
+mean? Had Appelmann seen any one?
+
+_Hic_.--"Ah! no; but he thought he heard steps, as if of some
+one running away."
+
+So they went on to the ducal stables, but nothing was to be seen
+or heard. The grooms knew nothing about the matter--the guard knew
+nothing. Then the old knight lamented over his beautiful horse,
+and told Appelmann to ride next morning, with Marcus Bork and
+Sidonia, to the Duke's castle at Stettin, and purchase the piebald
+mare for him from his Grace, about which they had been bargaining
+some time back; but he must keep all this secret, for the young
+nobles were to know nothing of the journey.
+
+Ah, what fine fun this is for the cunning rogue. "If his lordship
+would only give him the purse, he would bring him back a far finer
+horse than that which some knaves had injured." Whereupon the old
+knight went down to reckon out the rose-nobles--but, lo! a stone
+comes whizzing past him close to his head, so that if it had
+touched him, methinks the old man would never have spoken a word
+more. In short, wherever he goes, or stops, or stands, stones and
+buffets are rained down upon him, so that he has to call the guard
+to accompany him back to his chamber; but he lays the saddle on
+the right horse at last, as you shall hear in another place.
+
+After some hours everything became quiet in the castle, for the
+knaves were glad enough to sleep off their drunkenness. And so,
+early in the morning before dawn, while they were all snoring in
+their beds, Sidonia was carried off, scream as she would along the
+corridor, and even before the young knight's chamber; not a soul
+heard her. For she had not been brought to the prison tower, as at
+first commanded, but to her own little chamber, likewise the young
+lord to his; for the Grand Chamberlain thought afterwards this
+proceeding would not cause such scandal.
+
+But there truly was great grief in the castle when they all rose,
+and the cry was heard that Sidonia was gone; and some of the
+murderous lords threatened to make the old man pay with his blood
+for it. _Item_, no sooner was it day than Dr. Gerschovius ran
+in, crying that some of the young profligates had broken all his
+windows the night before, and turned a goat into the rectory, with
+the catechism of his dear and learned brother tied round his neck.
+
+Then old Ulrich's anger increased mightily, as might be imagined,
+and he brought the priest with him to the Duchess, who had got but
+little rest that night, and was busily turning her wheel with the
+little clock-work, and singing to it, in a loud, clear voice, that
+beautiful psalm (120th)--"In deep distress I oft have cried." She
+paused when they entered, and began to weep. "Was it not all
+prophesied? Why had she been persuaded to throw off her mourning,
+and slight the memory of her loved Philip? It was for this the
+wrath of God had come upon her house; for assuredly the Lord would
+avenge the innocent blood that had been shed."
+
+Then Ulrich answered that, as her Grace knew, he had earnestly
+opposed this festival; but as to what regarded, the traitor whose
+head he had chopped off, he was ready to answer for that blood,
+not only to man but before God. For had not the coward struck his
+own sovereign lady the Princess with the drumstick? _Item_,
+was he not in the act of rising to repeat the blow, as the whole
+nobility are aware, only he lost his head by the way; and if this
+had not been done, all order and government must have ceased
+throughout the land, and the mice and the rats rule the cats,
+which was against the order of nature and contrary to God's will.
+But his gracious lady might take consolation, for Sidonia had been
+carried from the castle that morning by four of the clock, and, by
+God's grace, never should set foot in it again. But there was
+another _gravamen_, and that concerned the young nobles, who,
+no doubt, would become more daring after the events of last
+evening. Then he related what had happened to the priest.
+"_Item_, what did my gracious lady mean to do with those
+drunken libertines? If her Grace had kept up the huntings and the
+fishings, as in the days of good Duke Philip, mayhap the young men
+would have been less given to debauchery; but her Grace kept an
+idle house, and they had nothing to do but drink and brew
+mischief. If her Grace had no fitting employment for these young
+fellows, then he would pack them all off to the devil the very
+next morning, for they brought nothing but disrespect upon the
+princely house of Wolgast."
+
+So her Grace rejoiced over Sidonia's departure, but could not
+consent to send away the young knights. Her beloved husband and
+lord, Philippus Primus, always kept a retinue of such young
+nobles, and all the princely courts did the same. What would her
+cousin of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg say, when they heard that
+she had no longer knights or pages at her court? She feared her
+princely name would be mentioned with disrespect.
+
+So Ulrich replied, that at all events, this set of young
+boisterers must be sent off, as they had grown too wild and
+licentious to be endured any longer; and that he would select a
+new retinue for her Grace from the discreetest and most
+sober-minded young knights of the court. Marcus Bork, however,
+might remain; he was true, loyal, and brave--not a wine-bibber and
+profligate like the others.
+
+So her Grace at last consented, seeing that no good would come of
+these young men now; on the contrary, they would be more daring
+and riotous than ever from rage, when they found that Sidonia had
+been sent away; and that business of the window-smashing and the
+goat demanded severe punishment. So let Ulrich look out for a new
+household; these gay libertines would be sent away.
+
+While she was speaking, the door opened, and Prince Ernest entered
+the chamber, looking so pale and haggard, that her Grace clasped
+her hands together, and asked him, with terror, what had happened.
+
+_Ille._--"Did she ask what had happened, when all Pomerania
+rung with it?--when nobles were beheaded before her face as if
+they were nothing more than beggars' brats?--when the delicate and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, who had been entrusted to her care by Duke
+Barnim himself, was turned out of the castle in the middle of the
+night as if she were a street-girl, because, forsooth, she would
+not learn her catechism? The world would scarcely credit such
+scandalous acts, and yet they were all true. But to-morrow (if
+this weakness which had come over him allowed of it) he would set
+off for Stettin, also to Berlin and Schwerin, and tell the princes
+there, his cousins, what government they held in Wolgast. He would
+soon be twenty, and would then take matters into his own hands;
+and he would pray his guardian and dear uncle, Duke Barnim, to
+pronounce him at once of age; then the devil might take Ulrich and
+his government, but he would rule the castle his own way."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"But what did he complain of? What ailed him?
+She must know this first, for he was looking as pale as a corpse."
+
+_Ille_.--"Did she not know, then, what ailed him? Well, since
+he must tell her, it was anger-anger that made him so pale and
+weak."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Anger, was it? Anger, because the false
+wanton, Sidonia, had been removed by her orders from her princely
+castle? Ah! she knew now what the wanton had come there for; but
+would he kill his mother? She nearly sank upon the ground last
+night when he called the impudent wench his bride. But she forgave
+him; it must have been the wine he drank made him so forget
+himself; or was it possible that he spoke in earnest?"
+
+_Ille_ (sighing).--"The future will tell that." "Oh, woe is
+me! what must I live to hear? If thy father could look up from his
+grave, and see thee disgracing thy princely blood by a marriage
+with a bower maiden!--. thou traitorous, disobedient son, do not
+lie to me. I know from thy sighs what thy purpose is--for this
+thou art going to Stettin and Berlin."
+
+The Prince is silent, and looks down upon the ground.
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Oh, shame on thee! shame on thee for the sake
+of thy mother! shame on thee for the sake of this servant of God,
+thy second father, this old man here! What! a vile knave strike
+thy mother, before the face of all the court, and thou condemnest
+him because he avenged her! Truly thou art a fine, brave son, to
+let thy mother be struck before thy face, for the sake of a
+harlot. Canst thou deny it? I conjure thee by the living God, tell
+me is it thy true purpose to take this harlot to thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He could give but one answer, the future would
+decide."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"Oh, she was reserved for all
+misfortunes! Why did Doctor Martinus let her ring fall? All, all
+has followed from that! If he had chosen a good, humble, honest
+girl, she would say nothing; but this wanton, this light maiden,
+that ran after every carl and let them court her!"
+
+Here the young Prince was seized with such violent convulsions
+that he fell upon the floor, and her Grace raised him up with loud
+lamentations. He was carried in a dead faint to his chamber, and
+the court physician, Doctor Pomius, instantly summoned. Doctor
+Pomius was a pompous little man (for my father knew him well), dry
+and smart in his words, and with a face like a pair of
+nutcrackers, for his front teeth were gone, so that his lips
+seemed dried on his gums, like the skin of a mummy. He was withal
+too self-conceited and boastful, and malicious, full of gossip and
+ill-nature, and running down every one that did not believe that
+he (Doctor Pomius) was the only learned physician in the world.
+Following the celebrated rules laid down by Theophrastus
+Paracelsus, he cured everything with trash--and asses' dung was
+his infallible panacea for all complaints. This pharmacopoeia was
+certainly extremely simple, easily obtained, and universal in its
+application. If the dung succeeded, the doctor drew himself up,
+tossed his head, and exclaimed, "What Doctor Pomius orders always
+succeeds." But if the wretched patient slipped out of his hands
+into the other world, he shook his head and said, "There is an
+hour for every man to die; of course his had come--physicians
+cannot work miracles."
+
+Pomius hated every other doctor in the town, and abused them so
+for their ignorance and stupidity, that finally her Grace believed
+that no one in the world knew anything but Doctor Pomius, and that
+a vast amount of profound knowledge was expressed, if he only put
+his finger to the end of his nose, as was his habit.
+
+So, as I have said, she summoned him to attend the young lord; and
+after feeling his pulse and asking some questions respecting his
+general health, the doctor laid his finger, as usual, to his nose,
+and pronounced solemnly--"The young Prince must immediately take a
+dose of asses' dung stewed in wine, with a little of the
+_laudanum paracelsi_ poured in afterwards--this will restore
+him certainly."
+
+But it was all in vain; for the young Prince still continued day
+and night calling for Sidonia, and neither the Duchess nor Doctor
+Gerschovius could in any wise comfort him. This afflicted her
+Grace almost to the death; and by Ulrich's advice, she despatched
+her second son, Duke Barnim the younger, and Dagobert von
+Schwerin, to the court of Brunswick, to solicit in her name the
+hand of the young Princess Sophia Hedwig, for her son Ernest
+Ludovicus. Now, in the whole kingdom, there was no more beautiful
+princess than Sophia of Brunswick; and her Grace was filled with
+hope that, by her means, the influence of the detestable Sidonia
+over the heart of the young lord would be destroyed for ever.
+
+In due time the ambassadors returned, with the most favourable
+answer. Father, mother, and daughter all gave consent; and the
+Duke of Brunswick also forwarded by their hands an exquisite
+miniature of his beautiful daughter for Prince Ernest.
+
+This miniature her Grace now hung up beside his bed. Would he not
+look at the beautiful bride she had selected for him? Could there
+be a more lovely face in all the German empire? What was Sidonia
+beside her, but a rude country girl!--would he not give her up at
+last, this light wench? While, on the contrary, this illustrious
+princess was as virtuous as she was beautiful, and this the whole
+court of Brunswick could testify.
+
+But the young lord would give no heed to her Grace, and spat out
+at the picture, and cried to take away the daub--into the fire
+with it--anywhere out of his sight. Unless his dear, his beautiful
+Sidonia came to tend him, he would die--he felt that he was dying.
+
+So her Grace took counsel with old Ulrich, and Doctor Pomius, and
+the priest, what could be done now. The doctor mentioned that he
+must have been witch-struck. Then more doctors were sent for from
+the Grypswald, but all was in vain--no one knew what ailed him;
+and from day to day he grew worse.
+
+Clara von Dewitz now bitterly reproached herself for having
+concealed her suspicions about the love-drink from her
+Grace--though indeed she did so by desire of her betrothed, Marcus
+Bork. But now, seeing that the young Prince lay absolutely at the
+point of death, she could no longer hold her peace, but throwing
+herself on her knees before her Grace, told her the whole story of
+the witch-girl whom she had sheltered in the castle, and of her
+fears that Sidonia had learned from her how to brew a
+love-philtre, which she had afterwards given to the Prince.
+
+Her Grace was sore displeased with Clara for having kept all this
+a secret, and said that she would have expected more wisdom and
+discretion from her, seeing that she had always counted her the
+most worthy amongst her maidens; then she summoned Ulrich, and
+laid the evil matter before him. He shook his head; believed that
+they had hit on the true cause now. Such a sickness had nothing
+natural about it--there must be magic and witchwork in it; but he
+would have the whole land searched for the girl, and make her give
+the young lord some potion that would take off the spell.
+
+Now the witch-girl had been pardoned a few days before that, and
+sent back to Usdom, near Daber; but bailiffs were now sent in all
+directions to arrest her, and bring her again to Wolgast without
+delay.
+
+So the wretched creature was discovered, before long, in Kruge,
+near Mahlzow, where she had hired herself as a spinner for the
+winter, and brought before Ulrich and her Grace. She was there
+admonished to tell the whole truth, but persisted in asseverating
+that Sidonia had never learned from her how to make a love-drink.
+Her statement, however, was not believed; and Master Hansen was
+summoned, to try and make her speak more. The affair, indeed,
+appeared so serious to Ulrich, that he himself stood by while she
+was undergoing the torture, and carried on the _protocollum_,
+calling out to Master Hansen occasionally not to spare his
+squeezes. But though the blood burst from her finger-ends, and her
+hip was put out of joint, so that she limped ever after, she
+confessed nothing more, nor did she alter the statement which she
+had first made.
+
+_Item_, her Grace, and the priest, and all the bystanders
+exhorted her in vain to confess the truth (for her Grace was
+present at the torture). At last she cried out, "Yes, I know
+something that will cure him! Mercy! mercy! and I will tell it."
+
+So they unbound her, and she was going straightway to make her
+witch-potion, but old Ulrich changed his mind. Who could know
+whether this devil's fiend was telling them the truth? May be she
+would kill the young lord in place of curing him. So they gave her
+another stretch upon the rack. But as she still held by all her
+assertions, they spared her any further torture.
+
+But, in my opinion, the young lord must have obtained something
+from her, otherwise he could not have recovered all at once the
+moment that Sidonia was brought back, as I shall afterwards
+relate.
+
+_Sum total_.--The young Prince screamed day and night for
+Sidonia, and told her Grace that he now felt he was dying, and
+requested, as his last prayer upon this earth, to be allowed to
+see her once more. The maiden was an angel of goodness; and if she
+could but close his dying eyes, he would die happy.
+
+It can be easily imagined with what humour her Grace listened to
+such a request, for she hated Sidonia like Satan himself; but as
+nothing else could satisfy him, she promised to send for her, if
+Prince Ernest would solemnly swear, by the corpse of his father,
+that he would never wed her, but select some princess for his
+bride, as befitted his exalted rank--the Princess Hedwig, or some
+other--as soon as he had recovered sufficiently to be able to quit
+his bed. So he quickly stretched forth his thin, white hand from
+the bed, and promised his dearly beloved mother to do all she had
+asked, if she would only send horsemen instantly to Stettin, for
+the journey by water was insecure, and might be tedious if the
+wind were not favourable.
+
+Hereupon a great murmur arose in the castle; and young Duke
+Bogislaus fell into such a rage that he took his way back again to
+Camyn, and his younger brother, Barnim, accompanied him. But the
+anger of the Grand Chamberlain no words can express. He told her
+Grace, in good round terms, that she would be the mock of the
+whole land. The messengers had only just returned who had carried
+away Sidonia from the castle under the greatest disgrace; and now,
+forsooth, they must ride back again to bring her back with all
+honour.
+
+"Oh, it was all true, quite true; but then, if her dearest son
+Ernest were to die--"
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him die. Better lose his life than his honour."
+
+_Haec_.--"He would not peril his honour, for he had sworn by
+the corpse of his father never to wed Sidonia."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, he was quick enough in promising, but
+performing was a different thing. Did her Grace think that the
+passion of a man could be controlled by promises, as a tame horse
+by a bridle? Never, never. Passion was a wild horse, that no bit,
+or bridle, or curb could guide, and would assuredly carry his
+rider to the devil."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Still she could not give up her son to death;
+besides, he would repent and see his folly. Did not God's Word
+tell us how the prodigal son returned to his father, and would not
+her son return likewise?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, when he has kept swine. After that he may
+return, but not till then. The youngster was as great a fool about
+women as he had ever come across in his life."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"He was too harsh on the young man.
+Had she not sent away the girl at his command; and now he would
+let her own child die before her eyes, without hope or
+consolation?"
+
+_Ille_.--"But if her child is indeed dying, would she send
+for the devil to attend him in his last moments? Her Grace should
+be more consistent. If the young lord is dying, let him die; her
+Grace has other children, and God will know how to comfort her.
+Had he not been afflicted himself? and let her ask Dr. Gerschovius
+if the Lord had not spoken peace unto him."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Ah, true; but then neither of them are
+mothers. Her son is asking every moment if the messengers have
+departed, and what shall she answer him? She cannot lie, but must
+tell the whole bitter truth."
+
+_Ille_.--"He saw the time had come at last for him to follow
+the young princes. He was of no use here any longer. Her Grace
+must give him permission to take his leave, for he would sail off
+that very day for his castle at Spantekow, and then she might do
+as she pleased respecting the young lord."
+
+So her Grace besought him not to leave her in her sore trouble and
+perplexity. Her two sons had sailed away, and there was no one
+left to advise and comfort her.
+
+But Ulrich was inflexible. "She must either allow her son quietly
+to leave this miserable life, or allow him to leave this miserable
+court service."
+
+"Then let him go to Spantekow. Her son should be saved. She would
+answer before the throne of the Almighty for what she did. But
+would he not promise to return, if she stood in any great need or
+danger? for she felt that both were before her; still she must
+peril everything to save her child."
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes, he would be ready on her slightest summons;
+and he doubted not but that Sidonia would soon give her trouble
+and sorrow enough. But he could not remain now, without breaking
+his knightly oath to Duke Philip, his deceased feudal seigneur of
+blessed memory, and standing before the court and the world as a
+fool."
+
+So after many tears her Grace gave him his dismissal, and he rode
+that same day to Spantekow, promising to return if she were in
+need, and also to send her a new retinue and household
+immediately.
+
+This last arrangement displeased Marcus Bork mightily, for he had
+many friends amongst the knights who were now to be dismissed, and
+so he, too, prayed her Grace for leave to resign his office and
+retire from court. He had long looked upon Clara von Dewitz with a
+holy Christian love, and, if her Grace permitted, he would now
+take her home as his dear loving wife.
+
+Her Grace replied that she had long suspected this
+betrothal--particularly from the time that Clara told her of his
+advice respecting the concealment of the witch-girl's visit to
+Sidonia; and as he had acted wrongly in that business, he must now
+make amends by not deserting her in her greatest need. Her sons
+and old Ulrich had already left her; some one must remain in whom
+she could place confidence. It would be time enough afterwards to
+bring home his beloved wife Clara, and she would wish them God's
+blessing on their union.
+
+_Ille_.--"True, he had been wrong in concealing that business
+with the witch-girl, but her Grace must pardon him. He never
+thought it would bring the young lord to his dying bed. Whatever
+her Grace now commanded he would yield obedience to."
+
+"Then," said her Grace, "do you and Appelmann mount your horses
+instantly, ride to Stettin, and bring back Sidonia. For her dearly
+beloved son had sworn that he could not die easy unless he beheld
+Sidonia once more, and that she attended him in his last moments."
+
+It may be easily imagined how the good knight endeavoured to
+dissuade her Highness from this course, and even spoke to the
+young Prince himself, but in vain. That same day he and Appelmann
+were obliged to set off for Stettin, and on their arrival
+presented the following letter to old Duke Barnim:--
+
+"MARIA, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, BORN DUCHESS OF SAXONY, &c.
+
+"ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND MY DEAR UNCLE,--It has not been concealed
+from your Highness how our clear son Ernest Ludovicus, since the
+departure of Sidonia, has fallen, by the permission of God, into
+such a state of bodily weakness that his life even stands in
+jeopardy.
+
+"He has declared that nothing will restore him but to see Sidonia
+once more. We therefore entreat your Highness, after admonishing
+the aforesaid maiden severely upon her former light and unseemly
+behaviour, to dismiss her with our messengers, that they may
+return and give peace and health to our dearly beloved son.
+
+"If your Highness would enjoy a hunt or a fishing with a tame
+sea-gull, it would give us inexpressible pleasure.
+
+"We commend you lovingly to God's holy keeping.
+
+"Given from our Castle of Wolgast, this Friday, April 15, 1569.
+
+"MARIA."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back
+to Wolgast._
+
+
+When his Highness of Stettin had finished the perusal of her
+Grace's letter, he laughed loudly, and exclaimed--
+
+"This comes of all their piety and preachings. I knew well what
+this extravagant holiness would make of my dear cousin and old
+Ulrich. If people would persist in being so wonderfully religious,
+they would soon become as sour as an old cabbage head; and Sidonia
+declared, that, for her part, a hundred horses should not drag her
+back to Wolgast, where she had been lectured and insulted, and all
+because she would not learn her catechism like a little
+school-girl."
+
+Nor would Otto Bork hear of her returning. (He was waiting at
+Stettin to conduct her back to Stramehl.) At last, however, he
+promised to consent, on condition that his Highness would grant
+him the dues on the Jena.
+
+Now the Duke knew right well that Otto wanted to revenge himself
+upon the people of Stargard, with whom he was at enmity; but he
+pretended not to observe the cunning knight's motives, and merely
+replied--
+
+"They must talk of the matter at Wolgast, for nothing could be
+decided upon without having the opinion of his cousin the
+Duchess."
+
+So the knight taking this as a half-promise, and Sidonia having at
+last consented, they all set off on Friday with a good south wind
+in their favour, and by that same evening were landed by the
+little water-gate at Wolgast. His Highness was received with
+distinguished honours--the ten knights of her Grace's new
+household being in waiting to receive him as he stepped on shore.
+
+So they proceeded to the castle, the Duke having Sidonia upon one
+arm, and a Cain under the other, which he had been carving during
+the passage, for the Eve had long since been finished. Otto
+followed; and all the people, when they beheld Sidonia, uttered
+loud cries of joy that the dear young lady had come back to them.
+
+This increased her arrogance, so that when her Grace received her,
+and began a godly admonishment upon her past levities, and
+conjured her to lead a modest, devout life for the future, Sidonia
+replied indiscreetly--"She knew not what her Grace and her parson
+meant by a modest, devout life, except it were learning the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius; from such modesty and devoutness she
+begged to be excused, she was no little school-girl now--she
+thought her Grace had got rid of all her whims and caprices, by
+sending for her after having turned her out of the castle without
+any cause whatever--but it was all the old thing over again."
+
+Her Grace coloured up with anger at this bitter speech, but held
+her peace. Then Otto addressed her, and begged leave to ask her
+Grace what kind of order was held at her court, where a priest was
+allowed to slap the fingers of a noble young maiden, and a
+chamberlain to smite her on the face? Had he known that such were
+the usages at her court of Wolgast, the Lady Sidonia (such he
+delighted to call her, as though she were of princely race) never
+should have entered it, and he would now instantly take her back
+to Stramehl, if her Grace would not consent to give him up the
+dues on the Jena.
+
+Now her Grace knew nothing about the dues, and therefore said,
+turning to the Duke--"Dear uncle, what does this arrogant knave
+mean? I do not comprehend his insolent speech." Hereupon Otto
+chafed with rage, that her Grace had named him with such contempt,
+and cried--"Then was your husband a knave, too! for my blood is as
+noble and nobler than your own, and I am lord of castles and
+lands. Come, my daughter; let us leave the robbers' den, or mayhap
+thy father will be struck even as thou wert."
+
+Now her Grace knew not what to do, and she lamented loudly--more
+particularly because at this moment a message arrived from Prince
+Ernest, praying her for God's sake to bring Sidonia to him, as he
+understood that she had been in the castle now a full quarter of
+an hour. Then old Otto laughed loudly, took his daughter by the
+hand, and cried again, "Come--let us leave this robber hole. Come,
+Sidonia!"
+
+This plunged her Grace into despair, and she exclaimed in anguish,
+"Will you not have pity on my dying child?" but Otto continued,
+"Come, Sidonia! come, Sidonia!" and he drew her by the hand.
+
+Here Duke Barnim rose up and said, "Sir Knight, be not so
+obstinate. Remember it is a sorrowing mother who entreats you. Is
+it not true, Sidonia, you will remain here?"
+
+Then the cunning hypocrite lifted her kerchief to her eyes, and
+replied, "If I did not know the catechism of Doctor Gerschovius,
+yet I know God's Word, and how the Saviour said, 'I was sick and
+ye visited Me,' and James also says, 'The prayer of faith shall
+save the sick.' No, I will not let this poor young lord die, if my
+visit and my prayer can help him."
+
+"No, no," exclaimed Otto, "thou shall not remain, unless the dues
+of the Jena be given up to me." And as at this moment another page
+arrived from Prince Ernest, with a similar urgent request for
+Sidonia to come to him, her Grace replied quickly, "I promise all
+that you desire," without knowing what she was granting; so the
+knight said he was content, and let go his daughter's hand.
+
+Now the good town of Stargard would have been ruined for ever by
+this revengeful man, if his treacherous designs had not been
+defeated (as we shall see presently) by his own terrible death. He
+had long felt a bitter hatred to the people of Stargard, because
+at one time they had leagued with the Greifenbergers and the Duke
+of Pomerania to ravage his town of Stramehl, in order to avenge an
+insult he had offered to the old burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann,
+father of the chief equerry, Johann Appelmann. In return for this
+outrage, Otto determined, if possible, to get the control of the
+dues of the Jena into his own hands, and when the Stargardians
+brought their goods and provisions up the Jena, and from thence
+prepared to enter the river Haff, he would force them to pay such
+exorbitant duty upon everything, that the merchants and the
+people, in short, the whole town, would be ruined, for their whole
+subsistence and merchandise came by these two rivers, and all this
+was merely to gratify his revenge. But the just God graciously
+turned away the evil from the good town, and let it fall upon
+Otto's own head, as we shall relate in its proper place.
+
+So, when the old knight had let go his daughter's hand, her Grace
+seized it, and went instantly with Sidonia to the chamber of the
+young lord, all the others following. And here a moving scene was
+witnessed, for as they entered, Prince Ernest extended his thin,
+pale hands towards Sidonia, exclaiming, "Sidonia, ah, dearest
+Sidonia, have you come at last to nursetend me?" then he took her
+little hand, kissed it, and bedewed it with his tears, still
+repeating, "Sidonia, dearest Sidonia, have you come to nursetend
+me?"
+
+So the artful hypocrite began to weep, and said--. "Yes, my
+gracious Prince, I have come to you, although your priest struck
+me on the fingers, and your mother and old Ulrich called me a
+harlot, before all the court, and lastly, turned me out of the
+castle by night, as if I had been a swine-herd; but I have not the
+heart to let your Highness surfer, if my poor prayers and help can
+abate your sickness; therefore let them strike me, and call me a
+harlot again, if they wish."
+
+This so melted the heart of my gracious Prince Ernest, that he
+cried out, "O Sidonia, angel of goodness, give me one kiss, but
+one little kiss upon my mouth, Sidonia! bend down to me--but one,
+one kiss!" Her Grace was dreadfully scandalised at such a speech,
+and said he ought to be ashamed of such words. Did he not remember
+what he had sworn by the corpse of his father at St. Peter's? But
+old Duke Barnim cried out, laughing--"Give him a kiss, Sidonia;
+that is the best plaster for his wounds; 'a kiss in honour brings
+no dishonour,' says the proverb."
+
+However, Sidonia still hesitated, and bending down to the young
+man, said, "Wait, gracious Prince, until we are alone."
+
+If the Duchess had been angry before, what was it to her rage
+now--"Alone! she would take good care they were never to be
+alone!"
+
+Otto took no notice of this speech, probably because he saw that
+matters were progressing much to his liking between the Prince and
+his daughter; but Duke Barnim exclaimed, "How now, dearest cousin,
+are you going to spoil all by your prudery? You brought the girl
+here to cure him, and what other answer could she give? Bend thee
+down, Sidonia, and give him one little kiss upon the lips--I, the
+Prince, command thee; and see, thou needst not be ashamed, for I
+will set thee an example with his mother. Come, dear cousin, put
+off that sour face, and give me a good, hearty kiss; your son will
+get well the sooner for it:" but as he attempted to seize hold of
+her Grace, she cried out, and lifted up her hands to Heaven,
+lamenting in a loud voice--"Oh, evil and wicked world! may God
+release me from this wicked world, and lay me down this day beside
+my Philip in the grave!" Then weeping and wringing her hands, she
+left the chamber, while the old knight, and--God forgive
+him!--even Duke Barnim, looked after her, laughing.
+
+"Come, Otto," said his Grace, "let us go too, and leave this pair
+alone; I must try and pacify my dear cousin." So they left the
+room, and on the way Otto opened his mind to the Duke about this
+love matter, and asked his Grace, would he consent to the union,
+if Prince Ernest, on his recovery, made honourable proposals for
+his daughter Sidonia.
+
+But his Grace was right crafty, and merely answered--"Time enough
+to settle that, Otto, when he is recovered; but methinks you will
+have some trouble with his mother unless you are more civil to
+her; so if you desire her favour, bear yourself more humbly, I
+advise you, as befits a subject."
+
+This the knight promised, and the conversation ceased, as they
+came up with the Duchess just then, who was waiting for them in
+the grand corridor. No sooner did she perceive that Sidonia was
+not with them than she cried out, "So my son is alone with the
+maiden!" and instantly despatched three pages to watch them both.
+
+Otto had now changed his tone, and instead of retorting, thanked
+her Grace for the praiseworthy and Christian care she took of his
+daughter. He did not believe this at first, but now he saw it with
+his own eyes. Alas, it was too true, the world was daily growing
+worse and worse, and the devil haunted us with his temptations,
+like our own flesh and blood. Then he sighed and kissed her hand,
+and prayed her Grace to pardon him his former bold language--but,
+in truth, he had felt displeased at first to see her Grace so
+harsh to Sidonia, when every one else at the castle received her
+with rapture; but he saw now that she only meant kindly and
+motherly by the girl.
+
+Then the Duke asked, her pardon for his little jest about the
+kissing. She knew well that he meant no harm; and also that it was
+not in his nature to endure any melancholy or lamentable faces
+around him.
+
+So her Grace was reconciled to both, and when the Duke announced
+that he and the knight proposed visiting Barth [Footnote: Barth, a
+little town; and Eldena was at that time a richly endowed convent
+near Greifswald.] and Eldena, from whence they would return in a
+few days, to take their leave of her, she said that if her dearest
+son Ernest grew any better, she would have a grand _battue_
+in honour of his Highness Duke Barnim, upon their return.
+
+Accordingly, after having amused themselves for a little fishing
+with the tame sea-gull, the Duke and Otto rode away, and her Grace
+went to the chamber of the young Prince, to keep watch there
+during the night. She would willingly have dismissed Sidonia, but
+he forbade her; and Sidonia herself declared that she would watch
+day and night by the bedside of the young lord. So she sat the
+whole night by his bed, holding his hand in hers, and told him
+about her journey, and how shamefully she had been smuggled away
+out of the castle by old Ulrich, because she would not learn the
+catechism; and of her anguish when the messengers arrived, and
+told of their young lord's illness. She was quite certain Ulrich
+must have given him something to cause it, as a punishment for
+having released her from prison, for if he could strike a maiden,
+it was not surprising that he would injure even his future
+reigning Prince to gratify his malice. It was well the old
+malignant creature was away now, as she was told, and if his Grace
+did right he would play him a trick in return, and set fire to his
+castle at Spantekow as soon as he was able to move.
+
+Her Grace endured all this in silence, for her dear son's sake,
+though in truth her anger was terrible. The young lord, however,
+grew better rapidly, and the following day was even able to creep
+out of bed for a couple of hours, to touch the lute. And he taught
+Sidonia all, and placed her little fingers himself on the strings,
+that she might learn the better. Then, for the first time, he
+called for something to eat, and after that fell into a profound
+sleep which lasted forty-eight hours. During this time he lay like
+one dead, and her Grace would have tried to awaken him, but the
+physician prevented her. At length, when he awoke, he cried out
+loudly, first for Sidonia, and then for some food.
+
+At last, to the great joy of her Grace, he was able, on the fourth
+day, to walk in the castle garden, and arranged to attend the hunt
+with his dear uncle upon his return to Wolgast. The Duke, on his
+arrival, rejoiced greatly to find the young lord so well, and said
+with his usual gay manner, "Come here, Sidonia; I have been rather
+unwell on the journey: come here and give me a kiss too, to make
+me better!" and Sidonia complied. Whereupon her Grace looked
+unusually sour, but said nothing, for fear of disturbing the
+general joy. Indeed, the whole castle was in a state of jubilee,
+and her Grace promised that she and her ladies would attend the
+hunt on the following day.
+
+About this time the castle was troubled by a strange
+apparition--no other than the spectre of the serpent knight, who
+had been drowned some time previously. It was reported that every
+night the ghost entered the castle by the little water-gate,
+though it was kept barred and bolted, traversed the whole length
+of the corridor, and sunk down into the earth, just over the place
+where the ducal coaches and sleighs were kept.
+
+Every one fled in terror before the ghost, and scarcely a
+lansquenet could be found to keep the night watch. What this
+spectre betokened shall be related further on in this little
+history, but at present I must give an account of the grand
+_battue_ which took place according to her Grace's orders,
+and of what befell there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia
+resolved on there._
+
+
+The preparations for the hunt commenced early in the morning, and
+the knights and nobles assembled in the hall of fishes (so called
+because the walls were painted with representations of all the
+fishes that are indigenous to Pomerania). Here a superb breakfast
+was served, and pages presented water in finger-basins of silver
+to each of the princely personages. Then costly wines were handed
+round, and Duke Barnim, having filled to the brim a cup bearing
+the Pomeranian arms, rose up and said, "Give notice to the warder
+at St. Peter's." And immediately, as the great bell of the town
+rang out, and resounded through the castle and all over the town,
+his Grace gave the health of Prince Ernest, who pledged him in
+return. Afterwards they all descended to the courtyard, and his
+Grace entered the ducal mews himself, to select a horse for the
+day. Now these mews were of such wonderful beauty, that I must
+needs append a description of them here.
+
+First there was a grand portico, and within a corridor with ranges
+of pillars on each side, round which were hung antlers and horns
+of all the animals of the chase. This led to the pond with the
+island in the centre, where the bear was kept, as I have already
+described. When Duke Barnim and the old knight emerged from the
+portico to enter the stable, they were met by Johann Appelmann,
+the chief equerry, who spread before the feet of his Highness a
+scarlet horse-cloth, embroidered with the ducal arms, whereon he
+laid a brush and a riding-whip; and then demanded his
+_Trinkgeld_.
+
+On entering, they observed numerous stalls filled with Pomeranian,
+Hungarian, Frisian, Danish, and Turkish horses--each race by
+itself, and each horse standing ready saddled and bridled since
+the morning. _Item_, all along the walls were ranged enormous
+brazen lions' heads, which conveyed water throughout the building,
+and cleansed the stables completely every day.
+
+Otto wondered much at all this magnificence, and asked his Grace
+what could her Highness want with all these horses.
+
+"They eat their oats in idleness, for the most part," replied the
+Duke. "No one uses them but the pages and knights of the
+household, who may select any for riding that pleases them; but
+her Highness would never diminish any of the state maintained by
+her deceased lord, Duke Philip. So there has been always, since
+that time, particular attention paid to the ducal stables at
+Wolgast."
+
+Now the train began to move towards the hunt, in all about a
+hundred persons, and in front rode her Grace upon an ambling
+palfrey, dressed in a riding-habit of green velvet, and wearing a
+yellow hat with plumes. Her little Casimir rode by her side on a
+Swedish pony; then followed her ladies-in-waiting, amongst whom
+rode Sidonia, all likewise dressed in green velvet
+hunting-dresses, fastened with golden clasps; but in place of
+yellow, they wore scarlet hats, with gilded herons' plumes. Duke
+Barnim and Prince Ernest rode along with her Grace; and though
+none but those of princely blood were allowed to join this group,
+yet Otto strove to keep near them, as if he really belonged to the
+party, just as the sacristan strives to make the people think he
+is as good as the priest by keeping as close as he can to him
+while the procession moves along the streets.
+
+After these came the marshal, the castellan, and then the
+treasurer, with the office-bearers, knights, and esquires of the
+household. Then the chief equerry, with the master of the hounds
+and the principal huntsmen. But the beaters, pages, lacqueys,
+drummers, coursers, and runners had already gone on before a good
+way; and never had the Wolgastians beheld such a stately hunt as
+this since the death of good Duke Philip. So the whole town ran
+together, and followed the procession for a good space, up to the
+spot where blue tents were erected for her Grace and her ladies.
+The ground all round was strewed with flowers and evergreens, and
+before the tents palisades were erected, on which lay loaded
+rifles, ready to discharge at any of the game that came that way;
+and for two miles round the master of the hunt had laid down nets,
+which were all connected together at a point close to the princely
+tent.
+
+When the beaters and their dogs had started the animals, he left
+the tent to reconnoitre, and if the sport promised to be
+plentiful, he ordered the drums to beat, in order to give her
+Highness notice. Then she took a rifle herself, and brought down
+several head, which was easily accomplished, when they passed upon
+each other as thick as sheep. Sidonia, who had often attended the
+hunts at Stramehl, was a most expert shot, and brought down ten
+roes and stags, whereon she had much jesting with the young lords,
+who had not been half so successful. And let no one imagine that
+there was danger to her Highness and her ladies in thus firing at
+the wild droves from her tent, for it was erected upon a
+scaffolding raised five feet from the ground, and surrounded by
+palisades, so that it was impossible the animals could ever reach
+it.
+
+On that day, there were killed altogether one hundred and fifty
+stags, one hundred roes, five hundred hares, three hundred foxes,
+one hundred wild boars, seven wolves, five wild-cats, and one
+bear, which was entangled in the net and then shot. And at last
+the right hearty pleasure of the day began.
+
+For it was the custom at the ducal court for each huntsman, from
+the master of the hunt down, to receive a portion of the game; and
+her Grace took much pleasure now in seeing the mode in which the
+distribution was made. It was done in this wise: each man received
+the head of the animal, and as much of the neck as he could cover
+with the ears, by dragging them down with all his might.
+
+So the huntsmen stood now toiling and sweating, each with one foot
+firmly planted against a stone and the other on the belly of the
+beast, dragging down the ears with all his force to the very
+furthest point they could go, when another huntsman, standing by,
+cut off the head at that point with his hunting-knife.
+
+Then each man let his dog bite at the entrails of a stag, while
+they repeated old charms and verses over them, such as:--
+
+  "Diana, no better e'er track'd a wood;
+  There's many a huntsman not half so good."
+
+Or, in Low German:--
+
+  "Wasser, if ever the devil you see,
+  Bite his leg for him, or he will bite me."
+
+These old rhymes pleased the young Casimir mightily: if his lady
+mother would only lend him a ribbon, he would lead up little
+Blaffert his dog to them, and have a rhyme said over him. So her
+Grace consented, and broke off her sandal-tie to fasten in the
+little dog's collar, because in her hurry she could find no other
+string, and left the tent herself with the child to conduct him to
+the huntsmen.
+
+Now the moment her Grace had taken her eyes off Sidonia, and that
+all the other ladies had left the tent to follow her and the
+little boy, who was laughing and playing with his dog, the young
+maiden, looking round to see that no one was observing her,
+slipped out and ran in amongst the bushes, and my lord, Prince
+Ernest, slipped after her. No one observed them, for all eyes were
+turned upon the princely child, who sprang to a huntsman and
+begged of him to say a rhyme or two over his little dog Blaffert.
+The carl rubbed his forehead, and at last gave out his psalm, as
+follows, in Low German:--
+
+  "Blaffert, Blaffert, thou art fat!
+    If my lord would only feed
+  All his people like to that
+    'Twould be well for Pommern's need."
+
+ [Footnote: Pomerania.]
+
+All the bystanders laughed heartily, and then the hounds were
+given their dinner according to the usage, which was this:--A
+number of oak and birch trees were felled, and over every two and
+two there was spread a tablecloth--that is, the warm skin of a
+deer or wild-boar; into this, as into a wooden trencher, was
+poured the warm blood of the wild animals, which the hounds lapped
+up, while forty huntsmen played a march with drums and trumpets,
+which was re-echoed from the neighbouring wood, to the great
+delight of all the listeners. When the hounds had lapped up all
+the blood, they began to eat up the tablecloths likewise; but as
+these belonged to the huntsmen, a great fight took place between
+them and the dogs for the skins, which was right merry to behold,
+and greatly rejoiced the ducal party and all the people.
+
+In the meantime, as I said, Sidonia had slipped into the wood, and
+the young lord after her. He soon found her resting under the
+shadow of a large nut-tree, and the following conversation took
+place between them, as he afterwards many times related:--
+
+"Alas, gracious Prince, why do you follow me? if your lady mother
+knew of this we should both suffer. My head ached after all that
+firing, and therefore I came hither to enjoy a little rest and
+quietness. Leave me, leave me, my gracious lord."
+
+"No, no, he would not leave her until she told him whether she
+still loved him; for his lady mother watched him day and night,
+like the dragon that guarded the Pomeranian arms, and until this
+moment he had never seen her alone."
+
+"But what could he now desire to say? Had he not sworn by the
+corpse of his father never to wed her?"
+
+"Yes; in a moment of anguish he had sworn it, because he would
+have died if she had not been brought back to the castle."
+
+"But still he must hold by his word to his lady mother, would he
+not?"
+
+"Impossible! all impossible! He would sooner renounce land and
+people for ever than his beautiful Sidonia. How he felt, for the
+first time, the truth of the holy words, 'Love is strong as
+death.'" [Footnote: Song of Solomon viii. 6.] Then he throws his
+arms round her and kissed her, and asked, would she be his?
+
+Here Sidonia covered her face with both hands, and sinking down
+upon the grass, murmured, "Yours alone, either you or death."
+
+The Prince threw himself down beside her, and besought her not to
+weep. "He could not bear to see her tears; besides, there was good
+hope for them yet, for he had spoken to old Zitsewitz, who wished
+them both well, and who had given him some good advice."
+
+_Sidonia_ (quickly removing her hands).--"What was it?"
+
+"To have a private marriage. Then the devil himself could not
+separate them, much less the old bigot Ulrich. There was a priest
+in the neighbourhood, of the name of Neigialink. He lived in
+Crummyn, [Footnote: A town near Wolgast.] with a nun whom he had
+carried off from her convent and married; therefore he would be
+able to sympathise with lovers, and would help them."
+
+"But his Highness should remember his kingly state, and not bring
+misery on them both for ever."
+
+"He had considered all that, they should therefore keep this
+marriage private for a year; she could live at Stramehl during
+that period, and receive his visits without his mother knowing of
+the matter. At the end of that year he would be of age, and his
+own master."
+
+_Sidonia_ (embracing him).--"Ah, if he really loved her so,
+then the sooner the better to the church. But let him take care
+that evil-minded people would not separate them for ever, and
+bring her to an early grave. Had the priest been informed that he
+would be required to wed them?"
+
+"Not yet; but if he continued as strong as he felt to-day, he
+would ride over to Crummyn himself (for it was quite near to
+Wolgast) the moment Duke Barnim and her father quitted the
+castle."
+
+"But how would she know the result of his visit? his mother
+watched her day and night. Could he send a page or a serving-maid
+to her?--though indeed there were none now he could trust, for
+Ulrich had dismissed all her good friends. And if he came himself
+to her room, evil might be spoken of it."
+
+"He had arranged all that already. There was the bear, as she
+remembered, chained upon the little island in the horse-pond, just
+under her window. Now when he returned from Crummyn, he would go
+out by seven in the morning, before his lady mother began her
+spinning, and commence shooting arrows at the bear, by way of
+sport; then, as if by chance, he would let fly an arrow at her
+window and shiver the glass, but the arrow would contain a little
+note, detailing his visit to the priest at Crummyn, and the
+arrangement he had made for carrying her away secretly from the
+castle. She must take care, however, to move away her seat from
+the window, and place it in a corner, lest the arrow might strike
+herself."
+
+But then a loud "Sidonia! Sidonia!" resounded through the wood,
+and immediately after, "Ernest! Ernest!"
+
+So she sprang up, and cried, "Run, dearest Prince, run as fast as
+you are able, to the other side, where the huntsmen are gathering,
+and mix with them, so that her Grace may not perceive you." This
+he did, and began to talk to the huntsmen about their dogs and the
+sweep of the chase, and as her Grace continued calling "Ernest!
+Ernest!" he stepped slowly towards her out of the crowd, and asked
+what was her pleasure? So she suspected nothing, and grew quite
+calm again.
+
+Duke Barnim now began to complain of hunger, and asked her Grace
+where she meant to serve them a collation, for he could never hold
+out until they reached Wolgast, and his friend Otto also was
+growing as ravenous as a wolf.
+
+Her Grace answered, the collation was laid in the Cisan tower,
+close beside them, and as the weather was good, his Grace could
+amuse himself with the _tubum opticum_, which a Pomeranian
+noble had bought in Middelburg from one Johann Lippersein,
+[Footnote: An optician, and the probable inventor of the
+telescope, which was first employed about the end of the sixteenth
+and the beginning of the seventeenth century.] and presented to
+her. By the aid of this telescope he would see as far as his own
+town of Stettin. Neither the Duke nor Otto Bork believed it
+possible to see Stettin, at the distance of thirteen or fourteen
+miles, with any instrument. But her Grace, who had heard of Otto's
+godless infidelity, rebuked him gravely, saying, "You will soon be
+convinced, sir knight; so we often hold that to be impossible in
+spiritual matters, which becomes not only possible, but certain,
+when we look through the telescope which the Holy Spirit presents
+to us, weak and short-sighted mortals. God give to every infidel
+such a _tubum opticum_!" The Duke, fearing now that her Grace
+would continue her sermon indefinitely, interrupted her in his
+jesting way--"Listen, dear cousin! I will lay a wager with you. If
+I cannot see Stettin, as you promise, you shall give me a kiss;
+but if I see it and recognise it clearly, then I shall give you a
+kiss."
+
+Her Grace was truly scandalised, as one may imagine, and replied
+angrily--"Good uncle! if you attempt to offer such indignities to
+me, the princely widow, I must pray your Grace to leave my court
+with all speed, and never to return!" This rebuke made every one
+grave until they reached the Cisan tower. This building lay only
+half a mile from the hunting-ground, and was situated on the
+summit of the Cisanberg, from whence its name. It was built of
+wood, and contained four stories, besides excellent stabling for
+horses. The apartments were light, airy, and elegant, so that her
+Grace frequently passed a portion of the summer time there. The
+upper story commanded a view of the whole adjacent country. At the
+foot of the hill ran the little river Cisa into the Peen, and many
+light, beautiful bridges were thrown over it at different points.
+The hill itself was finely wooded with pines and other trees, and
+the tower was made more light and airy than that which Duke Johann
+Frederick afterwards erected at Friedrichswald, and commanded a
+far finer prospect, seeing that the Cisanberg is the highest hill
+in Pomerania.
+
+While the party proceeded to the tower, Sidonia rode along by her
+father, and to judge from her animation and gestures, she was, no
+doubt, communicating to him all that the young lord had promised,
+and her hopes, in consequence, that a very short period would
+elapse before he might salute her as Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+When they reached the tower, all admired the view even from the
+lower window, for they could see the Peen, the Achterwasser, and
+eight or nine towns, besides the sea in the distance. I say
+nothing of Wolgast, which seemed to lie just beneath their feet,
+with its princely castle and cathedral perfectly distinct, and all
+its seats laid out like a map, where they could even distinguish
+the people walking. Then her Grace bade them ascend to the upper
+story, and look out for Stettin, but they sought for it in vain
+with their unassisted eyes; then her Grace placed the _tubum
+opticum_ before the Duke, and no sooner had he looked through
+it than he cried out, "As I live, Otto, there is my strong tower
+of St. James's, and my ducal castle to the left, lying far behind
+the Finkenwald mountain." But the unbelieving Thomas laughed, and
+only answered, "My gracious Prince! do not let yourself be so
+easily imposed upon."
+
+Hereupon the Duke made him look through the telescope himself; and
+no sooner had he applied his eye to the glass than he jumped back,
+rubbed his eyes, looked through a second time, and then
+exclaimed--
+
+"Well, as true as my name is Otto Bork, I never could have
+believed this."
+
+"Now, sir knight," said her Grace, "so it is with you as concerns
+spiritual things. How if you should one day find that to be true
+which your infidelity now presumptuously asserts to be false? Will
+not your repentance then be bitter? If you have found my words
+true--the words of a poor, weak, sinful woman, will you not much
+more find those of the holy Son of God? Yes, to your horror and
+dismay, you will find His words to be truth, of whom even His
+enemies testified that He never lied--Matt. xxii. 16. Tremble, sir
+knight, and bethink you that what often seems impossible to man is
+possible to God."
+
+The bold knight was now completely silenced, and the good-natured
+Duke, seeing that he had not a word to say in reply, advanced to
+his rescue, and changed the conversation by saying--
+
+"See, Otto, the wind seems so favourable just now, that I think we
+had better say '_Vale_' to our gracious hostess in the
+morning, and return to Stettin."
+
+Not a word did his Grace venture to say more about the wager of
+the kisses, for his dear cousin's demeanour restrained even his
+hilarity. Otto had nothing to object to the arrangement; and her
+Grace said, if they were not willing longer to abide at her
+widowed court, she would bid them both Godspeed upon their
+journey. "And you, sir knight, may take back your daughter
+Sidonia, for our dear son, as you may perceive, is now quite
+restored, and no longer needs her nursing. For the good deed she
+has wrought in curing him, I shall recompense her as befits me.
+But at my court the maiden can no longer abide."
+
+The knight was at first so thunderstruck by these words that he
+could not speak; but at last drawing himself up proudly, he said,
+"Good; I shall take the Lady Sidonia back with me to my castle;
+but as touching the recompense, keep it for those who need it."
+Sidonia, however, remained quite silent, as did also the young
+lord.
+
+But hear what happened. The festival lasted until late in the
+night, and then suddenly such a faintness and bodily weakness came
+over the young Prince Ernest that all the physicians had to be
+sent for; and they with one accord entreated her Grace, if she
+valued his life, not to send away Sidonia.
+
+One can imagine what her Grace felt at this news. Nothing would
+persuade her to believe but that Sidonia had given him some
+witch-drink, such as the girl out of Daber had taught her to make.
+
+No one could believe either that his Highness affected this
+sickness, in order to force his mother to keep Sidonia at the
+court; indeed, he afterwards strongly asseverated, and this at a
+time when he would have killed Sidonia with a look, if it had been
+possible, that this weakness came upon him suddenly like an ague,
+and that it could not have been caused by anything she had given
+him, for he had eaten nothing, except at the banquet at the Cisan
+tower.
+
+In short, the young Prince became as bad as ever; but Sidonia
+never heeded him, only busied herself packing up her things, as if
+she really intended going away with Otto, and finally, as eight
+o'clock struck the next morning, she wrapped herself in her mantle
+and hood, and went with her father and Duke Barnim to take leave
+of her Grace. She looked as bitter and sour as a
+vinegar-cruet--nothing would tempt her to remain even for one day
+longer. What was her Grace to do? the young lord was dying, and
+had already despatched two pages to her, entreating for one sight
+of Sidonia! She must give the artful hypocrite good words--but
+they were of no avail--Sidonia insisted on leaving the castle that
+instant with her father; then turning to Duke Barnim, she
+exclaimed with bitter tears, "Now, gracious Prince, you see
+yourself how I am treated here."
+
+Neither would the cunning Otto permit his daughter to remain on
+any account, unless, indeed, her Grace gave him a written
+authority to receive the dues on the Jena. Such shameless knavery
+at last enraged the old Duke Barnim to such a degree that he cried
+out--"Listen, Otto, my illustrious cousin here has no more to do
+with the dues on the Jena than you have; they belong to me alone,
+and I can give no promise until I lay the question before my
+council and the diet of the Stettin dukedom: be content,
+therefore, to wait until then." One may easily guess what was the
+termination of the little drama got up by Otto and his fair
+daughter--namely, that Otto sailed away with the Duke, and that
+Sidonia remained at the court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+
+So Sidonia was again seated by the couch of the young Prince, with
+her hand in his hand; but her Grace, as may well be imagined, was
+never very far off from them; and this annoyed Sidonia so much,
+that she did not scruple to treat the mourning mother and princely
+widow with the utmost contempt; at last disdaining even to answer
+the questions addressed to her by her Grace. All this the Duchess
+bore patiently for the sake of her dear son. But even Prince
+Ernest felt, at length, ashamed of such insolent scorn being
+displayed towards his mother, and said--
+
+"What, Sidonia, will you not even answer my gracious mother?"
+
+Hereupon the hypocrite sighed, and answered--
+
+"Ah, my gracious Prince! I esteem it better to pray in silence
+beside your bed than to hold a loud chattering in your ears.
+Besides, when I am speaking to God I cannot, at the same time,
+answer your lady mother."
+
+This pleased the young man, and he pressed her little hand, and
+kissed it. And very shortly after, his strength returned to him
+wonderfully, so that her Grace and Sidonia only watched by him one
+night. The next day he fell into a profound sleep, and awoke from
+it perfectly recovered.
+
+In the meantime, the ghost became so daring and troublesome, that
+all the house stood in fear of it. Oftentimes it would be seen
+even in the clear morning light; and a maid, who had forgotten to
+make the bed of one of the grooms, and ran to the stables at night
+to finish her work, encountered the ghost there, and nearly died
+of fright. _Item_, Clara von Dewitz, one beautiful moonlight
+night, having gone out to take a turn up and down the corridor,
+because she could not sleep from the toothache, saw the
+apparition, just as day dawned, sinking down into the earth, not
+far from the chamber of Sidonia, to her great horror and
+astonishment. _Item_, her Grace, that very same night, having
+heard a noise in the corridor, opened her door, and there stood
+the ghost before her, leaning against a pillar. She was
+horror-struck, and clapped to her door hastily, but said nothing
+to the young Prince, for fear of alarming him.
+
+He had recovered, as I have said, in a most wonderful manner, and
+though still looking pale and haggard, yet his love for the maiden
+would not permit him to defer his visit to Crummyn any longer;
+particularly as it lay only half a mile from the castle, but on
+the opposite bank of the river, near the island of Usdom.
+
+Thereupon, on the fourth night, he descended to the little
+water-gate, having previously arranged with his chief equerry,
+Appelmann, to have a boat there in readiness for him, and also a
+good horse, to take across the ferry with them to the other side.
+So, at twelve o'clock, he and Appelmann embarked privately, with
+Johann Bruwer, the ferryman, and were safely landed at Mahlzow.
+Here he mounted his horse, and told the two others to await his
+return, and conceal themselves in the wood if any one approached.
+Appelmann begged permission to accompany his Highness, which,
+however, was denied; the young Prince charging them strictly to
+hold themselves concealed till his return, and never reveal to
+human being where they had conducted him this evening, on pain of
+his severe anger and loss of favour for ever; but if they held
+their secret close, he would recompense them at no distant time,
+in a manner even far beyond their hopes.
+
+So his Highness rode off to Crummyn, where all was darkness,
+except, indeed, one small ray of light that glanced from the lower
+windows of the cloister--for it was standing at that time. He
+dismounted, tied his horse to a tree, and knocked at the window,
+through which he had a glimpse of an old woman, in nun's garments,
+who held a crucifix between her hands, and prayed.
+
+"Who are you?" she demanded. "What can you want here at such an
+hour?"
+
+"I am from Wolgast," he answered, "and must see the priest of
+Crummyn."
+
+"There is no priest here now."
+
+"But I have been told that a priest of the name of Neigialink
+lived here."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a Lutheran swaddler and no priest, otherwise
+he would not live in open sin with a nun."
+
+"It is all the same to me; only come and show me the way."
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he a heathen or a true Christian?"
+
+His Highness could not make out what the old mother meant, but
+when he answered, "I am a Christian," she opened the door, and let
+him enter her cell. As she lifted up the lamp, however, she
+started back in terror at his young, pale, haggard face. Then,
+looking at his rich garments, she cried--
+
+"This must be a son of good Duke Philip's, for never were two
+faces more alike."
+
+The Prince never imagined that the old mother could betray him,
+and therefore answered, "Yes; and now lead me to the priest."
+
+So the old mother began to lament over the downfall of the pure
+Christian doctrine, which his father, Duke Philip, had upheld so
+bravely. And if the young lord held the true faith (as she hoped
+by his saying he was a Christian), if so, then she would die
+happy, and the sooner the better--even if it were this night, for
+she was the last of all the sisterhood, all the other nuns having
+died of grief; and so she went on chattering.
+
+Prince Ernest regretted that he had not time to discourse with her
+upon the true faith, but would she tell him where the priest was
+to be found.
+
+_Illa_.--"She would take him to the parson, but he must first
+do her a service."
+
+"Whatever she desired, so that it would not detain him."
+
+_Illa_.--"It was on this night the vigil of the holy St.
+Bernard, their patron saint, was held; now, there was no one to
+light the altar candles for her, for her maid, who had grown old
+along with her, lay a-dying, and she was too old and weak herself
+to stretch up so high. And the idle Lutheran heretics of the town
+would mock, if they knew she worshipped God after the manner of
+her fathers. The old Lutheran swaddler, too, would not suffer it,
+if he knew she prayed in the church by nights. But she did not
+care for his anger, for she had a private key that let her in at
+all hours; and his Highness, the Prince, at her earnest prayers,
+had given her permission to pray in the church, at any time she
+pleased, from then till her death."
+
+So the old mother wept so bitterly, and kissed his Highness's
+hand, entreating him with such sad lamentations to remain with her
+until she said a prayer, that he consented. And she said, if the
+heretic parson came there to scold her, which of a surety he
+would, knowing that she never omitted a vigil, he could talk to
+him in the church, without going to disturb him and his harlot nun
+at their own residence. Besides, the church was the safest place
+to discourse in, for no one would notice them, and he would be
+able to protect her from the parson's anger besides.
+
+Here the old mother took up the church keys and a horn lantern,
+and led the young Prince through a narrow corridor up to the
+church door. Hardly, however, had she put the key in the lock,
+when the loud bark of a dog was heard inside, and they soon heard
+it scratching, and smelling, and growling at them close to the
+door.
+
+"What can that dog be here for?" said his Highness in alarm.
+
+"Alas!" answered the nun, "since the pure old religion was
+destroyed, profanity and covetousness have got the upper hand; so
+every church where even a single pious relic of the wealth of the
+good old times remains, must be guarded, as you see, by dogs.
+[Footnote: It is an undeniable fact, that the immorality of the
+people fearfully increased with the progress of the Reformation
+throughout Pomerania. An old chronicler, and a Protestant, thus
+testifies, 1542:--"And since this time (the Reformation) a great
+change has come over all things. In place of piety, we have
+profanity; in place of reverence, sacrilege and the plundering of
+God's churches; in place of alms-deeds, stinginess and
+selfishness; in place of feasts, greed and gluttony; in place of
+festivals, labour; in place of obedience and humility of children,
+obstinacy and self-opinion; in place of honour and veneration for
+the priesthood, contempt for the priest and the church ministers.
+So that one might justly assert that the preaching of the
+evangelism had made the people worse in place of better."
+
+Another Protestant preacher, John Borkmann, asserts, 1560:--"As
+for sin, it overflows all places and all stations. It is growing
+stronger in all offices, in all trades, in all employments, in
+every station of life--what shall I say more?--in every
+individual"--and so on. I would therefore recommend the blind
+eulogists of the good old times to examine history for themselves,
+and not to place implicit belief either in the pragmatical
+representations of the old and new Lutherans."] And she had herself
+locked up her pretty dog Stoerteback [Footnote: The name of a
+notorious northern pirate.] here, that no one might rob the altar
+of the golden candlesticks and the little jewels, at least as long
+as she lived."
+
+So she desired Stoerteback to lie still, and then entered the
+church with the Prince, who lit the altar candles for her, and
+then looked round with wonder on the silver lamps, the golden pix
+and caps, and other vessels adorned with jewels, used by the
+Papists in their ceremonies.
+
+The old mother, meanwhile, took off her white garment and black
+scapulary, and being thus naked almost to the waist, descended
+into a coffin, which was lying in a corner beside the altar. Here
+she groped till she brought up a crucifix, and a scourge of
+knotted cords. Then she kneeled down within the coffin, lashing
+herself with one hand till the blood flowed from her shoulders,
+and with the other holding up the crucifix, which she kissed from
+time to time, whilst she recited the hymn of the holy St.
+Bernard:--
+
+   "Salve caput cruentatum,
+   Totum spinis coronatum,
+   Conquassatum, vulneratum,
+   Arundine verberatum
+   Facie sputis illita."
+
+When she had thus prayed, and scourged herself a while, she
+extended the crucifix with her bleeding arm to the Prince, and
+prayed him, for the sake of God, to have compassion on her, and so
+would the bleeding Saviour and all the saints have compassion upon
+him at the last day. And when his Highness asked her what he could
+do for her, she besought him to bring her a priest from Grypswald,
+who could break the Lord's body once more for her, and give her
+the last sacrament of extreme unction here in her coffin. Then
+would she never wish to leave it, but die of joy if this only was
+granted to her.
+
+So the Prince promised to fulfil her wishes; whereupon she
+crouched down again in the coffin, and recommenced the scourging,
+while she repeated with loud sobs and groans the two last verses
+of the hymn. Scarcely had she ended when a small side-door opened,
+and the dog Stoerteback began to bark vociferously.
+
+"What!" exclaimed a voice, "is that old damned Catholic witch at
+her mummeries, and burning my good wax candles all for nothing?"
+
+And, silencing the dog, a man stepped forward hastily, but, seeing
+the Prince, paused in astonishment. Whereupon the old mother
+raised herself up out of the coffin, and said, "Did I not tell
+your Grace that you would see the hardhearted heretic here?--that
+is the man you seek." So the Prince brought him into the choir,
+and told him that he was Prince Ernest Ludovicus, and came here to
+request that he would privately wed him on the following night,
+without knowledge of any human being, to his beloved and affianced
+bride, Sidonia von Bork.
+
+The priest, however, did not care to mix himself up with such a
+business, seeing that he feared Ulrich mightily; but his Grace
+promised him a better living at the end of the year, if he would
+undertake to serve him now.
+
+To which the priest answered--"Who knows if your Highness will be
+alive by the end of the year, for you look as pale as a corpse?"
+
+"He never felt better in his life. He had been ill lately, but now
+was as sound as a fish. Would he not marry him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Certainly not; unless he received a handsome
+consideration. He had a wife and dear children; what would become
+of them if he incurred the displeasure of that stern Lord
+Chamberlain and of the princely widow?"
+
+"But could he not bring his family to Stettin; for he and his
+young bride intended to fly there, and put themselves under the
+protection of his dear uncle, Duke Barnim?"
+
+_Hic_.--"It was a dangerous business; still, if his Highness
+gave him a thousand gulden down, and a written promise, signed and
+sealed, that he would provide him with a better living before the
+year had expired, why, out of love for the young lord, he would
+consent to peril himself and his family; but his Highness must not
+think evil of him for demanding the thousand gulden paid down
+immediately, for how were his dear wife and children to be
+supported through the long year otherwise?"
+
+His Highness, however, considered the sum too large, and said that
+his gracious mother had scarcely more a year for herself than a
+thousand gulden--she that was the Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+However, they finally agreed upon four hundred gulden; for his
+Highness showed him that Doctor Luther himself had only four
+hundred gulden a year, and surely he would not require more than
+the great _reformator ecclesia_.
+
+So everything was arranged at last, the priest promising to
+perform the ceremony on the third night from that; "For some
+time," he said, "would be necessary to collect people to assist
+them in their flight, and money must be distributed; but his
+Highness would, of course, repay all that he expended in his
+behalf, and further promise to give him and his family free
+quarters when they reached Stettin."
+
+After the ceremony, they could reach the boat through the convent
+garden, and sail away to Warte. [Footnote: A town near Usdom.]
+Then he would have four or five peasants in waiting, with
+carriages ready, to escort them to East Clune, from whence they
+could take another boat and cross the Haff into Stettin; for, as
+they could not reckon on a fair wind with any certainty, it was
+better to perform the journey half by land and half by water;
+besides, the fishermen whom he intended to employ were not
+accustomed to sail up the Peen the whole way into the Haff, for
+their little fishing-smacks were too slight to stand a strong
+current.
+
+Hereupon the Prince answered, that, since it was necessary, he
+would wait until the third night, when the priest should have
+everything in readiness, but meanwhile should confide the secret
+to no one. So he turned away, and comforted the old mother again
+with his promises as he passed out.
+
+The next morning, having written all down for Sidonia, and
+concealed the note in an arrow, he went forth as he had arranged,
+and began to tease the bear by shooting arrows at him, till the
+beast roared and shook his chain. Then, perceiving that Sidonia
+had observed him from the window, he watched a favourable
+opportunity, and shot the arrow up, right through her window, so
+that the pane of glass rattled down upon the floor. In the billet
+therein concealed he explained the whole plan of escape; and asked
+her to inform him, in return, how she could manage to come to him
+on the third night. Would his dearest Sidonia put on the dress of
+a page? He could bring it to her little chamber himself the next
+night. She must write a little note in answer, and conceal it in
+the arrow as he had done, then throw it out of the window, and he
+would be on the watch to pick it up.
+
+So Sidonia replied to him that she was content; but, as regarded
+the page's dress, he must leave it, about ten o'clock the next
+night, upon the beer-barrel in the corridor, but not attempt to
+bring it himself to her chamber. Concerning the manner in which
+she was to meet him on the third night, had he forgotten that the
+old castellan barred and bolted all that wing of the castle by
+eleven o'clock, so that she could never leave the corridor by the
+usual way; but there was a trapdoor near her little chamber which
+led down into the ducal stables, and this door no one ever thought
+of or minded--it was never bolted night or day, and was quite
+large enough for a man to creep through. Her dear Prince might
+wait for her, by that trap-door, at eleven o'clock on the
+appointed night. He could not mistake it, for the large basket lay
+close behind, in which her Grace kept her darling little kittens;
+from thence they could easily get into the outer courtyard, which
+was never locked, and, after that, go where they pleased. If he
+approved of this arrangement, let him shoot another arrow into her
+room; but, above all things, he was to keep at a distance from her
+during the day, that her Grace might not suspect anything.
+
+Having thrown the arrow out of the window, and received another in
+answer from the Prince, which the artful hypocrite flung out as if
+in great anger, she ran to Clara's room, and complained bitterly
+how the young lord had broken her window, because, forsooth, he
+must be shooting arrows at the bear; and so she had to come into
+her room out of the cold air, until the glazier came to put in the
+glass. When Clara asked how she could be so angry with the young
+Prince--did she not love him any longer?--Sidonia replied, that
+truly she had grown very tired of him, for he did nothing but sigh
+and groan whenever he came near her, like an asthmatic old woman,
+and had grown as thin and dry as a baked plum. There was nothing
+very lovable about him now. Would to Heaven that he were quite
+well, and she would soon bid farewell to the castle and every one
+in it; but the moment she spoke of going his sickness returned, so
+that she was obliged to remain, which was much against her
+inclination; and this she might tell Clara in confidence, because
+she had always been her truest friend.
+
+Then she pretended to weep, and cursed her beauty, which had
+brought her nothing but unhappiness; thereupon the tender-hearted
+Clara began to comfort her, and kissed her; and the moment Sidonia
+left her to get the glass mended, Clara ran to her Grace to tell
+her the joyful tidings; but, alas! that very day the wickedness of
+the artful maiden was brought to light. For what happened in the
+afternoon? See, the nun of Crummyn steps out of a boat at the
+little water-gate, and places herself in a corner of the
+courtyard, where the people soon gather round in a crowd, to laugh
+at her white garments and black scapulary; and the boys begin to
+pelt the poor old mother with stones, and abuse her, calling her
+the old Papist witch; but by good fortune the castellan comes by,
+and commands the crowd to leave off tormenting her, and then asks
+her business.
+
+_Illa._--"She must speak instantly to her Grace the princely
+widow."
+
+So the old man brings her to her Grace, with whom Clara was still
+conversing, and the old nun, after she had kneeled to the Duchess
+and kissed her hand, began to relate how her young lord, Prince
+Ernest, had been with her the night before, while she was keeping
+the _vigilia_ of holy St. Bernard to the best of her ability,
+and had urgently demanded to see the Lutheran priest named
+Neigialink, and that when this same priest came into the church to
+scold her, as was his wont, he and the Prince had retired into the
+choir, and there held a long conversation which she did not
+comprehend. But the priest's mistress had told her the whole
+business this morning, under a promise of secrecy--namely, that
+the priest, her leman, had promised to wed Prince Ernest
+privately, on the third night from that, to a certain young damsel
+named Sidonia von Bork. That the Prince had given him a thousand
+gulden for his services, and a promise of a rich living when he
+succeeded to the government, so that in future she could live as
+grand as an abbess, and have what beautiful horses she chose from
+the ducal stables.
+
+"And this," said the nun, "was told me by the priest's mistress;
+but as I have a true Pomeranian heart, although, indeed, the
+Prince has left the good old religion, I could not rest in peace
+until I stepped into a boat, weak and old as I am, and sailed off
+here direct to inform your Grace of the plot." She only asked one
+favour in return for her service. It was that her Grace would
+permit her to end the rest of her days peaceably in the cloister,
+and protect her from the harshness of the Lutheran priests and the
+fury of the mob, who fell on her like mad dogs here in the castle
+court, and would have torn her to pieces if the castellan had not
+come by and rescued her. But above all, she requested and prayed
+her Grace to permit a true priest to come to her from Grypswald,
+who could give her the holy Eucharist, and prepare her for death.
+But her Grace was struck dumb by astonishment and alarm, and Clara
+could not speak either, only wrung her hands in anguish. And her
+Grace continued to walk up and down the room weeping bitterly,
+until at last she sat down before her desk to indite a note to old
+Ulrich, praying for his presence without delay, and straightway
+despatched the chief equerry, Appelmann, with it to Spantekow.
+
+The old nun still continued crying, would not her Grace send her a
+priest? But her Grace refused; for in fact she was a stern
+upholder of the pure doctrine. Anything else the old mother
+demanded she might have, but with the abominations of Popery her
+Grace would have nothing to do. Still the old nun prayed and
+writhed at her feet, crying and groaning, "For the love of God, a
+priest! for the love of God, a priest!" but her Grace drew herself
+up stiff and stern, and let the old woman writhe there unheeded,
+until at length she motioned to Clara to have her removed to the
+courtyard, where the poor creature leaned up against the pump in
+bitter agony, and drew forth a crucifix from her bosom, kissed it,
+and looking up to heaven, cried, "Jesu! Jesu! art Thou come at
+last?" and then dropped down dead upon the pavement, which the
+crowd no sooner observed than they gathered round the corpse,
+screaming out, "The devil has carried her off! See! the devil has
+carried off the old Papist witch!" Hearing the uproar, her Grace
+descended, as did also the young lord and Sidonia, who both
+appeared as if they knew nothing at all about the old nun. And her
+Grace commanded that the executioner should by no means drag away
+the body, as the people demanded, who were now rushing to the spot
+from all quarters of the town, but that it should be decently
+lifted into the boat and conveyed back again to Crummyn, there to
+be interred with the other members of the sisterhood at the
+cloister.
+
+No word did she speak, either to her undutiful son or to Sidonia,
+about what she had heard; only when the latter asked her what the
+nun came there for, she answered coldly, "For a Popish priest."
+Hereupon the young Prince was filled with joy, concluding that
+nothing had been betrayed as yet. And it was natural the old nun
+should come with this request, seeing that she had made the same
+to him. Her Grace also strictly charged Clara to observe a
+profound silence upon all they had heard, until the old
+chamberlain arrived, and this she promised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost._
+
+
+At eleven o'clock that same night, the good and loyal Lord Ulrich
+arrived at the castle with Appelmann, from Spantekow, and just
+waited to change his travelling dress before he proceeded to the
+apartment of her Grace. He found her seated with Clara and another
+maiden, weeping bitterly. Dr. Gerschovius was also present. When
+the old man entered, her Grace's lamentations became yet
+louder--alas! how she was afflicted! Who could have believed that
+all this had come upon her because the devil, out of malice, had
+made Dr. Luther drop her wedding-ring at the bridal! And when the
+knight asked in alarm what had happened, she replied that tears
+prevented her speaking, but Dr. Gerschovius would tell him all.
+
+So the doctor related the whole affair, from the declaration of
+the old nun to the hypocritical conduct of Sidonia towards Clara
+von Dewitz, upon which the old knight shook his head, and said,
+"Did I not counsel your Grace to let the young lord die, in God's
+name, for better is it to lose life than honour. Had he died then,
+so would the Almighty have raised him pure and perfect at the last
+day, but now he is growing daily in wickedness as a young wolf in
+ferocity."
+
+Then her Grace made answer, the past could not now be recalled;
+and that she was ready to answer before God for what she had done
+through motherly love and tenderness. They must now advise her how
+to save her infatuated son from the snares of this wanton. Dr.
+Gerschovius, thereupon, gave it as his opinion that they should
+each be placed in strict confinement for the next fourteen days,
+during which time he would visit and admonish them twice a day, by
+which means he hoped soon to turn their hearts to God.
+
+Here old Ulrich laughed outright, and asked the doctor, was he
+still bent upon teaching Sidonia her catechism? As to the young
+lord, no admonition would do him good now; he was thoroughly
+bewitched by the girl, and though he made a hundred promises to
+give her up, would never hold one of them. Alas! alas! that the
+son of good Duke Philip should be so degenerate.
+
+But her Grace wept bitterly, and said, that never was there a more
+obedient, docile, and amiable child than her dear Ernest; skilled
+in all the fine arts, and gifted by nature with all that could
+ensure a mother's love. "But how does all this help him now?"
+cried Ulrich. "It is with a good heart as with a good ship, unless
+you guide it, it will run aground--stand by the helm, or the best
+ship will be lost. What had the country to expect from a Prince
+who would die, forsooth? unless his mistress sat by his bedside?
+Ah! if he could only have followed the funeral of the young lord,
+he would have given a hundred florins to the poor that very day!"
+
+"It was not her son's fault--that base hypocrite had caused it all
+by some hell magic."
+
+_Ille_.--"That was quite impossible; however, he would
+believe it to please her Grace."
+
+"Then let him speak his opinion, if the counsel of Dr. Gerschovius
+did not please him."
+
+_Ille_.--"His advice, then, was to keep quiet until the third
+night, then secretly place a guard round the castle and at the
+wing, and when the bridal party met, take them out prisoners, send
+my young lord to the tower, but disgrace Sidonia publicly, and
+send her off where she pleased--to the fiend, if she liked."
+
+"Then they would have the same old scene over again; her son would
+fall sick, and Sidonia could not be brought back to cure him, if
+once she had been publicly disgraced before all the people. So
+matters would be worse than ever."
+
+Hereupon old Ulrich fell into such a rage that he cursed and
+swore, that her Grace treated him no better than a fool, to bring
+him hither from Spantekow, and then refuse to take his advice. As
+to Sidonia, her Grace had already brought disgrace upon her
+princely house, by first turning her out, and then praying her to
+come back before three days had elapsed. All Pomerania talked of
+it, and old Otto Bork did not scruple to brag and boast
+everywhere, that her Grace had no peace or rest from her
+conscience until she had asked forgiveness from the Lady Sidonia
+(as the vain old knave called her) and entreated her to return.
+Now if she took the advice of Doctor Gerschovius, and first
+imprisoned and then turned away Sidonia, no one would believe in
+her story of the intended marriage, but look on her conduct as
+only a confirmation of all the hard treatment which her Grace was
+reported to have employed towards the girl; whereas if she only
+waited till the whole bridal party were ready to start, and then
+arrested Sidonia, her Grace was justified before the whole world,
+for what greater fault could be committed than thus to entrap the
+young Prince into a secret marriage, and run away with him by
+night from the castle? Let her Grace then send for the
+executioner, and let him give Sidonia a public whipping before all
+the people. No one would think the punishment too hard, for
+seducing a Prince of Pomerania into a marriage with her.
+
+So the princely widow of Duke Philip will be justified before all
+the world; and when the young lord sees his bride so disgraced, he
+will assuredly be right willing to give her up; even if he fall
+sick, it is impossible that he could send for a maiden to sit by
+his bed who had been publicly whipped by the executioner. Those
+were stern measures, perhaps, but a branch of the old Pomeranian
+tree was decayed; it must be lopped, or the whole tree itself
+would soon fall.
+
+When the Grand Chamberlain ceased speaking, her Grace considered
+the matter well, and finally pronounced that she would follow his
+advice, whereupon, as the night waxed late, she dismissed the
+party to their beds, retaining only Clara with her for a little
+longer.
+
+But a strange thing happened as she, too, finally quitted her
+Grace, and proceeded along the corridor to her own little
+apartment--and here let every one consider how the hand of God is
+in everything, and what great events He can bring forth from the
+slightest causes, as a great oak springs up from a little acorn.
+
+For as the maiden walked along, her sandal became unfastened, and
+tripped her, so that she nearly fell upon her face, whereupon she
+paused, and placing her foot upon a beer-barrel that stood against
+the wall not far from Sidonia's chamber, began to fasten it, but
+lo! just at that moment the head of the ghost appeared rising
+through the trap-door, and looked round, then, as if aware of her
+presence, drew back, and she heard a noise as if it had jumped
+down on the earth beneath. She was horribly frightened, and crept
+trembling to her bed; but then on reflecting over this apparition
+of the serpent knight, it came into her head that it could not be
+a ghost, since it came down on the ground with such a heavy jump;
+she prayed to God, therefore, to help her in discovering this
+matter, and as she could not sleep, rose before the first glimmer
+of daylight to examine this hole which lay so close to Sidonia's
+chamber, and there truly she discovered the trap-door, and having
+opened, found that it lay right over a large coach in the ducal
+stables; thereupon she concluded that the ghost was no other than
+the Prince himself who thus visited Sidonia.
+
+Then she remembered that the ghost had been particularly active
+while the young Prince lay sick on his bed watched by his mother;
+so to make the matter clearer she went the next evening into the
+stables, and observing the coach, which lay just beneath the hole,
+sprinkled fine ash-dust all round it. Then returning to her room,
+she waited until it grew quite dark, and as ten o'clock struck and
+all the doors of the corridor leading to the women's apartments
+were barred and bolted, she wrapped herself in a black mantle and
+stole out with a palpitating heart into the gallery. Remembering
+the large beer-barrel near Sidonia's room, she crouched down
+behind it, and from thence had a distinct view of the trap-door,
+and also of Sidonia's chamber. There she waited for about an hour,
+when she perceived the young Prince coming, but not through the
+trap-door. He knocked lightly at Sidonia's door, who opened it
+instantly, and they held a long whispering conversation together.
+He had brought her the page's dress, and there was nothing to be
+feared now, for he had examined the trap and found they could
+easily get out through it on the top of the coach, and from thence
+into the stables. After that the way was clear. Surely some good
+angel had put the idea into her head. Then he kissed her tenderly.
+
+_Illa_.--"What did the old nun come for? Could she have
+betrayed them?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Impossible. She did not know a syllable of their
+affairs, and had come to ask his lady mother to send her a Popish
+priest, as she had asked himself." Then he kissed her again, but
+she tore herself from his arms, threw the little bundle into the
+room, and shut the door in his face. Whereupon the young Prince
+went his way, sighing as if his heart would break.
+
+Now Clara concluded, with reason, that the young lord was not the
+ghost, inasmuch as he did not creep through the trap-door, nor did
+he wear helmet or cuirass, or any sort of disguise. But when she
+heard Sidonia talk with such knowledge of the trap-door, she
+guessed there was some knavery in the matter, and though she sat
+the night there she was determined to watch. And behold! at twelve
+o'clock there was a great clattering heard below, and presently a
+helmet appeared rising through the hole, and then the entire
+figure of the ghost clambered up through it, and after cautiously
+looking round it, approached Sidonia's door, and knocked lightly.
+Immediately she opened it herself, admitted the ghost, and Clara
+heard her drawing the bolts of the door within.
+
+The pious and chaste maiden felt ready to faint with shame; for it
+was now evident that Sidonia deceived the poor young Prince as
+well as every one else, and that this ghost whom she admitted must
+be a favoured lover. She resolved to watch until he came out. But
+it was about the dawn of morning before he again appeared, and
+took his hellish path down through the trap-door, in the same way
+as he had risen. But to make all certain she took a brush, and
+before it was quite day, descended to the stables, where, indeed,
+she observed large, heavy footprints in the ashes all round the
+coach, quite unlike those which the delicate little feet of his
+Highness would have made. So she swept them all clean away to
+avoid exciting any suspicion, and crept back noiselessly to her
+little room. Then waiting till the morning was somewhat advanced,
+she despatched her maid on some errand into the town, in order to
+get rid of her, and then watched anxiously for her bridegroom,
+Marcus Bork, who always passed her door going to his office; and
+hearing his step, she opened her door softly, and drew him in.
+Then she related fully all she had heard and seen on the past
+night.
+
+The upright and virtuous young man clasped his hands together in
+horror and disgust, but could not resolve whether it were fitter
+to declare the whole matter to her Highness instantly or not.
+Clara, however, was of opinion that her Grace would derive great
+comfort from the information, because when the Prince found how
+Sidonia had betrayed him, he would give up the creature of his own
+accord. To which Marcus answered, that probably the Prince would
+not believe a word of the story, and then matters would be in a
+worse way than ever.
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he afraid to disgrace Sidonia because she was
+his kinswoman? Was it the honour of his name he wished to shield
+by sparing her from infamy?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; she wronged him. If she were his sister, he
+would still do his duty towards her Grace. The honour of the whole
+Pomeranian house was perilled here, and he would save it at any
+cost. But did his darling bride know who the ghost was?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; she had been thinking the whole night about him
+till her head ached, but in vain."
+
+At this moment the Grand Chamberlain passed the room on his way to
+the Duchess, and they both went to the door, and entreated him to
+come in and give them his advice. How the old knight laughed for
+joy when he heard all; it was almost as good news to him as the
+death of the young lord would have been. But no; they must not
+breathe a syllable of it to her Highness. Wait for this night, and
+if the dear ghost appeared again, he would give him and his
+paramour something to think of to the end of their lives. Then he
+walked up and down Clara's little room, thinking over what should
+be done; and finally resolved to open the matter to the young
+Prince that night between ten and eleven o'clock, and show him
+what a creature he was going to make Duchess of Pomerania. After
+which they should all, Marcus included, go armed to the
+stables--for the Prince, no doubt, would be slow of belief--and
+there conceal themselves in the coach until the ghost arrived. If
+he came, as was almost certain, they would follow him to Sidonia's
+room, break it open, and discover them together. In order that
+witnesses might not be wanting, he would desire all the pages and
+household to be collected in his room at that hour; and the moment
+they were certain of having trapped the ghost, Marcus should slip
+out of the coach, and run to gather them all together in the grand
+corridor. To ensure all this being done, he would take the keys
+from the castellan himself that night, and keep them in his own
+possession. But, above all things, they were to keep still and
+quiet during the day; and now he would proceed to her Grace.
+
+But Marcus Bork begged to ask him, if the ghost did not come that
+night, what was to be done? For the next was to be that of the
+marriage, and unless the Prince was convinced by his own eyes,
+nothing would make him credit the wickedness of his intended
+bride. Sidonia would swear by heaven and earth that the story was
+a malicious invention, and a plot to effect her utter destruction.
+
+This view of the case puzzled the old knight not a little, and he
+rubbed his forehead and paced up and down the room, till suddenly
+an idea struck him, and he exclaimed--"I have it, Marcus! You are
+a brave youth, dear Marcus, and a loyal subject and servant to her
+Grace. Your conduct will bring as much honour upon the noble name
+of Bork as Sidonia's has brought disgrace. Therefore I will trust
+you. Listen, Marcus. If the ghost does not appear to-night, then
+you must ride the morrow morn to Crummyn. Bribe the priest with
+gold. Tell him that he must write instantly to the young Prince,
+saying, that the marriage must be delayed for eight days, for
+there was no boat to be had safe enough to carry him and his bride
+up the Haff, seeing that all the boats and their crews were
+engaged at the fisheries, and would not be back to Crummyn until
+the following Saturday. The young lord, therefore, must have
+patience. Should the priest hesitate, then Marcus must threaten
+him with the loss of his living, as the whole princely house
+should be made acquainted with his villainy. He will then consent.
+I know him well!
+
+"If that is once arranged, then we shall seat ourselves every
+night in the coach until the ghost comes; and, methinks, he will
+not long delay, since hitherto he has managed his work with such
+security and success."
+
+The discreet and virtuous Marcus promised to obey Ulrich in all
+things, and the Grand Chamberlain then went his way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and
+how in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast_.
+
+
+The night came at last. And the Grand Chamberlain collected, as he
+had said, all the officials and pages of the household together in
+his office at the treasury, and bid them wait there until he
+summoned them. No one was to leave the apartment under pain of his
+severe displeasure. _Item_, he had prayed her Grace not to
+retire to rest that night before twelve of the clock; and when she
+asked wherefore, he replied that she would have to take leave of a
+very remarkable visitor that night; upon which she desired to know
+more, but he said that his word was passed not to reveal more. So
+her Grace thought he meant himself, and promised to remain up.
+
+As ten o'clock struck, the castellan locked, up, as was his wont,
+all that portion of the castle leading to the women's apartments.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked him for the keys, saying that he would keep
+them in his own charge. Then he prayed his Serene Highness Prince
+Ernest to accompany him to the lumber-room.
+
+His Highness consented, and they both ascended in the dark. On
+entering, Ulrich drew forth a dark lantern from beneath his cloak,
+and made the light fall upon an old suit of armour. Then turning
+to the Prince--"Do you know this armour?" he said.
+
+"Ah, yes; it was the armour of his dearly beloved father, Duke
+Philip."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. Did he then remember the admonitions which
+the wearer of this armour had uttered, upon his deathbed, to him
+and his brothers?"
+
+"Oh yes, well he remembered them; but what did this long sermon
+denote?"
+
+_Ille_.--"This he would soon know. Had he not given his right
+hand to the wearer of that armour, and pledged himself ever to set
+a good example before the people committed to his rule?"
+
+_Hic_.--"He did not know what all this meant. Had he even set
+a bad example to his subjects?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He was on the high-road to do it, when he had
+resolved to wed himself secretly to a maiden beneath his rank.
+(Here the young Prince became as pale as a corpse.) Let him deny,
+if he could, that he had sworn by his father's corpse, with his
+hand upon the coffin, to abandon Sidonia. He would not upbraid him
+with his broken promises to him, but would he bring his loving
+mother to her grave through shame and a broken heart? Would he
+make himself on a level with the lowest of the people, by wedding
+Sidonia the next night in the church at Crummyn?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Had that accursed Catholic nun then betrayed him?
+Ah, he was surrounded by spies and traitors; but if he could not
+obtain Sidonia now, he would wed her the moment he was of age and
+succeeded to the government. If he could in no way have Sidonia,
+then he would never wed another woman, but remain single and a
+dead branch for his whole life long. Her blood was as noble as his
+own, and no devil should dare to part them."
+
+_Ille.--"But if he could prove, this very night, to the young
+lord, that Sidonia was not an honourable maiden, but a dishonoured
+creature----" Here the young Prince drew his dagger and rushed
+upon the old man, with lips foaming with rage; but Ulrich sprang
+behind the armour of Duke Philip, and said calmly, "Ernest, if
+thou wouldst murder me who have been so leal and faithful a
+servant to thee and thine, then strike me dead here through the
+links of thy father's cuirass."
+
+And as the young man drew back with a deep groan, he
+continued--"Hear me, before thou dost a deed which eternity will
+not be long enough to repent. I cannot be angry with thee, for I
+have been young myself, and would have stricken any one to the
+earth who had called my own noble bride dishonoured. Listen to me,
+then, and strike me afterwards, if thou wilt." Hereupon the old
+knight stepped out from behind the armour, which was fixed upon a
+wooden frame in the middle of the apartment, with the helmet
+surmounting it, and leaning against the shoulder-piece, he
+proceeded to relate all that Clara had seen and heard.
+
+The young Prince turned first as red as scarlet, then pale as a
+corpse, and sunk down upon a pile of old armour, unable to utter
+anything but sighs and groans.
+
+Ulrich then asked if he remembered the silly youth who had been
+drowned lately in consequence of Sidonia's folly; for it was his
+apparition in the armour he then wore which it was reported
+haunted the castle. And did he remember also how that armour (in
+which the poor young man's father also had been killed fighting
+against the Bohemians) had been taken off the corpse and hung up
+again in that lumber-room?
+
+_Hic_.--"Of course he remembered all that; it had happened
+too lately for him to forget the circumstance."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, let him take the lantern himself, and
+see if the armour hung still upon the wall." So the young lord
+took the lantern with trembling hands, and advanced to the place;
+but no--there was no armour there now. Then he looked all round
+the room, but the armour with the serpent crest was nowhere to be
+seen. He dropped the lantern with a bitter execration. Hereupon
+the old knight continued--"You see, my gracious Prince, that the
+ghost must have flesh and blood, like you or me. The castellan
+tells me that when the ghost first began his pranks, the helmet
+and cuirass were still found every morning in their usual place
+here. But for eight days they have not been forthcoming; for the
+ghost, you see, is growing hardy and forgetting his usual
+precautions. However, the castellan had determined to watch him,
+and seize hold of him, for, as he rightly conjectured, a spirit
+could not carry away a heavy iron suit of armour on him; but his
+wife had dissuaded him from those measures up to the present time.
+Come now to the stables with me," continued Ulrich, "and let us
+conceal ourselves in the coach which I mentioned to you; Marcus
+Bork shall accompany us, and let us wait there until the ghost
+appears, and creeps through the trapdoor. After some time we shall
+follow him; and then this wicked cheat will be detected. But
+before we move, swear to me that you will await the issue
+peaceably and calmly in the coach; you must neither sigh nor
+groan, nor scarcely breathe. No matter what you hear or see, if
+you cannot control your fierce, jealous rage, all will be lost."
+
+Then the young Prince gave him his hand, and promised to keep
+silence, though it should cost him his life, for no one could be
+more anxious to discover the truth or falsehood of this matter
+than he himself. So they both descended now to the courtyard,
+Ulrich concealing the lantern under his mantle; and they crouched
+along by the wall till they reached the horse-pond, where Marcus
+Bork stood awaiting them; then they glided on, one by one, into
+the stables, and concealed themselves within the coach.
+
+It was well they did so without longer delay, for scarcely had
+they been seated when the ghost appeared. No doubt he had heard of
+the intended marriage, and wished to take advantage of his last
+opportunity. As the sound of his feet became audible approaching
+the coach, the Prince almost groaned audibly; but the stout old
+knight threw one arm powerfully round his body, and placed the
+hand of the other firmly over his mouth. The ghost now began to
+ascend the coach, and they heard him clambering up the hind wheel;
+he slipped down, however (a bad omen), and muttered a half-curse;
+then, to help himself up better, he seized hold of the sash of the
+window, and with it took a grip of Ulrich's beard, as he was
+leaning close to the side of the coach to watch his proceedings.
+Not a stir did the brave old knight make, but sat as still as
+marble, and even held his breath, lest the ghost might feel it
+warm upon his hand, and so discover their ambuscade.
+
+At last he was up; and they heard him clattering over their heads,
+then creeping through the trap-door into the corridor, and a
+little after, the sound of a door gently opening.
+
+All efforts were in vain to keep the Prince quiet. He must follow
+him. He would rush through the trap-door after him, though it cost
+him his life! But old Ulrich whispered in his ear, "Now I know
+that Prince Ernest has neither honour nor discretion, and
+Pomerania has little to hope from such a ruler." All in vain--he
+springs out of the coach, but the knight after him, who hastily
+gave Marcus Bork the keys of the castle, and bade him go fetch the
+household, down to the menials, here to the gallery. Marcus took
+them, and left the stables instantly. Then Ulrich seized the hand
+of Prince Ernest, who was already on the top of the coach, and
+asked him was it thus he would, leave an old man without any one
+to assist him. Let him in first through the trap-door, while the
+Prince held the lantern. To this he consented, and helped the old
+knight up, who, having reached the trap-door, put his head
+through; but, alas! the portly stomach of the stout old knight
+would not follow. He stretched out his head, however, on every
+side, as far as it could go, and heard distinctly low whispering
+voices from Sidonia's little room; then a sound as of the tramp of
+many feet became audible in the courtyard, by which he knew that
+Marcus and the household were advancing rapidly.
+
+But the young lord, who was waiting at the top of the coach, grew
+impatient, and pulled him back, endeavouring to creep through the
+hole himself. Praised be Heaven, however, this he failed to do
+from weakness; so he was obliged to follow the Grand Chamberlain,
+who whispered to him to come down, and they could reach the
+corridor through the usual entrance. Hereupon they both left the
+stables, and met Marcus in the courtyard with his company.
+
+Then all ascended noiselessly to the gallery, and ranged
+themselves around Sidonia's door. Ulrich now told eight of the
+strongest carls present to step forward and lean their shoulders
+against the door, but make no stir until he gave a sign; then when
+he cried "Now!" they should burst it open with all their force.
+
+As to the young Prince, he was trembling like an aspen leaf, and
+his weakness was so great that two young men had to support him.
+In short, as all present gradually stole closer and closer up to
+the door of Sidonia's room, the old knight drew forth his lantern,
+and signed to the men, who stood with their shoulders pressed
+against it; then when all was ready, he cried "Now!" and the door
+burst open with a loud crash. Every lock, and bar, and bolt
+shivered to atoms, and in rushed the whole party, Ulrich at their
+head, with his lantern lifted high up above them all.
+
+Sidonia and her visitor were standing in the middle of the room.
+Ulrich first flashed the light upon the face of the man. Who would
+have believed it?--no other than Johann Appelmann! The knight hit
+him a heavy blow across the face, exclaiming, "What! thou common
+horse-jockey--thou low-born varlet--is it thus thou bringest
+disgrace upon a maiden of the noblest house in Pomerania? Ha, thou
+shalt be paid for this. Wait! Master Hansen shall give thee some
+of his gentle love-touches this night!"
+
+But meanwhile the young Prince had entered, and beheld Sidonia, as
+she stood there trembling from shame, and endeavouring to cover
+her face with her long, beautiful golden hair that fell almost to
+her knees. "Sidonia!" he exclaimed, with a cry as bitter as if a
+dagger had passed through his heart--"Sidonia!" and fell
+insensible before her.
+
+Now a great clamour arose amongst the crowd, for beside the couch
+lay the helmet and cuirass of the ghost; so every one knew now who
+it was that had played this trick on them for so long, and kept
+the castle in such a state of terror.
+
+Then they gathered round the poor young Prince, who lay there as
+stiff as a corpse, and lamented over him with loud lamentations,
+and some of them lifted him up to carry him out of the chamber;
+but the Grand Chamberlain sternly commanded them to lay him down
+again before his bride, whom he had arranged to wed privately at
+Crummyn on the following night. Then seizing Sidonia by the hand,
+and dashing back her long hair, he led her forward before all the
+people, and said with a loud voice, "See here the illustrious and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, of the holy Roman Empire, Duchess of
+Pomerania, Cassuben, and Wenden, Princess of Ruegen, Countess of
+Guetzkow, and our Serene and most Gracious Lady, how she honours
+the princely house of Pomerania by sharing her love with this
+stable groom, this tailor's son, this debauched profligate! Oh! I
+could grow mad when I think of this disgrace. Thou shameless one!
+have I not long ago given thee thy right name? But wait--the name
+shall be branded on thee this night, so that all the world may
+read it."
+
+Just then her Grace entered with Clara, followed by all the other
+maids of honour; for, hearing the noise and tumult, they had
+hastened thither as they were, some half undressed, others with
+only a loose night-robe flung round them. And her Grace, seeing
+the young lord lying pale and insensible on the ground, wrung her
+hands and cried out, "Who has killed my son? who has murdered my
+darling child?"
+
+Here stepped forward Ulrich, and said, "The young lord was not
+dead; but, if it so pleased God, was in a fair way now to regain
+both life and reason." Then he related all which had led to this
+discovery; and how they had that night been themselves the
+witnesses of Sidonia's wickedness with the false ghost. Now her
+Grace knew his secret, which he had not told until certain of
+success.
+
+As he related all these things, her Grace turned upon Sidonia and
+spat on her; and the young lord, having recovered somewhat in
+consequence of the water they had thrown on him, cried out,
+"Sidonia! is it possible? No, Sidonia, it is not possible!"
+
+The shameless hypocrite had now recovered her self-possession, and
+would have denied all knowledge of Appelmann, saying that he
+forced himself in when she chanced to open the door; but he,
+interrupting her, cried, "Does the girl dare to lay all the blame
+on me? Did you not press my hand there when you were lying after
+you fell from the stag? Did you not meet me afterwards in the
+lumber-room--that day of the hunt when Duke Barnim was here last?"
+
+"No, no, no!" shrieked Sidonia. "It is a lie, an infamous lie!"
+But he answered, "Scream as you will, you cannot deny that this
+disguise of the ghost was your own invention to favour my visits
+to you. Did you not drop notes for me down on the coach, through
+the trap-door, fixing the nights when I might come? and bethink
+you of last night, when you sent me a note by your maid, wrapped
+up in a little horse-cloth which I had lent you for your cat, with
+the prayer that I would not fail to be with you that night nor the
+next"--Oh, just Heaven! to think that it was upon that very night
+that Clara should break her shoe-string, by which means the
+Almighty turned away ruin and disgrace from the ancient,
+illustrious, and princely house of Pomerania--all by a broken
+shoe-string! For if the ghost had remained away but that one
+night, or Clara had not broken her shoestring, Sidonia would have
+been Duchess of Pomerania; but what doth the Scripture say? "Man's
+goings are of the Lord. What man understandeth his own way?"
+(Prov. xx. 24).
+
+When Sidonia heard him tell all this, and how she had written
+notes of entreaty to him, she screamed aloud, and springing at him
+like a wild-cat, buried her ten nails in his hair, shrieking,
+"Thou liest, traitor; it is false! it is false!"
+
+Now Ulrich rushed forward, and seized her by her long hair to part
+them, but at that moment Master Hansen, the executioner, entered
+in his red cloak, with six assistants (for Ulrich had privately
+sent for him), and the Grand Chamberlain instantly let go his hold
+of Sidonia, saying, "You come in good time, Master Hansen; take
+away this wretched pair, lock them up in the bastion tower, and on
+the morn bring them to the horse-market by ten of the clock, and
+there scourge and brand them; then carry them both to the frontier
+out of our good State of Wolgast, and let them both go their ways
+from that, whither it may please them."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she let go her paramour and fell fainting
+upon the bed; but recovering herself in a little time, she
+exclaimed, "What is this you talk of? A noble maiden who is as
+innocent as the child in its cradle, to be scourged by the common
+executioner? Oh, is there no Christian heart here to take pity on
+a poor, helpless girl! Gracious young Prince, even if all the
+world hold me guilty, you cannot, no, you cannot; it is
+impossible!"
+
+Hereupon the young lord began to tremble like an aspen leaf, and
+said in a broken voice, "Alas, Sidonia! you betrayed yourself: if
+you had not mentioned that trap-door to me, I might still have
+believed you innocent (I, who thought some good angel had guided
+you to it!); now it is impossible; yet be comforted, the
+executioner shall never scourge you nor brand you--you are branded
+enough already." Then turning to the Grand Chamberlain he said,
+that with his consent a hangman should never lay his hands upon
+this nobly born maiden, whom he had once destined to be Duchess of
+Pomerania; but Appelmann, this base-born vassal, who had eaten of
+his bread and then betrayed him like a Judas, let him be flogged
+and branded as much as they pleased; no word of his should save
+the accursed seducer from punishment.
+
+Notwithstanding this, old Ulrich was determined on having Sidonia
+scourged, and my gracious lady the Duchess must have her scourged
+too. "Let her dear son only think that if the all-merciful God had
+not interposed, he would have been utterly ruined and his princely
+house disgraced, by means of this girl. Nothing but evil had she
+brought with her since first she set foot in the castle: she had
+caused his sickness; item, the death of two young knights by
+drowning; item, the terrible execution of Joachim Budde, who was
+beheaded at the festival; and had she not, in addition, whipped
+her dear little Casimir, which unseemly act had only lately come
+to her knowledge? and had she not also made every man in the
+castle that approached her mad for love of her, all by her
+diabolical conduct? No--away with the wretch: she merits her
+chastisement a thousand and a thousand-fold!" And old Ulrich
+exclaimed likewise, "Away with the wretch and her paramour!"
+
+Here the young lord made an effort to spring forward to save her,
+but fell fainting on the ground; and while the attendants were
+busy running for water to throw over him, Clara von Dewitz,
+turning away the executioner with her hand from Sidonia, fell down
+on her knees before her Grace, and besought her to spare at least
+the person of the poor, unfortunate maiden; did her Grace think
+that any punishment could exceed what she had already suffered?
+Let her own compassionate heart plead along with her words--and
+did not the Scripture say, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord."
+
+Hereupon her Grace looked at old Ulrich without speaking; but he
+understood her glance, and made answer--"No; the hangman must do
+his duty towards the wretch!" when her Grace said mildly, "But for
+the sake of this dear, good young maiden, I think we might let her
+go, for, remember, if she had not opened out this villainy to us,
+the creature would have been my daughter-in-law, and my princely
+house disgraced for evermore."
+
+Now Marcus Bork stepped forward, and added his prayers that the
+noble name he bore might not be disgraced in Sidonia. "He had ever
+been a faithful feudal vassal to her princely house, and had not
+even scrupled to bring the secret wicked deeds of his cousin
+before the light of day, though it was like a martyrdom of his own
+flesh and blood for conscience' sake."
+
+Here old Ulrich burst forth in great haste--"Seven thousand
+devils! Let the wench be off, then. Not another night should she
+rest in the castle. Let her speak--where would she go to? where
+should they bring her to?"
+
+And when Sidonia answered, sobbing, "To Stettin, to her gracious
+lord, Duke Barnim, who would take pity on her because of her
+innocence," Ulrich laughed outright in scorn. "I shall give the
+driver a letter to him, and another to thy father. Perhaps his
+Grace will show thee true pity, and drive thee with his horsewhip
+to Stramehl. But thou shalt journey in the same coach whereon thy
+leman clambered up to the trap-door, and Master Hansen shall sit
+on the coach-box and drive thee himself. As to thy darling
+stablegroom here, the master must set his mark on him before he
+goes; but that can be done when the hangman returns from Stettin."
+
+When Appelmann heard this, he fell at the feet of the Lord
+Chamberlain, imploring him to let him off too. "Had he not ridden
+to Spantekow, without stop or stay, at the peril of his life, to
+oblige Lord Ulrich that time the Lapland wizard made the evil
+prophecy; and though his illustrious lady died, yet that was from
+no fault of his, and his lordship had then promised not to forget
+him if he were but in need. So now he demanded, on the strength of
+his knightly word, that a horse should be given him from the ducal
+stables, and that he be permitted to go forth, free and scathless,
+to ride wherever it might please him. His sins were truly heavy
+upon him, and he would try and do better, with the help of God."
+
+When the old knight heard him express himself in this godly sort
+(for the knave knew his man well), he was melted to compassion,
+and said, "Then go thy way, and God give thee grace to repent of
+thy manifold sins."
+
+Her Grace had nothing to object; only to put a fixed barrier
+between the Prince and Sidonia, she added, "But send first for Dr.
+Gerschovius, that he may unite this shameless pair in marriage
+before they leave the castle, and then they can travel away
+together."
+
+Hereupon Johann Appelmann exclaimed, "No, never! How could he hope
+for God's grace to amend him, living with a thing like that, tied
+to him for life, which God and man alike hold in abhorrence?" At
+this speech Sidonia screamed aloud, "Thou lying and accursed
+stable-groom, darest thou speak so of a castle and land dowered
+maiden?" and she flew at him, and would have torn his hair, but
+Marcus Bork seized hold of her round the waist, and dragged her
+with great effort into Clara's room.
+
+Now the tears poured from the eyes of her Grace at such a
+disgraceful scene, and she turned to her son, who was slowly
+recovering--"Hast thou heard, Ernest, this groom--this servant of
+thine--refuses to take the girl to wife whom thou wast going to
+make Duchess of Pomerania? Woe! woe! what words for thy poor
+mother to hear; but it was all foreshadowed when Dr. Luther--" &c.
+&c.
+
+In short, the end of the infamous story was, that Sidonia was
+carried off that very night in the identical coach we know of, and
+Master Hansen was sent with her, bearing letters to the Duke and
+Otto from the Grand Chamberlain, and one also to the burgomaster
+Appelmann in Stargard; and the executioner had strict orders to
+drive her himself the whole way to Stettin. As for Appelmann, he
+sprung upon a Friesland clipper, as the old chamberlain had
+permitted, and rode away that same night. But the young lord was
+so ill from grief and shame, that he was lifted to his bed, and
+all the _medici_ of Grypswald and Wolgast were summoned to
+attend him.
+
+And such was the end of Sidonia von Bork at the ducal court of
+Wolgast. But old Kuessow told me that for a long while she was the
+whole talk of the court and town, many wondering, though they knew
+well her light behaviour, that she should give herself up to
+perdition at last for a common groom, no better than a menial
+compared to her. But I find the old proverb is true for her as
+well as for another, "The apple falls close to the tree; as is the
+sheep, so is the lamb;" for had her father brought her up in the
+fear of God, in place of encouraging her in revenge, pride, and
+haughtiness, Sidonia might have been a good and honoured wife for
+her life long. But the libertine example of her father so
+destroyed all natural instincts of modesty and maidenly reserve
+within her, that she fell an easy prey to the first temptation.
+
+In short, my gracious Prince Bogislaus XIV., as well as all those
+who love and honour the illustrious house of Wolgast, will
+devoutly thank God for having turned away this disgrace in a
+manner so truly wonderful.
+
+I have already spoken of the broken shoe-tie, but in addition, I
+must point out that if Sidonia had counselled her paramour to take
+the armour of Duke Philip, which hung in the same lumber-room, in
+place of that belonging to the serpent knight, that wickedness
+would never have come to light. For assuredly all in the castle
+would have believed that it was truly the ghost of the dead duke,
+who came to reproach his son for not holding the oath which he had
+sworn on his coffin, to abandon Sidonia. And consequently, respect
+and terror would have alike prevented any human soul in the castle
+from daring to follow it, and investigate its object. Therefore
+let us praise the name of the Lord who turned all things to good,
+and fulfilled, in Sidonia and her lover, the Scripture which
+saith, "Thinking themselves wise, they became fools" (Rom. i. 21).
+
+
+
+
+END OF FIRST BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UP
+TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Grace must be informed,
+that much of what I have here set down, in this second book, was
+communicated to me by that same old Uckermann of Dalow of whom I
+have spoken already in my first volume.
+
+Other important facts I have gleaned from the Diary of Magdalena
+von Petersdorfin, _Priorissa_ of the convent of Marienfliess.
+She was an old and worthy matron, whom Sidonia, however, used to
+mock and insult, calling her the old cat, and such-like names. But
+she revenged herself on the shameless wanton in no other way than
+by writing down what facts she could collect of her disgraceful
+life and courses, for the admonition and warning of the holy
+sisterhood.
+
+This little book the pious nun left to her sister Sophia, who is
+still living in the convent at Marienfliess; and she, at my
+earnest entreaties, permitted me to peruse it.
+
+Before, however, I continue the relation of Sidonia's adventures,
+I must state to your Grace what were the circumstances which
+induced Otto von Bork to demand so urgently the dues upon the Jena
+from their Highnesses of Stettin and Wolgast. In my opinion, it
+was for nothing else than to revenge himself upon the burgomaster
+of Stargard, Jacob Appelmann, father of the equerry. The quarrel
+happened years before, but Otto never forgot it, and only waited a
+fitting opportunity to take vengeance on him and the people of
+Stargard.
+
+This Jacob Appelmann was entitled to receive a great portion of
+the Jena dues, which were principally paid to him in kind,
+particularly in foreign spices, which he afterwards sold to the
+Polish Jews, at the annual fair held in Stramehl.
+
+It happened, upon one of these occasions, as Jacob, with two of
+his porters, appeared, as usual, carrying bags of spices, to sell
+to the Polish Jews, that Otto met him in the market-place, and
+invited him to come up to his castle, for that many nobles were
+assembled there who would, no doubt, give him better prices for
+his goods than the Polish Jews, and added that the worthy
+burgomaster must drink his health with him that day.
+
+Now, Jacob Appelmann was no despiser of good cheer or of broad
+gold pieces; so, unfortunately for himself, he accepted the
+invitation. But the knight had only lured him up to the castle to
+insult and mock him. For when he entered the hall, a loud roar of
+laughter greeted his appearance, and the half-drunk guests, who
+were swilling the wine as if they had tuns to fill, and not
+stomachs, swore that he must pledge each of them separately, in a
+lusty draught. So they handed him an enormous becker, cut with
+Otto's arms, bidding him drain it; but as the Herr Jacob
+hesitated, his host asked him, laughing, was he a Jesu disciple,
+that he refused to drink?
+
+Hereupon the other answered, he was too old for a disciple, but he
+was not ashamed to call himself a servant of Jesus.
+
+Then they all roared with laughter, and Otto spoke--
+
+"My good lords and dear friends, ye know how that the Stargard
+knaves joined with the Pomeranian Duke to ravage my good town of
+Stramehl, so that it can be only called a village now. And it is
+also not unknown to you that my disgrace then passed into a
+proverb, so that people will still say, 'He fell upon me as the
+Stargardians upon Stramehl.' Let us, then, revenge ourselves
+to-day. If this Jesu's servant will not drink, then tear open his
+mouth, put a tun-dish therein, and pour down a good draught till
+the knave cries 'enough!' As to his spices, let us scatter them
+before the Polish Jews, as pease before swine, and it will be
+merry pastime to see how the beasts will lick them up. Thus will
+Stramehl retort upon Stargard, and the whole land will shout with
+laughter. For wherefore does this Stargard pedlar come here to my
+fairs? Mayhap I shall visit his."
+
+Peals of laughter and applause greeted Otto's speech; but Jacob,
+when he heard it, determined, if possible, to effect his escape;
+and watching his opportunity, for he was the only one there not
+drunk, sprang out of the hall, and down the flight of steps, and
+being young then, never drew breath till he reached the
+market-place of Stramehl, and jumped into his own waggon.
+
+In vain Otto screamed out to "stop him, stop him!" all his
+servants were at the fair, where, indeed, the people of the whole
+country round were gathered. Then the host and the guests sprang
+up themselves, to run after Jacob Appelmann, but many could not
+stand, and others tumbled down by the way. However, with a chorus
+of cries, curses, and threats, Otto and some others at last
+reached the waggon, and laid hold of it. Then they dragged out the
+bags of spices, and emptied them all down upon the street,
+crying--
+
+"Come hither, ye Jews; which of you wants pepper? Who wants
+cloves?"
+
+So all the Jews in the place ran together, and down they went on
+all-fours picking up the spices, while their long beards swept the
+pavement quite clean. Hey! how they pushed and screamed, and dealt
+blows about among themselves, till their noses bled, and the place
+looked as if gamecocks had been fighting there, whereat Otto and
+his roistering guests roared with laughter.
+
+One of the bags they pulled out of the waggon contained cinnamon;
+but a huntsman of Otto Bork's, not knowing what it was, poured it
+down likewise into the street. Cinnamon was then so rare, that it
+sold for its weight in gold. So an old Jew, spying the precious
+morsel, cried out, "Praise be to God! Praise be to God!" and ran
+through Otto Bork's legs to get hold of a stick of it. This made
+the knight look down, and seeing the cinnamon, he straightway bid
+the huntsman gather it all up again quick, and carry it safely
+home to the castle.
+
+But the old Jew would by no means let go his hold of the booty,
+and kept the sticks in one hand high above his head, while with
+the other he dealt heavy buffets upon the huntsman. An apprentice
+of Jacob Appelmann's beheld all this from the waggon, and knowing
+what a costly thing this cinnamon was, he made a long arm out of
+the waggon, and snapped away the sticks from the Jew. Upon this
+the huntsman sprang at the apprentice; but the latter, seizing a
+pair of pot-hooks, which his master had that day bought in the
+fair, dealt such a blow with them upon the head of the huntsman,
+that he fell down at once upon the ground quite dead.
+
+Now every one cried out "Murder! murder! Jodute! Jodute! Jodute!"
+and they tore the bags right and left from the waggon, Jews as
+well as Christians; but Otto commanded them to seize the
+apprentice also. So they dragged him out too. He was a fine young
+man of twenty-three, Louis Griepentroch by name. There was such an
+uproar, that the men who held the horses' heads were forced away.
+Whereupon the burgomaster resolved to seize this opportunity for
+escape; and without heeding the lamentations of the other
+apprentice, Zabel Griepentroch, who prayed him earnestly to stop
+and save his poor brother, desired the driver to lash the horses
+into a gallop, and never stop nor stay until the unlucky town was
+left far behind them.
+
+Otto von Bork ordered instant pursuit, but in vain. The
+burgomaster could not be overtaken, and reached Wangerin in
+safety. There he put up at the inn, to give the panting horses
+breathing-time; and now the aforesaid Zabel besought him, with
+many tears, to write to Otto Bork on behalf of his poor brother,
+to which the burgomaster at last consented; for he loved these two
+youths, who were orphans and twins, and he had brought them up
+from their childhood, and treated them in all things like a true
+and loving godfather. So he wrote to Otto, "That if aught of ill
+happened to the young Louis Griepentroch, he (the burgomaster)
+would complain to his Grace of Stettin, for the youth had only
+done his duty in trying to save the property of his master from
+the hands of robbers." The good Jacob, however, admonished Zabel
+to make up his mind for the worst, for the knight was not a man
+whose heart could be melted, as he himself had experienced but too
+well that day.
+
+But the sorrowing youth little heeded the admonitions, only seized
+the letter, and ran with it that same evening back to Stramehl.
+Here, however, no one would listen to him, no one heeded him; and
+when at last he got up to Otto and gave him the letter, the knight
+swore he would flay him alive if he did not instantly quit the
+town. Now the poor youth gnashed his teeth in rage and despair,
+and determined to be revenged on the knight.
+
+Just then came by a great crowd leading his brother Louis to the
+gallows; and on his head they had stuck a high paper cap with the
+Stargard arms painted thereon, namely, a tower with two griffins
+(Sidonia, indeed, had painted it, and she was by, and clapping her
+hands with delight); and for the greater scandal to Stargard, they
+had tied two hares' tails to the back of the cap, with the
+inscription written in large letters above them--"So came the
+Stargardians to Stramehl!"
+
+And Otto and his guests gathered round the gallows, and all the
+market-folk, with great uproar and laughter. _Summa_, when
+the poor carl saw all this, and that there was no hope for his
+heart's dear brother, neither could he even get near him just to
+say a last "good-night," he ran like mad to the castle, which was
+almost empty now, as every one had gone to the market-place; and
+there, on the hill, he turned round and saw how the hangman had
+shoved his dear Louis from the ladder, and the body was swinging
+lamentably to and fro between heaven and earth. So he seized a
+brand and set fire to the brew-house, from which a thick smoke and
+light flames soon rose high into the air. Now all the people
+rushed towards the castle, for they suspected well who had done
+the deed, particularly as they had observed a young fellow
+running, as if for life or death, in the opposite direction
+towards the open country. So they pursued him with wild shouts
+from every direction; right and left they hemmed him in, and cut
+off his escape to the wood. And Otto Bork sprang upon a fresh
+horse, and galloped along with them, roaring out, "Seize the
+rascal!--seize the vile incendiary! He who takes him shall have a
+tun of my best beer!" But others he despatched to the castle to
+extinguish the flames.
+
+Now the poor Zabel knew not what to do, for on every side his
+pursuers were gaining fast upon him, and he heard Otto's voice
+close behind crying, "There he runs! there he runs! Seize the
+gallows-bird, that he may swing with his brother this night. A tun
+of my best beer to the man who takes him! Seize the incendiary!"
+So the poor wretch, in his anguish, threw off his smock upon the
+grass and sprang into the lake, hoping to be able to swim to the
+other side and reach the wood.
+
+"In after him!" roared Otto; and a fellow jumped in instantly, and
+seizing hold of Zabel by the hose, dragged him along with him; but
+they were soon both carried into deep water--Zabel, however, was
+the uppermost, and held the other down tight to stifle him.
+Another seeing this, plunged in to rescue his companion, and from
+the bank dived down underneath Zabel, intending to seize him round
+the body; but it so happened that the fishermen of Stramehl had
+laid their nets close to the place, and he plunged direct into the
+middle of the largest, and stuck there miserably; which when Zabel
+observed, he let the other go, who was now quite dead, and struck
+out boldly for the opposite bank. The fishermen sprang into their
+boats to pursue him, and the crowd ran round, hoping to cut off
+the pass before he could gain the bank; but he was a brave youth,
+and distanced them all, jumped on land before one of them could
+reach him, and plunged into the thick wood. Here it was vain to
+follow him, for night was coming on fast; so he pursued his path
+in safety, and returned to his master at Stramehl.
+
+Otto von Bork, however, would not let the matter rest here, for he
+had sustained great loss by the burning of his brew-house (the
+other buildings were saved); therefore he wrote to the honourable
+council at Stargard--"That by the shameful and scandalous burning
+of his brew-house, he had lost two fine hounds named Stargard and
+Stramehl, which he had brought himself from Silesia; _item_,
+two old servants and a woman; _item_, in the lake, two other
+servants had been drowned; and all by the revenge of an
+apprentice, because he had justly caused his brother to be
+executed. Therefore this apprentice must be given up to him, that
+he might have him broken on the wheel, otherwise their vassals on
+the Jena should suffer in such a sort, that the Stargardians would
+long have reason to remember Otto Bork."
+
+Now, some of the honourable councillors were of opinion that they
+should by no means give up the apprentice; first, because Otto had
+insulted the Stargard arms, and secondly, lest it might appear as
+if they feared he would fulfil his threats respecting the Jena.
+
+But Jacob Appelmann, the burgomaster, who lay sick in his bed from
+the treatment he had received at Stramehl, entirely disapproved of
+this resolution; and when they came to him for his advice,
+proposed to give for answer to the knight that he should first
+indemnify him for the loss of his costly spices, which he valued
+at one thousand florins, and when this sum was paid down, they
+might treat of the matter concerning the apprentice.
+
+The knight, however, mocked them for making such an absurd demand
+as compensation, and reiterated his threats, that if the young man
+were not delivered up to him, he would punish Stargard with a
+great punishment.
+
+The council, however, were still determined not to yield; and as
+the burgomaster lay sick in his bed, they released the apprentice
+from prison; and replied to Otto, "That if he broke the public
+peace of his Imperial Majesty, let the consequences fall on his
+own head--there was still justice for them to be had in
+Pomerania."
+
+When the burgomaster heard of this, he had himself carried in a
+litter, sick as he was, to the honourable council, and asked them,
+"Was this justice, to release an incendiary from prison? If they
+sought justice for themselves, let them deal it out to others. No
+one had lost more by the transaction than he: his income for the
+next two years was clean gone, and the care and anxiety he had
+undergone, besides, had reduced him to this state of bodily
+weakness which they observed. It was a heart-grief to him to give
+up the young man, for he had reared him from the baptism water,
+and he had been a faithful servant unto him up to this day. Could
+he save him, he would gladly give up his house and all he was
+worth, and go and take a lodging upon the wall; for this young man
+had once saved his life, by slaying a mad dog which had seized him
+by the tail of his coat; but it was not to be done. They must set
+an honourable example, as just and upright citizens and fearless
+magistrates, who hold that old saying in honour--'_Fiat justitia
+et pereat mundus_;' which means, 'Let justice be done, though
+life and fortune perish.' But the punishment of the wheel was, he
+confessed, altogether too severe for the poor youth; and therefore
+he counselled that they should hang him, as Otto had hung his
+brother."
+
+This course the honourable society consented at last to adopt; but
+the knight had disgraced their arms, and they ought in return to
+disgrace his. They could get the court painter from Stettin at the
+public expense, and let him paint Otto Bork's arms on the back of
+the young man's hose.
+
+Here the burgomaster again interfered--"Why should the honourable
+council attempt a stupid insult, because the knight had done so?"
+But he talked in vain; they were determined on this retaliation.
+At last (but after a great deal of trouble) he obtained a promise
+that they would have the arms painted before, upon his smock, and
+not behind, upon the hose, for that would be a sore disgrace to
+Otto, and bring his vengeance upon them. "Why should they do more
+to him than he had done unto them? The Scripture said, 'Eye for
+eye, tooth for tooth,' and not two eyes for an eye, two teeth for
+a tooth." Hereupon the honourable council pronounced sentence on
+the young man, and fixed the third day from that for his
+execution. But first the executioner must bring him up before the
+bed of the burgomaster, who thus spoke--"Ah, Zabel, wherefore
+didst thou not behave as I admonished thee in Wangerin?" And as
+the young man began to weep, he gave him his hand, and admonished
+him to be steadfast in the death-hour, asked his forgiveness for
+having condemned him, but it was his duty as a magistrate so to
+do--thanked him for having saved his life by slaying the mad dog;
+finally, bid him "Good-night," and then buried his face in the
+pillow.
+
+So the hangman carried back the weeping youth to the council-hall,
+where the honourable councillors had the Bork arms fastened upon
+his smock, and out of further malice against Otto (for they knew
+the burgomaster, being sick in his bed, could not hinder them),
+they placed over them a large piece of pasteboard, on which was
+written, "So did the Stargardians with Stramehl." _Item_,
+they fastened to the two corners a pair of wolf's ears, because
+Bork, in the Wendig tongue, signifies wolf. This was to revenge
+themselves for the hares' tails.
+
+Then the poor apprentice was carried to the gallows, amid loud
+laughter from the common people. And even the honourable
+councillors waxed merry at the sight; and as the hangman pushed
+him from the ladder, they cried out, "So will the Stargardians do
+to Stramehl!"
+
+Now Otto heard tidings of all these doings, but he feared to
+complain to his Highness the Duke, because he himself had begun
+the quarrel, and they had only retorted as was fair. _Item_,
+he did not dare to stop the boats upon the Jena--for he knew that
+although Duke Barnim was usually of a soft and placable temper,
+yet when he was roused there was no more dangerous enemy. And if
+the Stargardians leagued with him, they might fall upon his town
+of Stramehl, as they had done once before.
+
+Therefore he waited patiently for an opportunity of revenge, and
+held his peace until Sidonia acquainted him with the love of the
+young Prince Ernest. Then he resolved to demand the dues upon the
+Jena to be given up to him, and if his wicked desire had been
+gratified, I think the good citizens of Stargard might have taken
+to the beggar's staff for the rest of their days, for like all the
+old Hanseatic towns, their entire subsistence came to them by
+water, and all their wares and merchandise were carried up the
+Jena in boats to the town. These the knight would have rated so
+highly, if he had been made owner of the dues, that the town and
+people would have been utterly ruined.
+
+It has been already stated that the Duke Barnim gave an ambiguous
+answer to Otto upon the subject; but the knight, after his visit
+to Wolgast, was so certain of seeing his daughter in a short time
+Duchess of Pomerania, that he already looked upon the Jena dues as
+his own, and proceeded to act as shall be related in the next
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians,
+and how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and
+locks him up in the Red Sea._ [Footnote: A watch-tower, built
+in the Moorish style, upon the town wall of Stargard, from which
+the adjacent streets take their name.]
+
+
+As the aforesaid knight and my gracious lord, Duke Barnim,
+journeyed home from Wolgast, the former discoursed much on this
+matter of the Jena dues, but his Grace listened in silence, after
+his manner, and nicked away at his doll. (I think, however, that
+his Grace did not quite understand the matter of the Jena dues
+himself.)
+
+_Summa_, while Otto was at Stettin, he received information
+that three vessels, laden with wine and spices, and all manner of
+merchandise, were on their way to Stargard. So he took this for a
+good sign, and went straight to the town and up to the
+burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, would not sit down, however, but
+made himself as stiff as if his back would break, and asked
+whether he (Appelmann) was aware that the lands of the Bork family
+bordered close upon the Jena.
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, he knew it well."
+
+_Hic._--"Then he could not wonder if he now demanded dues
+from every vessel that went up to Stargard."
+
+_Ille._--"On the contrary, he would wonder greatly; since by
+an Act passed in the reign of Duke Barnim the First, A.D. 1243,
+the freedom of the Jena had been secured to them, and they had
+enjoyed it up to the present date."
+
+_Hic_.--"Stuff! what was the use of bringing up these old
+Acts. His Grace of Stettin, as well as the Duchess of Wolgast, had
+now given them over to him."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then let his lordship produce his charter; if he
+had got one, why not show it?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No, he had not got the written order yet, but he
+would soon have it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, until then they would abide by the old law."
+
+_Hic_.--"By no means. This very day he would insist on being
+paid the dues."
+
+_Ille_.--"That meant, that he purposed to break the peace of
+our lord the Emperor. Let him think well of it. It might cost him
+dear."
+
+_Hic_.--"That was his care. The Stargardians should not a
+second time hang his arms on the gallows."
+
+_Ille_.--"It was a simple act of retaliation; had he not
+read, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Nonsense! was that retaliation, when a set of low
+burgher carls took upon themselves to disgrace the lord of castles
+and lands; as well might one of his serfs, when he struck him,
+strike him in return; that would be retaliation too. Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+_Ille_.--"What did his lordship mean? He was no village
+justice, nor were the burghers of this good town serfs or boors."
+
+_Hic_.--"If he knew not now what he meant, he would soon
+learn; ay, and take off his hat so low to the Bork arms that it
+would touch the ground. Then, too, he might himself get a lesson
+in retaliation."
+
+And herewith the knight strode firmly out of the room, without
+even saluting the burgomaster; but Jacob knew well how to deal
+with him, so he sent instantly for the keeper of the forest, who
+lived in the thick wood on the banks of the Jena, and told him to
+watch by night and day, and if he observed anything unusual going
+on, to spring upon a horse and bring him the intelligence without
+delay.
+
+Meanwhile the knight summoned all his feudal vassals around him at
+Stramehl, and told them how his Grace had bestowed the Jena dues
+upon him, but the sturdy burghers of Stargard had dared to impugn
+his rights; therefore let each of them select two trusty
+followers, and meet all together on the morrow morn at Putzerlin,
+close to the Jena ferry. Then, if there came by any vessels laden
+with choice wines, let them be sure and drink a health to
+Stargard. So they all believed him, and came to the appointed
+place with twenty horsemen, and the knight himself brought twenty
+more. There they unsaddled and turned into the meadow, then set to
+work to throw a bridge over the river. As soon as the forest
+ranger spied them, he saddled his wild clipper, which he himself
+had caught in the Uckermund country, and flew like wind to the
+town (for the wild horses are much stouter and fleeter than the
+tame, but there are none to be found now in all Pomerania).
+
+When the burgomaster heard this tale, he told him to go back the
+way he came, and keep perfectly still until he saw a rocket rise
+from St. Mary's Tower, then let him loose all his hounds upon the
+horses in the meadow, and he and the burghers would follow soon,
+and make a quick end of the robber knights and freebooters; but he
+would wait for three hours before giving the promised sign from
+St. Mary's Tower, that he might have time to get back to the wood.
+Still the knight and his followers continued working at the bridge
+right merrily. They took the ferryman's planks and poles, and cut
+down large oak-trees, and every one that went across the ferry
+must stop and help them; but their work was not quite completed,
+when three vessels appeared in sight, laden with all sorts of
+merchandise, and making direct for Stargard. As soon as Otto
+perceived them, he took half-a-dozen fellows with him, and jumped
+into a ferry-boat, crying, "Hold! until the dues are paid, you can
+go no farther. The river and the land alike belong to me now, and
+I must have my dues, as his Grace of Stettin has commanded."
+
+The crew, however, strictly objected, saying that in the memory of
+man they had never paid dues upon their goods, and they would not
+pay them now; but Otto and his knights jumped on deck, followed by
+their squires, and having asked for the bill of lading, decimated
+all the goods, as a priest collecting his tithe of the sheaves.
+Then he took the best cask of wine, had it rolled on land, and
+called out to the crew, who were crying like children, "Now, good
+people, you may go your ways."
+
+But the poor devils were in despair, and followed him on land,
+praying and beseeching him not to ruin them, but to restore their
+property, at which Otto laughed loudly, and bid the strongest of
+his followers chase the miserable varlets back to their vessel.
+
+Meanwhile the cask of wine had been rolled up against a tree, and
+the knight and his followers set themselves round it upon the
+grass, and because they had no glasses, they drank out of kettles,
+and pots, and bowls, and dishes, or whatever the ferryman could
+give them. Yea, some of them drew off their boots and filled them
+with the wine, others drank it out of their caps, and so there
+they lay on the grass, swilling the wine, and the different wares
+they had seized lay all scattered round them, and they laughed and
+drank, and roared, "Thus we drink a health to Stargard!" Hereupon
+the crew, seeing that nothing could be got from the robbers, went
+their way with curses and imprecations, to which the knight and
+his party responded only with peals of laughter.
+
+But the vessel had scarcely set sail, when a woman's voice was
+heard crying out loudly from the deck--"Father! father! I am here.
+Listen, Otto von Bork, your daughter Sidonia is here!"
+
+When the knight heard this, he felt as if stunned by a blow, but
+immediately comforted himself by thinking that no doubt Prince
+Ernest was with her, particularly as he could observe in the
+twilight the figure of a man seated beside her on a bundle of
+goods. "This surely must be the Prince," he said to himself, and
+so called out with a joyful voice, "Ah, my dearest daughter,
+Sidonia! how comest thou in the merchant vessel?"
+
+Then he screamed to the sailors to stop and cast anchor; but they
+heeded neither his cries nor commands, and in place of stopping,
+began to crowd all sail. Otto now tried entreaties, and promised
+to restore all their goods, and even pay for the wine drunk, if
+they would only stop the vessel. This made them listen to him, but
+they demanded, beside, a compensation money of one hundred
+florins, for all the anxiety and delay they had suffered. This he
+promised also, only let them stop instantly. However, they would
+not trust his word, and not until he had pledged his knightly
+faith would they consent to stop. Some, indeed, were not even
+content with this, and required that he should stand bareheaded on
+the bank, and take a solemn oath, with his hand extended to
+heaven, that he would deal with them as he had promised.
+
+To this also the knight consented, since they would not believe he
+held his knightly word higher than any oath; though, in my
+opinion, he would have done anything they demanded, such was his
+anxiety to behold the Prince and Princess of Pomerania, for he
+could imagine nothing else, but that his daughter and her husband
+had been turned out of Wolgast by the harsh Duchess and the old
+Grand Chamberlain, and were now on their way to his castle at
+Stramehl.
+
+Here my gracious Prince will no doubt say, "But, Theodore, why did
+she not call on her father sooner, when, as you told me, he was on
+board this very vessel plundering the wares?"
+
+I answer--"Serene Prince! your Grace must know that she and her
+paramour were at that time crouching in the cabin, through fear of
+Otto, for the sailors did not know her, or who she was. They had
+taken her and Appelmann in at Damm, and believed this story: that
+he was secretary to the Duke at Stettin, and Sidonia was his wife;
+they were on their way to Stargard, but preferred journeying by
+water, on account of the robbers who infested the high-roads, and
+who, they heard, had murdered three travellers only a few days
+before."
+
+But when Sidonia had found what her father had done, and heard the
+crew cursing and vowing vengeance on him, she feared it would be
+worse for her even to fall into the hands of the Stargardians than
+into her father's, and therefore rushed up on deck and called out
+to him, though her paramour conjured her by heaven and earth to
+keep quiet, and not bring him under her father's sword.
+
+_Summa_, as the vessel once more stood still, the knight
+sprang quick as thought into the ferry-boat along with some of his
+followers, and rowed off to the vessel, where his daughter sat
+upon a bundle of merchandise and wept, but Appelmann crept down
+again into the cabin. When the knight stepped on board, he kissed
+and embraced her--but where was the young Prince whom he had seen
+standing beside her?
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! it was not the Prince; the young lord had
+shamefully deceived her!" (weeping.)
+
+_Hic_.--"He would make him suffer for it, then; let her tell
+him the whole business. If he had trifled with her, she should be
+revenged. Was he not as powerful as any duke in Pomerania?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He must send away all the bystanders first; did he
+not see how they all stood round, with their mouths open from
+wonder?" Hereupon the knight roared out, "Away, go all, all of ye,
+or I'll stick ye dead as calves. The devil take any of you who
+dare to listen!" His whole frame trembled meanwhile as an aspen
+leaf, and he could scarcely wait till the carls clambered over the
+bundles of goods--"What had happened? In the name of all the
+devils, let her speak, now that they were alone."
+
+But here the cunning wanton began to weep so piteously, that not a
+word could she utter; however, as old Otto grew impatient, and
+began to curse and swear, and shake her by the arm, she at last
+commenced (while Appelmann was listening from the cabin):--
+
+"Her dearest father knew how the young lord had bribed a priest in
+Crummyn to wed them privately; but this was all a trick which his
+wicked mother had suggested to him, in order to bring her to utter
+ruin; for on the very wedding night, while she was waiting for the
+Prince in her little room, according to promise, to flee with him
+to Crummyn, the perfidious Duchess, who was aware of the whole
+arrangement, sent a groom to her chamber at the appointed hour,
+and she being in the dark, embraced him, thinking he was the
+Prince. In the self-same instant the door was burst open, and the
+old revengeful hag, with Ulrich von Schwerin, rushed in, along
+with the young Prince and Marcus Bork, her cousin, amid a great
+crowd of people with lanterns. And no one would listen to her or
+heed her; so she was thrust that same night out of the castle,
+like a common swine-maid, though the young lord, when he saw the
+full extent of his wicked mother's treachery, fell down in a dead
+faint at her feet."
+
+And here she wept and groaned, as if her heart would break.
+
+"Who, then, was the gay youth who sat beside her there on the
+bundle?" screamed Otto.
+
+_Illa_.--"That was the very groom that she had embraced, for
+they had sent him away with her, to make their wicked story seem
+true."
+
+_Hic_.--"But what was his name? May the devil take her, to
+have gone off with a base-born groom. What was his name?"
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"What did he think of her, that she should
+love a common groom? truly, he had the title of equerry, but then
+he was nothing better than a common burgher carl. What could she
+do, when they turned her by night and cloud out of the castle? She
+must thank God for having had even this groom to protect her, but
+that he was her lover--fie!--no; that was, indeed, to think little
+of her."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would strike her dead if she did not answer. Who
+was the knave? Where did he come from?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He was called Johann Appelmann, and was son to the
+burgomaster of Stargard."
+
+Here the knight raved and chafed like a wild beast, and drew his
+sword to kill Sidonia, but she fled away down to her paramour in
+the cabin. However, he had heard the whole conversation, and flew
+at her to beat her, crying, "Am I then a base-born groom? Ha! thou
+proud wanton, didst thou not run after me like a common
+street-girl? I will teach thee to call me a groom!"
+
+And as the knight listened to all this, the sword dropped from his
+hands and fell into the hold, so that he could not get it up
+again. Then he was beside himself for rage, and seized a stone of
+the ballast, to rush down with it to the cabin.
+
+But, behold! a rocket shot up from St. Mary's Tower, and poured
+its clear light upon the deepening twilight, like a starry meteor,
+and, at the same instant, the deep bay of ten or twelve
+blood-hounds resounded fearfully across the meadow where the
+horses were grazing, and the dogs flew on them, and tore some of
+them to the ground, and bit others, so that they dashed nearly to
+their masters, who were lying round the wine-cask, and others fled
+into the wood bleeding and groaning with pain and agony, as if
+they had been human creatures.
+
+Then all the fellows jumped up from their wine-cask, and screamed
+as if the last day had come, and Otto let the stone fall from his
+hand with horror; but still called out boldly to his men to know
+what had happened. "Was the devil himself among them that accursed
+evening?"
+
+Then they shouted in return, that he must hasten to land, for the
+Stargardians were upon them, and had killed all their horses.
+
+"Strike them dead, then; kill all, and himself the last, but he
+would go over and help them."
+
+So he jumped into the boat with his companions, but had not time
+to set foot on shore, when the Stargardians, horse and foot, with
+the burgomaster at their head, dashed forth from the wood,
+shouting, "So fall the Stargardians upon Stramehl!"
+
+At this sight the knight could no longer restrain his impatience,
+but jumped out of the boat; and although the water reached up
+under his arms, strode forward, crying--
+
+"Courage, my brave fellows; down with the churls. Kill, slay, give
+no quarter. He who brings me the head of the burgomaster shall be
+my heir! His vile son hath brought my daughter to shame. Kill
+all--all! I will never outlive this day. Ye shall all be my
+heritors--only kill! kill! kill!"
+
+Then he jumps on land and goes to draw his sword, but he has
+none--only the scabbard is hanging there; and as the Stargard men
+are already pressing thick upon them, he shouts--
+
+"A sword, a sword! give me a sword! My good castle of Stramehl for
+a sword, that I may slay this base-born churl of a burgomaster!"
+
+But a blood-hound jumped at his throat, and tore him to the
+ground, and as he felt the horrible muzzle closer to his face, he
+screamed out--
+
+"Save me! save me! Oh, woe is me!"
+
+And at the same moment, Sidonia's voice was heard from the vessel,
+shrieking--
+
+"Father, father, save me! this groom is beating me to death--he is
+killing me!" while a loud roar of laughter from the crew
+accompanied her cries.
+
+No one, however, came to save the knight; for the Stargardians
+were slaying right and left, and Otto's followers were utterly
+discomfited. So the knight tried to draw his dagger, and having
+got hold of it, plunged it with great force into the heart of the
+ferocious animal, who fell back dead, and Otto sprang to his feet.
+Just then, however, a tanner recognised him, and seizing hold of
+him by the arms, carried him off to the other prisoners.
+
+Now, indeed, might he call on the mountains to fall on him, and
+the hills to cover him (Hosea x.); and now he might feel, too,
+what a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living
+God (Hebrews x.); for the Jesu wounds, I'm thinking, burned then
+like hell-fire in his heart.
+
+_Summa_, as the wretched man was brought before the
+burgomaster, who sat down upon a bank and wiped his sword in the
+grass, the latter cried out--
+
+"Well, sir knight, you would not heed me; you have worked your
+will. Now, do you understand what retaliation means--'An eye for
+an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+And as the other stood quite silent, he continued--
+
+"Where is your charter for the Jena dues? Perchance it is
+contained in this letter, which I have received to-day from her
+Grace of Wolgast, addressed to you. Hand a lantern here, that the
+knight may read it! If the charter is not therein, then he shall
+be flung into prison this night with his followers, until my lord,
+Duke Barnim, pronounces judgment upon him."
+
+The ferryman advanced and held a light; but Otto had scarcely
+looked over the letter when he began to tremble as if he would
+fall to the ground, and then sighed forth, like the rich man in
+hell--
+
+"Have mercy on me, and give me a drink of water!"
+
+They brought him the water, and then he added--
+
+"Jacob, hast thou, too, had any tidings of our children?"
+
+"Alas!" the other answered; "Ulrich has written all to me."
+
+"Then have mercy on me. Listen how your godless son there in the
+vessel is beating my daughter to death, and how she is shrieking
+for help."
+
+As the burgomaster heard these unexpected tidings, he sent
+messengers to the vessel, with orders to bring the pair
+immediately before him.
+
+Meanwhile the other prisoners besought the burgomaster to let them
+go, for they were feudal vassals of Otto Bork, and must do as he
+commanded them. Besides, he told them that Duke Barnim had given
+him the dues, and therefore they held it their duty to assist him
+in collecting them.
+
+And as Otto confirmed their words, saying that he had indeed
+deceived them, the burgomaster turned to his party, and cried--
+
+"How say you then, worthy burghers and dear friends, shall we let
+the vassals run, and keep the lord? for, if the master lies, are
+the servants to be punished if they believe him? Speak, worthy
+friends."
+
+Then all the burghers cried--
+
+"Let them go, let them go; but keep the knight a prisoner."
+
+Upon which all the retainers took to their heels, not forgetting,
+though, to hoist the cask of wine upon their shoulders, and so
+they fled away into the wood.
+
+Now comes a great crowd from all the vessels, accompanying the
+infamous pair, mocking, and gibing, and laughing at them, so that
+no one can hear a word for the tumult. But the burgomaster bids
+them hold their peace, and let the guilty pair be placed before
+him.
+
+He remained a long while silent, gazing at them both, then sighing
+deeply, addressed his son--
+
+"Oh, thou lost son, hast thou not yet given up thy dissolute
+courses? What is this I hear of thee in Wolgast? Now thou must
+needs humble this noble maiden, and bring dishonour on her
+house--flinging all thy father's admonitions to the wind--"
+
+Here the son interrupted--
+
+"True; but this noble maiden had thrown herself in his way, like a
+common girl, and he was only flesh and blood like other men. Why
+did she follow him so?"
+
+Whereupon the father replied--
+
+"Oh, thou shameless child, who, like the prodigal in Scripture,
+hast destroyed thy substance with harlots and riotous living, in
+place of humbleness and repentance, dost thou impudently tell of
+this poor young maiden's shame before all the world? Oh, son! oh,
+son! even the blind heathen said, '_Ego illum periisse puto, cui
+quidem periit pudor_' [Footnote: Plautus in Bacchid.]--which
+means, 'I esteem him dead in whom shame is dead.' Therefore is thy
+sin doubled, being a Christian, for thou hast boasted of thy shame
+before the people here, and held up the young maiden to their
+contempt, besides having beaten her so on board the vessel that
+many heard her screams, as if she were only a common wench, and
+not a castle and land dowered maiden."
+
+To which Appelmann answered, that she had called him a common
+groom and a base-born burgher churl. But his father commanded him
+to be silent, and bid his men first bind the knight's hands behind
+his back, and then those of his son, and so carry them both to
+prison; but to let the maiden go free.
+
+When the knight heard that he was to be bound, his pride revolted,
+and he offered any ransom, or to give any compensation that could
+be demanded for the injury he had done them. Every one knew his
+wealth, and that he had power to keep his word to the uttermost.
+But the burgomaster made answer, "Eye for eye, and tooth for
+tooth; how say you, sir knight--speak the truth, if you had taken
+me prisoner, as I have taken you, would you have bound my hands or
+not?" To which the knight replied, "Well, Jacob, I will not speak
+a falsehood, for I feel that my end is near;--I would have bound
+your hands."
+
+Hereupon the brave burgomaster answered, "I know it well; however,
+as you have answered me honestly, I will spare you. Burghers, do
+not bind his hands, neither those of my son. Ye have enough to
+suffer yet before ye, and God give you both grace to repent. And
+now to the town! The crew shall declare to-morrow morn, before the
+honourable council, what they have lost by the knight's means; and
+he shall make it all good again to them."
+
+So all the people returned with great uproar and rejoicing back to
+the town, and the bell from St. Mary's and St. John's rung forth
+merry peals, and all the people of the town ran forth to meet
+them; but when they saw the knight a prisoner, and his empty
+scabbard hanging by his side, they clapped their hands and
+huzzaed, shouting, "So fell the Stargardians upon Stramehl." Thus
+with merry laughter, and jests, and mockings, they carried him up
+the street to the tower called the Red Sea, and there locked him
+up, well guarded.
+
+Here again he prayed the burgomaster to accept a ransom, but in
+vain. Whereupon he at last solicited pen, paper, and ink, and a
+light, that he might indite a letter to his Grace, Duke Barnim;
+and this was granted to him.
+
+As for his unworthy son, the burgomaster had him carried to his
+own house, and there placed him in a room, with three stout
+burghers as a guard over him. And Sidonia was placed by herself in
+another little chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Of Otto Bark's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster._
+
+
+During that night there was a strong suspicion upon every one's
+mind that something terrible was going to happen; for a great
+storm arose at midnight, and raged fearfully round the Red Sea
+tower, so that it seemed to rock, and when the night-watch went
+round to examine it, behold three toads crept out, and set
+themselves upright upon the parapet like little manikins, as the
+hares sometimes make themselves into manikins.
+
+What all this denoted was discovered next morning, for when the
+jailer entered Otto's cell in the tower, he saw him lying on the
+floor in a pool of blood, with his own dagger sticking in his
+heart. On the table stood the lamp which he had asked for, still
+burning feebly, and near it a great many written papers.
+
+The man instantly ran for the burgomaster, who followed him with
+all speed to the tower. They felt the corpse, but it was already
+quite cold. So then a messenger was despatched for the chirurgeon,
+to hold a _visum repertum_ over him.
+
+Meantime they examined the papers, and found first my gracious
+Lady of Wolgast's letter to the unfortunate father--the same which
+had made him tremble so the day before--and therein was related
+all the shameful circumstances concerning Sidonia, just as Ulrich
+had stated them in the letter to the burgomaster. Then they came
+upon his last will and testament; but where the seal ought to have
+been, there lay a large drop of blood, with this memorandum
+beneath it: "This is my heart's first blood which I have affixed
+here, in place of a seal, and may he who slights it be accursed
+for evermore, even as my daughter Sidonia."
+
+In this testament he had completely disinherited his daughter
+Sidonia, and made his son Otto sole inheritor of all his property,
+castles, and lands (for his daughter Clara was already dead, and
+had left no children). Nothing should his daughter Sidonia have
+but two farm-houses in Zachow, [Footnote: A small town near
+Stramehl, a mile and a half from Regenwalde.] just to keep her
+from beggary, and to save the ancient, illustrious name of their
+house from falling into further contempt. Yet should his son think
+proper to give her further _alimentum_, he was at liberty so
+to do. Lastly, for the second and third time, he cursed his
+daughter, to whom he owed all his misery, from the affair with the
+apprentice to that concerning the Jena dues, up to this his most
+miserable and wretched death. _Item_, the burgomaster picked
+up another letter, which was addressed to himself, and wherein the
+knight prayed, first, that his body might not be drawn by the
+executioner to burial, as was the custom with suicides, but
+conveyed honourably to Stramehl, and there deposited in the vault
+of his family; secondly, that his daughter Sidonia might be sent
+to Zachow, there to learn how to live humbly as a peasant
+maid--for that she might look to being a Duchess of Pomerania,
+only when she could keep her evil desires still for even a couple
+of days.
+
+Then he cursed her so that it was pitiable to read; and proved
+that, if he had been a more God-fearing father, she might have
+been a different daughter; for as St. Paul says (Galatians vi.),
+"What a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The letter further
+said, that, for the good deed done to his corpse, the burgomaster
+should take all the gold found upon his person, consisting of
+eighty good rose-nobles, and indemnify himself therewith for the
+loss of his spices that day in Stramehl when they were scattered
+before the Jews. He lastly desired his last will and testament to
+be conveyed to his son, along with his corpse; and further, his
+son was to send compensation to the crew for the cask of wine and
+whatever other losses they had sustained, according to his
+knightly word which he had pledged to them.
+
+_Summa_, when the chirurgeon arrived and the body was
+examined, there was found upon the unfortunate knight a purse,
+embroidered with pearls and diamonds, containing eighty
+rose-nobles, which the burgomaster in no wise disdained to
+receive, and then laid the whole matter before the honourable
+council, with the petition of Otto concerning the corpse. The
+honourable council fully justified the burgomaster for all he had
+done, and gave their opinion, that as the good town had no
+jurisdiction over the knight, so they could have none over his
+body, and therefore let it be removed with all honour to Stramehl,
+particularly as he had in all things made amends for the wrong he
+had done them. As regarded Sidonia, two porters should be sent to
+convey her to Zachow.
+
+Meantime Sidonia had heard of her father's horrible death, and lay
+on the ground nearly insensible from grief. Just then the
+burgomaster returned from the council-hall, and commanded that she
+and his profligate son should be brought before him. When they
+arrived, he asked how it happened that they were both found in the
+vessel, for Ulrich, the Grand Chamberlain, had written to inform
+him that Sidonia had been sent away in a coach to Stettin, with
+the executioner on the box.
+
+Here Sidonia sobbed so violently that no word could she utter;
+therefore the son replied that such had been done, but that he
+had been given a horse from the ducal stables, and had followed
+the coach; and when they stopped at Uckermund for the night, he
+had secretly got speech with Sidonia, and advised her to try and
+remove the planks from the bottom of the carriage and escape to
+him, for that he would be quite close at hand. And he did what he
+could that night to loosen the boards himself. So in the morning
+Sidonia got them up easily, and first dropped her baggage out
+through the hole, which he picked up; and then, as they came to a
+soft, sandy tract where the coach had to go very slowly, she let
+herself also down through it, and sinking in the deep sand, let
+the coach go over her without any hurt. Then he came to her, and
+they fled to the next town, where he bought a waggon from some
+peasants, for her and her luggage to proceed into Stargard, for
+she was ashamed to appear before Duke Barnim, and wished to get on
+from Stargard to Stramehl; but when they reached Damm, they heard
+such wild tales of the robbers and partisans who infested the
+roads, that Sidonia grew alarmed, and made him go by water for
+safety. So he left the horse and waggon at the inn, and took ship
+with the merchants who were going to Stargard. These were their
+adventures. The rest his father knew as well as himself.
+
+The burgomaster then asked Sidonia had he spoken truth. So she
+dried her eyes, and nodded her head for "Yes."
+
+Then he admonished her gravely, for that she, a noble maiden,
+could have dishonoured herself with a mere burgher's son, like his
+Johann, in whom even he, his own father, must say, there was
+nothing to tempt any girl. And now she knew the truth of those
+words of St. James: "Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth
+sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
+
+Her sin had, indeed, brought forth her father's death;--would that
+he could say only his _temporal_ death. This her father had
+himself asserted in his testament, which he held now in his hands,
+and for this cause had left all his goods, lands, and castles to
+her brother Otto--only giving her two farm-houses in Zachow to
+save her from the beggar's staff, and their noble name from
+falling into yet greater contempt--and, in addition, he had cursed
+her with terrible curses; but these might be yet turned away, if
+she would incline her heart to God, and lead a pious, honest life
+for the rest of her days. And much more the worthy man preached to
+her; but she interrupted him, having found her tongue at last, and
+exclaimed in wrath, "What! has the good-for-nothing old churl
+written this? Let me see it; it cannot be true."
+
+So the burgomaster reached her the paper, and, as she read, her
+colour changed, and at last she shrieked aloud and fell down
+before the burgomaster, clasping his knees, and praying by the
+Jesu cross not to send such a testament to her brother, for that
+he was still harder than her father, because he was by nature
+avaricious, and would grudge her even salt with her bread. Let him
+remember that his son had promised her marriage, and would he
+destroy his own children?
+
+Then Jacob Appelmann turned to his profligate son, and asked,
+"Does she speak the truth? Have you promised her marriage?"
+
+But the shameless knave answered, "True, I so promised her, when
+we were at Uckermund; but now that she has no money, I wash my
+hands of her."
+
+Such villainy made the old man flame with indignation. "He would
+make him know that he must stand by his word--he would force him
+to it, if he could only think it would be for the advantage of
+this wretched girl. But he would admonish her to give him up; did
+she not see that he was shameless, cruel, and selfish? and how
+could she ever hope to turn to God and lead a new life with such
+an infamous partner? _Item_, his son should be made to work,
+and to feel poverty, so that his evil desires might be stifled;
+and as for her, let her go in God's name to Zachow, and there in
+solitude repent her sins, and strive to win the favour of God."
+
+But that was no water for her mill; so she continued to lament,
+and weep, and pray the burgomaster not to send the will to her
+harsh brother; upon which he answered mildly, "Wert thou to lie at
+my feet till morning, it would not help thee: the testament goes
+this day to Stramehl; but I will do this for thee. Thy father left
+me some rose-nobles, in a purse which he carried about with him,
+as a compensation for my spices, which he strewed before the Jews
+in Stramehl, of which deed thou, too, wert also guilty, as I know;
+therefore I was not ashamed to take the money. But of the purse
+thy father said naught; so I had it in my mind to keep it--for, in
+truth, it is of more worth than the nobles it contained. If I
+mistake not, these are true pearls and diamonds with which it is
+broidered. Look, here it is. What sayest thou?"
+
+Here she sobbed, and answered, "She knew it well; she had
+broidered the purse herself. They were her mother's pearls and
+diamonds, and part of her bridal gear; truly they were worth three
+thousand florins."
+
+"Then," said the brave old man, "I will give thee this purse,
+since it was not named either for me or for thy brother at
+Stramehl. Take it to Zachow; thou wilt make a good penny of it. Be
+pious, and God-fearing, and industrious, remembering what the Holy
+Scripture says (Prov. xxxi.): 'A virtuous woman takes wool and
+flax, and labours diligently with her hands. She stretches out her
+hands to the wheel, and her fingers grasp the spindle.' Hadst thou
+learned this, in place of thy costly broidery, methinks it would
+have been better with thee this day."
+
+As he thus spoke, he put the purse in her hands, and she instantly
+hid it in her pocket. But the profligate Johann now suddenly
+became repentant, for he thought, if I can obtain nothing good
+from my father, I may at least get the purse. So he began to weep
+and lament, and fell down, too, at his father's feet, saying, if
+he would only pardon him this once, he would indeed take this poor
+maiden to wife, as he had promised her, for he alone was guilty of
+her sin; only would his heart's dearest father forgive him? And so
+the hypocrite went on with his lies.
+
+Whereupon his father made answer honourably and mildly--"Such
+promises thou hast often made, but never kept. However, I will try
+thee yet again. If thou wilt spend each day diligently writing in
+the council-office, and return each night to sleep in my chamber,
+and continue this good conduct for a few years, to testify thy
+repentance, as a brave and upright son, and Sidonia meanwhile
+continues to lead a godly and humble life at Zachow, then, in
+God's name, ye shall both marry, and make amends for your sin; but
+not before that."
+
+As he said this, and bid his son stand up, the hypocrite answered,
+yes, he would do the will of his dear father; but then he must
+keep back this testament; so would his children be happy.
+Otherwise, wherefore should they marry?--what could they live on?
+A couple of cabins in Zachow would not be enough.
+
+"Truly," replied the old man, "if I were as great a knave as thou
+art, I would do as thou hast said; yet, though the loss of the
+spices, which her father wickedly destroyed, did me such injury
+that I had to sell my house, to get the means of living and
+keeping thee at the University of Grypswald, I will keep my hands
+pure from the property of another, even if this property belonged
+to my greatest enemy, and the enemy of this good town also.
+_Summa_, this day thou shalt go to the council-office, the
+testament to Stramehl, and Sidonia to Zachow."
+
+So the knave was silent: but Sidonia still resisted; she would not
+go to Zachow--never; but if he would send her to Stettin, she was
+certain the good Duke Barnim would be kind to an unfortunate
+maiden, who had done nothing more than what thousands do in
+secret. And whatever the gracious Prince resolved concerning her,
+she would abide by.
+
+When the burgomaster heard this speech, he saw that no amendment
+was to be expected from her; and as he had no authority to compel
+her to Zachow, he promised, at last, to send her to Stettin on the
+following day, for there were two market waggons going, and she
+could travel in one, and thereby be more secure against all
+danger. And so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to
+wed her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of
+Stettin received her._
+
+
+Sidonia, next morning, got a good soft seat in the waggon, upon
+the sack of a cloth merchant; he was cousin to the burgomaster,
+and promised to take her with him, out of friendship for him. All
+the men in the waggon were armed with spears and muskets, for fear
+of the robbers, who were growing more daring every day.
+
+So they proceeded; but had not got far from the town when a
+horseman galloped furiously after them, and called out that he
+would accompany them; and this was Claude Uckermann, of whom I
+have spoken so much in my former book. He, too, was going to
+Stettin. Now when Sidonia saw him, her eyes glistened like a cat's
+when she sees a mouse, and she rejoiced at the prospect of such
+good company, for since the wedding of her sister, never had this
+handsome youth come across her, though she was constantly looking
+out for him. So as he rode up by the waggon, she greeted him, and
+prayed him to alight and come and sit by her upon the sack, that
+they might talk together of dear old times.
+
+She imagined, no doubt, that he knew nothing of all that had
+happened; but her disgrace was as public at Stargard as if it had
+been pealed from the great bell of St. Mary's. He therefore knew
+her whole story, and answered, that sitting by her was
+disagreeable to him now; and he rode on. This was plain enough,
+one would think; but Sidonia still held by her delusion; for as
+they reached the first inn, and stopped to feed the horses, she
+saw him stepping aside to avoid her, and seating himself at some
+distance on a bank. So she put on her flattering face, and
+advanced to him, saying, "Would not the dear young knight make up
+with her?--what ailed him?--it was impossible he could resent her
+silly fun at her sister's wedding. Oh! if he had come again and
+asked her seriously to be his wife, in place of there in the
+middle of the dancing, as if he had been only jesting, she would
+never have had another husband, for from that till now, never had
+so handsome a knight met her eyes; but she was still free."
+
+Hereupon the young man (as he told me himself) made answer--"Yes,
+she had rightly judged, he was only jesting, and taking his
+pastime with her, as they sat there upon the carpet, for he held
+in unspeakable aversion and disgust a cup from which every one
+sipped."
+
+Still Sidonia would not comprehend him, and began to talk about
+Wolgast. But he looked down straight before him in the grass, and
+never spake a word, but turned on his heel, and entered the inn,
+to see after his horse. So he got rid of her at last.
+
+As the waggon set off again, she began to sing so merrily and
+loudly, that all the wood rang with it. And the young knight was
+not so stupid but that he truly discerned her meaning, which was
+to show him that she cared little for his words, since she could
+go away in such high spirits.
+
+_Summa_, when they reached the inn at Stettin, Sidonia got
+all her baggage carried in from the waggon, and there dressed
+herself with all her finery: silken robes, golden hairnet, and
+golden chains, rings, and jewels, that all the people saluted her
+when she came forth, and went to the castle to ask for his
+Highness the Duke. He was in his workshop, and had just finished
+turning a spinning-wheel; he laughed aloud when she entered, ran
+to her, embraced her, and cried, "What! my treasure!--where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel? How I laughed when Master
+Hansen, whom my old, silly, sour cousin of Wolgast sent with thee,
+came in lately into my workshop, and told me he had brought thee
+hither in a ducal coach! I ran directly to the courtyard; but when
+the knave opened the door, my little thrush had flown. Where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel?"
+
+As his Grace put all these questions, he continued kissing her, so
+that his long white beard got entangled in her golden chains; and
+as she pushed him away, a bunch of hair remained sticking to her
+brooch, so that he screamed for pain, and put his hand to his
+chin. At this, in rushed the court marshal and the treasurer (who
+were writing in the next chamber) as white as corpses, and asked,
+"Who is murdering his Grace?" but his Grace held up his hand over
+his bleeding mouth, and winked to them to go away. So when they
+saw that it was only a maiden combat, they went their way
+laughing.
+
+Hereupon speaks his Grace--"See now, treasure, what thou hast
+done! Thou canst be so kind to a groom, yet thy own gracious
+Prince will treat so harshly!"
+
+But Sidonia began to weep bitterly. "What did he think of her? The
+whole story was an invention by his old sour cousin of Wolgast to
+ruin her because she would not learn her catechism (and then she
+told the same tale as to her father); but would not his Grace take
+pity on a poor forsaken maiden, seeing that Prince Ernest could
+not deny he had promised to make her his bride, and wed her
+privately at Crummyn, on the very next night to that on which her
+Grace had so shamefully outraged her?"
+
+"My sweet treasure!" answered the Duke, "the young Prince was only
+making a fool of you; therefore be content that things are no
+worse. For even if he had wedded you privately, it would have been
+all in vain, seeing that neither the princely widow nor the
+Elector of Brandenburg, his godfather, nor any of the princes of
+the holy Roman Empire, nor lastly, the Pomeranian States, would
+ever have permitted so unequal a marriage. Therefore, what the
+priest joined in Crummyn would have been put asunder next day by
+the tribunals. My poor nephew is a silly enthusiast not to have
+perceived this all along, before he put such absurdities in your
+head. That he talked gallantry to you was very natural, and I
+wished him all success; but that he should ever have talked of
+marriage shows him to be even sillier than I expected from his
+years."
+
+Here Sidonia's tears burst forth anew. "Who would care for her now
+that her father was dead, and had left her penniless? All because
+he believed that old hypocrite of Wolgast more than his own
+daughter. Alas! alas! she was a poor orphan now! and all her
+possessions would be torn from her by her hard-hearted, avaricious
+brother. Yet surely his Grace might at least take pity on her
+innocence."
+
+His Grace wondered much when he heard of Otto's death, for the
+letters brought by the market waggon from the honourable council,
+acquainting him with the matter, had not yet arrived, and he
+scratched behind his ear, and said, "It was an evil deed of that
+proud devil her father, to claim the Jena dues. He had got his
+answer at Wolgast, and ought to have left the dues alone. What
+right had he to break the peace of the land, to gratify his lust
+and greed? It was well that he was dead; but as concerning his
+testament, that must not be interfered with, he had no power over
+the property of individuals. Each one might leave his goods as
+best pleased him; yet he would make his treasurer write a letter
+in her favour to her brother Otto: that was all that he could do."
+
+This threw Sidonia into despair; she fell at his feet, and told
+him, that let what would become of her, she would never go a step
+to Zachow, and her harsh brother would never give her one
+groschen, unless he were forced to it. His Grace ought to remember
+that it was by his advice she had gone to Wolgast, where all her
+misery had commenced; for by the traitorous conduct of the widow,
+there she had been robbed, not only of her good name, but also of
+her fortune. So his Grace comforted her, and said that as long as
+he lived she would want for nothing. He had a pretty house behind
+St. Mary's, and six young maidens lived there, who had nothing to
+do but spin and embroider, or comb out the beautiful herons'
+feathers as the birds moulted; for he had a large stock of herons
+close to the house; and there was a darling little chamber there,
+which she could have immediately for herself. As to clothes, they
+might all get the handsomest they pleased, and their meals were
+supplied from the ducal kitchen.
+
+As his Grace ended, and lifted up Sidonia and kissed her, she wept
+and sighed more than ever. "Could he think this of her? No; she
+would never enter the house which was the talk of all Pomerania.
+If she consented, then, indeed, would the world believe all the
+falsehoods that were told of her--of her, who was as innocent as a
+child!" Hereupon his Grace answered stiff and stern (yet this was
+not his wont, for he was a right tender master), "Then go your
+ways. Into that house or nowhere else." (Alas! let every maiden
+take warning, by this example, to guard against the first false
+step. Amen, chaste Jesus! Amen.)
+
+That evening Sidonia took up her abode in the house. But that same
+evening there was a great _scandalum,_ and tearing of each
+other's hair among the girls. For one of them, named Trina
+Wehlers, was a baker's daughter from Stramehl, and on the occasion
+of Clara's wedding she had headed a procession of young peasants
+to join the bridal party, but Sidonia had haughtily pushed her
+back, and forbid them to approach. This Trina was a fine rosy
+wench, and my Lord Duke took a fancy to her then, so that she
+looked with great jealousy on any one that threatened to rob her
+of his favour. Now when Sidonia entered the house and saw the
+baker's daughter, she commenced again to play the part of the
+great lady, but the other only laughed, and mockingly asked her,
+"Where was the princely spouse, Duke Ernest of Wolgast? Would his
+Highness come to meet her there?"
+
+Then Sidonia raged from shame and despair, that this peasant girl
+should dare to insult her, and she ran weeping to her chamber; but
+when supper was served, the _scandalum_ broke out in earnest.
+For Sidonia had now grown a little comforted, and as there were
+many dainty dishes from the Duke's table sent to them, she began
+to enjoy herself somewhat, when all of a sudden the baker's
+daughter gave her a smart blow over the fingers with a fork.
+Sidonia instantly seized her by the hair; and now there was such
+an uproar of blows, screams, and tongues, that my gracious lord,
+the Duke, was sent for. Whereupon he scolded the baker's daughter
+right seriously for her insolence, and told her that as Sidonia
+was the only noble maiden amongst them, she was to bear rule. And
+if the others did not obey her humbly, as befitted her rank, they
+should all be whipped. His Grace wore a patch of black plaister on
+his chin, and attempted to kiss Sidonia again, but she pushed him
+away, saying that he must have told all that happened at Wolgast
+to these girls, otherwise how could the baker's daughter have
+mocked her about it.
+
+Whereupon my gracious lord consoled her, and said that if she were
+quiet and well-behaved, he would take her with him to the Diet at
+Wollin, for all the young dukes of Pomerania were to attend it,
+and Prince Ernest amongst the number, seeing that he had summoned
+them all there, in order to give up the government of the land
+into their hands, as he was too old now himself to be tormented
+with state affairs.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, hope sprang up within her heart, and she
+resolved to bear her destiny calmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at
+Wollin, and what happened there._
+
+
+With regard to their Serene Highnesses of Wolgast, I have already
+related, _libro primo,_ that the young lord, Ernest
+Ludovicus, was carried out of Sidonia's chamber like one dead,
+when he beheld her abominable wickedness with his own eyes
+and all can easily believe that he lay for a long while sick unto
+death. In vain Dr. Pomius offered his celebrated specific; he
+would take nothing, did nothing day or night but sigh and groan--
+
+"Ah, Sidonia; ah, my beloved heart's bride, Sidonia, can it be
+possible? Adored Sidonia, my heart is breaking. Sidonia, Sidonia,
+can it be possible?"
+
+At last the idea struck Dr. Pomius that there must be magic and
+devil's work in it. So he searched through all his learned books,
+and finally came upon a recipe which was infallible in such cases.
+This was to burn the tooth of a dead man to powder, and let the
+sick bewitched person smoke the ashes. Such was solemnly
+recommended by Petrus Hispanus Ulyxbonensis, who, under the name
+of John XXII., ascended the papal throne. See his _Thesaurus
+Pauperum,_ cap. ult.
+
+But the Prince would neither take anything nor smoke anything, and
+the _delirium amatorium_ grew more violent and alarming day
+by day, so that the whole ducal house was plunged into the deepest
+grief and despair.
+
+Now there was a prisoner in the bastion tower at Wolgast, a carl
+from Katzow, who had been arrested and condemned for practising
+horrible sorceries and magic--namely, having changed the calves of
+his neighbours into young hares, which instinctively started off
+to the woods, and were never seen more, as the whole town
+testified; and other devil's doings he had practised, which I now
+forget; but they were fully proved against him, and so he was
+sentenced to be burned.
+
+This man now sent a message to the authorities, that if they
+pardoned him and allowed him free passage from the town, he would
+tell of something to cure the young lord. This was agreed to; and
+when he was brought to the chamber of the Prince, he laid his ear
+down upon his breast, to listen if it were witchcraft that ailed
+him. Then he spake--
+
+"Yes; the heart beats quite unnaturally, the sound was like the
+whimpering of a fly caught in a spider's web; their lordships
+might listen for themselves."
+
+Whereupon all present, one after the other, laid their ear upon
+the breast of the young Prince, and heard really as he had
+described.
+
+The earl now said that he would give his Highness a potion which
+would make him, from that hour, hate the woman who had bewitched
+him as much as he had adored her. _Item,_ the young lord must
+sleep for three days, and when he woke, his strength would have
+returned to him; to procure this sleep, he must anoint his temples
+with goat's milk, which they must instantly bring him, and during
+his sleep the Lady Duchess must, every two hours, lay fresh
+ox-flesh upon his stomach.
+
+When her Grace heard this, she rejoiced that her dear son would so
+soon hold the harlot in abhorrence who had bewitched him. And the
+earl gave him a red syrup, which he had no sooner swallowed than
+all care for Sidonia seemed to have vanished from his mind. Even
+before the goat's milk came, he exclaimed--
+
+"Now that I think over it, what a great blessing that we have got
+rid of Sidonia."
+
+And no sooner were his temples bathed with the milk than he fell
+into a deep sleep, which lasted for three days, and when he opened
+his eyes, his first words were--
+
+"Where is that Sidonia? Is the wanton still here? Bring her before
+me, that I may tell her how I hate her. Oh, fool that I was, to
+peril my princely honour for a harlot. Where is she? I must have
+my revenge upon the light wanton."
+
+Her Grace could hardly speak for joy when she heard these words;
+and she gave the earl, who had watched all the time by the bedside
+of the young Prince, so much ham and sausages from the ducal
+kitchen, that he finally could not walk, but was obliged to be
+drawn out of the town in a car. Then she asked Dr. Pomius how such
+a miracle could have been effected. At which he laid his finger on
+his nose, after his manner, and replied, such was accomplished
+through the introduction of the natural Life Balsam, which the
+learned called _confermentationem Mumie_, and so the fool
+went on prating, and her Grace devouring his words as if they were
+gospel.
+
+_Summa._--After a few days the young lord was able to leave
+his bed, and as they kept fresh ox-flesh continually applied to
+his stomach, he soon regained his strength, so that, in a couple
+of weeks, he could ride, fish, and hunt, and his cheeks were as
+fresh and rosy as ever. One day he mentioned "the groom's
+mistress," as he called her, and wished he could give her a lesson
+in lute-playing, it would be one to make her tremble. But when the
+letter arrived from Duke Barnim, declaring that, from his great
+age, he proposed resigning the government of Pomerania into the
+hands of her Grace's sons, there was no end to the rejoicings at
+Wolgast, and her Grace declared that she would herself accompany
+them to the Diet at Wollin.
+
+We shall now see what a treat was waiting her at the old castle
+there. It was built wholly of wood, and has long since fallen; but
+at the time I write of, it was standing in all its glory.
+
+Monday, the 15th May 1569, at eleven in the forenoon, his Grace of
+Stettin came with seven coaches and two hundred and fourteen
+horsemen into the courtyard. And there, on the steps of the
+castle, stood my gracious Lady of Wolgast, holding the little
+Casimir by the hand, in waiting to receive his Highness, and all
+her other sons stood round her--namely, the illustrious Bishop of
+Camyn, Johann Frederick, in his bishop's robes, with the staff and
+mitre. _Item,_ Duke Bogislaus, who had presented her Grace
+with a tame sea-gull. _Item,_ Ernest Ludovicus, in a Spanish
+mantle of black velvet, embossed in gold, and upon his head a
+black velvet Spanish hat, looped up with diamonds, from which long
+white plumes descended to his shoulder. _Item,_ Barnim the
+younger, who wore a dress similar to his brother's. _Item,_
+the Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, and with him a great
+crowd of the counsellors and state officers of Wolgast, besides
+all the nobles, prelates, knights, and chief burghers of the
+duchy. Among the nobles stood Otto von Bork, brother to Sidonia;
+and the burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, held his place among the
+citizens.
+
+As Duke Barnim drove up to the castle, the guards fired a salute,
+and the bells rang, and the cannon roared, and all the vessels in
+the harbour hoisted their flags, while the streets, houses, and
+courtyards were decorated with flowers, and all the people of the
+little town trotted round the carriage, shouting, "Vivat! vivat!
+vivat!" so that the like was never seen before in Wollin.
+
+Now, when the coach stopped, her Grace the Duchess advanced to
+meet his Highness; and as old Duke Barnim's head appeared at the
+window, with his long white beard and yellow leather cap, her
+Grace stepped forward, and said--"Welcome, dearest Un------"
+
+But she could get no farther, and stood as stiff as Lot's wife
+when she was turned into a pillar of salt, for there was Sidonia
+seated in the carriage beside the Duke! Old Ulrich, who followed,
+soon spied the cause of her Grace's dismay, and exclaimed--
+
+"Three thousand devils, what does your Highness mean by bringing
+the accursed harlot a third time amongst us?"
+
+But his Highness only laughed, and drew forth his last puppet, it
+was a Satan as he tempted Eve, saying--
+
+"Hold this for me, good Ulrich, till I am out of the coach, and
+then I shall hear all about it."
+
+To which the other answered--
+
+"If you let me catch hold of this other Satan, whom ye bring with
+you, I think it were wiser done!"
+
+Prince Ernest now sprang down the steps, his eye flaming with
+rage, and drawing his sword, cried--
+
+"Hold me, or I will stab the serpent to the heart, who so
+disgraced me and my family honour. I will murder her there in the
+coach before your eyes."
+
+Whereupon old Ulrich flung the little wooden Satan to the ground,
+and seized the young man by the arm, while Sidonia screamed
+violently. But the old Duke stepped deliberately out of the coach.
+Seeing, however, his wooden Satan lying broken on the ground, he
+became very wroth, and called loudly for a turner with his
+glue-pot. Then he ascended the steps, and when all had greeted him
+deferentially, he began--
+
+"Dear niece, worthy cousins, and friends, ye have no doubt heard
+of the misfortune which hath befallen Sidonia von Bork, who sits
+there in the carriage. Her father has died; and, further, she has
+been disinherited. Thereupon she fled to me to seek a refuge. Now
+ye all know well that the Von Borks are an ancient, honourable,
+and illustrious race--none more so; therefore I had compassion
+upon the orphan, and brought her hither to effect a reconciliation
+between her and Otto Bork, her brother. Step forward, Otto Bork,
+where are you hiding? Step forth, and hand your sister from the
+carriage; I saw you amongst the nobles here to-day. Step forth!"
+
+But Otto had disappeared; and as the Duke found he would not
+answer to his summons, he bid Sidonia come forth herself.
+Whereupon the young Prince swore fiercely that, if she but put a
+foot upon the step he would murder her. "What the devil! young
+man," said the Duke, laughing; "first you must needs wed her, and
+now you will slay her dead at our feet! This is somewhat
+inconsistent. Come forth, Sidonia; he will not be so cruel."
+
+But she sat in the coach, and wept like a child who has lost its
+nurse. So my gracious lady stepped forward, and commanded the
+coachman to drive instantly with the maiden to the town inn; and
+so it was done.
+
+Now the old Duke never ceased for the whole forenoon soliciting
+Otto Bork to take the poor orphan home with him, and there to
+treat her as a faithful and kind brother, in compensation for her
+father's harsh and unnatural will; but it was all in vain, as she
+indeed had prophesied. "Not the weight of a feather more should
+she get than the two farmhouses in Zachow; and never let her call
+him brother, for ancient as his race was, never had one of them
+borne the brand of infamy till now."
+
+In the afternoon, all the prelates, nobles, and burghers assembled
+in the grand hall; then entered the ducal family, Barnim the elder
+at their head. He was dressed in a long black robe, such as the
+priests wear now, with white ruffles and Spanish frill, and was
+bareheaded. He took his seat at the top of the table, and thus
+spake--
+
+"Illustrious Princess, dear cousins, nobles, and faithful
+burghers, ye all know that I have ruled this Pomeranian land for
+fifty years, upholding the pure doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther,
+and casting down papacy in all places and at all times. But as I
+am now old, and find it hard sometimes to keep my unruly vassals
+in order, whereof we have had a proof lately, it is my will and
+purpose to resign the government into the hands of my dear
+cousins, the illustrious Princes von Pommern-Wolgast, and retire
+to Oderburg in Old Stettin, there to rest in peace for the
+remainder of my days; but there are four princes (for the fifth,
+Casimir, to-morrow or next day shall get a church endowment) and
+but two duchies. For ye know that, by the Act passed in 1541, the
+Duchy of Pomerania can only be divided into two portions, the
+other princes of the family being entitled but to life-annuities.
+Therefore I have resolved to let it be decided by lot amongst the
+four Pomeranian princes (according to the example set us by the
+holy apostles), which of them shall succeed me in Stettin, which
+is to rule in Wolgast in the room of my loved brother, Philippus
+Primus of blessed memory; and, finally, which is to be content
+only with the life-annuity. And this shall now be ascertained in
+your presence."
+
+Having ended, he commanded the Grand Marshal, Von Flemming, to
+bring the golden lottery-box with the tickets, and beckoned the
+young princes to the table. Then, while they drew the lots, he
+commanded all the nobles, knights, and burghers present to lift up
+their hands and repeat the Lord's Prayer aloud. So every hand was
+elevated, even the Duke and my gracious lady uplifting theirs, and
+the three young princes drew the lots, but not the fourth, and
+this was Bogislaff. So Duke Barnim wondered, and asked the reason.
+Whereupon he answered, "That he would not tempt God in aught. To
+govern a land was a serious thing; and he who had little to rule
+had little to be responsible for before God. He would therefore
+freely withdraw his claims, and be content with the annuity; then
+he could remain with his dear mother, and console her in her
+widowhood. He did not fear that he would ever repent his choice,
+for he had more pleasure in study than in the pomp of the world;
+and if he took the government, then must his beloved library be
+given up for food to the moths and spiders."
+
+All arguments were vain to turn him from his resolve: so the lots
+were drawn, and it was found that Johann Frederick had come by the
+Dukedom of Stettin, and Ernest Ludovicus by that of Wolgast.
+
+But as Barnim the younger went away empty, he was filled with envy
+and mortification, showing quite a different spirit from his meek,
+humble-minded brother, Bogislaff. He swore, and cursed his ill
+luck. "Why did not that fool of a bookworm give over his chance to
+him, if he would not profit by it himself? Why the devil should he
+descend to play the commoner, when he was born to play the
+prince?" and suchlike unamiable and ill-tempered speeches.
+However, he was now silenced by the drums and trumpets, which
+struck up the _Te Deum_, in which all present joined. Then
+Doctor Dannenbaum offered up a prayer, and so that grand ceremony
+concluded. But the feasting and drinking was carried on with such
+spirit all through the evening, and far into the night, that all
+the young lords, except Bogislaff, had well nigh drowned their
+senses in the wine-cup; and Ernest started up about midnight,
+declaring that he would go to the inn and murder Sidonia. Barnim
+was busy quarrelling with Johann Frederick about his annuity. So
+Ernest would certainly have gone to Sidonia, if one of the nobles,
+by name Dinnies Kleist, a man of huge strength, had not detained
+him in a singular manner. For he laid a wager that, just with his
+little finger in the girdle of the young Prince, he would hold him
+fast; and if he (the Prince) moved but one inch from the spot
+where he stood, he was content to lose his wager.
+
+And, in truth, Prince Ernest found that he could not stir one step
+from the spot where Dinnies Kleist held him; so he called a noble
+to assist him, who seized his hand and tried to draw him away, but
+in vain; then he called a second, a third, a fourth, up to a
+dozen, and they all held each other by the hand, and pulled and
+pulled away till their heads nearly touched the floor, but in
+vain; not one inch could they make the Prince to move. So Dinnies
+Kleist won his wager; and the Duke, Johann Frederick, was so
+delighted with this proof of his giant strength, that he took him
+into his service from that hour. So the whole night Dinnies amused
+the guests by performing equally wonderful feats even until day
+dawned.
+
+Now, there was an enormous golden becker which Duke Ratibor I. had
+taken away from the rich town of Konghalla, in Norway land, when
+he fell upon it and plundered it. This becker stood on the table
+filled with wine, and as the Duke handed it to him to pledge him,
+Dinnies said, "Shall I crush this in my hand, like fresh bread,
+for your Grace?" "You may try," said the Duke, laughing; and
+instantly he crushed it together with such force, that the wine
+dashed down all over the table-cover. _Item_, the Duke threw
+down some gold and silver medals--"Could he break them?"
+
+"Ay, truly, if they were given to him; not else."
+
+"Take, then, as many as you can break," said the Duke. So he broke
+them all as easily as altar wafers, and thrust them, laughing,
+into his pocket.
+
+_Item_, there had been large quantities of preserved cherries
+at supper, and the lacqueys had piled up the stones on a dish like
+a high mountain. From this mountain Dinnies took handful after
+handful, and squeezed them together, so that not a single stone
+remained whole in his hand. We shall hear a great deal more of
+this Dinnies Kleist, and his strength, as we proceed; therefore
+shall let him rest for the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann
+Appelmann._
+
+
+It was a good day for Johann Appelmann, when his father went to
+the Diet at Wollin. For as the old burgomaster held strictly by
+his word, and sent him each day to the writing-office, and locked
+him up each night in his little room, the poor young man had found
+life growing very dull. Now he was his mother's pet, and all his
+sins and wickedness were owing to her as much as Sidonia's to her
+father. She had petted and spoiled him from his youth up, and
+stiffened his back against his father. For whenever worthy Jacob
+laid the stick upon the boy's shoulders, she cried and roared, and
+called him nothing but an old tyrant. Then how she was always
+stuffing him up with tit-bits and dainties, whenever his father's
+back was turned; and if there were a glass of wine left in the
+bottle, the boy must have it. Then she let him and his brother
+beat and abuse all the street-boys and send them away bleeding
+like dogs; and some were afraid to complain of them, as they were
+sons of the burgomaster; and if others came to the house to do so,
+she took good care to send them away with a stout blow or bloody
+nose.
+
+And as the lads grew up, how she praised their beauty, and curled
+their hair and beards herself, telling them they were not to think
+of citizen wives, but to look after the richest and highest, for
+the proudest in the land might be glad to get them as husbands. So
+she prated away during her husband's absence, for he was in his
+office all day and most part of the evening. And God knows, bad
+fruit she brought forth with such rearing--not alone in Johann,
+but also in his brother Wittich, who, as I afterwards heard, got
+on no better in Pudgla, where he held the office of magistrate. So
+true it is what the Scripture says, "A wise woman buildeth her
+house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands" (Prov.
+xiv.) Then, another Scripture, "As moths from a garment, so from a
+woman wickedness" (Sirach xlii.)
+
+For what did this fool do now? As soon as her upright and worthy
+husband had left the house, forgetting and despising all his
+admonitions respecting this son Johann, she called together all
+her acquaintance, and kept up a gormandising and drinking day
+after day, all to comfort her heart's dear pet Johann, who had
+been used so harshly by his cross father. Think of her fine,
+handsome son being stuck down all day to a clerk's desk. Ah! was
+there ever such a tyrant as her husband to any one, but especially
+to his own born children?
+
+And so she went on complaining how she had thrown herself away
+upon such a hard-hearted monster, and had refused so many fine
+young carls, all to wed Satan himself at least. She could not make
+out why God had sent such a curse upon her.
+
+When the brave Johann heard all this, he begged money from his
+mother, that he might seek another situation. Now that there was a
+new duke in Stettin, he would assuredly get employment there, but
+then he must treat all the young fellows and pages about the
+court, otherwise they would not put in a good word for him.
+Therefore he would give them a great carouse at the White Horse in
+the Monk's Close, and then assuredly he would be appointed chief
+equerry. So she believed every word he uttered; but as old Jacob
+had carried away all the money that was in the house with him, she
+sold the spices that had just come in, for a miserable sum, also
+her own pearl earrings and fur mantle, that her dear heart's son
+might have a gay carouse, to console him for all his father's hard
+treatment.
+
+_Summa_.--When the rogue had got all he could from her, he
+took his father's best mare from the stable, and rode up to
+Stettin, where he put up at the White Horse Inn, and soon scraped
+acquaintance with all the idle young fellows about the court. So
+they drank and caroused until Johann's last penny was spent, but
+he had got no situation except in good promises. Truly the young
+pages had mentioned him to the Duke, and asked the place of
+equerry for their jovial companion, but his Highness, Duke Johann,
+had heard too much of his doings at Wolgast, and would by no means
+countenance him.
+
+Then Johann bethought himself of Sidonia, for he had heard from
+his boon companions that she was in the Duke's house behind St.
+Mary's. And he remembered that purse embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds which his father had given her, so he went many days
+spying about the house, hoping to get a glimpse of Sidonia; but as
+she never appeared, he resolved to gain admission by playing the
+tailor. Wherefore, he tied on an apron, took a tailor's measure
+and shears, and went straight up to the house, asking boldly, if a
+young maiden named Sidonia did not live there? for he had got
+orders to make her a garment. Now the baker's daughter, Trim
+Wehlers, suspected all was not right, for she had seen my gay
+youth spying about the house before, and staring up at all the
+windows. However, she showed the tailor Sidonia's room, and then
+set herself down to watch. But the wonders of Providence are
+great. Although she could not hear a word they said, yet all that
+passed in Sidonia's room was made evident--it was in this wise.
+Just before the house rose up the church of St. Mary's, with all
+its stately pillars, and as if God's house wished in wrath to
+expose the wickedness of the pair, everything that passed in the
+room was shadowed on these pillars; so when Trina observed this,
+she ran for the other girls, crying, "Come here, come here, and
+see how the two shadows are kissing each other. They can be no
+other than Sidonia and her tailor. This would be fine news for our
+gracious lord!" They would tell him the whole story when his
+Highness came that evening, and so get rid of this proud, haughty
+dragon who played the great lady amongst them, and ruled
+everything her own way. Therefore they all set themselves to watch
+for the tailor when he left Sidonia's room; but the whole day
+passed, and he had not done with his measurement. Whereupon they
+concluded she must have secreted him in her chamber.
+
+Now the Duke had a private key of the house, and was in the habit
+of walking over from Oderburg after dusk almost every evening; but
+as there was no sign of him now, they despatched a messenger,
+bidding him come quick to his house, and his Grace would hear and
+see marvels. How the young girls gathered round him when he
+entered, all telling him together about Sidonia. And when at last
+he made out the story, his Grace fell into an unwonted rage (for
+he was generally mild and good-tempered) that a poacher should get
+into his preserves. So he runs to Sidonia's door and tries to open
+it, but the bolts are drawn. Then he threatened to send for Master
+Hansen if she did not instantly admit him, at which all the girls
+laughed and clapped their hands with joy. Whereupon Sidonia at
+last came to the door with looks of great astonishment, and
+demanded what his Grace could want. It was bed-time, and so, of
+course, she had locked her door to lie down in safety.
+
+_Ille_.-"Where is that tailor churl who had come to her in
+the morning?"
+
+_Illa_.-"She knew nothing about him, except that he had gone
+away long ago."
+
+So the girls all screamed "No, no, that is not true! She and the
+tailor had been kissing each other, as they saw by the shadows on
+the wall, and making love."
+
+Here Sidonia appeared truly horrified at such an accusation, for
+she was a cunning hypocrite; and taking up the coif-block
+[Footnote: A block for head-gears.] with an air of offended
+dignity, said, turning to his Grace, "It was this coif-block,
+methinks, I had at the window with me, and may those be accursed
+who blackened me to your face." So the Duke half believed her, and
+stood silent at the window; but Trina Wehlers cried out, "It is
+false! it is false! a coif-block could not give kisses!" Whereupon
+Sidonia in great wrath snatched up a robe that lay near her on a
+couch, to hit the baker's daughter with it across the face. But
+woe! woe! under the robe lay the tailor's cap, upon which all the
+girls screamed out, "There is the cap! there is the cap! now we'll
+soon find the tailor," pushing Sidonia aside, and beginning to
+search in every nook and corner of the room. Heyday, what an
+uproar there was now, when they caught sight of the tailor himself
+in the chimney and dragged him down; but he dashed them aside with
+his hands, right and left, so that many got bleeding noses, hit
+his Grace, too, a blow as he tried to seize him, and rushed out of
+the house.
+
+Still the Duke had time to recognise the knave of Wolgast, and was
+so angry at his having escaped him, that he almost beat Sidonia.
+"She was at her old villainy. No good would ever come of her. He
+saw that now with his own eyes. Therefore this very night she and
+her baggage should pack off, to the devil if she chose, but he had
+done with her for ever."
+
+When Sidonia found that the affair was taking a bad turn, she
+tried soft words, but in vain. His Highness ordered up her two
+serving wenches to remove her and her luggage. And so, to the
+great joy of the other girls, who laughed and screamed, and
+clapped their hands, she was turned out, and having nowhere to go
+to, put up once more at the White Horse Inn.
+
+Now Johann knew nothing of this until next morning, when, as he
+was toying with one of the maids, he heard a voice from the
+window, "Johann! Johann! I will give thee the diamond." And
+looking up, there was Sidonia. So the knave ran to her, and swore
+he was only jesting with the maid in the court, for that he would
+marry no one but her, as he had promised yesterday, only he must
+first wait till he was made equerry, then he would obtain letters
+of nobility, which could easily be done, as he was the son of a
+_patricius_; but gold, gold was wanting for all this, and to
+keep up with his friends at the court. Perhaps this very day he
+might get the place, if he had only some good claret to entertain
+them with; therefore she had better give him a couple of diamonds
+from the purse. And so he went on with his lies and humbug, until
+at last he got what he wanted.
+
+Sidonia now felt so ashamed of her degradation, that she resolved
+to leave the White Horse, and take a little lodging in the Monk's
+Close until Johann obtained the post of equerry. But in vain she
+hoped and waited. Every day the rogue came, he begged for another
+pearl or diamond, and if she hesitated, then he swore it would be
+the last, for this very day he was certain of the situation. At
+last but two diamonds were left, and beg as he might, these he
+should not have. Then he beat her, and ran off to the White Horse,
+but came back again in less than an hour. Would she forgive him?
+Now they would be happy at last; he had received his appointment
+as chief equerry. His friends had behaved nobly and kept their
+word, therefore he must give them a right merry carouse out of
+gratitude; she might as well hand him those two little diamonds.
+Now they would want for nothing at last, but live like princes at
+the table of his Highness the Duke. Would she not be ready to
+marry him immediately?
+
+Thereupon the unfortunate Sidonia handed over her two last jewels,
+but never laid eyes on the knave for two days after, when he came
+to tell her it was all up with him now, the traitors had deceived
+him, he had got no situation, and unless she gave him more money
+or jewels he never could marry her. She had still golden armlets
+and a gold chain, let her go for them, he must see them, and try
+what he could get for them. But he begged in vain. Then he
+stormed, swore, threatened, beat her, and finally rushed out of
+the house declaring that she might go to the devil, for as to him
+he would never give himself any further trouble about her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and
+Johann Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard._
+
+
+When my gracious lord, Duke Johann Frederick, succeeded to the
+government, he had no idea of hoarding up his money in old pots,
+but lavished it freely upon all kinds of buildings, hounds,
+horses--in short, upon everything that could make his court and
+castle luxurious and magnificent.
+
+Indeed, he was often as prodigal, just to gratify a whim, as when
+he flung the gold coins to Dinnies Kleist, merely to see if he
+could break them. For instance, he was not content with the old
+ducal residence at Stettin, but must pull it down and build
+another in the forest, not far from Stargard, with churches,
+towers, stables, and all kinds of buildings; and this new
+residence he called after his own name, Friedrichswald.
+
+_Item_, my gracious lord had many princely visitors, who
+would come with a train of six hundred horses or more; and his
+princely spouse, the Duchess Erdmuth, was a lady of munificent
+spirit, and flung away gold by handfuls; so that in a short time
+his Highness had run through all his forefathers' savings, and his
+incoming revenue was greatly diminished by the large annuity which
+he had to pay to old Duke Barnim.
+
+Therefore he summoned the states, and requested them to assist him
+with more money; but they gave answer that his Highness wanted
+prudence; he ought to tie his purse tighter. Why did he build that
+new castle of Friedrichswald? Was it ever heard in Pomerania that
+a prince needed two state residences? But his Highness never
+entered the treasury to look after the expenditure of the
+duchy--he did nothing but banquet, hunt, fish, and build. The
+states, therefore, had no gold for such extravagances.
+
+When his Highness had received this same answer two or three times
+from the states, he waxed wroth, and threatened to pronounce the
+_interdictum seculars_ over his poor land, and finally close
+the royal treasury and all the courts of justice, until the states
+would give him money.
+
+Now the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who had quitted Wolgast to
+enter the service of his Grace, was so shocked at these
+proceedings, that he killed himself out of pure grief and shame.
+He was an upright, excellent man, this old Zitsewitz, though
+perchance, like old Duke Barnim, he loved the maidens and a lusty
+Pomeranian draught rather too well. And he foretold all the evil
+that would result from this same interdict; but his Highness
+resisted his entreaties; and when the old man found his warnings
+unheeded and despised, he stabbed himself, as I have said, there
+in the treasury, before his master's eyes, out of grief and shame.
+
+The misery which he prophesied soon fell upon the land; for it was
+just at that time that the great house of Loitz failed in Stettin,
+leaving debts to the amount of twenty tons of gold, it was said;
+by reason of which many thousand men, widows, and orphans, were
+utterly beggared, and great distress brought upon all ranks of the
+people. Such universal grief and lamentation never had been known
+in all Pomerania, as I have heard my father tell, of blessed
+memory; and as the princely treasury was closed, as also all the
+courts of justice, and no redress could be obtained, many
+misguided and ruined men resolved to revenge themselves; and this
+was now a welcome hearing to Johann Appelmann.
+
+For having given up all hope of the post of equerry, he made
+acquaintance with these disaffected persons, amongst whom was a
+miller, one Philip Konneman by name, a notorious knave. With this
+Konneman he sits down one evening in the inn to drink Rostock
+beer, begins to curse and abuse the reigning family, who had
+ruined and beggared the people even more than Hans Loitz. They
+ought to combine together and right themselves. Where was the
+crime? Their cause was good; and where there were no judges in the
+land, complaints would do little good. He would be their captain.
+Let him speak to the others about it, and see would they consent.
+He knew of many churches where there were jewels and other
+valuables still remaining. Also in Stargard, where his dear father
+played the burgomaster, there was much gold.
+
+So they fixed a night when they should all meet at Lastadie,
+[Footnote: A suburb of Stettin.] near the ducal fish-house; and
+Johann then goes to Sidonia to wheedle her out of the gold chain,
+for handsel for the robbers.
+
+"Now," he said, "the good old times were come back in Pomerania,
+when every one trusted to his own good sword, and were not led
+like sheep at the beck of another; for the treasury and all the
+courts of justice were closed. So the glorious times of
+knight-errantry must come again, such as their forefathers had
+seen." His companions had promised to elect him captain; but then
+he must give them handsel for that, and the gold chain would just
+sell for the sum he wanted. What use was it to her? If she gave
+it, then he would take her with him, and the first rich prize they
+got he would marry her certainly, and settle down in Poland
+afterwards, or wherever else she wished. That would be a glorious
+life, and she would never regret the young Duke. And had not all
+the nobles in old time led the same life, and so gained their
+castles and lands?
+
+But Sidonia began to weep. "Let him do what he would, she would
+never give the chain; and if he beat her, she would scream for
+help through the streets, and betray all his plans to the
+authorities. Now she saw plainly how she had been deceived. He had
+talked her out of all her gold, and now wanted to bring her to the
+gallows at last. No, never should he get the chain--it was all she
+had left; and she had determined at last to go and live quietly at
+her farm in Zachow, as soon as she could obtain a vehicle from
+Regenswald to Labes."
+
+When Johann heard this, he was terribly alarmed, and kissed her
+little hands, and coaxed and flattered her--"Why did she weep?
+There were plenty of herons' feathers now in the garden behind St.
+Mary's, for the birds were moulting. She could easily get some of
+them, and they were worth three times as much as the gold chain.
+Did she think it a crime to take a few feathers from that old
+sinner, Duke Barnim, or his girls? And if she really wished to
+leave him, she could sell the feathers even better in Dresden than
+here."
+
+It was all in vain. Sidonia continued weeping--"Let him talk as he
+liked, she would never give the chain. He was a knave through and
+through. Woe to her that she had ever listened to him! He was the
+cause of all her misery!" and so she went on.
+
+But the cunning fox would not give up his prey so easily. He now
+tried the same trick which he had played so successfully at
+Wolgast upon old Ulrich, and at Stargard upon his father; in
+short, he played the penitent, and began to weep and lament over
+his errors, and all the misery he had caused her. "It was, indeed,
+true that he was to blame for all; but if she would only forgive
+him, and say she pardoned him, he would devote his life to her,
+and revenge her upon all her enemies. The moment for doing so was
+nigh at hand; for the young lord, Prince Ernest, who had so
+shamefully abandoned her, was coming here to Stettin with his
+young bride, the Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, to spend the
+honeymoon, and would he not take good care to waylay them on their
+journey to Wolgast, and give them something to think of for the
+rest of their lives?"
+
+When Sidonia heard these tidings, her eyes flashed like a cat's in
+the dark. "Who told him that? She would not believe it, unless
+some one else confirmed the story."
+
+So he answered--"That any one could confirm it, for the whole
+castle was filled with workmen making preparations for their
+reception; the bridal chamber had been hung with new tapestry, and
+painters and carvers were busy all day long painting and carving
+the united arms of Pomerania and Brunswick upon all the furniture
+and glass."
+
+_Illa_.--"Well, she would go into the town to inquire, and if
+his tale were true, and that he swore to marry her, he should have
+the chain."
+
+_Ille_.--"There was a carver going by with his basket and
+tools--let her call him in, and hear what he said on the matter."
+
+So my cunning fellow called out to the workman, who stepped in
+presently with his basket, and assured the lady politely, that in
+fourteen days the young Duke of Wolgast and his princely bride
+were to arrive at the castle, for the Court Marshal had told him
+this himself, and given him orders to have a large number of
+glasses cut with their united arms ready with all diligence.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, and saw the glasses in his basket, she
+handed the golden chain to Johann, and the carver went his way.
+Then the aforesaid rogue fell down on his knees, swearing to marry
+her, and never to leave her more, for she had now given him all;
+and if this, too, were lost, she must beg her way to Zachow.
+
+So the gallows-bird went off with the chain, turned it into money,
+drank and caroused, and with the remainder set off for Lastadie,
+to meet the ringleaders, near the ducal fishhouse, as agreed upon.
+
+But Master Konneman had only been able to gather ten fellows
+together; the others held back, though they had talked so boldly
+at first, thinking, no doubt, that when the courts of justice were
+reopened, they would all be brought to the gallows.
+
+So Johann thought the number too small for his purposes, and
+agreed with the others to send an envoy to the robber-band of the
+Stargard Wood, proposing a league between them, and offering
+himself (Johann Appelmann, a knight of excellent family and
+endowments) as their captain. Should they consent, the said Johann
+would give them right good handsel; and on the appointed day, meet
+them in the forest, with his illustrious and noble bride; and as a
+sign whereby they should know him, he would whistle three times
+loudly when he approached the wood.
+
+Konneman undertook to be the bearer of the message, and returned
+in a few days, declaring that the robbers had received the
+proposal with joy. He found them encamped under a large nut-tree
+in the forest, roasting a sheep upon a spear, at a large fire. So
+they made him sit down and eat with them, and told him it was a
+right jolly life, with no ruler but the great God above them.
+Better to live under the free heaven than die in their squalid
+cabins. The band was strong, besides many who had joined lately,
+since the bankruptcy of Hans Loitz, and there were some gipsies
+too, amongst whom was an old hag who told fortunes, and had lately
+prophesied to the band that a great prize was in store for them;
+they had just returned with some booty from the little town of
+Damm, where they had committed a robbery. One of their party,
+however, had been taken there.
+
+When Johann heard the good result of his message, he summoned all
+his followers to another meeting at the ducal fish-house, gave
+them each money, and swore them to fidelity; then bid them
+disperse, and slip singly to the band, to avoid observation, and
+he would himself meet them in the forest next day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure, at Alten Damm--Item,
+of their reception by the robber-band._
+
+
+Now Johann Appelmann had a grudge against the newly appointed
+equerry to his Highness, for the man had swilled his claret, and
+been foremost in his promises, and yet now had stepped into the
+place himself, and left Johann in the lurch. The knave, therefore,
+determined on revenge; so invented a story, how that his father,
+old Appelmann, had sent for him to give him half of all he was
+worth, and as he must journey to Stargard directly, he prayed his
+friend the equerry to lend him a couple of horses and a waggon out
+of the ducal stables, with harness and all that would be
+necessary, swearing that when he brought them back he would give
+him and his other friends such a carouse at the inn, as they had
+never yet had in their lives.
+
+And when the other asked, would not one horse be sufficient,
+Johann replied no, that he required the waggon for his luggage,
+and two horses would be necessary to draw it. _Summa_, the
+fool gives him two beautiful Andalusian stallions, with harness
+and saddles; _item_, a waggon, whereon my knave mounted next
+morning early, with Sidonia and her luggage, and took the miller,
+Konneman, with him as driver.
+
+But as they passed through Alten Damm, a strange adventure
+happened, whereby the all-merciful God, no doubt, wished to turn
+them from their evil way; but they flung His warnings to the wind.
+
+For the carl was going to be executed who belonged to the
+robber-band, that had committed a burglary there, in the town,
+some days previously. However, the gallows having been blown down
+by a storm, the linen-weavers, according to old usage, came to
+erect another. This angered the millers, who also began to erect
+one of their own, declaring that the weavers had only a right to
+supply the ladder, but they were to erect the gallows. A great
+fight now arose between weavers and millers, while the poor thief
+stood by with his hands tied behind his back, and arrayed in his
+winding-sheet. But the sheriffs, and whatever other honourable
+citizens were by, having in vain endeavoured to appease the
+quarrel, returned to the inn, to take the advice of the honourable
+council.
+
+Just at this moment Johann and Sidonia drove into the middle of
+the crowd, and the former leaped off and laughed heartily, for a
+miller had thrown down a poor lean weaver close behind the
+criminal, and was belabouring him stoutly with his floured fists,
+whilst the poor wretch screamed loudly for succour or assistance
+to the criminal, who answered in his _Platt Deutsch_, "I
+cannot help thee, friend, for, see, my hands are bound." Upon
+this, Johann draws his knife from his girdle, and slipping behind
+the felon, cuts the ropes binding him.
+
+He straightway, finding himself free, jumped upon the miller, and
+turned the flour all red upon his face with his heavy blows. Then
+he ran towards the waggon, but the guardsman caught hold of him by
+the shoulder, so the poor wretch left the winding-sheet in his
+hand, and jumping, naked as he was, on the back of one of the
+horses, set off, at top speed, to the forest, with Sidonia
+screaming and roaring fleeing with him.
+
+Millers and weavers now left off their wrangling, and joined
+together in pursuit, but in vain; the fellow soon distanced them
+all, and was lost to sight in the wood.
+
+When he had driven the waggon a good space, and still hearing the
+roaring of the people in pursuit, he stopped the horses, and
+jumped off, to take to his heels amongst the trees. Whereupon
+Konneman threw him a horse-cloth from the waggon, bidding him
+cover himself with it; so the carl snapped it up, and rolled it
+about his body with all alacrity. Now this horse-cloth was
+embroidered with the Pomeranian arms, and the poor Adam looked so
+absurd running away in such a garment, that Sidonia,
+notwithstanding all her fright, could not help bursting into a
+loud mocking laughter.
+
+Whereupon the crowd came up, cursing, swearing, and cursing, that
+the thief had escaped them; Johann Appelmann, who was amongst
+them, and was just in the act of stepping up to the waggon, when
+Prince Johann Frederick and a company of carbineers galloped up
+along with the chief equerry and a large retinue, all on their way
+to Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke stopped to hear the cause of the tumult, and when they
+told him, he laughingly said, he would soon return with the
+gallows-knaves; then, turning to Appelmann, he asked who he was,
+and what brought him there?
+
+When Johann gave his name, and said he was going to Stargard, his
+Grace exclaimed, with surprise--
+
+"So thou art the knave of whom I have heard so much; and this woman
+here, I suppose, is Sidonia? Pity of her. She is a handsome wench,
+I see."
+
+Then, as Sidonia blushed and looked down, he continued--
+
+"And where did the fellow get these fine horses? Would he sell
+them?"
+
+Now Appelmann had a great mind to tell the truth, and say he got
+them from the equerry, who was already turning white with pure
+fear; but recollecting that he might come in for some of the
+punishment himself, besides hoping to play a second trick upon his
+Highness, he answered, that his father at Stargard had made them a
+present to him.
+
+The Duke, now turning to his equerry, asked him--
+
+"Would not these horses match his Andalusian stallions perfectly?"
+
+And as the other tremblingly answered, "Yes, perfectly," his Grace
+demanded if the knave would sell them.
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh yes; to gratify his Serene Highness the Duke, he
+would sell the horses for 3000 florins."
+
+"Let it be so," said the Duke; "but I must owe thee the money,
+fellow."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then he would not make the bargain, for he wanted
+the money directly to take him to Stargard."
+
+So the Duke frowned that he would not trust his own Prince; and as
+Appelmann attempted to move off with the waggon, his Highness took
+his plumed cap from his head, and cutting off the diamond agrafe
+with his dagger, flung it to him, exclaiming--
+
+"Stay! take these jewels, they are worth 1300 florins, but leave
+me the horses."
+
+Now the chief equerry nearly fell from his horse with shame as the
+knave picked up the agrafe, and shoved it into his pocket, then
+humbly addressing his Highness, prayed for permission just to
+leave the maiden and her luggage in Stargard, and then he would
+return instantly with both horses, and bring them himself to his
+gracious Highness at Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke having consented, the knave sprang up upon the waggon,
+and turning off to another road, drove away as hard as he could
+from the scene of this perilous adventure. After some time he
+whistled, but receiving no response, kept driving through the
+forest until evening, when a loud, shrill whistle at last replied
+to his, and on reaching a cross-road, he found the whole band
+dancing with great merriment round a large sign-board which had
+been stuck up there by the authorities, and on which was painted a
+gipsy lying under the gallows, while the executioner stood over
+him in the act of applying the torture, and beneath ran the
+inscription--
+
+  "Gipsy! from Pomerania flee,
+  Or thus it shall be done to thee."
+
+These words the robber crew had set to some sort of rude melody,
+and now sang it and danced to it round the sign, the fellow with
+the horse-cloth in the midst of them, the merriest of them all.
+
+The moment they got a glimpse of their captain, men, women, and
+children ran off like mad to the waggon, clapping their hands and
+shouting, "Huzzah! huzzah! what a noble captain! Had he brought
+them anything to drink?" And when he said "Yes," and handed out
+three barrels of wine, there was no end to the jubilee of
+cheering. Then he must give them handsel, and after that they
+would make a large fire and swear fealty to him round it, as was
+the manner of the gipsies, for the band was mostly composed of
+gipsies, and numbered about fifty men altogether.
+
+_Summa_.--A great fire was kindled, round which they all took
+the oath of obedience to their captain, and he swore fidelity to
+them in return. Then a couple of deer were roasted; and after they
+had eaten and drunk, the singing and dancing round the great
+sign-board was resumed, until the broad daylight glanced through
+the trees.
+
+People may see from this to what a pitch of lawlessness and
+disorder the land came under the reign of Duke Johann. For,
+methinks, these robbers would never have dared to make such a mock
+of the authorities, only that my Lord Duke had shut up all the
+courts of justice in the kingdom.
+
+During their jollity, our knave Appelmann cast his eyes upon a
+gipsy maiden, called the handsome Sioli; a tall, dark-eyed wench,
+but with scarcely a rag to cover her. Therefore he bade Sidonia
+run to her luggage, and take out one of her own best robes for the
+girl; but Sidonia turned away in great wrath, exclaiming--
+
+"This was the way he kept his promise to her. She had given him
+all, and followed him even hither, and yet he cared more for a
+ragged gipsy girl than for her. But she would go away that very
+night, anywhere her steps might lead her, if only away from her
+present misery. Let him give her the Duke's diamonds, and she
+would leave him all the herons' feathers, and never come near him
+any more."
+
+But my knave only laughed, and bid her come take the diamonds if
+she wanted them, they were in his bosom. Then the gipsy girl and
+her mother, old Ussel, began to mock the fine lady. So Sidonia sat
+there weeping and wringing her hands, while Johann laughed,
+danced, drank, and kissed the gipsy wench, and finally threatened
+to go and take a robe himself out of the luggage, if Sidonia did
+not run for one instantly.
+
+However, she would not stir; so Konnemann, the miller, took pity
+on her, and would have remonstrated, but Johann cut him short,
+saying--
+
+"What the devil did he mean? Was he not the captain? and why
+should Konnemann dare to interfere with him?"
+
+Then he strode over to the waggon to plunder Sidonia's baggage,
+which, when she observed, her heart seemed to break, and she
+kneeled down, lifted up her hands, and prayed thus:--
+
+"Merciful Creator, I know Thee not, for my hard and unnatural
+father never brought me to Thee; therefore on his head be my sins.
+But if Thou hast pity on the young ravens, who likewise know Thee
+not, have pity upon me, and help me to leave this robber den with
+Thy gracious help."
+
+Here such a shout of laughter resounded from all sides, that she
+sprang up, and seizing the best bundle in the waggon, plunged into
+the wood, with loud cries and lamentation; whilst Appelmann only
+said--
+
+"Never heed her, let her do as she pleases; she will be back again
+soon enough, I warrant."
+
+Accordingly, scarcely an hour had elapsed, when the unhappy maiden
+appeared again, to the great amusement of the whole band, who
+mocked her yet more than before. She came back crying and
+lamenting--
+
+"She could go no further, for the wolves followed her, and howled
+round her on all sides. Ah! that she were a stone, and buried
+fathoms deep in the earth! That shameless knave, Appelmann, might
+indeed have pitied her, if he hoped for pity from God; but had he
+not taken her robe to put it on the gipsy beggar? She nearly died
+of shame at the sight. But she would never forgive the beggar's
+brat to the day of judgment for it. All she wanted now was some
+good Christian to guide her out of the wild forest. Would no one
+come with her? that was all she asked."
+
+And so she went on crying, and lamenting in the deepest grief.
+
+_Summa_.--When the knave heard all this, his heart seemed to
+relent; perhaps he dreaded the anger of her relations if she were
+treated too badly, or, mayhap, it was compassion, I cannot say;
+but he sprang up, kissed her, caressed her, and consoled her.
+
+"Why should she leave them? He would remain faithful and constant
+to her, as he had sworn. Why should the gown for the beggar-girl
+anger her? When they get the herons' feathers on the morrow, he
+would buy her ten new gowns for the one he had taken." And so he
+continued in his old deceiving way, till she at last believed him,
+and was comforted.
+
+Here the roll of a carriage was heard, and as many of the band as
+were not quite drunk seized their muskets and pikes, and rushed in
+the direction of the sound. But behold, the waggon and horses,
+with all Sidonia's luggage, was off! For, in truth, the equerry,
+seeing Johann's treachery, had secretly followed him, hiding
+himself in the bushes till it grew dark, but near enough to
+observe all that was going on; then, watching his opportunity, and
+knowing the robbers were all more or less drunk, he sprang upon
+the waggon, and galloped away as hard as he could. Johann gave
+chase for a little, but the equerry had got too good a start to be
+overtaken; and so Johann returned, cursing and raging, to the
+band. Then they all gathered round the fire again, and drank and
+caroused till morning dawned, when each sought out a good
+sleeping-place amongst the bushwood. There they lay till morn,
+when Johann summoned them to prepare for their excursion to the
+Duke's gardens at Zachan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son._
+
+
+After Duke Barnim the elder had resigned the government, he betook
+himself more than ever to field-sports; and amongst others,
+hawking became one of his most favourite pursuits. By this sport,
+he stocked his gardens at Zachan with an enormous number of
+herons, and made a considerable sum annually by the sale of the
+feathers. These gardens at Zachan covered an immense space, and
+were walled round. Within were many thousand herons' nests; and
+all the birds taken by the falcons were brought here, and their
+wings clipped. Then the keepers fed them with fish, frogs, and
+lizards, so that they became quite tame, and when their wings grew
+again, never attempted to leave the gardens, but diligently built
+their nests and reared their young. Now, though it cost a great
+sum to keep these gardens in order, and support all the people
+necessary to look after the birds, yet the Duke thought little of
+the expense, considering the vast sum which the feathers brought
+him at the moulting season.
+
+Accordingly, during the moulting time, he generally took up his
+abode at a castle adjoining the gardens, called "The Stone
+Rampart," to inspect the gathering in of the feathers himself; and
+he was just on his journey thither with his falconers, hunters,
+and other retainers, when the robber-band caught sight of him from
+the wood. His Highness was seated in an open carriage, with Trina
+Wehlers, the baker's daughter, by his side; and Sidonia, who
+recognised her enemy, instantly entreated Johann to revenge her on
+the girl if possible; but, as he hesitated, the old gipsy mother
+stepped forward and whispered Sidonia, "that she would help her to
+a revenge, if she but gave her that little golden smelling-bottle
+which she wore suspended by a gold chain on her neck." Sidonia
+agreed, and the revenge soon followed; for the Duke left the
+carriage, and mounted a horse to follow the chase, the falconer
+having unloosed a couple of hawks and let them fly at a heron.
+Trina remained in the coach; but the coachman, wishing to see the
+sport, tied his horses to a tree, and ran off, too, after the
+others into the wood. The hawk soared high above the heron,
+watching its opportunity to pounce upon the quarry; but the heron,
+just as it swooped down upon it, drove its sharp bill through the
+body of the hawk, and down they both came together covered with
+blood, right between the two carriage horses.
+
+No doubt this was all done through the magic of the gipsy mother;
+for the horses took fright instantly, plunged and reared, and
+dashed off with the carriage, which was over-turned some yards
+from the spot, and the baker's daughter had her leg broken.
+Hearing her screams, the Duke and the whole party ran to the spot;
+and his Highness first scolded the coachman for leaving his
+horses, then the falconer for having let fly his best falcon,
+which now lay there quite dead. The heron, however, was alive, and
+his Grace ordered it to be bound and carried off to Zachan. The
+baker's daughter prayed, but in vain, that the coachman might be
+hung upon the next tree. Then they all set off homeward, but Trina
+screamed so loudly, that his Grace stopped, and ordered a couple
+of stout huntsmen to carry her to the neighbouring convent of
+Marienfliess, where, as I am credibly informed, in a short time
+she gave up the ghost.
+
+Now, the robber-band were watching all these proceedings from the
+wood, but kept as still as mice. Not until his Grace had driven
+off a good space, and the baker's daughter had been carried away,
+did they venture to speak or move; then Sidonia jumped up,
+clapping her hands in ecstasy, and mimicking the groans and
+contortions of the poor girl, to the great amusement of the band,
+who laughed loudly; but Johann recalled them to business, and
+proposed that they should secretly follow his Highness, and hide
+themselves at Elsbruck, near the water-mill of Zachan, until the
+evening closed in. In order also to be quite certain of the place
+where his Grace had laid up all the herons' feathers of that
+season, Johann proposed that the miller, Konnemann, should visit
+his Grace at Zachan, giving out that he was a feather merchant
+from Berlin. Accordingly, when they reached Elsbruck, the miller
+put on my knave's best doublet (for he was almost naked before),
+and proceeded to the Stone Rampart, Sidonia bidding him, over and
+over again, to inquire at the castle when the young Lord of
+Wolgast and his bride were expected at Stettin. The Duke received
+Konnemann very graciously, when he found that he was a wealthy
+feather merchant from Berlin, who, having heard of the number and
+extent of his Grace's gardens at Zachan, had come to purchase all
+the last year's gathering of feathers. Would his Highness allow
+him to see the feathers?
+
+_Summa_.--He had his wish; for his Grace brought him into a
+little room on the ground-floor, where lay two sacks full of the
+most perfect and beautiful feathers; and when the Duke demanded a
+thousand florins for them, the knave replied, "That he would
+willingly have the feathers, but must take the night to think over
+the price." Then he took good note of the room, and the garden,
+and all the passages of the castle, and so came back in the
+twilight to the band with great joy, assuring them that nothing
+would be easier than to rob the old turner's apprentice of his
+feathers.
+
+Such, indeed, was the truth; for at midnight my knave Johann, with
+Konnemann and a few chosen accomplices, carried away those two
+sacks of feathers; and no one knew a word about the robbery until
+the next morning, when the band were far off in the forest, no one
+knew where. But a quarrel had arisen between my knave and Sidonia
+over the feathers: she wanted them for herself, that she might
+turn them into money, and so be enabled to get back to her own
+people; but Johann had no idea of employing his booty in this way.
+"What was she thinking of? If those fine stallions, indeed, had
+not been stolen from him, he might have given her the feathers;
+but now there was nothing else left wherewith to pay the band--she
+must wait for another good prize. Meantime they must settle
+accounts with the young Lord of Wolgast, who, as Konnemann had
+found out, was expected at Stettin in seven days."
+
+Now, the daring robbery at Zachan was the talk of the whole
+country, and as the old burgomaster, Appelmann, had heard at
+Friedrichswald about the horses and waggon, and his son's shameful
+knavery, he could think of nothing else but that the same rascal
+had stolen the Duke's feathers at So he took some faithful
+burghers with him, and set off for the forest, to try and find his
+lost son. At last, after many wanderings, a peasant, who was
+cutting wood, told them that he had seen the robber-band encamped
+in a thick wood near Rehewinkel; [Footnote: Two miles and a half
+from Stargard, and the present dwelling-place of the editor.] and
+when the miserable father and his burghers arrived at the place,
+there indeed was the robber-band stretched upon the long grass,
+and Sidonia seated upon the stump of a tree--for she must play the
+lute, while Johann, his godless son, was plaiting the long black
+hair of the handsome Sioli.
+
+Methinks the knave must have felt somewhat startled when his
+father sprang from behind an oak, a dagger in his hand, exclaiming
+loudly, "Johann, Johann, thou lost, abandoned son! is it thus I
+find thee?"
+
+The knave turned as white as a corpse upon the gallows, and his
+hands seemed to freeze upon the fair Sioli's hair; but the band
+jumped up and seized their arms, shouting, "Seize him! seize him!"
+The old man, however, cared little for their shouts; and still
+gazing on his son, cried out, "Dost thou not answer me, thou
+God-forgetting knave? Thou hast deceived and robbed thy own
+Prince. Answer me--who amongst all these is fitter for the gallows
+than thou art?"
+
+So my knave at last came to his senses, and answered sullenly,
+"What did he want here? He had done nothing for him. He must earn
+his own bread."
+
+_Ille_.--"God forgive thee thy sins; did I not take thee back
+as my son, and strive to correct thee as a true and loving father?
+Why didst thou run away from my house and the writing-office?"
+
+_Hic._--"He was born for something else than to lead the life
+of a dog."
+
+_Ille_.--"He had never made him live any such life; and even
+if he had, better live like a dog than as a robber wolf."
+
+_Hic_.--"He was no robber. Who had belied him so? He and his
+friends were on their way to Poland to join the army."
+
+_Ille_.--"Wherefore, then, had he tricked his Highness of
+Stettin out of the horses?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was only a revenge upon the equerry, to pay him
+back in his own coin, for he was his enemy, and had broken faith
+with him."
+
+_Ille_.--"But he had robbed his Grace Duke Barnim, likewise,
+of the herons' feathers. No one else had done it."
+
+_Hic_.--"Who dared to say so? He was insulted and belied by
+every one." Then he cursed and swore that he knew nothing whatever
+of these herons' feathers which he was making such a fuss about.
+
+Meanwhile the band stood round with cocked muskets, and as the
+burghers now pressed forward, to save their leader, if any
+violence were offered, Konnemann called out, "Give the word,
+master--shall I shoot down the churl?"
+
+Here Johann's conscience was moved a little, and he shouted,
+"Back! back!--he is my father!"
+
+But the old gipsy mother sprang forward with a knife, crying, "Thy
+father, fool?--what care we for thy father? Let me at him, and
+I'll soon settle thy father with my knife."
+
+When the unfortunate son heard and saw this, he seized a heavy
+stick that lay near him, and gave the gipsy such a blow on the
+crown, that she rolled, screaming, on the ground. Whereupon the
+whole band raised a wild yell, and rushed upon the burgomaster.
+
+Then Johann cried, almost with anguish, "Back! back! he is my
+father! Do ye not remember your oaths to me? Spare my father!
+Wait, at least; he has something of importance to tell me."
+
+And at last, though with difficulty, he succeeded in calming these
+children of Belial. Then drawing his father aside, under the shade
+of a great oak, he began--"Dearest father mine, it was fear of
+you, and despair of the future, that drove me to this work; but if
+you will now give me three hundred florins, I will go forth into
+the wide world, and take honourable service, wherever it is to be
+had, during the wars."
+
+_Ille_.--"Had he yet married that unfortunate Sidonia, who he
+observed, to his surprise, was still with him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; he could never marry the harlot now, for she had
+run away from old Duke Barnim, and followed him here to the
+forest."
+
+_Ille_.--"What would become of her, then, when he joined the
+army?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was her look-out. Let her go to her farm at
+Zachow."
+
+Hereupon the old man held his peace, and rested his arm against
+the oak, and his grey head upon his arm, and looked down long upon
+the grass without uttering a word; then he sighed deeply, and
+looking up, thus addressed Johann:--
+
+"My son, I will trust thee yet again; but it shall be the last
+time; therefore take heed to what I say. Between Stargard and
+Pegelow there stands an old thorn upon the highway; there,
+to-morrow evening, by seven of the clock, my servant Caspar, whom
+thou knowest, shall bring thee three hundred florins; but on this
+one condition, that thou dost now swear solemnly to abandon this
+villainous robber-band, and seek an honourable living far away, in
+some other country, where thou must pray daily to God the Lord, to
+turn thee from thy evil ways, and help thee by His grace."
+
+So the knave knelt down before his father, wept, and prayed for
+his father's forgiveness; then swore solemnly to abandon his
+sinful life, and with God's help to perform all that his father
+had enjoined. "And would he not give his last farewell to his
+dear, darling mother?" "Thy mother!--ah, thy mother!" sighed the
+old man; "but rise, now, and let me and mine homewards. God grant
+that my eyes have beheld thee for the last time. Come, I will take
+this Sidonia back with me."
+
+So they forthwith joined the robber crew again, who were still
+making a great uproar, which, however, Johann appeased, and after
+some time obtained a free passage for his father and the burghers;
+but Sidonia would not accompany them. The upright old burgomaster
+admonished first, then he promised to drive her with his own
+horses to her farm at Zachow; but his words were all in vain, for
+the knave privately gave her a look, and whispered something in
+her ear, but no one knew what it was.
+
+Nor did the old man omit to admonish the whole band likewise,
+telling them that if they did not now look up to the high God,
+they would one day look down from the high gallows, for all
+thieves and robbers came to dance in the wind at last: ten hung in
+Stargard, and he had seen twenty at Stettin, and not even the
+smallest town had its gallows empty. Hereat Konnemann cried out,
+"Ho! ho! who will hang us now? We know well the courts of justice
+are closed in all places." And as the old man sighed, and prepared
+to answer him, the whole band set up such a shout of laughter that
+he stood silent a space; then turning round, trod slowly out of
+the thick wood with all his burghers, and was soon lost to view.
+
+The next evening Johann received the three hundred florins at the
+thorn-bush, along with a letter from his father, admonishing him
+yet again, and conjuring him to fulfil his promise speedily of
+abandoning his wicked life. Upon which, my knave gave some of the
+money to a peasant that he met on the highway, and bid him go into
+the town, purchase some wine and all sorts of eatables, and fetch
+them to the band in the wood, that they might have a merry carouse
+that same night. This very peasant had been one of their
+accomplices, and great was his joy when he beheld them all again,
+and, in particular, the gipsy mother. He told her that all her
+prophecy had come out true, for his daughter had been deserted,
+and her lover had taken Stina Krugers to wife; could she not,
+therefore, give him something that would make Stina childless, and
+cause her husband to hate her?
+
+"Ay, if he crossed her hand with silver."
+
+This the peasant did. Whereupon she gave him a padlock, and
+whispered some words in his ear.
+
+When Sidonia heard that the man could be brought to hate his wife
+by some means, her eyes flashed wildly, and she called the
+horrible old gipsy mother aside, and asked her to tell her the
+charm.
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but what would she give her? She had two
+pretty golden rings on her finger; let her give them, and she
+should have the secret."
+
+_Haec_.--"She would give one ring now, and the other if the
+charm succeeded. The peasant had only given her a few groschen."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but she had only given him half the charm."
+
+_Haec_.--"Was it anything to eat or drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; there was no eating or drinking: the charm did
+it all."
+
+_Haec_.--"Then let her teach it to her, and if it succeeded by
+the young Lord of Wolgast, she would have both rings; if not, but
+one."
+
+_Illa_.--"It would succeed without doubt; if his young wife
+had no promise of offspring as yet, she would remain childless for
+ever."
+
+_Summa_.--The old gipsy taught her the charm, the same with
+which she afterward bewitched the whole princely Pomeranian race,
+so that they perished childless from off the face of the earth;
+[Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"O ter quaterque
+detestabilem! Et ego testis adfui tametsi in actis de industria
+hand notatis. (Oh, thrice accursed! And I, too, was present at
+this confession, although I am not mentioned in the protocol.)"]
+and this charm Sidonia confessed upon the rack afterwards, in the
+Great Hall of Oderburg, July 28, A.D. 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue._
+
+
+The young Lord of Wolgast and his young bride, the Princess Sophia
+Hedwig, arrived in due time at the court of Stettin, on a visit to
+their illustrious brother, Duke Johann Frederick. During the ten
+days of their stay, there was no end to the banquetings, huntings,
+fishings, and revellings of all kinds, to do honour to their
+presence.
+
+The young lord has quite recovered from his long and strange
+illness. But the young bride complains a little. Whereupon my Lord
+of Stettin jests with her, and the courtiers make merry, so that
+the young bride blushes and entreats her husband to take her away
+from this impudent court of Stettin, and take her home to his
+illustrious mother at Wolgast.
+
+Prince Ernest consents, but as the wind is contrary, he arranges
+to make the journey with a couple of carriages through the
+Uckermann forest, not waiting for the grand escort of cavaliers
+and citizens which his lady mother had promised to send to
+Stettin, to convey the bride with all becoming honour to her own
+future residence at Wolgast.
+
+His brother reminded him of the great danger from the robber-band
+in the wood, now that the courts of justice were closed, and that
+Sidonia and Johann were hovering in the vicinity, ready for any
+iniquity. Indeed, he trusted the states would soon be brought to
+reason by the dreadful condition of the country, and give him the
+gold he wanted. These robbers would do more for him than he could
+do for himself. And this was not the only band that was to be
+feared; for, since the fatal bankruptcy of the Loitz family,
+robbers, and partisans, and freebooters had sprung up in every
+corner of the land. Then he related the trick concerning his two
+Andalusian stallions. And Duke Barnim the elder told him of his
+loss at Zachan, and that no one else but the knave Appelmann had
+been at the bottom of it. So, at last, Prince Ernest half resolved
+to await the escort from Wolgast. However, the old Duke continued
+jesting with the bride, after his manner, so that the young
+Princess was blushing with shame every moment, and finally
+entreated her husband to set off at once.
+
+When his Grace of Stettin found he could prevail nothing, he bade
+them a kind farewell, promising in eight days to visit them at
+Wolgast, for the wedding festivities; and he sent stout Dinnies
+Kleist, with six companions, to escort them through the most
+dangerous part of the forest, which was a tract extending for
+about seven miles.
+
+Now, when they were half-way through the forest, a terrible storm
+came on of hail, rain, thunder, and lightning; and though the
+Prince and his bride were safe enough in the carriage, yet their
+escort were drenched to the skin, and dripped like rivulets. The
+princely pair therefore entreated them to return to Falkenwald,
+and dry their clothes, for there was no danger to be apprehended
+now, since they were more than half through the wood, and close to
+the village of Mutzelburg.
+
+So Dinnies and his companions took their leave, and rode off.
+Shortly after the galloping of a horse was heard, and this was
+Marcus Bork; for he was on his way to purchase the lands of
+Crienke, previous to his marriage with Clara von Dewitz, and had a
+heavy sack of gold upon his shoulder, and a servant along with
+him. Having heard at Stettin that the Prince and his young bride
+were on the road, he had followed them, as fast as he could, to
+keep them company.
+
+By this time they had reached Barnim's Cross, and the Prince
+halted to point it out to his bride, and tell her the legend
+concerning it; for the sun now shone forth from the clouds, and
+the storm was over. But he first addressed his faithful Marcus,
+and asked, had he heard tidings lately of his cousin Sidonia? But
+he had heard nothing. He would hear soon enough, I'm thinking.
+
+Then seeing that his good vassal Marcus was thoroughly wet, his
+Grace advised him to put on dry clothes; but he had none with him.
+Whereupon his Grace handed him his own portmanteau out of the
+coach window, and bid him take what he wanted.
+
+Marcus then lifted the money-bag from his shoulder, which his
+Grace drew into the coach through the window--and sprang into the
+wood with the portmanteau, to change his clothes. While the Prince
+tarried for him, he related the story of Barnim's Cross to his
+young wife, thus:--
+
+"You must know, dearest, that my ancestor, Barnim, the second of
+the name, was murdered, out of revenge, in this very spot by one
+of his vassals, named Vidante von Muckerwitze. For this aforesaid
+ancestor had sent him into Poland under some pretence, in order
+the better to accomplish his designs upon the beautiful Mirostava
+of Warborg, Vidante's young wife. But the warder of Vogelsang, a
+village about two miles from here, pleasantly situated on the
+river Haff, and close to which lay the said Vidante's castle,
+discovered the amour, and informed the knight how he was
+dishonoured. His wrath was terrible when the news was brought to
+him, but he spoke no word of the matter until St. John's day in
+the year----"
+
+But here his Grace paused in his story, for he had forgotten the
+year; so he drove on the carriage close up to the cross, where he
+could read the date--"St John's day, A.D. MCCXCII."--and there
+stopped, with the blessed cross of our Lord covering and filling
+up the whole of the coach window.
+
+Ah, well it is said--Prov. xx. 24--"Each man's going is of the
+Lord, what man is there who understandeth his way?"
+
+Now when the Princess had read the date for herself, she asked,
+what had happened to the Duke, his ancestor? To which the Prince
+replied--
+
+"Here, in these very bushes, the jealous knight lay concealed,
+while the Duke was hunting. And here, in this spot, the Duke threw
+himself down upon the grass to rest, for he was weary. And he
+whistled for his retinue, who had been separated from him, when
+the knight sprang from his hiding-place and murdered him where he
+lay. His false wife he reserved for a still more cruel death.
+
+"For he brought a coppersmith from Stettin, and had him make a
+copper coffin for the wretched woman, who was obliged to help him
+in the work. Then he bade her put on her bridal dress, and forced
+her to enter the coffin, where he had her soldered up alive, and
+buried. And the story goes, that when any one walks over the spot,
+the coffin clangs in the earth like a mass-bell, to this very
+day." Meanwhile Marcus had retreated behind a large oak, to dress
+himself in the young Duke's clothes; but the wicked robber crew
+were watching him all the time from the wood, and just as he drew
+the dry shirt over his head, before he had time to put on a single
+other garment, they sprang upon him with loud shouts, Sidonia the
+foremost of all, screaming, "Seize the knave! seize the base spy!
+he is my greatest enemy!" So Marcus rushed back to the coach, just
+as he was, and placing the cross as a shield between him and the
+robbers, cried out loudly to his Highness for a sword.
+
+The Prince would have alighted to assist him, but his young bride
+wound her arms so fast around him, shrieking till the whole wood
+re-echoed, that he was forced to remain inside. Up came the
+robber-band now, and attacked the coach furiously; musket after
+musket was fired at it and the horses, but luckily the rain had
+spoiled the powder, so they threw away their muskets, while
+Sidonia screamed, "Seize the false-hearted liar, who broke his
+marriage promise to me! seize his screaming harlot! drag her from
+the coach! Where is she?--let me see her!--we will cram her into
+the old oak-tree; there she can hold her marriage festival with
+the wild-cats. Give her to me!--give her to me! I will teach her
+what marriage is!" And she sprang wildly forward, while the others
+flung their spears at Marcus. But the blessed cross protected him,
+and the spears stuck in the wood or in the body of the carriage,
+while he hewed away right and left, striking down all that
+approached him, till he stood in a pool of blood, and the white
+shirt on him was turned to red.
+
+As Sidonia rushed to the coach, he wounded her in the hand, upon
+which, with loud curses and imprecations, she ran round to the
+other coach window, calling out, "Come hither, come hither,
+Johann! here is booty, here is the false cat! Come hither, and
+drag her out of the coach window for me!" And now Marcus Bork was
+in despair, for the coachman had run away from fear, and though
+his sword did good service, yet their enemies were gathering thick
+round them. So he bade the Princess, in a low voice, to tear open
+his bag of money, for the love of heaven, with all speed, and
+scatter the gold out of the windows with both hands; for help was
+near, he heard the galloping of a horse; could they gain but a few
+moments, they were saved. Thereupon the Princess rained the gold
+pieces from the window, and the stupid mob instantly left all else
+to fling themselves on the ground for the bright coins, fighting
+with each other as to who should have them. In vain Johann roared,
+"Leave the gold, fools, and seize the birds here in this cage; ye
+can have the gold after." But they never heeded him, though he
+cursed and swore, and struck them right and left with his sword.
+
+But Marcus, meanwhile, had nearly come to a sad end; for the old
+gipsy hag swore she would stab him with her knife, and while the
+poor Marcus was defending himself from a robber who had rushed at
+him with a dagger, she crept along upon the ground, and lifted her
+great knife to plunge into his side.
+
+Just then, like a messenger from God, comes the stout Dinnies
+Kleist, galloping up to the rescue; for after he had ridden a good
+piece upon the homeward road, he stopped his horse to empty the
+water out of his large jack-boots, for there it was plumping up
+and down, and he was still far from Falkenwald. While one of his
+men emptied the boots, another wandered through the wood picking
+the wild strawberries, that blushed there as red as scarlet along
+the ground.
+
+While he was so bent down close to the earth, the shrieks of my
+gracious lady reached his ear, upon which he ran to tell his
+master, who listened likewise; and finding they proceeded from the
+very direction where he had left the bridal pair, he suspected
+that some evil had befallen them. So springing into his saddle, he
+bade his fellows mount with ail speed, and dashed back to the spot
+where they had left the carriage.
+
+Marcus was just now fainting from loss of blood, and his weary
+hand could scarcely hold the sword, while his frame swayed back
+and forward, as if he were near falling to the ground. The gipsy
+hag was close beside him, with her arm extended, ready to plunge
+the knife into his side, when the heavy stroke of a sword came
+down on it, and arm and knife fell together to the ground, and
+Dinnies shouting, "Jodute! Jodute!" swung round his sword a second
+time, and the head of the robber carl fell upon the arm of the
+hag. Then he dashed round on his good horse to the other side of
+the carriage, hewed right and left among the stupid fools who were
+scraping up the gold, while his fellows chased them into the wood,
+so that the alarmed band left all this booty, and ran in every
+direction to hide themselves in the forest. In vain Johann roared,
+and shouted, and swore, and opposed himself single-handed to the
+knight's followers. He received a blow that sent him flying, too,
+after his band, and Sidonia along with him, so that none but the
+dead remained around the carriage.
+
+Thus did the brave Dinnies Kleist and Marcus Bork save the Prince
+and his bride, like true knights as they were; but Marcus is
+faint, and leans for support against the carriage, while before
+him lie three robber carls whom he had slain with his own hand,
+although he fought there only in his shirt; but the blessed cross
+had been his shield. And there, too, lay the gipsy's arm with the
+knife still clutched in the hand, but the hag herself had fled
+away; and round the brave Dinnies was a circle of dead men, seven
+in number, whom he and his followers had killed; and the earth all
+round looked like a ripe strawberry field, it was so red with
+blood.
+
+One can imagine what joy filled the hearts of the princely pair,
+when they found that all their peril was past. They alighted from
+the coach, and when the Princess saw Marcus lying there in a dead
+faint, with his garment all covered with blood, she lamented
+loudly, and tore off her own veil to bind up his wounds, and
+brought wine from the carriage, which she poured herself through
+his lips, like a merciful Samaritan; and when he at last opened
+his eyes, and kissed the little hands of the Princess out of
+gratitude, she rejoiced greatly. And the Prince himself ran to the
+wood for the portmanteau, which they found behind the oak, and
+helped to dress the poor knight, who was so weak that he could not
+raise a finger.
+
+Then they lifted him into the coach, while the Prince comforted
+him, saying, he trusted that he would soon be well again, for he
+would pray daily to the Lord Jesus for him, whose blessed cross
+had been their protection, and that he should have all his gold
+again, and the lands of Crienke in addition. So faithful a vassal
+must never be parted from his Prince, for inasmuch as he hated
+Sidonia, so he loved and praised him. They were like the two
+Judases in Scripture, of whom some one had said, "What one gave to
+the devil, the other brought back to God."
+
+And now he saw the wonderful hand of God in all; for if it had not
+rained, the powder of the robber-band would have been dry, and
+then they were all lost. _Item_, the knight would not have
+stopped to empty his boots, and they never would have heard the
+screams of his dear wife. _Item_, if he had himself not
+forgotten the date, he would never have driven up close to the
+cross, which cross had saved them all, but, in particular, saved
+their dear Marcus, after a miraculous manner. "Look how the
+blessed wood is everywhere pierced with spears, and yet we are all
+living! Therefore let us hope in the Lord, for He is our helper
+and defender!"
+
+Then the Duke turned to the stout Dinnies, and prayed him to enter
+his service, but in vain, for he was sworn vassal to his Highness
+of Stettin. So his Grace took off his golden collar, and put it on
+his neck, and the Princess drew off her diamond ring to give him,
+whereupon her spouse laughed heartily, and asked, Did she think
+the good knight had a finger for her little ring? To which she
+replied, But the brave knight may have a dear wife who could wear
+it for her sake, for he must not go without some token of her
+gratitude.
+
+However, the knight put back the ring himself, saying that he had
+no spouse, and would never have one; therefore the ring was
+useless. So the Princess wonders, and asks why he will have no
+spouse; to which he replied, that he feared the fate of Samson,
+for had not love robbed him of his strength? He, too, might meet a
+Delilah, who would cut off his long hair. Then riding up close to
+the carriage, he removed his plumed hat from his head, and down
+fell his long black hair, that was gathered up under it, over his
+shoulders like a veil, even till it swept the flanks of his horse.
+Would not her Grace think it a grief and sorrow if a woman sheared
+those locks? In such pleasant discourse they reached Mutzelburg,
+where, as the good Marcus was so weak, they resolved to put up for
+the night, and send for a chirurgeon instantly to Uckermund. And
+so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother._
+
+
+When their Highnesses entered the inn at Mutzelburg, they found it
+filled with burghers and peasants out of Uckermund, Pasewalk, and
+other adjacent places, on their way to Stettin, to petition his
+Grace the Duke to open the courts of justice, for thieves and
+robbers had so multiplied throughout the land, that no road was
+safe; and all kinds of witchcraft, and imposture, and devil's work
+were so rife, that the poor people were plagued out of their
+lives, and no redress was to be had, seeing his Grace had closed
+all the courts of justice. Forty burghers had been selected to
+present the petition, and great was the joy to meet now with his
+Grace Prince Ernest, for assuredly he would give them a letter to
+his illustrious brother, and strengthen the prayer of their
+petition. The Prince readily promised to do this, particularly as
+his own life and that of his bride had just been in such sore
+peril, all owing to the obstinacy of his Grace of Stettin in not
+opening the courts.
+
+Meanwhile the leech had visited good Marcus Bork, who was much
+easier after his wounds were dressed, and promised to do well, to
+the great joy of their Graces; and Dinnies Kleist went to the
+stable to see after his horse, there being so many there, in
+consequence of this gathering of envoys, that he feared they might
+fight. Now, as he passed through the kitchen, the knight observed
+a man bargaining with the innkeeper; and he had a kettle before
+him, into which he was cramming sausages, bread, ham, and all
+sorts of eatables. But he would have taken no further heed, only
+that the carl had but one tail to his coat, which made the knight
+at once recognise him as the very fellow whose coat-tail he had
+hewed off in the forest. He sprang on him, therefore; and as the
+man drew his knife, Dinnies seized hold of him and plumped him
+down, head foremost, into a hogshead of water, holding him
+straight up by the feet till he had drunk his fill. So the poor
+wretch began to quiver at last in his death agonies; whereupon the
+knight called out, "Wilt thou confess? or hast thou not drunk
+enough yet?"
+
+"He would confess, if the knight promised him life. His name was
+Konnemann; he had lost his mill and all he was worth, by the Loitz
+bankruptcy, therefore had joined the robber-band, who held their
+meeting in an old cave in the forest, where also they kept their
+booty." On further question, he said it was an old, ruined place,
+with the walls all tumbling down. A man named Muckerwitze had
+lived there once, who buried his wife alive in this cave,
+therefore it had been deserted ever since.
+
+Then the knight asked the innkeeper if he knew of such a place in
+the forest; who said, "Yes." Then he asked if he knew this fellow,
+Konnemann; but the host denied all knowledge of him (though he
+knew him well enough, I think). Upon which Konnemann said, "That
+he merely came to buy provisions for the band, who were hungry,
+and had despatched him to see what he could get, while they
+remained hiding in the cave." The knight having laid these facts
+before their Graces and the envoys, it was agreed that they should
+steal a march upon the robbers next morning, and meanwhile keep
+Konnemann safe under lock and key.
+
+Next morning they set off by break of day, taking Konnemann as
+guide, and surrounded the old ruin, which lay upon a hill buried
+in oak-trees; but not a sound was heard inside. They approached
+nearer--listened at the cave--nothing was to be heard. This
+angered Dinnies Kleist, for he thought the miller had played a
+trick on them, who, however, swore he was innocent; and as the
+knight threatened to give him something fresh to drink in the
+castle well, he offered to light a pine torch and descend into the
+cave. Hardly was he down, however, when they heard him
+screaming--"The robbers have murdered the women--they are all
+lying here stone dead, but not a man is to be seen."
+
+The knight then went down with his good sword drawn. True enough,
+there lay the old hag, her daughter, and Sidonia, all stained with
+blood, and stiff and cold, upon the damp ground. And when the
+knight asked, "Which is Sidonia?" the fellow put the pine torch
+close to her face, which was blue and cold. Then the knight took
+up her little hand, and dropped it again, and shook his head, for
+the said little hand was stiff and cold as that of a corpse.
+
+_Summa_.--As there was nothing further to be done here, the
+knight left the corpses to moulder away in the old cellar, and
+returned with the burghers to Mutzelburg, when his Highness
+wondered much over the strange event; but Marcus rejoiced that his
+wicked cousin was now dead, and could bring no further disgrace
+upon his ancient name.
+
+But was the wicked cousin dead? She had heard every word that had
+been said in the cave; for they had all drunk some broth made by
+the gipsy mother, which can make men seem dead, though they hear
+and see everything around them. Such devil's work is used by
+robbers sometimes in extremity, as some toads have the power of
+seeming dead when people attempt to seize them. It will soon be
+seen what a horrible use Sidonia made of this devil's potion.
+
+Wherefore she tried its effect upon herself now, I know not--I
+have my own thoughts upon the subject--but it is certain that the
+innkeeper, who was a secret friend of the robbers (as most
+innkeepers were in those evil times), had sent a messenger by
+night to warn them of their danger. So, while the band saved
+themselves by hiding in the forest, perhaps the old hag
+recommended this plan for the women, as they had got enough of
+cold steel the day before; or perhaps the robbers wished to have a
+proof of the power of this draught, in case they might want to
+save themselves, some time or other, by appearing dead. Still I
+cannot, with any certainty, assert why they should all three
+choose to simulate death.
+
+Further, just to show the daring of these robber-bands, now that
+his Highness had closed the courts, I shall end this chapter by
+relating what happened at Monkbude, a town through which their
+Highnesses passed that same day, and which, although close to the
+Stettin border, belongs to Wolgast.
+
+It was Sunday, and after the priest had said Amen from the pulpit,
+the sexton rung the kale-bell. This bell was a sign throughout all
+Pomerania land, to the women-folk who were left at home in the
+houses, to prepare dinner; for then, in all the churches, the
+closing hymn began--"Give us, Lord, our daily bread." So the maid,
+at the first stroke of the bell, lifted off the kale-pot from the
+fire, and had the kale dished, with the sausages, and whatever
+else was wanting, by the time that the hymn was over, and father
+and mother had come out of church. Then, whatever poor wretch had
+fasted all the week, and never tasted a morsel of blessed bread,
+if he passed on a Sunday through the town, might get his fill; for
+when the hymn is sung, "Give us, Lord, our daily bread," the doors
+lie open, and no stranger or wayfarer is turned away empty.
+
+Just before their Highnesses had entered the town, this kale-bell
+had been rung, and each maid in the houses had laid the kale and
+meat upon the table, ready for the family, when, behold! in rush a
+troop of robbers from the forest, Appelmann at their head--seize
+every dish with the kale and meat that had been laid on the
+tables, stick the loaves into their pockets, and gallop away as
+hard as they can across into the Stettin border.
+
+How the maids screamed and lamented I leave unsaid; but if any one
+of them followed and seized a robber by the hair, he drew his
+knife, so she was glad enough to run back again, while the
+impudent troop laughed and jeered. Thus was it then in dear
+Pomerania land! It seemed as if God had forsaken them; for the
+nobles began their feuds, as of old, and the Jews were tormented
+even to the death--yea, even the pastors were chased away, as if,
+indeed, they had all learned of Otto Bork, these nobles saying,
+"What need of these idle, prating swaddlers, with their prosy
+sermons and whining psalms, teaching, forsooth, that all men are
+equal, and that God makes no difference between lord and peasant?
+Away with them! If the people learn such doctrine, no wonder if
+they grow proud and disobedient--better no priests in the land."
+And such-like ungodly talk was heard everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts._
+
+
+At this time, one David Grosskopf was pastor of Marienfliess. He
+was a learned and pious man, and like other pious priests, was in
+the habit of gathering all the women-folk of the parish in his
+study of a winter's evening, particularly the young maidens, with
+their spinning-wheels. And there they all sat spinning round the
+comfortable fire, while he read out to them from God's Word, and
+questioned them on it, and exhorted them to their duties. Thus was
+it done every evening during the winter, the maidens spinning
+diligently till midnight without even growing weary; or if one of
+them nodded, she was given a cup of cold water to drink, to make
+her fresh again. So there was plenty of fine linen by each New
+Year's day, and their masters were well pleased. No peasant kept
+his daughter at home, but sent her to the priest, where she
+learned her duties, and was kept safe from the young men. Even old
+mothers went there, among whom Trina Bergen always gave the best
+answers, and was much commended by the priest in consequence. This
+pleased her mightily, so that she boasted everywhere of it; but
+withal she was an excellent old woman, only the neighbours looked
+rather jealously on her.
+
+This same priest, with all his goodness and learning, was yet a
+bad logician; for by his careless speaking in one of his sermons,
+much commotion was raised in the village. In this sermon he
+asserted that anything out of the usual course of nature must be
+devil's work, and ought to be held in abhorrence by all good
+Christians: he suffered for this after-wards, as we shall see. On
+the Monday after this discourse, he journeyed into Poland, to
+visit a brother who dwelt in some town there, I know not which.
+
+Then arose a great talking amongst the villagers concerning the
+said Trina Bergen; for the cocks began to sit upon the eggs in
+place of the hens, in her poultry-yard, and all the people came
+together to see the miracle, and as it was against the course of
+nature, it must be devil's work, and Trina Bergen was a witch.
+
+In vain the old mother protested she knew nothing of it, then runs
+to the priest's house, but he is away; from that to the mayor of
+the village, but he is going out to shoot, and bid her and the
+villagers pack off with their silly stories.
+
+So the poor old mother gets no help, and meanwhile the peasants
+storm her house, and search and ransack every corner for proofs of
+her witchcraft, but nothing can be found. Stay! there in the
+cellar sits a woman, who will not tell her name.
+
+They drag her out, bring her up to the parlour, while the old
+mother sits wringing her hands. Who was this woman? and how did
+she come into the cellar?
+
+_Illa_.--"She had hired her to spin, because her daughter was
+out at service till autumn, and she could not do all the work
+herself."
+
+"Why then did she sit in the cellar, as if she shunned the light?"
+
+_Illa_.--"The girl had prayed for leave to sit there, because
+the screaming of the young geese in the yard disturbed her;
+besides, she had been only two days with her."
+
+"But who in the devil's name was the girl? It was easy to see she
+had bewitched the hens, for everything against the course of
+nature must be devil's work."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, yes! this must be the truth. Let them chase the
+devil away. Now she saw why the girl would not sit in the light,
+and had refused to enter the blessed church with her the day
+before."
+
+"What was her name? They should both be sent to the devil, if she
+did not tell the girl's name."
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! she had forgotten it, but ask herself. Her
+story was, that she had been married to a peasant in Usdom, who
+died lately, and his relations then turned her out, that she was
+now going to Daber, where she had a brother, a fisher in the
+service of the Dewitz family, and wanted to earn a travelling
+penny by spinning, to convey her there."
+
+Now as the rumour of witchcraft spread through the village, all
+the people ran together, from every part, to Trina's house. And a
+pale young man pressed forward from amongst the crowd, to look at
+the supposed witch. When he stood before her, the girl cast down
+her eyes gloomily, and he cried out, "It is she! it is the very
+accursed witch who robbed me of my strength by her sorceries, and
+barely escaped from the fagot--seize her--that is Anna Wolde. Now
+he knew what the elder sticks meant, which he found set up as a
+gallows before his door this morning--the witch wanted to steal
+away his manhood from him again--burn her! burn her! Come and see
+the elder sticks, if they did not believe him!"
+
+So the whole village ran to his cottage, where he had just brought
+home a widow, whom he was going to marry, and there indeed stood
+the elder sticks right before his door in the form of a gallows,
+upon which the sheriff was wroth, and commanded the girl to be
+brought before him with her hands bound.
+
+But as she denied everything, Zabel Bucher, the sheriff, ordered
+the hangman to be sent for, to see what the rack might do in
+eliciting the truth. Further, he bade the people make a fire in
+the street, and burn the elder sticks therein.
+
+So the fire is lit, but no one will touch the sticks. Then the
+sheriff called his hound and bade him fetch them; but Fixlein, who
+was acute enough at other times, pretended not to know what his
+master wanted. In vain the sheriff bent down on the ground,
+pointing with his finger, and crying, "Here, Fixlein! fetch,
+Fixlein!" No, Fixlein runs round and round the elder sticks till
+the dust rises up in a cloud, and yelps, and barks, and jumps, and
+stares at his master, but never touches the sticks, only at last
+seizes a stone in his mouth, and runs with it to the sheriff.
+
+Now, indeed, there was a commotion amongst the people. Not even
+the dog would touch the accursed thing. So at last the sheriff
+called for a pair of tongs, to seize the sticks himself and fling
+them into the fire. Whereupon his wife screamed to prevent him;
+but the brave sheriff, strengthening his heart, advanced and
+touched them; whereupon Fixlein, as if he had never known until
+now what his master wanted, made a grab at them, but the sheriff
+gave him a blow on the nose with the tongs which sent him away
+howling, and then, with desperate courage and a stout heart,
+seizing the elder twigs in the tongs, flung them boldly into the
+fire.
+
+Meanwhile Peter Bollerjahn, the hangman, has arrived, and when he
+hears of the devilry he shakes his head, but thinks he could make
+the girl speak, if they only let him try his way a little. But
+they must first get authority from the mayor. Now the mayor had
+not gone to the hunt, for some friends arrived to visit him, whom
+he was obliged to stay at home and entertain, so the whole crowd,
+with the sheriff, Zabel Bucher, at the head, set off to the
+mayoralty, bringing the witch with them, and prayed his lordship
+to make a terrible example of her, for that witchcraft was
+spreading fearfully in the land, and they would have no peace
+else.
+
+Whereupon he came out with his guests to look at the miserable
+criminal, who, conscious of her guilt, stood there silent and
+glowering; but he could do nothing for them--did they not know
+that his Highness had closed all the courts of justice, therefore
+he could not help them, nor be troubled about their affairs? Upon
+which the sheriff cried out, "Then we shall help ourselves; let us
+burn the witch who bewitches our hens, and sticks up elder sticks
+before people's doors. Come, let us right ourselves!" So the mayor
+said they might do as they pleased, he had no power to hinder
+them, only let them remember that when the courts reopened, they
+would be called to a strict account for all this. And he went into
+his house, but the people shouted and dragged away the witch, with
+loud yells, to the hangman, bidding him stretch her on the rack
+before all their eyes.
+
+When the girl saw and heard all this, and remembered how the old
+Lord Chamberlain at Wolgast had stretched her till her hip was
+broken, she cried out, "I will confess all, only spare me the
+torture, for I dread it more than death."
+
+Upon this, the sheriff said, "He would ask her three questions,
+and pronounce judgment accordingly." (Oh! what evil times for dear
+Pomerania land, when the people could thus take the law into their
+own hands, and pronounce judgment, though no judges were there.
+Had the bailiff given her a little twist of the rack, just to get
+at the truth, it would at least have been more in accordance with
+the usages, although I say not he would have been justified in so
+doing; but without using the rack at all, to believe what this
+devil's wretch uttered, and judge her thereupon, was grossly
+improper and absurd.) _Summa_, here are the three
+questions:--
+
+"First, whether she had bewitched the hens; and for what?"
+
+_Respond_.--"Simply to amuse herself; for the time hung heavy
+in the cellar, and she could see them through the chinks in the
+wall." (Let her wait; Master Peter will soon give her something to
+amuse her.)
+
+"Second, why and wherefore had she stuck up the elder twigs?"
+
+_Respond_.-"Because she had been told that Albert was going
+to marry a widow; for he had promised her marriage, as all the
+world knew, and even called her by his name, Wolde Albrechts, and
+therefore she had put a spell upon him of elder twigs, that he
+might turn away the widow and marry her." (Let her wait; Master
+Peter will soon stick up elder twigs for her.)
+
+"Third, whether she had a devil; and how was he named?"
+
+Here she remained silent, then began to deny it, but was reminded
+of the rack, and Master Peter got ready his instruments as if for
+instant use; so she sighed heavily, and answered, "Yes, she had a
+familiar called Jurge, and he appeared always in the form of a
+man."
+
+Upon this confession the sheriff roared, "Burn the witch!" and all
+the people shouted after him, "Burn the witch! the accursed
+witch!" and she was delivered over to Master Peter.
+
+But he made answer that he had never burned a witch; he would,
+however, go over to Massow in the morning, to his brother-in-law,
+who had burned many, and learn the mode from him. Meanwhile the
+peasants might collect ten or twelve clumps of wood upon the
+Koppenberg, and so would they frighten all women from practising
+this devil's magic. Would they not burn Trina Bergen likewise--the
+old hag who had the witch in her cellar? It would be a right
+pleasant spectacle to the whole town.
+
+This, however, the peasants did not wish. Upon which the carl
+asked what he was to be paid for his trouble? Formerly the state
+paid for the criminal, but the courts now would have nothing to do
+with the business. What was he to get? So the peasants consulted
+together, and at last offered him a sack of oats at Michaelmas,
+just that they might have peace in the village. Whereupon he
+consented to burn her; only in addition they must give him a free
+journey to Massow on the morrow.
+
+_Summa_.--When the third morning dawned, all the village came
+together to accompany the witch up the Koppenberg: the
+schoolmaster, with all his school going before, singing, "Now pray
+we to the Holy Ghost;" then came Master Peter with the witch, he
+bearing a pan of lighted coal in his hand. But, lo! when they
+reached the pile on the Koppenberg, behold it was wet wood which
+the stupid peasants had gathered.
+
+Now the hangman fell into a great rage. Who the devil could burn a
+witch with wet wood? She must have bewitched it. This was as bad
+as the hen business.
+
+Some of the people then offered to run for some dry wood and hay;
+but my knave saw that he might turn the matter to profit, so he
+proposed to sack the witch in place of burning her; "for," said
+he, "it will be a far more edifying spectacle and example to your
+children, this sacking in place of burning. There was a lake quite
+close to the town, and, indeed, he had forgotten yesterday to
+propose it to them. The plan was this. They were to tie her up in
+a leathern sack, with a dog, a cock, and a cat. (Ah, what a pity
+he had killed the wild-cat which he had caught some weeks before
+in the fox-trap.) Then they would throw all into the lake, where
+the cat and dog, and cock and witch, would scream and fight, and
+bite and scratch, until they sank; but after a little while up
+would come the sack again, and the screaming, biting, and fighting
+would be renewed until they all sank down again and for ever.
+Sometimes, indeed, they would tear a hole in the sack, which
+filled with water, and so they were all drowned. In any case it
+was a fine improving lesson to their children; let them ask the
+schoolmaster if the sacking was not a far better spectacle for the
+dear children than the burning."
+
+"Ay, 'tis true," cried the schoolmaster; "sacking is better."
+
+Upon which all the people shouted after him, "Ay, sack her! sack
+her!"
+
+When the knave heard this, he continued--
+
+"Now, they heard what the schoolmaster said, but he could not do
+all this for a sack of oats, for, indeed, leather sacks were very
+dear just now; but if each one added a sack of meal and a goose at
+Michaelmas, why, he would try and manage the sacking. The lake was
+broad and deep, and it lay right beneath them, so that all the
+dear children could see the sight from the hill."
+
+However, the peasants would by no means agree to the sack of meal,
+whereupon a great dispute arose around the pile, and a bargaining
+about the price with great tumult and uproar.
+
+Now the robber-band were in the vicinity, and Sidonia, hearing the
+noise, peeped out through the bushes and recognised Anna Wolde;
+then, guessing from the pile what they were going to do to her,
+she begged of Johann to save the poor girl, if possible; for
+Sidonia and the knave were now on the best of terms, since he had
+chased away the gipsy hag and her daughter for robbing him.
+
+So Johann gives the word, and the band, which now numbered one
+hundred strong, burst forth from the wood with wild shouts and
+cries. Ho! how the people fled on all sides, like chaff before the
+wind! The executioner is the first off, throws away his pan of
+coals, and takes to his heels. _Item_, the schoolmaster, with
+all his school, take to their heels; the sheriff, the women,
+peasants, spectators-all, with one accord, take to their heels,
+screaming and roaring.
+
+The witch alone remains, for she is lame and cannot run; but she
+screams, too, and wrings her hands, crying--
+
+"Take me with you; oh, take me with you; for the love of God take
+me with you; I am lame and cannot run!"
+
+_Summa_.--One can easily imagine how it all ended. The
+witch-girl was saved, and, as she now owed her life a second time
+to Sidonia, she swore eternal fidelity and gratitude to the lady,
+promising to give her something in recompense for all the benefits
+she had conferred on her. Alas, that I should have to say to
+Christian men what this was! [Footnote: Namely, the evil spirit
+Chim. See Sidonia's confession upon the rack, vol. iv. Dahnert's
+Pomeranian Library, p. 244.]
+
+And when Sidonia asked how things went on in Daber, great was her
+joy to hear that the whole castle and town were full of company,
+for the nuptials of Clara von Dewitz and Marcus Bork were
+celebrated there. And the old Duchess from Wolgast had arrived,
+along with Duke Johann Frederick, and the Dukes Barnim, Casimir,
+and Bogislaff. _Item_, a grand cavalcade of nobles had ridden
+to the wedding upon four hundred horses, and lords and ladies from
+all the country round thronged the castle.
+
+Now Johann Appelmann would not credit the witch-girl, for he had
+seen none of all this company upon the roads; but she said her
+brother the fisherman told her that their Graces travelled by
+water as far as Wollin, for fear of the robbers, and from thence
+by land to Daber.
+
+When Sidonia heard this she fell upon Johann's neck, exclaiming--
+
+"Revenge me now, Johann! revenge me! Now is the time; they are all
+there. Revenge me in their blood!"
+
+This seemed rather a difficult matter to Johann, but he promised
+to call together the whole band, and see what could be done. So he
+went his way to the band, and then the evil-minded witch-girl
+began again, and told Sidonia, that if she chose to burn the
+castle at Daber, and make an end of all her enemies at once, there
+was some one hard by in the bush who would help her, for he was
+stronger than all the band put together.
+
+_Illa_.--"Who was her friend? Let her go and bring him."
+
+_Haec_.--"She must first cross her hand with gold, and give a
+piece of money for him; [Footnote: According to the witches, every
+evil spirit must be purchased, no matter how small the price, but
+something must be given-a ball of worsted, a kerchief, &c.] then
+he would come and revenge her."
+
+Sidonia's eyes now sparkled wildly, and she put some money in the
+woman's hand, who murmured, "For the evil one;" then stepped
+behind a tree, and returned in a short time with a black cat
+wrapped up in her apron.
+
+"This," she said, "was the strong spirit Chim. [Footnote:
+Joachim.] Let her give him plenty to eat, but show him to no one.
+When she wanted his assistance, strike him three times on the
+head, and he would assume the form of a man. Strike him six times
+to restore him again to this form."
+
+Now Sidonia would scarcely credit this; so, looking round to see
+if they were quite alone, she struck the animal three times on the
+head, who instantly started up in the form of a gay young man,
+with red stockings, a black doublet, and cap with stately heron's
+plumes.
+
+"Yes, yes," he exclaimed, "I know thy enemies, and will revenge
+thee, beautiful child. I will burn the castle of Daber for thee,
+if thou wilt only do my bidding; but now, quick! strike me again
+on the head, that I may reassume my original form, for some one
+may see us; and put me in a basket, so can I travel with thee
+wheresoever thou goest."
+
+And thus did Sidonia with the evil spirit Chim, as she afterwards
+confessed upon the rack, when she was a horrible old hag of
+eighty-four years of age.
+
+And he went with her everywhere, and suggested all the evil to her
+which she did, whereof we shall hear more in another place.
+[Footnote: Dahnert.--This belief in the power of evil spirits to
+assume the form of animals, comes to us from remotest
+antiquity--example, the serpent in Paradise. In all religions, and
+amongst all nations, this belief seems firmly rooted; but even if
+we do not see a visible devil, do we not, alas! know and feel that
+there is one ever with us, ever pre-sent, ever suggesting all
+wickedness to us, as this devil to Sidonia?-even our own evil
+nature. For what else is the Christian life, but a warfare between
+the divine within us and this ever-present Satan?--and through
+God's grace alone can we resist this devil.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night-Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the
+castle._
+
+
+When Johann and Sidonia proposed to the band that they should
+pillage the castle of Daber, they all shouted with delight, and
+swore that life and limb might be perilled, but the castle should
+be theirs that night. Nevertheless my knave Johann thought it a
+dangerous undertaking, for they knew no one inside the walls, and
+Anna Wolde, the witch, could not come with them, seeing that she
+was lame. So at last he thought of sending Konnemann disguised as
+a beggar, to examine the courtyard and all the out
+offices--perchance he might spy out some unguarded door by which
+they could effect an entrance.
+
+Then Sidonia said she would go too, and although Johann tried hard
+to persuade her, yet she begged so earnestly for leave that
+finally he consented. Yes, she must see the very spot where the
+viper was hatched which had stung her to death. Ah, she would brew
+something for her in return; pity only that the wedding was over,
+otherwise the little bride should never have touched a
+wedding-ring, if she could help it; but it was too late now.
+
+So the three Satan's children slipped out upon the highway from
+the wood, and travelled on so near to the castle that the noise,
+and talking, and laughing, and barking of dogs, and neighing of
+horses, were all quite audible to their ears.
+
+Now the castle of Daber is built upon a hill which is entirely
+surrounded by water, so that the castle can be approached only by
+two bridges--one southwards, leading from the town; the other
+eastwards, leading direct through the castle gardens. The castle
+itself was a noble, lofty pile, with strong towers and
+spires--almost as stately a building as my gracious lord's castle
+at Saatzig.
+
+When Johann observed all this, his heart failed him, and as he and
+his two companions peeped out at it from behind a thorn-bush, they
+agreed that it would be hard work to take such a castle,
+garrisoned, as it was now, by four hundred men or more, with their
+mere handful of partisans.
+
+But Satan knows how to help his own, for what happened while they
+were crouching there and arguing? Behold, the old Dewitz, as an
+offering to the church at Daber upon his daughter's marriage, had
+promised twenty good acres of land to be added to the glebe. And
+he comes now up the hill, with a great crowd of men to dig the
+boundary. So the Satan's children behind the thorn-bush feared
+they would be discovered; but it was not so, and the crowd passed
+on unheeding them.
+
+Old Dewitz now called the witnesses, and bid them take note of the
+position of the boundary. There where the hill, the wild
+apple-tree, and the town tower were all in one line, was the
+limit; let them keep this well in their minds. Then calling over
+six lads, he bid them take note likewise of the boundary, that
+when the old people were dead they might stand up as witnesses;
+but as such things were easily forgotten, he, the priest, and the
+churchwarden would write it down for them, so that it never, by
+any chance, could escape their memory.
+
+Upon which the good knight, being lord and patron, took a stout
+stick the first, and cudgelled the young lads well, asking them
+between terms--
+
+"Where is the boundary?"
+
+To which they answered, screaming and roaring--
+
+"Where the hill, the apple-tree, and the town tower are all in one
+line."
+
+Then the knight, laughing, handed over the stick to the priest,
+saying--
+
+"It was still possible they might forget; they better, therefore,
+have another little memorandum from his reverence."
+
+"No! no!" screamed the boys, "we will remember it to eternity."
+
+However, his reverence just gave them a little touch of the stick
+in fun, till they roared out the boundary marks a second time.
+
+But now stepped forth the churchwarden, to take his turn with the
+stick on the boys' backs. This man had been a forester of the old
+Baron Dewitz, and had often taken note of one of the young fellows
+present, how he had poached and stolen the buck-wheat, so he
+gladly seized this opportunity to punish him for all his misdeeds,
+and laying the cudgel on his shoulders, thrashed and belaboured
+him so unmercifully, that the lad ran, shrieking, cursing,
+howling, and roaring, far away in amongst the bushes to hide
+himself, while the churchwarden cried out--
+
+"Well! if all the other lads forget the boundary, I think my fine
+fellow here will bear the memorandum to the day of judgment."
+
+And so they went away laughing from the place, and returned to the
+castle.
+
+But the devil drew his profit from all this, for where should the
+lad run to, but close to the very spot where the robbers were
+hiding, and there he threw himself down upon the grass, writhing
+and howling, and swearing he would be revenged upon the
+churchwarden. This is a fine hearing for my knave in the bush, so
+he steps forward, and asks--
+
+"What vile Josel had dared to ill-treat so brave a youth? He would
+help him to a revenge upon the base knave, for injustice was a
+thing he never could suffer. The tears really were in his eyes to
+think that such wickedness should be in the world;" and here he
+pretended to wipe his eyes. So the lad, being quite overcome by
+such compassionate sympathy, howled and cried ten times more--
+
+"It was the forester Kell, the shameless hound; but he would play
+him a trick for it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. He owed the fellow a drubbing already
+himself, and now he would have a double one, if he could only get
+hold of him."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would run and tell him that a great lord wanted
+to speak to him here in the forest."
+
+_Ille_.-"No, no; that would scarcely answer; but where did
+the fellow live?"
+
+_Hic_.-"In the castle, where his father lived likewise."
+
+_Ille_.-"Who was his father?"
+
+_Hic_.--"His father was the steward."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ah, then, he kept the keys of the castle?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Oh yes, and the key of the back entrance also, which
+led through the gardens. His father kept one key, and the gardener
+the other."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, he would tell him a secret. This very Kell
+had deceived him once, like a knave as he was, and he was watching
+to punish him, but he daren't go up to the castle in the broad
+daylight, particularly now while the wedding was going on. How
+long would it last?"
+
+_Hic_.--"For three days more; it had lasted three days
+already, and the castle was full of company, and great lords from
+all the country round, a great deal grander even than old Dewitz,
+were there."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, it would be quite impossible to go up
+to the castle and flog the churchwarden before all the company--he
+could see that himself. But supposing he let him in at night
+through the garden door, couldn't they get the knave out on some
+pretence, and then drub him to their heart's content?"
+
+So the lad was delighted with the plan, particularly on hearing
+that he was to help in the drubbing; but then if the forester
+recognised him, what was to be done? he would be ruined. To which
+Johann answered--
+
+"Just put on an old cloak, and speak no word; then, neither by
+dress nor voice will he know thee; besides, the night will be
+quite dark, so fear nothing. We'll teach him, I engage, how to
+beat a fine young fellow again, or to rob me of my gold, as he
+did, the base, unworthy knave."
+
+Here the lad laughed outright with joy. "Yes, yes, that would just
+do; and he could put on his father's old mantle, and bring a stout
+crab-stick along with him."
+
+_Hic_.--"All right, young friend; but how was he to get into
+the castle garden? Was there not a drawbridge which was lifted
+every night?"
+
+_Hic._--"Oh yes; but his father very often sent him to draw
+it up, and he could leave it down for tonight; then he would get
+the forester, by some means, into the shrubbery, where it was dark
+as pitch, and they could thrash the dog there without any one
+knowing a word about it."
+
+_Ille._-"Good! Then when the tower-clock struck nine, let him
+come himself and admit him into the garden--time enough after to
+run for the forester, while he was hiding himself in the
+shrubbery, for no one must know a word about his being there."
+Then he gave the lad a knife, and told him if all turned out well
+he should have a piece of gold in addition. "Ah! they would give
+him a warm greeting, this dog of a forester! But after he had
+called him out, the lad must pretend as if he had nothing to do
+with the matter, and go back to the house, or slip down some
+by-path."
+
+So the lad jumped with joy when he got hold of the knife, and
+skipped off to the castle, promising to be at the drawbridge when
+nine o'clock struck from the tower, to admit his good friend into
+the garden.
+
+Meanwhile my gracious Lady of Wolgast was making preparations for
+her departure on the morrow from the castle, for she had been
+attending the wedding festivities with her four sons, and Ulrich,
+the Grand Chamberlain; but previous to taking leave of her dear
+son, Duke Johann Frederick, she wished to make one more attempt to
+induce him to take off the interdict from the country, and allow
+the courts of justice to be re-opened, for thus would the land be
+freed from these wild hordes who haunted every road, and filled
+all hearts with fear.
+
+For this purpose she went up to his own private chamber in the
+castle, bringing old Ulrich along with her; and when they entered,
+old Ulrich, having closed the door, began--"Now, gracious lady,
+speak to your son as befits a mother and your princely Grace to
+do."
+
+Upon which he took his seat at the table, looking around him as
+sour as a vinegar-cruet.
+
+So the Duchess lifted up her voice with many tears, and prayed his
+Highness of Stettin to stem all this violence that raged in the
+land, as a loving Prince and father towards his subjects. He had
+resisted all her entreaties until now, with those of his dear
+brothers and old Ulrich; and had not even his host and the whole
+nobility tried to soften his heart towards his people, who were
+suffering by his hard resolve? But surely he would not refuse her
+now, for she had come to take her leave of him, and had brought
+his old guardian and his brothers to plead along with her;
+besides, who knew what might happen next? For she heard, to her
+astonishment, that Sidonia was not dead at all, as they supposed,
+but roaming through the country with her accursed paramour. Had
+she known this, never would she have permitted this long journey,
+dear even as the bride was to her heart, but would have stayed at
+Wolgast to watch over her heart's dear son, Ernest, and his young
+spouse, who rightly feared to put themselves in danger again,
+after the sore peril they had encountered in the Stettin forest;
+and who knew what might happen to her on the journey homeward? for
+if she encountered Sidonia, what could she expect from her but the
+bitterest death? (weeping.) Ah, this all came upon them because
+the young Duke had despised the admonitions of his blessed father
+upon his death-bed, and thought not of that Scripture which saith,
+"The father's blessing buildeth the children's houses, but the
+curse of the mother pulleth them down." [Footnote: Sirach iii.
+II.] She had never cursed him yet, but that day might come.
+
+Then Duke Johann answered, "He was sad to see his darling mother
+chafe and fret about these same courts of justice, but his
+princely honour was pledged, and he could not retract one word
+until the states came back to their duty, and gave him the gold he
+demanded. For how could he stand before the world as a fool? He
+had begun this castle of Friedrichswald, and had ordered all kinds
+of statues, paintings, &c., from Italy, for which gold must be
+paid. How, then, if he had none?"
+
+"But those were idle follies," his mother answered, "and showed
+how true were the words of Solomon--'When a prince wanteth
+understanding, there is great oppression.'" [Footnote: Prov.
+xxviii. 16.]
+
+Here the Duke grew angry. "It was false; he did not want
+understanding. Well it was that no one had dared to say this to
+him but his mother."
+
+But my gracious lady could not hear him plainly; for his Serene
+Highness, Barnim the younger, who had drunk rather freely at
+dinner, began to snore so loudly, that he snored away a paper
+which lay before old Ulrich, upon which he had been sketching a
+list of _propositions_ for the reconciliation of the Duke and
+the estates of the kingdom.
+
+Hereupon the old chamberlain cursed and swore--"May the seven
+thousand devils take them! One snarls at his mother, and the other
+snores away his paper! Did the Prince think that Pomerania was
+like Saxony, when he began these fine buildings at Friedrichswald?
+His Grace had a house at Stettin; what did he want with a second?
+Was his Grace better than his forefathers? And would not his Grace
+have Oderburg when old Duke Barnim died? and castles and towns all
+round the land?"
+
+But the Duke answered proudly, "That Ulrich should remember his
+guardianship had ended. He knew himself what to do and what to
+leave undone."
+
+Herewith the young Lord Bogislaff broke in--"Yet, dearest brother,
+be advised by us. Bethink you how I resigned my chance of the
+duchy at the Diet of Wollin, and now I am ready to give you up the
+annuity which I then received, if it will help your necessities,
+and that you promise thereupon to release the land from the
+interdict, that all this fearful villainy and lawlessness which is
+devastating the country may have an end."
+
+_Ille_.--"Matters were not so bad as he thought; besides, why
+cannot the people defend themselves, and take care of their own
+skin?"
+
+_Hic_.--"So they do; but this only increased injustice and
+lawlessness." Then he related many examples of how the despairing
+people of the different towns had executed justice, after their
+own manner, upon the robbers who fell into their hands. In
+Stolpschen, for instance, three fellows had been caught plundering
+the corn, and the peasants nailed them up to a tree, and whipped
+them till they dropped down dead. Well might Satan laugh over the
+sin and wickedness that reigned now in poor Pomerania.
+
+_Item_, he related how the peasants in Marienfliess were
+going to burn a witch, without trial or sentence. _Item_, how
+many peasants and villagers had hung up their own bailiffs, or
+strangled them. _Item_, how the priests had been chased away
+from many places, so that they now had to beg their bread upon the
+highway; and in such towns God's service was no more heard, but
+each one lived as it pleased him, and the peasants did as they
+chose. And now he would ask his heart's dear brother, which would
+be more upright and honourable in the sight of the great God--to
+build up this castle of Friedrichswald, or to let it fall, and
+build up the virtue and happiness of his people? He could not
+build the castle without money, and he had none; but he could
+restore his land to peace and happiness by a word. Let him, then,
+open these long-closed courts of justice, for this was his duty as
+a Prince; and let him remember that every prince was ordained of
+God, and must answer to Him for his government.
+
+Hereupon the Stettin Duke made answer--"Pity, good Bogislaff, thou
+wert not a village priest! Hast thou finished thy sermon? Truly
+thou wert never meant for a prince, as we heard from thy own lips,
+the day of the Diet at Wollin. Thou hast no sense of princely
+honour, I see, but I stand by mine; and now, by my princely
+honour, I pledge my princely word, that, until the states give me
+the money, the land shall remain in all things as it is."
+
+Here old Ulrich sprang to his feet (while my gracious lady sobbed
+aloud), clapped the table, and roared--"Seven thousand devils, my
+lord! are we to be robbed and murdered by those vile cut-throats
+that infest the land, and your Grace will fold your hands and do
+nothing, till they drive your Grace yourself out of the land, or
+run a spear through your body, as they would have done to your
+princely brother of Wolgast, only he had faithful vassals to
+defend him? If it is so to be, then must the nobles make their
+petition to the Emperor, and we shall see if his Imperial Majesty
+cannot bring your Grace to reason, though your mother and we all
+have failed to move you."
+
+Here the little Casimir, who was playing with the paper which his
+brother had snored away, ran up to his mother, and pulling her by
+the gown, said, "Gracious lady mamma, what ails my brother, the
+Stettin Duke? Is he drunk, too?"
+
+At which they all laughed, except Duke Johann, who gave a kick to
+his little brother, and then strode out of the room, exclaiming,
+"Sooner my life than my honour; I shall stay here no longer to be
+tutored and lectured, but will take my journey homewards this very
+night." And so he departed, but by a small side-door, for old
+Ulrich had locked the chief door on entering.
+
+Now, indeed, her Grace wept bitterly: ah! she thought the evil had
+left her house, which the fatal business at her wedding had
+wrought on it, when Dr. Martinus dropped the ring; but, alas! it
+was only beginning now; and yet she could not curse him, for he
+was her son, and she had borne him in pain and sorrow.
+
+_Summa_.--If many were displeased at these proceedings of his
+Grace, so also was the Lord God, as was seen clearly by many
+strange signs; for on that same night Duke Barnim the elder died
+at Oderburg, and all the crosses, knobs, and spires throughout the
+whole town turned quite black, though they had only been newly
+gilded a year before, and no rain, lightning, or thunder had been
+observed. [Footnote: The Duke died 29th September 1573, aged 72
+years.--_Micraelius_. 369.]
+
+But this was all clearly to show the anger of God over the sins of
+the young Duke, and by these signs He would admonish him to
+repentance, as a father might gently threaten a refractory child.
+As to what further happened his Grace when he went out by the
+little door, and the danger that befell him there, we shall hear
+more in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann
+by the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner._
+
+
+The castle was now almost quite still, for as the festival had
+already lasted three days, the guests were pretty well tired of
+dancing and drinking, and most of them, like young Prince Barnim,
+had lain down to snore. Yet still there were many drinking in the
+great hall, or dancing in the saloon, for the fiddles fiddled away
+merrily until far in the night.
+
+And it was a beautiful night this one; not too dark, but starry,
+bright, and soft and still, so that Marcus and his young bride
+glided away from the dancing and drinking, to wander in the cool,
+fresh air of the shrubbery, before they retired to their chamber.
+So they passed down the broad path that led from the garden to the
+drawbridge by the water-mill, and seating themselves on a bank
+under the shade of the trees, began to kiss and caress, as may
+well become a young bridal pair to do.
+
+Soon they heard nine o'clock strike from the town, and immediately
+after, stealthy footsteps coming along the shrubbery towards them.
+They held their breath, and remained quite still, thinking it was
+some half-drunken guest from the castle wandering this way; but
+then the drawbridge was lowered, and three persons advanced to a
+youth, as they could see plainly. One said, "Now?" to which
+another answered, "No, when I whistle!" He who had so asked, then
+went back again, but Sidonia and my knave came on with the
+boundary lad over the bridge (for, of course, every one will have
+guessed them) and entered the shrubbery where the young bridal
+pair were seated, but perfectly hidden, by reason of the darkness.
+
+The boundary lad would now have drawn up the bridge, but the knave
+hindered him--"Let him leave it down; how would he escape else, if
+the carl roared, and all came running out of the castle to see
+what was the matter?" Then Sidonia asked the boy, if he thought
+the castle folk would hear him? To which he answered, no. They
+could thrash the hound securely, and he had brought a short cudgel
+with him for the purpose. Upon which my knave murmured to him,
+"Lead on, then; I must get out of this dark place to see what I am
+about. And when we get to the end of it, do you run and bring him
+out here. Then we shall both pay him off bravely."
+
+So they crept on in the darkness towards the castle, but the young
+wedded pair had plenty of time to recognise both Sidonia and
+Appelmann by their voices. Therefore Marcus argued truly that the
+knave and his paramour could be about no good, for the whole land
+rang with their wickedness. And, no doubt, the band was in the
+vicinity, because Appelmann had answered, "No, when I whistle!"
+
+So the good Marcus grew wroth over the villainy of this shameless
+pair, who had evidently resolved on nothing less than the
+destruction of the whole princely race, and even this castle of
+Daber was not to be spared, which belonged to his dear bride's
+father, so that their wicked purposes might be fulfilled. Then he
+whispered, did his dear wife know of any byway that led to the
+castle? as she was born here, perhaps some such little path might
+be known to her, so that she would escape meeting the villain. And
+as she whispered in return, "Yes, there was such a path," he bid
+her run along it quick as thought, have all the bells rung when
+she reached the castle, and even the cannon fired, which was ready
+loaded for the farewell salute to the Lady of Wolgast on the
+morrow; and to gather as many people together, of all stations and
+ages, as could be summoned on the instant, and let them shout
+"Murder! murder!" Meanwhile he would run and draw up the bridge,
+then track the fellow along the shrubbery, and seize him if
+possible.
+
+How Clara trembled and hesitated, as a young girl might; but soon
+collecting herself, she said, although with much agitation, "I
+will trust in God: the Lord is my strength, of whom then should I
+be afraid?" and plunged alone into the darkest part of the
+shrubbery.
+
+Marcus instantly ran down to the garden door, and began to draw up
+the bridge with as little noise as possible. "What are you doing?"
+called out a voice to him from the other side. "I hear steps," he
+answered, "and perchance it is the castellan on his rounds; he
+would discover all." So he draws up the bridge, and then glided
+along the shrubbery after my knave.
+
+Meanwhile Appelmann and Sidonia, with the boundary lad, had
+reached the door of the castle, through which he was determined to
+make good his entrance after the lad by any means.
+
+But at that very instant it opened, and my gracious lord Duke
+Johann Frederick stood before them. For it has been already
+mentioned, that he left the chamber in which the family council
+was held, by a small private door which led down to this portion
+of the castle. Here he was looking about for his court-jester,
+Clas Hinze, to bid him order the carriages to convey him and his
+suite that very night to Freienwald, and by chance opened this
+very door which led out to the shrubbery.
+
+Seeing no one from the darkness, the Duke called out, "Is Clas
+there?" to which Appelmann answered, "Yes, my lord" (for he had
+recognised the Duke by his voice), and at the same time he
+retreated a few steps into the shrubbery, hoping the Duke would
+follow him.
+
+But the Duke called out again, "Where art thou, Clas?" "Here!"
+responded Appelmann, retreating still further. Whereupon the
+boundary lad whispered, "That is not him!" His Grace, however,
+heard the whisper, and called out angrily, while he advanced from
+the door, "What meanest thou, knave? It is I who call! Art thou
+drunk, fool? If so, thou must have a bucket of water on thy head,
+for we ride away this night."
+
+So speaking, his Highness went on still further into the
+shrubbery, upon which my knave makes a spring at his throat and
+hurls him to the ground, while he gives a loud, shrill whistle
+through the fingers of his other hand. Now the boundary lad
+screamed in earnest; but Sidonia threatened him, and bade him hold
+his tongue, and run for the other fellows, and not mind them. But
+she screamed yet louder herself, when a powerful arm seized her
+round the waist, and she found herself in the grasp of Marcus
+Bork.
+
+Appelmann, who had stuffed his kerchief into the Duke's mouth to
+stifle his cries, and placed one knee upon his breast, now sprang
+up in terror at her scream, while at the same instant the bells
+rang, the cannon was fired, and all the court was filled with
+people shouting, "Murder! murder!" So he let go his hold of the
+Duke, and without waiting to release Sidonia, darted down the
+shrubbery, reached the bridge, and finding it raised, plunged into
+the water, and swam to the other side.
+
+And here we see the hand of the all-merciful God; for had the
+bridge been down, the band would have rushed over at their
+captain's whistle, and then, methinks, there would have been a sad
+end to the whole princely race, for, as I have said, half the
+guests were drunk and half were snoring, so that but for Marcus
+this evil and accursed woman would have destroyed them all, as she
+had sworn. True, they were destroyed by her at last, but not until
+God gave them over to destruction, in consequence of their sins,
+no doubt, and of the wickedness of the land.
+
+_Summa_.--When my gracious lord felt himself free, he sprang
+up, crying, "Help! help!" and ran as quick as he could back into
+the castle. Marcus Bork followed with Sidonia, who drew a knife to
+stab him, but he saw the glitter of the blade by the light of the
+lanterns (for one can easily imagine that the bells and the cannon
+had brought all the snorers to their legs), and giving her a blow
+upon the arm that made her drop the knife, dragged her through the
+little door, after the Duke, as fast as he was able.
+
+So the whole princely party stood there, and great and small
+shouted when the upright Marcus appeared, holding Sidonia firmly
+by the back, while she writhed and twisted, and kicked him with
+her heels till the sweat poured down his face.
+
+But when old Ulrich beheld her, he exclaimed, "Seven thousand
+devils!--do my eyes deceive me, or is this Sidonia again?" Her
+Grace, too, turned pale, and all were horrified at seeing the evil
+one, for they knew her wickedness.
+
+Then Marcus must relate the whole story, and how he came to bring
+to nought the counsel of the devil.
+
+And when Duke Johann heard the whole extent of the danger from
+which he had been saved, he fell upon the neck of the loyal
+Marcus, and, pressing him to his heart, exclaimed, "Well-beloved
+Marcus, and dear friend, thou hast saved my brother of Wolgast in
+the Stettin forest, so hast thou saved me this night, therefore
+accept knighthood from my hands; and I make thee governor of my
+fortress of Saatzig."
+
+To which the other answered, "He thanked his Grace heartily for
+the honours; but he had already promised to remain in the service
+of his princely brother of Wolgast; and for that object had made
+purchase of the lands of Crienke."
+
+But his Highness would hear of no refusal. Only let him look at
+Saatzig; it was the finest fortress in the land. What would he do
+in a miserable fishing village? The castle was almost grander than
+his own ducal house at Stettin; and the knights' hall, with its
+stone pillars and carved capitals, was the most stately work of
+architecture in the kingdom. Where would he find such a dwelling
+in his village nest? Old Kleist, the governor, had just died, and
+to whom could he give the castle sooner than to his right worthy
+and loyal Marcus?
+
+When old Dewitz heard this (he was a little, dry old man, with
+long grey hair), he pressed forward to his son-in-law, and bade
+him by no means refuse a Prince's offer; besides, Saatzig was but
+two miles off, and they could see each other every Sunday. Also,
+if they had a hunt, a standard erected on the tower of one castle
+could be seen plainly from the tower of the other, and so they
+could lead a right pleasant, neighbourly life, almost as if they
+all lived together.
+
+Still Marcus will not consent. Upon which his mother-in-law can no
+longer suppress her feelings, and comes forward to entreat him.
+(She was a good, pious matron, and as fat as her husband was
+thin.) So she stroked his cheeks--"And where in the land, as far
+as Usdom, could he find such fine muranes and maranes [Footnote:
+The great marana weighs from ten to twelve pounds, and is a
+species of salmon-trout. The murana is of the same race, but not
+larger than the herring. It must not be confounded with the
+_murana_ of which the Romans were so fond, which was a
+species of eel.]--this fish he loved so much?--and where was such
+fine flax to be had, for his young wife to spin?--no flax in the
+land equalled that of Saatzig!--since ever she was a little girl,
+people talked of the fine Saatzig flax. Let her dear daughter
+Clara come over, and see could she prevail aught with her stern
+husband. Why, they could send pudding hot to each other, the
+castles were so near."
+
+And now the mild young bride approached her husband, and taking
+his hand gently, looked up into his eyes with soft, beseeching
+glances, but spake no word; so that the princely widow of Wolgast
+was moved, and said, "Good Marcus, if you only fear to offend my
+son of Wolgast by taking service at Saatzig, be composed on that
+head, for I myself will make your peace. Great, indeed, would be
+my joy to have you and your young spouse settled at Crienke,
+which, you know, is but half a mile from Pudgla, my dower-castle,
+where I mean to reside; yet these beseeching glances of my little
+Clara fill my heart with compassion, for do I not read in her
+clear eyes that she would love to stay near her dear parents, as
+indeed is natural? Therefore, in God's name accept the offer of
+your Prince. I myself command you."
+
+Hereupon Marcus inclined himself gracefully to the Duchess and
+Duke Johann, and pressed his little wife to his heart. "But what
+need, gracious Prince, of a governor at Saatzig, when all the
+courts are closed and no justice can be done? I shall eat my bread
+in idleness, like a worn-out hound. But, marry, if your Grace
+consents to open the courts, I will accept your offer with thanks,
+and do my duty as governor with all justice and fidelity." Then
+his Grace answered, "What! good Marcus, dost thou begin again on
+that old theme which roused my wrath so lately, and made me fall
+into that peril? But I bethink me of thy bravery, and will say no
+bitter word; only, thou mayest hold thy peace, for I have sworn by
+my princely honour, and from that there is no retreating. However,
+thou hast leave to hold jurisdiction in thy own government, and
+execute justice according to thy own upright judgment."
+
+So Marcus was silent; but the Duchess and the other princes took
+up the subject, and assailed his Highness with earnest
+petitions--"Had he not himself felt and seen the danger of
+permitting these freebooters to get such a head in the land? Had
+not the finger of God warned him this very night, in hopes of
+turning him back to the right path? Let him reflect, for the peace
+of his land was at stake." But all in vain. Even though old Ulrich
+tumbled into the argument with his seven thousand devils, yet
+could they obtain no other answer from his Highness but--"If the
+states give me gold, I shall open the courts; if they give no
+gold, the courts shall remain closed for ever. Were he to be
+brought before the Emperor, or Pontius Pilate himself, it was all
+alike; they might tear him in pieces, but not one nail's breadth
+of his princely word would he retreat from, or break it like a
+woman, for their prayers."
+
+Then he rose, and calling his fool Clas to him, bid him run to the
+old priest, and tell him he would sleep at his quarters that
+night, for he must have peace; but the merry Clas, as he was
+running out, got behind his Highness, and stuck his fool's cap
+upon the head of his Grace, crying out, "Here, keep my cap for
+me."
+
+However, his Highness did not relish the joke, for every one
+laughed; and he ran after the fool, trying to catch him, and
+threatening to have his head cut off; but Clas got behind the
+others, and clapping his hands, cried out, "You can't, for the
+courts are closed. Huzza! the courts are closed!" Whereupon he
+runs out at the door, and my gracious lord after him, with the
+fool's cap upon his head. Nor did he return again to the hall, but
+went to sleep at the priest's quarters, as he had said; and next
+morning, by the first dawn of day, set off on his journey
+homeward.
+
+All this while no one had troubled himself about Sidonia. My
+gracious lady wept, the young lords laughed, old Ulrich swore,
+whilst the good Marcus murmured softly to his young wife, "Be
+happy, Clara; for thy sake I shall consent to go to Saatzig. I
+have decided."
+
+This filled her with such joy that she danced, and smiled, and
+flung herself into her mother's arms; nothing was wanting now to
+her happiness! Just then her eyes rested upon Sidonia, who was
+leaning against the wall, as pale as a corpse. Clara grew quite
+calm in a moment, and asked, compassionately, "What aileth thee,
+poor Sidonia?"
+
+"_I am hungry!_" was the answer. At this the gentle bride was
+so shocked, that the tears filled her eyes, and she exclaimed,
+"Wait, thou shalt partake of my wedding-feast;" and away went she.
+
+The attention of the others was, by this time, also directed to
+Sidonia. And old Ulrich said, "Compose yourself, gracious lady; I
+trust your son, the Prince, will not be so hard and stern as he
+promises; now that the water has touched his own neck, methinks he
+will soon come to reason. But what shall we do now with Sidonia?"
+
+Upon which my Lady of Wolgast turned to her, and asked if she were
+yet wedded to her gallows-bird? "Not yet," was the answer; "but
+she would soon be." Then my gracious lady spat out at her; and,
+addressing Ulrich, asked what he would advise.
+
+So the stout old knight said, "If the matter were left to him, he
+would just send for the executioner, and have her ears and nose
+slit, as a warning and example, for no good could ever come of her
+now, and then pack her off next day to her farm at Zachow; for if
+they let her loose, she would run to her paramour again, and come
+at last to gallows and wheel; but if they just slit her nose, then
+he would hold her in abhorrence, as well as all other men-folk."
+
+During this, Clara had entered, and set fish, and wild boar, and
+meat, and bread, before the girl; and as she heard Ulrich's last
+words, she bent down and whispered, "Fear nothing, Sidonia, I hope
+to be able to protect thee, as I did once before; only eat,
+Sidonia! Ah! hadst thou followed my advice! I always meant well by
+thee; and even now, if I thought thou wouldst repent truly, poor
+Sidonia, I would take thee with me to the castle of Saatzig, and
+never let thee want for aught through life."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she wept, and promised amendment. Only
+let Clara try her, for she could never go to Zachow and play the
+peasant-girl. Upon which Clara turned to her Highness, and prayed
+her Grace to give Sidonia up to her. See how she was weeping;
+misfortune truly had softened her, and she would soon be brought
+back to God. Only let her take her to Saatzig, and treat her as a
+sister. At this, however, old Ulrich shook his head--"Clara,
+Clara," he exclaimed, "knowest thou not that the Moor cannot
+change his skin, nor the leopard his spots? I cannot, then, let
+the serpent go. Think on our mother, girl; it is a bad work
+playing with serpents."
+
+Her Grace, too, became thoughtful, and said at last--
+
+"Could we not send her to the convent at Marienfliess, or
+somewhere else?"
+
+"What the devil would she do in a convent?" exclaimed the old
+knight. "To infect the young maidens with her vices, or plague
+them with her pride? Now, there was nothing else for her but to be
+packed off to Zachow."
+
+Now Clara looked up once again at her husband with her soft,
+tearful eyes, for he had said no word all this time, but remained
+quite mute; and he drew her to him, and said--
+
+"I understand thy wish, dear Clara, but the old knight is right.
+It is a dangerous business, dear Clara! Let Sidonia go."
+
+At this Sidonia crawled forth like a serpent from her corner, and
+howled--
+
+"Clara had pity on her, but he would turn her out to starve--he,
+who bore her own name, and was of her own blood."
+
+Alas! the good knight was ashamed to refuse any longer, and
+finally promised the evil one that she should go with them to
+Saatzig. So her Grace at last consented, but old Ulrich shook his
+grey head ten times more.
+
+"He had lived many years in the world, but never had it come to
+his knowledge that a godless man was tamed by love. Fear was the
+only teacher for them. All their love would be thrown away on this
+harlot; for even if the stout Marcus kept her tight with bit and
+rein, and tried to bring her back by fear, yet the moment his back
+was turned, Clara would spoil all again by love and kindness."
+
+However, nobody minded the good knight, though it all came to pass
+just as he had prophesied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage._
+
+
+Summa.--Sidonia went to the castle of Saatzig, and her worthy
+cousin Marcus gave her a little chamber to herself, in the third
+story, close to the tower. It was the same room in which she
+afterwards sat as a witch, for some days ere she was taken to
+Oderburg. There was a right cheerful view from the windows down
+upon the lake, which was close to the castle, and over the little
+town of Jacobshagen, as far even as the meadows beyond. Here, too,
+was left a Bible for her, and the _Opera Lutheri_ in
+addition, with plenty of materials for spinning and embroidery,
+for she had refused to weave. _Item_, a serving-wench was
+appointed to attend on her, and she had permission to walk where
+she pleased within the castle walls; but if ever seen beyond the
+domain, the keepers had orders to bring her back by force, if she
+would not return willingly.
+
+In fine, the careful knight took every precaution possible to
+render her presence as little baneful as could be, for, truth to
+say, he had no faith whatever in her tears and seeming repentance.
+
+First, he strictly forbade all his secretaries to interchange a
+word with her, or even look at her. They need not know his reason,
+but any one who transgressed his slightest command in this
+particular, should be chased away instantly from the castle.
+
+Secondly, he prayed his dear wife to let Sidonia eat her meals
+alone, in her own little room, and never to see her but in the
+presence of a third person.
+
+Also, never to accept the slightest gift from her hand--fruit,
+flower, or any kind of food whatsoever. These injunctions were the
+more necessary, as the young bride had already given hopes of an
+heir. Sidonia's rage and jealousy at this prospect of complete
+happiness for Clara may be divined from her words to her maid,
+Lene Penkun, a short time after she reached the castle--
+
+"Ha! they are talking of the baptism already, forsooth; but it
+might have been otherwise if I had come across her a little
+sooner!"
+
+This same maid also she sent to Daber for the spirit Chim, which
+had been left behind at the last resting-place of the robbers,
+never telling her it was a spirit, however, only a tame cat, that
+was a great pet of hers. "It must be half dead with hunger now,
+for it was four days since she had left it in the hollow of an old
+oak in the forest, the poor creature! So let the maid take a flask
+of sweet milk and a little saucer to feed it. She could not miss
+her way, for, when she stepped out of the high-road at Daber into
+the forest, there was a thorn-bush to her left hand, and just
+beyond it a large oak where the ravens had their nests; in a
+hollow of this oak, to the north side, lay her dear little cat.
+But she must not tell any one about the matter, or they would
+laugh at her for sending her maid two miles and more to look for a
+cat. Men had no compassion or tenderheartedness nowadays to each
+other, much less to a poor dumb animal. No; just let her say that
+she went to fetch a robe which her mistress had left in the oak.
+Here was an old gown; take this with her, and it would do to wrap
+up the poor little pussy in it after she had fed it and warmed it,
+so that no one might see it, for what a mock would all these
+pitiless men make of her, if they heard the object of her message;
+but she was not cruel like them."
+
+Now, after some time, it happened that the states of the duchy
+assembled at Wollin, to come to some arrangement with his Highness
+respecting the opening of the courts of justice; and Marcus Bork,
+along with all the other nobles, was summoned to attend the Diet.
+So, with great grief, he had to leave his dear wife, but promised,
+if possible, to return before she was taken with her illness. Then
+he bid her be of good courage, and, above all things, to guard
+herself, against Sidonia, and mind strictly all his injunctions
+concerning her.
+
+Alas! she too soon flung them all to the winds! For, behold,
+scarcely had the good knight arrived at Wollin, when Clara was
+delivered of a little son, at which great joy filled the whole
+castle. And one messenger was despatched to Marcus, and another to
+old Dewitz and his wife, with the tidings; but woe, alas! the good
+old mother was going to stand sponsor for a nobleman's child in
+the neighbourhood, and could not hasten then to save her dear
+daughter from a terrible and cruel death. She cooked some broth,
+however, for the young mother, and pouring it into a silver flask,
+bid the messenger ride back with all speed to Saatzig, that it
+might not be too cold. She herself would be over in the morning
+early with her husband, and let her dear little daughter keep
+herself warm and quiet.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia had heard of the birth, and sent her maid to
+wish the young mother joy, and ask her permission just to give one
+little kiss to her new cousin, for they told her he was a
+beautiful infant.
+
+Alas, alas! that Clara's joy should make her forget the judicious
+cautions of her husband! Permission was given to the murderess,
+and down she comes directly to offer her congratulations; even
+affecting to weep for joy as she kissed the infant, and praying to
+be allowed to act as nurse until her mother came from Daber.
+
+"Why, she had no one about her but common serving-women! How could
+she leave her dearest friend to the care of these old hags, when
+she was in the castle, who owed everything to her dear Clara?"
+
+And so she went on till poor Clara, even if she did not quite
+believe her, felt ashamed to doubt so much apparent affection and
+tenderness.
+
+_Summa_.--She permitted her to remain, and we shall soon see
+what murderous deeds Sidonia was planning against the poor young
+mother. But first I must relate what happened at the Diet of
+Wollin, to which Marcus Bork had been summoned.
+
+His Highness Duke Johann had become somewhat more gracious to the
+states since they had come to the Diet at their own cost, which
+was out of the usage; and further, because, as old Ulrich
+prophesied, he himself had felt the inconveniences resulting from
+the present lawless state of the country.
+
+Still he was ill-tempered enough, particularly as he had a fever
+on him; and when the states promised at last that they would let
+him have the money, he said, "So far good; but, till he saw the
+gold, the courts should not be opened. Not that he misdoubted
+them, but then he knew that they were sometimes as tedious in
+handing out money as a peasant in paying his rent. The courts,
+therefore, should not be opened until he had the gold in his pot,
+so it would be to their own profit to use as much diligence as
+possible." At this same Diet his Grace related how he first met
+Clas, his fool, which story I shall set down here for the reader's
+pastime.
+
+This same fool had been nothing but a poor goose-herd; and one day
+as he was on the road to Friedrichswald with his flock, my
+gracious lord rode up, and growing impatient at the geese running
+hither and thither in his path, bid the boy collect them together,
+or he would strike them all dead.
+
+Upon which the knave took up goose after goose by the throat, and
+stuck them by their long necks into his girdle, till a circle of
+geese hung entirely round his body, all dangling by the head from
+his waist.
+
+This merry device pleased my lord so much, that he made the lad
+court-jester from that day, and many a droll trick he had played
+from that to this, particularly when his Highness was gloomy, so
+as to make him laugh again. Once, for instance, when the Duke was
+sore pressed for money, by reason of the opposition of the states,
+he became very sad, and all the doctors were consulted, but could
+do nothing. For unless his Grace could be brought to laugh (they
+said to the Lady Erdmuth), it was all over with him. Then my
+gracious lady had the fool whipped for a stupid jester, who could
+not drive his trade; for if he did not make the Duke laugh, why
+should he stay at all in the castle?
+
+What did my fool? He collected all the princely soldatesca, and
+got leave from their Graces to review them; and surely never were
+seen such strange evolutions as he put them through, for they must
+do everything he bid them. And when his Highness came forth to
+look, he laughed so loud as never had fool made him laugh before;
+and calling the Duchess, bid him repeat his _experimentum_
+many times for her. In fine, the fool got the good town of
+Butterdorf for his fee, which changed its name in honour of him,
+and is called Hinzendorf to this day (for his name was Hinze).
+
+But Clas Hinze had not been able to cure my Lord Duke of his
+fever, which attacked him at the Diet at Wollin, nor all the
+doctors from Stettin, nor even Doctor Pomius, who had been sent
+from Wolgast by the old Duchess, to attend her dear son; and as
+the doctor (as I have said) was a formal, priggish little man, he
+and the fool were always bickering and snarling.
+
+Now, one day at Wollin, the weather being beautiful, his Grace,
+with several of the chief prelates, and many of the nobility, went
+forth to walk by the river's side, and the fool ran along with
+them; _item_, Doctor Pomius, who, if he could not run, at
+least tried to walk majestically; and he munched a piece of sugar
+all the time, for he never could keep his mouth still a moment.
+Seeing his Grace now about to cross the bridge, the doctor started
+forward with as much haste as was consistent with his dignity, and
+seizing his Highness by the tail of the coat, drew him back,
+declaring, "That he must not pass the water; all water would give
+strength to the fever-devil." But his Highness, who was talking
+Latin to the Deacon of Colberg, turned on the doctor with--"Apage
+te asine!" and strode forward, whilst one of the nobles gave a
+free translation aloud for the benefit of the others, saying, "And
+that means: Begone, thou ass!"
+
+When the fool heard this, he clapped the little man on the back,
+shouting, "Well done, ass! and there is thy fee for curing our
+gracious Prince of his fever."
+
+This so nettled the doctor that he spat out the lump of sugar for
+rage, and tried to seize the fool; but the crowd laughed still
+louder when Clas jumped on the back of an old woman, giving her
+the spur with his yellow boots in the side, and shaking his head
+with the cap and bells at the little doctor in mockery, who could
+not get near him for the crowd. So the woman screamed and roared,
+and the people laughed, till at last the Duke stopped in the
+middle of the bridge to see what was the matter. When the fool
+observed this, he sprang off the old woman's back, and calling out
+to the doctor--"See how I cure our gracious lord's fever," ran
+upon the bridge like wind, and, seizing the Duke with all his
+force, jumped with him into the water.
+
+Now the people screamed from horror, as much as before from mirth,
+and thirty or forty burghers, along with Marcus Bork, plunged in
+to rescue his Highness, whilst others tried to seize the fool,
+threatening to tear him in pieces. This was a joyful hearing to
+Doctor Pomius. He drew forth his knife--"Would they not finish the
+knave at once? Here was a knife just ready."
+
+But the fool, who was strong and supple, swung himself up to the
+bridge, and crouched in between the arches, catching hold of the
+beams, so that no one dared to touch him there, and his Highness
+was soon carried to land. He was in a flaming rage as he shook off
+the water.
+
+"Where is that accursed fool? He had only threatened to cut off
+his head at Daber, but now it should be done in earnest."
+
+So the fool shouted from under the bridge--"Ho! ho! the courts are
+all closed! the courts are all closed!" At which the crowd laughed
+so heartily, that my Lord Duke grew still more angry, and
+commanded them to bring the fool to him dead or alive.
+
+Hearing this, the fool crept forward of himself, and whimpered in
+his Low Dutch, "My good Lord Duke, praise be to God that we've
+made the doctor fly. I'll give him a little piece of drink-money
+for his journey, and then I'll be your doctor myself. For if the
+fright has not cured you, marry, let the deacon be your fool, and
+I will be your deacon as long as I live."
+
+However, my gracious lord was in no humour for fun, but bid them
+carry off the fool to prison, and lock him up there; for though,
+indeed, the fever had really quite gone, as his Highness perceived
+to his joy, yet he was resolved to give the fool a right good
+fright in return.
+
+Therefore, on the third day from that, he commanded him to be
+brought out and beheaded on the scaffold at Wollin. He wore a
+white shroud, bordered with black gauze, over his motley jacket,
+and a priest and melancholy music accompanied him all the way; but
+Master Hansen had directions that, when the fool was seated in the
+chair with his eyes bound, he should strike the said fool on the
+neck with a sausage in place of the sword.
+
+However, no one suspected this, and a great crowd followed the
+poor fool up to the scaffold; even Doctor Pomius was there, and
+kept close up to the condemned. As the fool passed the ducal
+house, there was my lord seated at a window looking out, and the
+fool looked up, saying, "My gracious master, is this a fool's jest
+you are playing me, or is it earnest?"
+
+To which the Duke answered, "You see it is earnest."
+
+Then answered the fool, "Well, if I must, I must; yet I crave one
+boon!"
+
+When the promise was granted, the knave, who could not give up his
+jesting even on the death-road, said, "Then make Doctor Pomius
+herewith to be fool in my place, for look how he is learning all
+my tricks from me--sticking himself close up to my side."
+
+Hereat a great shout of laughter pealed from the crowd, and the
+Duke motioned with the hand to proceed to the scaffold.
+
+Still the poor fool kept looking round every moment, thinking his
+Grace would send a message after them to stop the execution, but
+no one appeared. Then his teeth chattered, and he trembled like an
+aspen leaf; for Master Hansen seized hold of him now, and put him
+down upon the chair, and bound his eyes. Still he asked, with his
+eyes bound, "Master, is any one coming?"
+
+"No!" replied the executioner; and throwing back his red cloak,
+drew forth a large sausage in place of a sword, to the great
+amusement of the people. With this he strikes my fool on the neck,
+who thereupon tumbles down from the stool, as stone dead from the
+mere fright as if his head and body had parted company--yea, more
+dead, for never a finger or a muscle did the poor fool move more.
+
+This sad ending moved his Grace even to tears; and he fell into a
+yet greater melancholy than before, crying, "Woe! alas! He gave me
+my life through fright, and through fright I have taken away his
+poor life! Ah, never shall I meet with so good and merry a fool
+again!"
+
+Then he gave command to all the physicians to try and restore him,
+and he himself stood by while they bled him and felt his pulse,
+but all was in vain; even Doctor Pomius tried his skill, but
+nothing would help, so that my lord cried out angrily--
+
+"Marry, the fool was right. The fools should be doctors, for the
+doctors are all fools. Away with ye all, and your gibberish, to
+the devil!"
+
+After this he had the said fool placed in a handsome black coffin,
+and conveyed to his own town of Hinzendorf, there to be buried;
+and over his grave my lord erected a stately monument, on which
+was represented the poor fool, as large as life, with his cap and
+bells, and staff in his hand; and round his waist was a girdle,
+from which many geese dangled, all cut like life, while at his
+side lay his shepherd's bag, and at his feet a beer-can. The
+figure is five feet two inches long, and bears a Latin inscription
+above it, which I forget; but the initials G. H. are carved upon
+each cheek. [Footnote: His original name was Guergen Hinze, not
+Clas. The Latin inscription is nearly effaced, but the beginning
+is still visible, and runs thus: "Caput ecce manus gestus que;"
+from which Oelrichs concludes that the whole was written in
+hexameters. (See his estimable work, "Memoirs of the Pomeranian
+Dukes," p. 41.)]
+
+Shortly after the death of the fool a messenger arrived from
+Saatzig to Marcus Bork, bringing him the joyful tidings that the
+Lord God had granted him the blessing of a little son. So he is
+away to my Lord Duke, to solicit permission to leave the Diet and
+return to his castle. This the Duke readily granted, seeing that
+he himself was going away to attend the funeral of the poor fool
+at Hinzendorf. Then he wished Marcus joy with all his heart, which
+so emboldened the knight that he ventured to make one more effort
+about the opening of the courts, praying his Grace to put faith in
+the word of his faithful states, and open the courts and the
+treasury without further delay.
+
+But his Grace is wroth: "What should he be troubled for? The
+states could give the money when they chose, and then all would be
+right. Let the nobles do their duty. He never saw a penny come out
+of their pockets for their Prince."
+
+"But his Highness knew the poor peasants were all beggared; and
+where could the nobles get the money?"
+
+"Let them go to their saving-pots, then, where the money was
+turning green from age; better for them if they had less avarice.
+Why did not he himself bring him some gold, in place of dressing
+up his wife in silks and jewels, finer than the Princess Erdmuth
+herself, his own princely spouse? Then, indeed, the courts might
+be soon opened," &c. So the sorrowing knight took his leave, and
+each went his different way.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the
+great mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on
+her coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church._
+
+
+I must first state that this horrible wickedness of Sidonia, which
+no eye had seen nor ear heard, neither had it entered into the
+heart of man to conceive (for only in hell could such have been
+imagined), never would have come to light but that she herself
+made confession thereof to Dr. Cramero, thy well-beloved
+godfather, in her last trial. And he, to show how far Satan can
+lead a poor human creature who has once fallen from God, related
+the same to my worthy father-in-law, Master David Reutzio, some
+time superintendent at the criminal court, from whose own lips I
+received the story.
+
+And this was her confession:--That when the messenger returned
+from Daber with the broth, he had ridden so fast that it was
+still, in truth, quite hot, but she (the horrible Sidonia), who
+was standing at the bed of the young mother, along with the other
+women, pretended that it was too cold for a woman in her state,
+and must just get one little heating on the fire.
+
+The poor Clara, indeed, showed unwillingness to permit this, but
+she ran down with it, and secretly, without being seen by any of
+the other women, poured in a philtrum that had been given her by
+the gipsy hag, and then went back again for a moment. This
+philtrum was the one which produced all the appearance of death.
+It had no taste, except, perhaps, that it was a little saltish.
+Therefore Clara perceived nothing wrong, only when she tasted it,
+said, "My heart's dearest mother, in her joy, has put a little too
+much salt into her broth; still, what a heart's dearest mother
+sends, must always taste good!" However, in one hour after that,
+Clara lay as stiff and cold as a corpse, only her breath came a
+little; but even this ceased in a short time, and then a great cry
+and lamentation resounded through the whole castle. No one
+suspected Sidonia, for many said that young women died so often;
+but even the old mother, who arrived a few hours after, and
+hearing the cries from the castle while she was yet far off, began
+to weep likewise; for her mother's heart revealed the cause to her
+ere she had yet descended from the carriage.
+
+But it was a sadder sight next evening, when the husband arrived
+at the castle from Wollin. He could not take his eyes from the
+corpse. One while he kissed the infant, then fixed his eyes again
+upon his dead wife, and sighed and groaned as if he lay upon the
+rack. He alone suspected Sidonia, but when she cried more than
+they all, and wrung her hands, exclaiming, who would have pity on
+her now, for her best friend lay there dead! and flung herself
+upon the seeming corpse, kissing it and bedewing it with her
+tears, and praying to have leave to watch all night beside it, for
+how could she sleep in her sore grief and sorrow? the knight was
+ashamed of his suspicions, and even tried to comfort her himself.
+
+Then came the physicians out of Stargard and other places, who had
+been summoned in all haste, and they gabbled away, saying, "It
+could not have been the broth, but puerperal fever." This at least
+was Dr. Hamster's opinion, who knew all along it would be a bad
+case. Indeed, the last time he was at the castle visiting the
+mower's wife, he was frightened at the look of the poor lady.
+Still, if they had only sent for him in time, this great evil
+could not have happened, for his _pulvis antispasmodicus_ was
+never known to fail; and so he went on chattering, by which one
+can see that doctors have always been the same from that time even
+till now.
+
+_Summa_.--On the third day the poor Clara was laid in her
+coffin, and carried to her grave, with such weeping and
+lamentation of the mourners and bearers as never had been heard
+till then. And all the nobles of the vicinage, with the knights
+and gentlemen, came to attend her funeral at Saatzig Cathedral,
+for she was to be buried in this new church just finished by his
+Grace Duke Johann, and but one corpse had been laid in the vaults
+before her. [Footnote: The beautifully painted escutcheon of Duke
+Johann and his wife, Erdmuth of Brandenburg, is still to be seen
+on the chancel windows of this stately staircase.]
+
+But what does the devil's sorceress do now? She knew that the poor
+Clara would awake the next day (which was Sunday) about noon, and
+if any should hear her cries, her plans would be detected.
+Therefore, about ten of the clock she ran to Marcus, with her hair
+all flowing down her shoulders, saying, that he must let her away
+that very day to Zachow, for what would the world say if she, a
+young unmarried thing, should remain here all alone with him in
+his castle? No; sooner would she swallow the bitter cup her father
+had left her than peril her name. But first, would he allow her to
+go and pray alone in the church? Surely he would not deny her
+this.
+
+Thereupon the simple knight gave her instant leave--"Let her go
+and pray, in God's name. He himself would soon be there to hear
+the Reverend Dr. Wudargensis preach the funeral sermon over his
+heart's dear wife. And after service he would desire a carriage to
+be in readiness to convey her to Zachow."
+
+Then he called to the warder from the window, bidding him let
+Sidonia pass. So she went forth in deep mourning garments, glided
+through the castle gardens, and concealing herself by the trees,
+slipped into the church without any one having perceived her; for
+the sexton had left the door open to admit fresh air, on account
+of the corpse. Then she stepped over to the little grated door
+near the altar, which led down into the vault, and softly lifting
+it, stepped down, drawing the door down again close over her head.
+Clara's coffin was lying beneath, and first she laid her ear on it
+and listened, but all was quite still within. Then removing the
+pall, she sat herself down upon the lid. Time passed, and still no
+sound. The sexton began to ring the bell, and the people were
+assembling in the church above. Soon the hymn commenced, "Now in
+peace the loved one sleepeth," and ere the first verse had ended,
+a knocking was heard in the coffin, then a cry--"Where am I? What
+brought me here? Let me out, for God's sake let me out! I am not
+dead. Where is my child? Where is my good Marcus? Ah! there is
+some one near me. Who is it? Let me out! let me out!" Then (oh!
+horror of horrors!) the devil's harlot on her coffin answered, "It
+is I, Sidonia! this pays thee for acting the spy at Wolgast. Lie
+there and writhe till thou art stifled in thy blood!" Now the
+voice came again from the coffin, praying and beseeching, so that
+many times it went through her stony heart like a sword. And just
+then the first verse of the hymn ended, and the voice of the
+priest was heard asking the lord governor whether they should go
+and sing the remainder over the vault of his dear spouse, for it
+was indeed sung in her honour, seeing she had been ever a mother
+to the orphan, and a holy, pious, and Christian wife; or, since
+the people all knew her worth, and mourned for her with bitter
+mourning, should they sing it here in the nave, that the whole
+congregation might join in chorus? [Footnote: These interruptions
+were by no means unusual at that period.]
+
+To this the governor, in a loud yet mournful voice, gave answer--
+
+"Alas, good friends, do what you will in this sad case; I am
+content."
+
+But Sidonia, this devil's witch, was in a horrible fright, lest
+the priest would come up to the altar to sing the hymn, and so
+hear the knocking within the coffin. However, the devil protects
+his own, for, at that instant, many voices called out--
+
+"Let the hymn be sung here, that we may all join to the honour of
+the blessed soul of the good lady."
+
+And mournfully the second verse was heard pealing through the
+church, from the lips of the whole congregation, so that poor
+Clara's groans were quite smothered. For, when the voice of her
+dear husband reached her ear, she had knocked and cried out with
+all her strength--
+
+"Marcus! Marcus! Alas, dear Lord, will you not come to me!" Then
+again--"Sidonia, by the Jesu cross, I pray thee have pity on me.
+Save me--save me--I am stifling. Oh, run for some one, if thou
+canst not lift the lid thyself!"
+
+But the devil made answer to the poor living corpse--
+
+"Dost thou take me for a silly fool like thyself, that I should
+now undo all I have done?"
+
+And as the voice went on from the coffin, but feebler and
+fainter--
+
+"Think on my husband--on my child, Sidonia!"
+
+She answered--
+
+"Didst thou think of that when, but for thee, I might have been a
+Duchess of Pomerania, and the proud mother of a prince, in place
+of being as I now am."
+
+Then all became still within the coffin, and Sidonia sprang upon
+it and danced, chanting the 109th psalm; [Footnote: Superstition
+has found many sinful usages for this psalm. The Jews, for
+example, took a new vessel, poured a mixture of mustard and water
+therein, and after repeating this psalm over it for three
+consecutive days, poured it out before the door of their enemy, as
+a certain means to ensure his destruction. In the middle ages
+monks and nuns were frequently obliged to repeat it in
+superstitious ceremonies, at the command of some powerful
+revengeful man. And that its efficacy was Considered as something
+miraculously powerful, even by the evangelical Church, is proved
+by this example of Sidonia, who made frequent use of this terrible
+psalm in her sorceries, as any one may see by referring to the
+records of the trial in Daehnert. And other interesting examples
+are found in the treatise of Job. Andreas Schmidii, _Abusus
+Psalmi 109 imprecatorii_; vulgo, _The Death Prayer_,
+Helmstadt, 1708.] and as she came to the words, "Let none show
+mercy to him; let none have pity on his orphans; let his posterity
+be cut off and his name be blotted out," there was a loud knocking
+again within the coffin, and a faint, stifled cry--"I am dying!"
+then followed a gurgling sound, and all became still. At that
+moment the congregation above raised the last verse of the hymn:--
+
+  "In the grave, with bitter weeping,
+    Loving hands have laid her down;
+  There she resteth, calmly sleeping,
+    Till an angel lifts the stone."
+
+But the sermon which now followed she remembered her life long. It
+was on the tears, the soft tears of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. And as her spirit became oppressed by the silence in the
+vault, now that all was still within the coffin, she lifted the
+lid after the exordium, to see if Clara were indeed quite dead.
+
+It was an easy matter to remove the cover, for the screws were not
+fastened; but--O God! what has she beheld? A sight that will never
+more leave her brain! The poor corpse lay all torn and disfigured
+from the writhings in the coffin, and a blood-vessel must have
+burst at last to relieve her from her agony, for the blood lay yet
+warm on the hands as she lifted the cover. But more horrible than
+all were the fixed glassy eyes of the corpse, staring immovably
+upon her, from which clear tears were yet flowing, and blending
+with the blood upon the cheek; and, as if the priest above had
+known what was passing beneath, he exclaimed--
+
+"Oh, let us moisten our couch with tears; let tears be our meat
+day and night. They are noble tears that do not fall to earth, but
+ascend up to God's throne. Yea, the Lord gathers them in His
+vials, like costly wine. They are noble tears, for if they fill
+the eyes of God's chosen in this life, yet, in that other world,
+the Lord Jesus will wipe away tears from off all faces, as the dew
+is dried by the morning sun. Oh, wondrous beauty of those eyes
+which are dried by the Lord Jesus! Oh, blessed eyes! Oh, sun-clear
+eyes! Oh, joyful and ever-smiling eyes!"
+
+She heard no more, but felt the eyes of the corpse were upon her,
+and fell down like one dead beside the coffin; and Clara's eyes
+and the sermon never left her brain from that day, and often have
+they risen before her in dreams.
+
+But the Holy Spirit had yet a greater torment in store for her, if
+that were possible.
+
+For, after the sermon, a consistorium was held in the church upon
+a grievous sinner named Trina Wolken, who, it appeared, had many
+times done penance for her unchaste life, but had in no wise
+amended. And she heard the priest asking, "Who accuseth this
+woman?" To which, after a short silence, a deep, small voice
+responded--
+
+"I accuse her; for I detected her in sin, and though I besought
+her with Christian words to turn from her evil ways, and that I
+would save her from public shame if she would so turn, yet she
+gave herself up wholly to the devil, and out of revenge bewitched
+my best sheep, so that it died the very day after it had brought
+forth a lamb. Alas! what will become of the poor lamb? And it was
+such a beautiful little lamb!"
+
+When Marcus Bork heard this, he began to sob aloud; and each word
+seemed to run like a sharp dagger through Sidonia's heart, so that
+she bitterly repented her evil deeds. And all the congregation
+broke out into loud weeping, and even the priest continued, in a
+broken voice, to ask the sinner what she had to say to this
+terrible accusation.
+
+Upon which a woman's voice was heard swearing that all was a
+malignant lie, for her accuser was a shameless liar and open
+sinner, who wished to ruin her because she had refused his son.
+
+Then the priest commanded the witnesses to be called, not only to
+prove the unchastity, but also the witchcraft. And after this, she
+was asked if she could make good the loss of the sheep? No; she
+had no money. And the people testified also that the harlot had
+nothing but her shame. Thereupon the priest rose up, and said--
+
+"That she had long been notorious in the Christian communion for
+her wicked life, and that all her penance and repentance having
+proved but falsehood and deceit, he was commissioned by the
+honourable consistorium to pronounce upon her the solemn curse and
+sentence of excommunication. For she had this day been convicted
+of strange and terrible crimes, on the testimony of competent
+witnesses. Therefore he called upon the whole Christian
+congregation to stand up and listen to the words of the anathema,
+by which he gave over Trina Wolken to the devil, in the name of
+the Almighty God."
+
+And as he spoke the curse, it fell word by word upon the head of
+Sidonia, as if he were indeed pronouncing it over herself--
+
+"Dear Christian Friends,--Because Trina Wolken hath broken her
+baptismal vows, and given herself over to the devil, to work all
+uncleanness with greediness; and though divers times admonished to
+repentance by the Church, yet hath stiffened her neck in
+corruption, and hardened her heart in unrighteousness, therefore
+we herewith place the said Trina Wolken under the ban of the
+excommunication. Henceforth she is a thing accursed--cast off from
+the communion of the Church, and participation in the holy
+sacraments. Henceforth she is given up to Satan for this life and
+the next, unless the blessed Saviour reach forth His hand to her
+as He did to the sinking Peter, for all things are possible with
+God. And this we do by the power of the keys granted by Christ to
+His Church, to bind and loose on earth as in heaven, in the name
+of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
+
+And now Sidonia heard distinctly the screams of the wretched
+sinner, as she was hunted out of the church, and all the
+congregation followed soon after, and then all was still above.
+
+Now, indeed, terror took such hold of her that she trembled like
+an aspen leaf, and the lid fell many times from her hand with
+great clatter on the ground, as she tried to replace it on the
+coffin. For she had closed her eyes, for fear of meeting the
+ghastly stare of the corpse again. At last she got it up, and the
+corpse was covered; but she would not stay to replace the screws,
+only hastened out of the vault, closing the little grated door
+after her, reached the church door, which had no lock, but only a
+latch, and plunged into the castle gardens to hide herself amongst
+the trees.
+
+Here she remained crouched for some hours, trying to recover her
+self-possession; and when she found that she could weep as well as
+ever when it pleased her, she set off for the castle, and met her
+cousin Marcus with loud weeping and lamentations, entreating him
+to let her go that instant to Zachow. Eat and drink could she not
+from grief, though she had eaten nothing the whole morning. So the
+mournful knight, who had himself risen from the table without
+eating, to hasten to his little motherless lamb, asked her where
+she had passed the morning, for he had not seen her in the church?
+To which she answered, that she had sunk down almost dead on the
+altar-steps; and, as he seemed to doubt her, she repeated part of
+the sermon, and spoke of the curse pronounced upon the girl, and
+told how she had remained behind in the church, to weep and pray
+alone. Upon which he exclaimed joyfully--
+
+"Now, I thank God that my blessed spouse counselled me to take
+thee home with us. Ah! I see that thou hast indeed repented of thy
+sins. Go thy ways, then; and, with God's help, thou shalt never
+want a true and faithful friend while I live."
+
+He bid her also take all his blessed wife's wardrobe with her,
+amongst which was a brocaded damask with citron flowers, which she
+had only got a year before; _item_, her shoes and kerchiefs:
+_summa_, all that she had worn, he wished never to see them
+again. And so she went away in haste from the castle, after having
+given a farewell kiss to the little motherless lamb. For though
+the evil spirit Chim, which she carried under her mantle,
+whispered to her to give the little bastard a squeeze that would
+make him follow his mother, or to let him do so, she would not
+consent, but pinched him for his advice till he squalled, though
+Marcus certainly could not have heard him, for he was attending
+Sidonia to the coach; but then the good knight was so absorbed in
+grief that he had neither ears nor eyes for anything.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night._
+
+
+When Sidonia left Saatzig, the day was far advanced, so that the
+good knight recommended her to stop at Daber that night with his
+blessed wife's mourning parents, and, for this purpose, sent a
+letter by her to them. Also he gave a fine one-year-old foal in
+charge to the coachman, who tied it to the side of the carriage;
+and Marcus bid him deliver it up safely to the pastor of
+Rehewinkel, his good friend, for he had only been keeping the
+young thing at grass for him, and the pastor now wished it
+back--they must therefore go by Rehewinkel. So they drove away;
+but many strange things happened by reason of this same foal; for
+it was so restive and impatient at being tied, that many times
+they had to stop and quiet it, lest the poor beast might get hurt
+by the wheel.
+
+This so delayed their journey, that evening came on before they
+were out of the forest; and as the sun went down, the wolves began
+to appear in every direction. Finally, a pack of ten or twelve
+pursued the carriage; and though the coach-man whipped his horses
+with might and main, still the wolves gained on them, and stared
+up in their faces, licking their jaws with their red tongues. Some
+even were daring enough to spring up behind the carriage, but
+finding nothing but trunks, had to tumble down again.
+
+This so terrified Sidonia that she screamed and shrieked, and,
+drawing forth a knife, cut the cords that bound the foal, which
+instantly galloped away, and the wolves after it. How the carl
+drove now, thinking to get help in time to save the poor foal! but
+not so. The poor beast, in its terror, galloped into the town of
+Rehewinkel; and as the paddock is closed, it springs into the
+churchyard, the wolves after it, and runs into the belfry-tower,
+the door of which is lying open--the wolves rush in too, and there
+they tear the poor animal to pieces, before the pastor could
+collect peasants enough to try and save it.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia has reached the town likewise; and as there is a
+great uproar, some of the peasants crowding into the churchyard,
+others setting off full chase after the wolves, which had taken
+the road to Freienwald, Sidonia did not choose to move on (for she
+must have travelled that very road), but desired the coachman to
+drive up to the inn; and as she entered, lo! there sat my knave,
+with two companions, at a table, drinking. Up he jumps, and seizes
+Sidonia to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Let him not attempt
+to come near her. She had done with such low fellows."
+
+So the knave feigned great sorrow--"Alas! had she quite forgotten
+him--and he treasured her memory so in his heart! Where had she
+come from? He saw a great many trunks and bags on the carriage.
+What had she in them?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! he would, no doubt, like to get hold of them;
+but she would take care and inform the people what sort of robber
+carls they had now in the house. She came from Saatzig, and was
+going to Daber; for as old Dewitz had lost his daughter, he
+intended to adopt her in the place of one. Therefore let him not
+attempt to approach her, for she was now, more than ever, a castle
+and land dowered maiden, and from such a low burgher carl as he
+was, would cross and bless herself."
+
+But my knave knew her well; so he answered--"Woe is me, Sidonia!
+do not grieve me by such words; for know that I have given up my
+old free courses of which you talk; and my father is so pleased
+with my present mode of life, that he has promised to give me my
+heritage, and even this very night I am to receive it at
+Bruchhausen, and am on my way there, as you see. Truly I meant to
+purchase some land in Poland with the money, and then search
+throughout all places for you, that we might be wedded like pious
+Christians. Alas! I thought to have sold your poor cabins at
+Zachow, and brought you home to my castle in Poland; but for all
+my love you only give me this proud answer!"
+
+Now Sidonia scarcely believed the knave; so she called one of his
+comrades aside, and asked him was it true, and where they came
+from. Upon which he confirmed all that Johann had said--"The devil
+had dispersed the whole band, so that only two were left with the
+captain--himself and Konnemann; and they came from Noerenburg,
+where the master had been striking a bargain with Elias von Wedel,
+for a town in Poland. The town was called Lembrowo, and there was
+a stately castle there, as grand almost as the castle of old
+Dewitz at Daber. They were going this very night to Bruchhausen,
+to get gold from the old stiff-neck of Stargard, so that the
+bargain might be concluded next day."
+
+This was a pleasant hearing for Sidonia. She became more friendly,
+and said, "He could not blame her for doubting him, as he had
+deceived her so often; still it was wonderful how her heart clung
+to him through all. Where had he been so long? and what had
+happened since they parted?"
+
+Hereupon he answered, "That he could not speak while the people
+were all going to and fro in the inn; but if she came out with him
+(as the night was fine), they could walk down to the river-side,
+and he would tell her all."
+
+_Summa_.--She went with him, and they sat down upon the green
+grass to discourse, never knowing that the pastor of Rehewinkel
+was hid behind the next tree; for he had gone forth to lament over
+the loss of his poor foal, and sat there weeping bitterly. He had
+got it home to sell, that he might buy a warm coat for the winter,
+which now he cannot do; therefore the old man had gone forth
+mournfully into the clear night, thrown himself down, and wept.
+
+By this chance he heard the whole story from my knave, and related
+it afterwards to the old burgomaster in Stargard. It was as
+follows:--
+
+Some time after his flight from Daber, a friend from Stettin told
+him that Dinnies von Kleist (the same who had spoiled their work
+in the Uckermund forest) had got a great sum of gold in his
+knapsack, and was off to his castle at Dame, [Footnote: A town
+near Polzin, in Lower Pomerania, and an ancient feudal hold of the
+Kleists.] while the rest were feasting at Daber. This sum he had
+won by a wager from the Princes of Saxony, Brandenburg, and
+Mecklenburg. For he had bet, at table, that he would carry five
+casks of Italian wine at once, and without help, up from the
+cellar to the dining-hall, in the castle of Old Stettin. Duke
+Johann refused the bet, knowing his man well, but the others took
+it up; upon which, after grace, the whole noble company stood up
+and accompanied him to the cellar. Here Dinnies took up a cask
+under each arm, another in each hand by the plugs, and a fifth
+between his teeth by the plug also; thus laden, he carried the
+five casks up every step from the cellar to the dining-hall. So
+the money was paid to him, as the lacqueys witnessed, and having
+put the same in his knapsack, he set off for his castle at Dame,
+to give it to his father. And the knave went on--"After I heard
+this news from my good friend, I resolved to set off for Dame and
+revenge myself on this strong ox, burn his castle, and take his
+gold. The band agreed; but woe, alas! there was one traitor
+amongst them. The fellow was called Kaff, and I might well have
+suspected him; for latterly I observed that when we were about any
+business, particularly church-robbing, he tried to be off, and
+asked to be left to keep the watch. Divers nights, too, as I
+passed him, there was the carl praying; and so I ought to have
+dismissed the coward knave at once, or he would have had half the
+band praying likewise before long.
+
+"In short, this arrant villain slips off at night from his post,
+just as we had all set ourselves down before the castle, waiting
+for the darkest hour of midnight to attack the foxes in their den,
+and betrays the whole business to Kleist himself, telling him the
+strength of the band, and how and when we were to attack him, with
+all other particulars. Whereupon a great lamentation was heard in
+the castle, and old Kleist, a little white-headed man, wrung his
+hands, and seemed ready to go mad with fear; for half the
+retainers were at the annual fair, others far away at the
+coal-mines, and finally, they could scarcely muster in all ten
+fighting men. Besides this, the castle fosse was filled with
+rubbish, though the old man had been bidding his sons, for the
+last year, to get it cleared, but they never minded him, the idle
+knaves. All this troubled stout Dinnies mightily; and as he walked
+up and down the hall, his eyes often rested on a painting which
+represented the devil cutting off the head of a gambler, and
+flying with it out of the window.
+
+"Again and again he looked at the picture, then called out for a
+hound, stuck him under his arm, and cut off his head, as if it had
+been only a dove; then he called for a calf from the stall, put it
+under his arm likewise, and cut off the head. Then he asked for
+the mask which represented the devil, and which he had got from
+Stettin to frighten his dissolute brothers, when they caroused too
+late over their cups. The young Johann, indeed, had sometimes
+dropped the wine-flask by reason of it, but Detloff still ran
+after the young maidens as much as ever, though even he had got
+such a fright that there was hope for his poor soul yet. So the
+mask was brought, and all the proper disguise to play the
+devil--namely, a yellow jerkin slashed with black, a red mantle,
+and a large wooden horse's foot.
+
+"When Dinnies beheld all this, and the man who played the devil
+instructed him how to put them on, he rejoiced greatly, and
+declared that now he alone could save the castle. I knew nothing
+of all this at the time," said Johann, "nor of the treason,
+neither did the band. We were all seated under a shed in the wood,
+that had been built for the young deer in the winter time, and had
+stuck a lantern against the wall while we gamed and drank, and our
+provider poured us out large mugs of the best beer, when, just at
+midnight, we heard a report like a clap of thunder outside, so
+that the earth shook under us (it was no thunder-clap, however,
+but an explosion of powder, which the traitor had laid down all
+round the shed, for we found the trace of it next day).
+
+"And as we all sprang up, in strode the devil himself bodily, with
+his horse's foot and cocks' feathers, and a long calf's tail,
+making the most horrible grimaces, and shaking his long hair at
+us. Fire came out of his mouth and nostrils, and roaring like a
+wild boar, he seized the little dwarf (whom you may remember,
+Sidonia), tucked him under his arm like a cock--and just as he was
+uttering a curse over his good game being interrupted--and cut his
+head clean off; then, throwing the head at me, growled forth--
+
+  "'Every day one,
+  Only Sundays none"
+
+and disappeared through the door like a flash of lightning,
+carrying the headless trunk along with him.
+
+"When my comrades heard that the devil was to carry off one of
+them every day but Sunday, they all set up a screaming, like so
+many rooks when a shot is fired in amongst them, and rushed out in
+the night, seizing hold of horses or waggons, or whatever they
+could lay their hands on, and rode away east and west, and west
+and east, or north and south, as it may be.
+
+"_Summa_.--When I came to my senses (for I had sunk down
+insensible from horror, when the head of the dwarf was thrown at
+me), I found that the said head had bit me by the arm, so that I
+had to drag it away by force; then I looked about me, and every
+knave had fled--even my waggon had been carried off, and not a
+soul was left in the place of all these fine fellows, who had
+sworn to be true to me till death.
+
+"This base desertion nearly broke my heart, and I resolved to
+change my course of life and go to some pious priest for
+confession, telling him how the devil had first tempted me to sin,
+and then punished me in this terrible manner (as, indeed, I well
+deserved).
+
+"So next morning I took my way to the town, after observing, to my
+great annoyance, that the castle could have been as easily taken
+as a bird's nest; and seeing a beer-glass painted on a sign-board,
+I guessed that here was the inn. Truth to say, my heart wanted
+strengthening sorely, and I entered. There was a pretty wench
+washing crabs in the kitchen, and as I made up to her, after my
+manner, to have a little pastime, she drew back and said,
+laughing, 'May the devil take you, as he took the others last
+night in the barn!' upon which she laughed again so loud and long,
+that I thought she would have fallen down, and could not utter a
+word more for laughing.
+
+"This seemed a strange thing to me, for I had never heard a
+Christian man, much less a woman, laugh when the talk was of the
+bodily Satan himself. So I asked what there was so pleasant in the
+thought? whereupon she related what the young knight Dinnies
+Kleist had done to save his castle from the robbers. I would not
+believe her, but while I sat myself down on a bench to drink, the
+host comes in and confirmed her story. _Summa_, I let the
+conversion lie over for a time yet, and set about looking for my
+comrades, but not finding one, I fell into despair, and resolved
+to get into Poland, and take service in the army there--especially
+as all my money had vanished."
+
+Here the old parson said that Sidonia cried out, "How now, sir
+knave, you are going to buy castle and lands forsooth, and have no
+money? Truly the base villain is deceiving me yet again."
+
+But my knave answered, "Alas! woe that thou shouldst think so
+hardly of me! Have I not told thee that my father is going to give
+me my heritage? So listen further what I tell thee:--In Poland I
+met with Konnemann and Stephen Pruski, who had one of my waggons
+with them, in which all my gold was hid, and when I threatened to
+complain to the authorities, the cowards let me have my own
+property again, on condition that I would take them into my
+service, when I went to live at my own castle. This I promised;
+therefore they are here with me, as you see. And Konnemann went
+lately to my father at my request, and brought me back the joyful
+intelligence that he would assign me over my portion of his goods
+and property."
+
+So far the Pastor Rehewinkelensis heard. What follows concerning
+the wicked knave was related by his own sorrowing father to my
+worthy father-in-law, along with other pious priests, and from him
+I had the story when I visited him at Marienfliess.
+
+For what was my knave's next act? When he returned to the town,
+and heard from his comrades that the coachman of Saatzig was
+snoring away there in the stable with open mouth, he stuffed in
+some hay to prevent him screaming, and tied him hands and feet,
+then drew his horses out of the stall, yoked them to the carriage,
+and drove it himself a little piece out of the town down into the
+hollow, then went back for Sidonia, telling her that her stupid
+coachman had made some mistake and driven off without her, but he
+had put all her baggage on his own carriage, which was now quite
+ready, if she would walk with him a little way just outside the
+town. Hereupon she paid the reckoning, mine host troubling himself
+little about the affair of the waggon, and they set off on foot.
+
+When they reached the carriage, Sidonia asked if all her baggage
+were really there, for she could not see in the darkness. And when
+she felt, and reckoned all her bundles and trunks, and found all
+right, my knave said, "Now, she saw herself that he meant truly by
+her. Here was even a nice place made in the straw sack for her,
+where he had sat down first himself, that she might have an easy
+seat. _Item_, she now saw his own carriage which he had
+fished up in Poland and kept till now, that he might travel in it
+to Bruchhausen to receive his heritage, and he was going there
+this very night. She saw that he had lied in nothing."
+
+Whereupon Sidonia got into the carriage with him, never
+discovering his knavery on account of the darkness, and about
+midnight they reached the inn at Bruchhausen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby._
+
+
+My knave halted a little way before they reached the inn, for he
+had his suspicions that all was not quite right, and sent on the
+forenamed Pruski to ascertain whether the money was really come
+for him. For there was a bright light in the tap-room, and the
+sound of many voices, which was strange, seeing that it was late
+enough for every one to be in bed. Pruski was back again
+soon--yes, it was all right. There were men in there from
+Stargard, who said they had brought gold for the young
+burgomaster.
+
+Marry! how my knave jumped down from the carriage, and brought
+Sidonia along with him, bidding Pruski to stay and watch the
+things. But, behold, as my knave entered, six men seized him,
+bound him firmly, and bid him sit down quietly on a bench by the
+table, till his father arrived. So he cursed and swore, but this
+was no help to him; and when Sidonia saw that she had been
+deceived again, she tried to slip out and get to the carriage, but
+the men stopped her, saying, unless she wished a pair of handcuffs
+on, she had better sit down quietly on another bench opposite
+Johann. And she asked in vain what all this meant. _Item_, my
+knave asked in vain, but no one answered them.
+
+They had not long been waiting, when a carriage stopped before the
+door, more voices were heard, and, alas! who should enter but the
+old burgomaster himself, with Mag. Vito, Diaconus of St. John's.
+And after them came the executioner, with six assistants bearing a
+black coffin.
+
+My knave now turned as white as a corpse, and trembled like an
+aspen leaf; no word could he utter, but fell with his back against
+the wall. Then a dead silence reigned throughout the chamber, and
+Sidonia looked as white as her paramour.
+
+When the assistants had placed the coffin on the ground, the old
+father advanced to the table, and spake thus--"Oh, thou fallen and
+godless child! thou thrice lost son! how often have I sought to
+turn thee from evil, and trusted in thy promises; but in place of
+better, thou hast grown worse, and wickedness has increased in
+thee day by day, as poison in the young viper. On thy infamous
+hands lie so many robberies, murders, and seductions, that they
+cannot be reckoned. I speak not of past years, for then truly the
+night would not be long enough to count them; I speak only of thy
+last deeds in Poland, as old Elias von Wedel related them to me
+yesterday in Stargard. Deny, if thou darest, here in the face of
+thy death and thy coffin, how thou didst join thyself to the
+Lansquenets in Poland, and then along with two vile fellows got
+entrance into Lembrowo, telling the old castellan, Elias von
+Wedel, that thou wast a labourer, upon which he took thee into his
+service. But at night thou (O wicked son!) didst rise up and beat
+the old Elias almost unto death, demanding all his money, which,
+when he refused, thou and thy robber villains seized his cattle
+and his horses, and drove them away with thee. _Item_, canst
+thou deny that on meeting the same old Elias at Norenberg by the
+hunt in the forest, thou didst mock him, and ask, would he sell
+his castle of Lembrowo in Poland, for thou wouldst buy it of him,
+seeing thy father had promised thee plenty of gold?
+
+"_Item_, canst thou deny having written me a threatening
+letter, declaring that if by this very night a hundred dollars
+were not sent to thee here at Bruchhausen, a red beacon should
+rise up from my sheepfolds and barns, which meant nothing else
+than that thou wouldst burn the whole good town of Stargard, for
+thou knowest well that all the sheepfolds and barns of the
+burghers adjoin one to the other? Canst thou deny this, O thou
+lost son? If so, deny it now."
+
+Here Johann began again with his old knavery. He wept, and threw
+himself on the ground, crawling under the table to get to his
+father's feet, then howled forth, that he repented of his sins,
+and would lead a better life truly for the future, if his hard,
+stern father would only forgive him now.
+
+But Sidonia screamed aloud, and as the burgomaster in his sorrow
+had not observed her before, he turned his eyes now on her, and
+exclaimed, "Woe, alas! thou godless son, hast thou this noble
+maiden with thee yet? I thought she was at Saatzig; or perchance
+thou hast made her thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, no; but he would marry her soon, to make
+amends for the wrong he had done her."
+
+_Hic_.--"This thou hast ten times promised, but in vain, and
+thy sins have increased a hundredfold; because, like all
+profligates, thou hast shunned the holy estate of matrimony, and
+preferred to wallow in the mire of unchastity, with any one who
+fell in the way of thy adulterous and licentious eyes."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas! his heart's dearest father was right; but he
+would amend his evil life; and, in proof of it, let the reverend
+deacon, M. Vitus, here present, wed him now instantly to Sidonia."
+
+_Hic_.--"It is too late. I counsel thee rather to wed thy
+poor soul to the holy Saviour, like the repentant thief on the
+cross. See--here is a priest, and there is a coffin."
+
+Here the executioner broke in upon the old, deeply afflicted
+father, telling him the coffin was too short, as, indeed, his
+worship had told him, but he would not believe the young man was
+so tall. Where could he put the head? It must be stuck between his
+feet, or under his arm, cried out another. So some proposed one
+thing and some another, till a great uproar arose.
+
+Upon which the old mourning father cried out--"Do you want to
+break my heart? Is there not time enough to talk of this after?"
+
+Then he turned again to his profligate son, and asked him--
+
+"Would he not repent, and take the holy body and blood of our Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a passport with him on this long
+journey? If so, let him go into the little room and pray with the
+priest, and repent of his sins; there was yet time."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, he had repented already. What had he ever
+done so wicked that his own bodily father should thirst after his
+blood? The courts were all closed, and law or justice could no man
+have in all Pomerania. What wonder then if club-law and the right
+of the strongest should obtain in all places, as in the olden
+time?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That law and justice had ceased in the land was,
+alas! but too true. However, he was not to answer for this, but
+his princely Grace of Stettin. And because they had ceased in the
+land, was he, as an upright magistrate, called upon to do his duty
+yet more sternly, even though the criminal were his own born son.
+For the Lord, the just Judge, the Almighty and jealous God, called
+to him daily, from His holy Word--'Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is
+God's.' [Footnote: Deut. i. 17.] Woe to the land's Prince who had
+not considered this, but compelled him, the miserable judge, to
+steep his father's hands in the blood of his own son. But
+righteous Abraham conquered through faith, because he was obedient
+unto God, and bound his own innocent son upon the altar, and drew
+forth his knife to slay him. Therefore he, too, would conquer
+through faith, if he bound his _guilty_ son, and drew out the
+sword against him, obedient to the words of the Lord. Therefore
+let him prepare himself for death, and follow the priest into the
+adjoining little chamber."
+
+When Johann found that his father could in no wise be softened, he
+began horribly to curse him and the hour of his birth, so that the
+hair of all who heard him stood on end. And he called the devil to
+help him, and adjured him to come and carry away this fierce and
+unnatural father, who was more bloodthirsty than the wild beasts
+of the forest--for who had ever heard that they murdered their own
+blood?
+
+"Come, devil," he screamed; "come, devil, and tear this
+bloodthirsty monster of a father to pieces before my eyes, so will
+I give myself to thee, body and soul! Hearest thou, Satan! Come
+and destroy my father, and all who have here come out to murder
+me, only leave me a little while longer in this life to do thy
+service, and then I am thine for eternity!"
+
+Now all eyes were turned in fear and horror to the door, but no
+Satan entered, for the just God would not permit it, else,
+methinks, he would have run to catch such a morsel for his supper.
+However, the old man trembled, and seemed dwindling away into
+nothing before the eyes of the bystanders as his son uttered the
+curse. But he soon recovered, and laying his quivering hands upon
+the head of the imprecator, broke forth into loud weeping, while
+he prayed thus--
+
+"O Thou just and Almighty God, who bringest the devices of the
+wicked to nought, close Thine ears against this horrible curse of
+my false son; remember Thine own word--'Into an evil soul wisdom
+cannot enter, nor dwell in a body subject unto sin.' [Footnote:
+Wisdom i. 4.] Thou alone canst make the sinful soul wise, and the
+body of sin a temple of the Holy Ghost. O Lord Jesus Christ, hast
+Thou no drop of living water, no crumb of strengthening manna for
+this sinful and foolish soul? Hast Thou no glance of Thy holy eyes
+for this denying Peter, that he may go forth and weep bitterly?
+Hast Thou no word to strike the heart of this dying thief--of this
+lost son, who, here bound for death, has cursed his own father,
+and given himself up, body and soul, to the enemy of mankind? O
+blessed Spirit, who comest and goest as the wind, enter the
+heavenly temple, which is yet the work of Thy hands, and make it,
+by Thy presence, a temple of the Most High! O Lord God, dwell
+there but one moment, that so in his death-anguish he may feel the
+sweetness of Thy presence, and the heaven-high comfort of Thy
+promise! O Thou Holy Trinity, who hast kept my steps from falling,
+through so much care and trouble, through so much shame and
+disgrace, through so much watching and tears, and even now through
+these terrible curses of my son, come and say Amen to this my last
+blessing, which I, poor father, give him for his curse.
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee in the death hour.
+The Lord shed his grace on thee, and give thee peace in thy last
+agonies!
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee, and give thee
+peace upon earth, and peace above the earth! Amen, amen, amen!"
+
+When the trembling old man had so prayed, many wept aloud, and his
+son trembled likewise, and followed the priest, silently and
+humbly, into the neighbouring chamber.
+
+Then the old man turned to Sidonia, and asked why she had left her
+worthy cousin Marcus of Saatzig?
+
+Upon which she told him, weeping, how his son had deceived her, in
+order to get her once more into his power, in order that he might
+rob her, and all she wanted now was to be let go her way in peace
+to her farm-houses in Zachow.
+
+But this the old man refused.
+
+"No; this must not be yet. She was as evil-minded as his own son,
+and needed an example to warn her from sin. Not a step should she
+move till his head was off."
+
+And, for this purpose, he bid two burghers seize hold of her by
+the hands, and carry her to the scaffold when the execution was
+going to take place. The grave must be nearly ready now, which he
+bade them dig in a corner of the churchyard close by, and he had
+ordered a car-load of sand likewise to be laid down there, for the
+execution should take place in the churchyard.
+
+Meanwhile the poor criminal has come out of the inner chamber with
+M. Vitus, and going up to the bench where the poor father had sunk
+down exhausted by emotion, he flings himself at his feet,
+exclaiming, with the prodigal son in the parable--
+
+"Father, I have sinned before heaven and in thy sight, and am no
+more worthy to be called thy son."
+
+Then he kissed his feet, and bedewed them with his tears.
+
+Now the father thought this was all pretence, as formerly, so he
+gave no answer. Upon which the poor sinner rose up, and reached
+his hand to each one in the chamber, praying their forgiveness for
+all the evil he had done, but which he was now going to expiate in
+his blood. _Item,_ he advanced to Sidonia, sighing--
+
+"Would not she too forgive him, for the love of God? Woe, alas!
+She had more to forgive than any one; but would not she give him
+her pardon, for some comfort on this last journey; and so would he
+bear her remembrance before the throne of God?"
+
+But Sidonia pushed away his hand.
+
+"He should be ashamed of such old-womanish weakness. Did he not
+see that his father was only trying to frighten him? For were he
+in earnest, then were he more cruel even than her own unnatural
+father, who, though he had only left her two cabins in Zachow, out
+of all his great riches, yet had left her, at least, her poor
+life."
+
+Hereupon the poor sinner made answer--
+
+"Not so; I know my father; he is not cruel; what he does is right;
+therefore I willingly die, trusting in my blessed Saviour, whose
+body will sanctify my body in the grave. For had I committed no
+other sin, yet the curse I uttered just now is alone sufficient to
+make me worthy of death, as it is written--'He that curseth father
+or mother shall surely be put to death.'" [Footnote: Exodus xxi.
+17.]
+
+When the old man heard such-like words, he resolved to put his
+son's sincerity to the test, for truly it seemed to him impossible
+that the Almighty God should so suddenly make the crooked
+straight, and the dead to live, and a child of heaven out of a
+child of hell. So he spake--
+
+"Thy repentance seemeth good unto me, my son, what sayest thou?
+will it last, think you, if I now bestow thy life on thee?"
+
+Hereat Sidonia laughed aloud, exclaiming--
+
+"Said I not right? It was all a jest of thy dear father's." But
+the poor sinner would not turn again to his wallowing in the mire.
+He sat down upon a bench, covering his face with his hands, and
+sobbed aloud. At last he answered--
+
+"Alas! father, life is sweet and death is bitter; but since the
+Holy Spirit hath entered into me with the body of our Lord, I say,
+death is sweet and life is bitter. No; off with my head! 'I find a
+law in my members warring against the law of my spirit, and making
+me a prisoner under the law of sin;' [Footnote: Romans vii. 23.]
+for if I see my neighbour rich and I am poor, then the demon of
+covetousness rises in me, and my fingers itch to seize my share.
+Or, if the foaming flask is before me, how can I resist to drain
+it, for the spirit of gluttony is within me? Or, if I see a
+maiden, the blood throbs in my veins, and the demon of lust has
+taken possession of me. 'Oh, wretched man that I am, who will
+deliver me from the body of this death?' You will, dearest father.
+You will release me from this life, as you once gave it to me, for
+it is now a life in death. Ah! show mercy! Come quickly, and
+release me from the body of this death!"
+
+When he ceased, the old man sprung up like a youth, and pressing
+his lost son to his heart, sobbed forth like him of the Gospel--
+
+"O friends, see! 'This my son was dead, but is alive again; he was
+lost, and is found.' Yea, yea, see all that nothing is impossible
+with God. O Thou Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now I
+have nothing more to ask, but that I too may soon be released from
+the body of this death, and go forth to meet my new-found son
+amidst the bright circle of the Holy Angels."
+
+Then the son answered--
+
+"Let me go now, father. See, the morning dawn shines already
+through the window; so hath the loving mercy of my God come to me,
+who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. Farewell, father; let
+me go now. Away with this head in the clear early morning light,
+so that my feet be fixed for evermore upon the path to peace."
+
+And so speaking, he seized M. Vitus by the hand, who was sobbing
+loudly, as well as most of the burghers, and the executioner with
+his assistants bearing the coffin were going to follow, when the
+old man, who had sunk down upon a bench, called back his son,
+though he had already gone out at the door, and prayed the
+executioner to let him stay one little while longer. For he
+remembered that his son had a welt upon his neck, and he must see
+whether it would interfere with the sword. Woe, woe! if he should
+have to strike twice or thrice before the head fell!
+
+So the executioner removed the neck-cloth from the poor sinner
+(who, by the great mercy of God, was stronger than any of them),
+and having felt the welt, said--
+
+"No; the welt was close up to the head, but he would take the neck
+in the middle, as indeed was his usual custom. His worship may
+make his mind quite easy; he would stake his life on it that the
+head would fall with the first blow. This was his one hundred and
+fiftieth, and he never yet had failed."
+
+Then the unhappy criminal tied his cravat on again, took M. Vitus
+by the hand, and said--
+
+"Farewell, my father; once more forgive me for all that I have
+done!"
+
+After which he went out quickly, without waiting to hear a word
+more from his father, and the executioner followed him.
+
+Meanwhile the afflicted father was sore troubled in mind. Three
+times he repeated the text--"Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is
+God's." Then he called upon God to forgive the Prince who, by
+taking away law and justice from the land, had obliged him to be
+the judge and condemner of his son. How the Lord dealt with the
+Prince we shall hear farther on. One while he sent mine host to
+look over the hedge, and tell him if the head were off yet. Then
+he would begin to pray that he might soon follow this poor son,
+who had never given him one moment of joy but through his death,
+and pass quickly after him through the vale of tears.
+
+The son, however, is steadfast unto the end. For when they reached
+the churchyard, he stood still a while gazing on the heap of sand.
+Then he desired to be led to the spot where his grave was dug; and
+near this same grave there being a tombstone, on which was figured
+a man kneeling before a crucifix, he asked--
+
+"Who was to share his grave bed here?"
+
+Whereupon M. Vitus replied--
+
+"He was a _rector scholae_ out of Stargard, a very learned
+man, who had retired from active life, and settled down here at
+Bruchhausen, where he died not long since."
+
+Whereat the poor sinner stood still a while, and then repeated
+this beautiful distich, no doubt by the inspiration of the Holy
+Ghost, to warn all learned sinners against that demon of pride and
+vain-glory which too often takes possession of them.
+
+  "Quid juvat innumeros scire atque evolvere casus
+   Si facieuda fugis et fugienda facis?"
+
+   ["What is the use of knowledge and all our infinite learning,
+    If we fly what is right and do what we ought to fly?"]
+
+Then he looked calmly at his grave, and only prayed the
+executioner not to put his head between his feet; after which he
+returned to the sand-heap and exclaimed--
+
+"Now to God!"
+
+Upon which, M. Vitus blessed him yet again, and spake--
+
+"O God, Father, who hast brought back this lost son, and filled
+this foolish soul with wisdom; ah! Jesus, Saviour, who, in truth,
+hast turned Thy holy eyes on him as on the denying Peter and on
+the dying thief. O Holy Spirit, who hast not scorned to make this
+poor vessel a temple for Thyself to dwell in, that in the
+death-anguish this sinner may find the sweetness of Thy presence
+and the heaven-high comfort of Thy promises! O Thou Holy
+Trinity--to Thee--to Thee--to Thee--to Thy grace, Thy power, Thy
+protection, we resign this dying mortal in his last agonies. Help
+him, Lord God! _Kyrle Eleison!_ Give Thy holy angels command
+to bear this poor soul into Abraham's bosom. O come, Lord Jesus;
+help him, O Lord our God. _Kyrie Eleison!_ Amen."
+
+And hereupon he pronounced a last blessing over him. And when the
+executioner took off his upper garment and bound the kerchief over
+his eyes, M. Vitus again spake--
+
+"Think on the holy martyrs, of whom Basilius Magnus testifies that
+they exclaimed, when undressing for their death--_Non vestes
+exuimus, sed veterem hommem deponimus." [Footnote: "We lay not off
+our clothes, but the old man."--Basil the Great, Archbishop of
+Caesarea, A.D. 379.]
+
+Upon which he answered from under the kerchief something in Latin,
+but the executioner had laid the cloth so thickly even over his
+mouth and chin, that no one could catch the words. Then he kneeled
+down, and while the executioner drew his sword, M. Vitus chanted--
+
+  "When my lips no more can speak,
+     May Thy Spirit in me cry;
+   When my eyes are faint and weak,
+     May my soul see Heaven nigh!
+
+   When my heart is sore dismayed,
+     This dying frame has lost its strength,
+   May my spirit, with Thy aid,
+     Cry--Jesu, take me home at length!"
+
+And all who stood round saw, as it were, a wonderful sign from
+God; for as the executioner let the sword fall, head and sun
+appeared at the same moment--the head upon the earth, the sun
+above the earth; and there was a deep silence. Sidonia alone
+laughed out loud, and cried, "So ends the conversion!" And while
+the psalm was singing, "Now, pray we to the Holy Ghost," the
+executioner acting as clerk, she disappeared, and for thirty
+years, as we shall hear presently, no one could ascertain where
+she went to or how she lived; though sometimes, like a horrible
+ghost, she was seen occasionally here and there.
+
+_Summa_.--The miserable criminal was laid in his coffin, and
+as, in truth, it was too short for the corpse, and the poor sinner
+had requested that his head might not be placed between his feet,
+so it was laid upon his chest, with his hands folded over it, and
+thus he was buried.
+
+The old father rejoiced greatly that his son remained steadfast in
+the truth until the last, and thanked God for it. Then he returned
+to Stargard; and I may just mention, to conclude concerning him,
+that the merciful God heard the prayer of this His faithful
+servant, for he scarcely survived his son a year, but, after a
+short illness, fell asleep in Jesus. [Footnote: For further
+particulars concerning this truly worthy man, who may well be
+called the Pomeranian Manlius, see Friedeborn, "Description of Old
+Stettin," vol. ii. p. 113; and Barthold, "Pomeranian History," pp.
+46, 419.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+_Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the
+young Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and
+of the sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of
+Pomerania._
+
+
+I have said that Sidonia disappeared after the execution at
+Bruchhausen, and that for thirty years no one knew where she lived
+or how she lived. At her farm-house at Zachow she never appeared;
+but the _Acta Criminalia_ set forth that during that period
+she wandered about the towns of Freienwald, Regenwald, Stargard,
+and other places, in company with Peter Konnemann and divers other
+knaves.
+
+However, the ducal prosecutor, although he instituted the
+strictest inquiries at the period of her trial, could ascertain
+nothing beyond this, except that, in consequence of her evil
+habits and licentious tongue, she was held everywhere in fear and
+abhorrence, and was chased away from every place she entered after
+about six or eight o'clock. Further, that some misfortune always
+fell upon every one who had dealings with her, particularly young
+married people. To the said Konnemann, she betrothed herself after
+the death of her first paramour, but afterwards gave him fifty
+florins to get rid of the contract, as she confessed at the
+seventeenth question upon the rack, according to the _Actis
+Lothmanni_. Meantime her brother and cousins were so completely
+turned against her, that her brother even took those two
+farm-houses to himself; and though Sidonia wrote to him, begging
+that an annuity might be settled on her, yet she never received a
+line in answer--and this was the manner in which the whole
+cousinhood treated her in her despair and poverty.
+
+I myself made many inquiries as to her mode of life during those
+thirty years, but in vain. Some said that she went into Poland and
+there kept a little tavern for twenty years; some had seen her
+living at Riigen at the old wall, where in heathen times the
+goddess Hertha was honoured. Some said she went to Riiden, a
+little uninhabited island between Riigen and Usdom, where the wild
+geese and other birds flock in the moulting season and drop their
+feathers. Thence, they said, she gathered the eggs, and killed the
+birds with clubs. At least this was the story of the Usdom
+fishermen, but whether it were Sidonia or some other outcast
+woman, I cannot in strict verity declare. Only in Freienwald did I
+hear for certain that she lived there twelve years with some earl
+whom she called her shield-knight; but one day they quarrelled,
+and beat each other till the blood flowed, after which they both
+ran out of the town, and went different ways.
+
+_Summa._--On the 1st of May 1592, when the witches gather in
+the Brocken to hold their Walpurgis night, and the princely castle
+of Wolgast was well guarded from the evil one by white and black
+crosses placed on every door, an old wrinkled hag was seen about
+eight o'clock of the morning (just the time she had returned from
+the Blocksberg, according to my thinking), walking slowly up and
+down the great corridor of the princely castle. And the providence
+of the great God so willed it that at that moment the young and
+beautiful Princess Elizabeth Magdalena (who had been betrothed to
+the Duke Frederick of Courland) opened her chamber-door and
+slipped forth to pay her morning greetings to her illustrious
+father, Duke Ernest, and his spouse, the Lady Sophia Hedwig of
+Brunswick, who sat together drinking their warm beer, [Footnote:
+Before the introduction of coffee or chocolate, warm beer was in
+general use at breakfast] and had sent for her.
+
+So the hag advanced with much friendliness and cried out, "Hey,
+what a beautiful young damsel! But her lord papa was called 'the
+handsome' in his time, and wasn't she as like him as one egg to
+another. Might she take her ladyship's little hand and kiss it?"
+Now as the hag was bold in her bearing, and the young Princess was
+a timid thing, she feared to refuse; so she reached forth her
+hand, alas! to the witch, who first three times blew on it,
+murmuring some words before she kissed it; then as the young
+Princess asked her who she was and what she wanted, the evil hag
+answered, "I would speak with your gracious father, for I have
+known him well. Ask his princely Grace to come to me, for I have
+somewhat to say to him." Now the Princess, in her simplicity,
+omitted to ask the hag's name, whereby much evil came to pass, for
+had she told her gracious father that SIDONIA wished to speak to
+him, assuredly he never would have come forth, and that fatal and
+malignant glance of the witch would not have fallen upon him.
+
+However, his Serene Grace, having a mild Christian nature, stepped
+out into the corridor at the request of his dear daughter, and
+asked the hag who she was and what she wanted. Upon this, she
+fixed her eyes on him in silence for a long while, so that he
+shuddered, and his blood seemed to turn to ice in his veins.
+[Footnote: This belief in the witchcraft of a glance was very
+general during the witch period. And even the ancients notice it
+(Pliny, Hist. Nat. vii. 2), also Aul. Gell. Noct. Attic, ix. 4;
+and Virgil, Eclog. in. 103. The glance of a woman with double
+pupils was particularly feared.] At last she spake: "It is a
+strange thing, truly, that your Grace should no longer remember
+the maiden to whom you once promised marriage." At this his Grace
+recoiled in horror, and exclaimed, "Ha, Sidonia! but how you are
+changed." "Ah!" she answered, with a scornful laugh, "you may well
+triumph, now that my cheek is hollow, and my beauty gone, and that
+I have come to you for justice against my own brother in Stramehl,
+who denies me even the means of subsistence--you, who brought me
+to this pass."
+
+Upon which his Grace answered that her brother was a subject of
+the Duke of Stettin. Let her go then to Stettin, and demand
+justice there.
+
+_Illa._--"She had been there, but the Duke refused to see
+her, and to her request for a _proebenda_ in the convent of
+Marienfliess had returned no answer. She prayed his Grace,
+therefore, out of old good friendship, to take up her cause, and
+use his influence with the Lord Duke of Stettin to obtain the
+_proebenda_ for her, also to send a good scolding to her
+brother at Stramehl under his own hand."
+
+Now my gracious Prince was so anxious to get rid of her, that he
+promised everything she asked. Whereupon she would kiss his hand,
+but he drew it back shuddering, upon which she went down the great
+castle steps again, murmuring to herself.
+
+But her wickedness soon came to light; for mark--scarcely a few
+days had passed over, when the beautiful young Princess was
+possessed by Satan; she rolls herself upon the ground, twists and
+writhes her hands and feet, speaks with a great coarse voice like
+a common carl, blasphemes God and her parents; and what was more
+wonderful than all, her throat swelled, and when they laid their
+hand on it, something living seemed creeping up and down in it.
+Then it went up to her mouth, and her tongue swelled so, that her
+eyes seemed starting from their sockets, and the gracious young
+lady became fearful to look at.
+
+_Item,_ then she began to speak Latin, though she had never
+learned this tongue, whereupon many, and in particular Mag.
+Michael Aspius, the court chaplain (for Dr. Gerschovius was long
+since dead) pronounced that Satan himself verily must be in the
+maiden. [Footnote: The ancients name three distinguishing marks of
+demoniacal possession:--
+
+1st, When the patient blasphemes God and cannot repeat the leading
+articles of his Christian belief.
+
+2nd, When he foretells events which afterwards come to pass.
+
+3rd, When he speaks in a strange tongue, which it can be proved he
+never learned.
+
+Now the somnambulists of our day fulfil the second and third
+conditions without dispute; and some account for the divining
+power by saying it is the effect of the increased activity of the
+soul. They also assert that the patient speaks in a strange tongue
+only when the magnetiser with whom he is in _en rapport_
+understands the tongue himself, and the patient speaks it because
+all the thoughts, feelings, words, &c., of the operator become
+his--in short, their souls become one. This explanation, however,
+is very improbable, and has not been confirmed by facts; for the
+phenomenon of speaking in a strange tongue often appears before a
+perfect _rapport_ has been obtained between the patient and
+the operator. Indeed, Psellus gives an instance to show that it is
+not even at all necessary. (Psellus lived about the eleventh
+century, and wrote _De Operatione Doemonum,_ also _De
+Mysteriis AEgyptiorum,_ his works are very remarkable, and well
+worth a perusal.) He states that a sick woman all at once began to
+speak in a strange and barbarous tongue no one had ever heard
+before. At last some of the women about her brought an Armenian
+magician to see her, who instantly found that she spoke Armenian,
+though she had never in her life beheld one of that nation.
+Psellus describes him as an old lean wrinkled man. He acted quite
+differently from our modern magnetisers, for he never sought to
+place himself in sympathetic relation with her by passes or
+touches; on the contrary, he drew his sword, and placing himself
+beside the bed, began tittering the most harsh and cruel words he
+could think of in the Armenian tongue _(acriter conviciatus
+est)_. The woman retorted in the Armenian tongue likewise, and
+tried to get out of bed to fight with him. Then the barbarian grew
+as if mad, and endeavoured to stab her, upon which she shrunk back
+terrified and trembling, and soon fell into a deep sleep. Psellus
+seems to have witnessed this, for he says the woman was wife to
+his eldest brother. As further regards demoniacal possession, the
+New Testament is full of examples thereof; and though in the last
+century the reality of the fact was assailed, yet Franz Meyer has
+again defended it with arguments that cannot be overthrown.
+Remarkable examples of possession in modern times we find in the
+_Didiskalia,_ No. 81, of the year 1833, and in Berner's
+"History of Satanic Possession," p. 20.] This was fully proved on
+the following Sunday; for during divine service in the Church of
+St. Peter, the young Princess was carried in on a litter and laid
+down before the altar, whereupon she commenced uttering horrible
+blasphemies, and mocking the holy prayer in a coarse bass voice,
+while she foamed and raged so violently, that eight men could
+scarcely hold her in her bed. Whereat the whole Christian
+congregation were admonished to pray to the Lord for this poor
+maiden, that she might be freed from the devil within her; and
+during the week all priests throughout the land were commanded to
+offer up prayers day and night for her princely Grace. But on
+Sundays all the people were to unite in one common supplication to
+the throne of grace for the like object.
+
+And it seemed, after some weeks, as if God had heard their
+prayers, and commanded Satan to leave the body of the young
+maiden, for she had now rest for fourteen days, and was able to
+pray again. Also her rosy cheeks began to bloom once more, so that
+her parents were filled with joy, and resolved to hold a
+thank-festival throughout the land, and receive the Holy Sacrament
+in St. Peter's Church with their beloved daughter.
+
+But what happened? For as the godly discourse had ended, and their
+Graces stepped to the altar to make a rich offering on the plate
+which lay upon the little desk, free of approach from all sides,
+my knave Satan has again begun his work. Truly, he waited with
+cunning till her Grace had swallowed the Sacrament, that his
+blasphemies might seem more horrible. And this was the way he
+manifested himself.
+
+After the court marshal and the castellan had laid down a black
+velvet carpet, embroidered in gold with the Pomeranian and
+Brandenburg arms, for their Graces to kneel upon, they took
+another black velvet cloth, on which the Holy Supper was
+represented embroidered in silver, to hold before their Graces
+like a serviette, while they received the blessed elements. Then
+advanced the priest with the Sacrament, but scarcely had the
+gracious young Princess swallowed the same, when she uttered a
+loud cry and fell backwards with her head upon the ground, while
+Satan raged so in her that it might have melted the heart of a
+stone.
+
+So M. Aspius bade the organ cease, and then placed the young lady
+upon a seat, after which he called upon their Graces and the whole
+congregation to join him in offering up a prayer. Then he solemnly
+adjured the evil spirit to come out of her; it, however, had grown
+so daring that it only laughed at the priest; and when asked where
+it had been for so long, and in particular where it had lain while
+the Jesu bride was wedded to her Holy Saviour in the Blessed
+Sacrament, it impatiently answered that it had lain under her
+tongue; many knaves might lie under a bridge while an honourable
+seigneur passed overhead, and why should not it do the like? And
+here, to the unspeakable horror of the whole congregation, it
+seemed to move up and down in the chest and throat of the young
+Princess, like some animal.
+
+But the long-suffering of God was now at an end, for while the
+Reverend Dr. Aspius was talking himself weary with adjurations,
+and gaining no good by it, for the evil spirit only mocked and
+jeered him, crying, "Look at the fat parson how he sweats, maybe
+it will help as much as his chattering over the wine," who should
+enter the church (sent no doubt by the all-merciful God) but the
+Reverend Dr. Joel, Professor at Grypswald, for he had heard how
+this lusty Satan had taken possession of the princely maiden. When
+the devil saw him, he began to tremble through all the limbs of
+the young Princess, and exclaimed in Latin, _"Consummatum
+est."_ [Footnote: "It is over."] For this Dr. Joel was a
+powerful man, and learned in all the cunning shifts of the
+arch-enemy, having many times disputed de Magis. [Footnote: Of
+Witchcraft; see Barthold, iv. 2, 412.]
+
+Now when he advanced to the young Princess, and saw how the evil
+spirit ran up and down her poor form, like a mouse in a net, he
+was filled with horror, and removing his hat, exclaimed, without
+taking much heed of his Latin, _"Deus misereatur
+peccatoris."_ Upon which the devil, in a deep bass voice,
+corrected him, crying, _"Die peccatricls, die peccatricls."_
+[Footnote: Peccatoris is masculine, Peccatricis feminine.]
+
+However, Satan himself felt that his hour had come; for when
+Doctor Joel laid his hand upon the maiden, and repeated a powerful
+adjuration from the _Clavilcula Salomonis,_ Satan immediately
+promised to obey if he were allowed to take away the
+oblation-cloth which lay upon the desk.
+
+_Ille._--"What did he want with the oblation-cloth?"
+
+_Satanas._--"There was a coin in it which vexed him."
+
+_Ille._--"What coin could it be, and wherefore did it vex
+him?"
+
+_Satanas._--"He would not say."
+
+_Ille._--(Adjures him again.)
+
+_Satanas._--"Let him have it, or he would tear the young
+maiden to pieces." And here he began to foam and rage so horribly,
+that her eyes turned in her head, and she gnashed with her teeth,
+so that father and mother had to cover their eyes not to see her
+great agony. Whereupon Doctor Joel bent down and wrote with his
+finger upon her breast the Tetragrammaton, crying out-- [Footnote:
+The four letters which compose the name Jehovah ( [Hebrew Text]).
+It was employed by the Theurgists in all their most powerful
+conjurations.]
+
+"Away, thou unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost!"
+
+Upon which the young maiden sank down as quiet as a corpse, and
+the oblation-cloth, which lay upon the desk, whirled round of
+itself in the middle of the church with great noise and clatter,
+as if seized by a storm-wind, and the money therein was all
+scattered about the church, so that the old wives who sat upon the
+benches fell down upon the floor, right and left, to try and catch
+it. Great horror and amazement now filled the whole congregation;
+yet as some had expressed an opinion that the young Princess was
+only afflicted by a sickness, and not possessed at all, Doctor
+Joel thought it needful to admonish them in the following words:--
+
+"Those wise persons who, forsooth, would not credit such a thing
+as Satanic possession, might see now of a truth, by the
+oblation-cloth, that Satan bodily had been amongst them. He knew
+there were many such wise knaves in the church; therefore let them
+hold their tongue for evermore, and remember that such signs had
+been permitted before of God, to testify of the real bodily
+presence of the devil. Example (Matt. viii.), where, on the
+command of Christ, a legion of devils went into the swine of the
+Gergasenes; so that these animals, contrary to their nature, ran
+down into the sea and were drowned. But the wise people of this
+day little heed these divine signs; so he will add two from
+historical records which he happened to remember.
+
+"First, the Jew Josephus relates that, in presence of the
+world-renowned Roman captain Vespasian, of his son Titus, also of
+all the officers and troops of the army, an acquaintance of his,
+by name Eleazer, adjured the devil out of one possessed by means
+of the ring of Solomon, repeating at the same time the powerful
+spell which, no doubt, the great king himself employed to control
+the demons, and which, probably, was the very one he had just now
+exorcised the devil with, out of the _Clavicula Salomonis._
+And to show the bystanders that it was indeed a devil which he had
+exorcised out of the nose of the patient, the said Eleazer bid
+him, as he was passing, to overturn a vessel of water that lay
+there, which indeed was done, to the great wonderment of all
+present. Thus even the blind heathen were convinced, though the
+would-be wise of the present day ignorantly doubted.
+
+"But people might say this happened in old times, and was only
+told by a stupid Jew; therefore he would give a modern example.
+
+"There was a woman named Kronisha (she was still well remembered
+by the old people of Stralsund), who was sorely given to pomp and
+vanity, wherefore a devil was sent into her to punish her; and
+after the preacher at St. Nicholas had exorcised him to the best
+of his power, the wicked spirit said, mockingly, that he would go
+if they gave him a pane of glass out of the window over the tower
+door; and this being granted, one of the panes was instantly
+scattered with a loud clang, and the devil flew away through the
+opening. [Note: See Sastrowen, his family, birth, and adventures.
+Edited by Mohnike, part i. 73.]
+
+"So the Christian congregation might now see what silly fools
+these wise people were who presumed to doubt," &c. Then Doctor
+Joel admonished the Prince himself to keep a diligent eye over
+this Satan, who, day by day, was growing more impudent in the
+land--no doubt because the pure doctrine of Dr. Luther vexed him
+sorely.
+
+And indeed his Highness, to show his gratitude for the recovery of
+his dear daughter, did not cease in his endeavours to banish
+witches from the land, knowing that Sidonia had brought all the
+evil upon the young Princess. Fifteen were seized and burned at
+this time, to the great joy of the country; but, alas! these truly
+princely and Christian measures little helped among the godless
+race, for evil seemed still to strengthen in the land, and many
+wonderful signs appeared, one of which I would not set down here,
+as it was only seen by the court-fool, but that events confirmed
+it.
+
+I mean that strange thing, along with a three-legged hare, which
+appeared eighty years before at the death of Duke Bogislaus the
+Great, and since at the death of each Duke of his house. By a
+strange whim of Satan's, this apparition was only visible to
+fools; until indeed (as we shall hear anon) it appeared to the
+nuns at Marienfliess, who bore witness of it.
+
+_Summa._--On the very day wherein the devil's brides were
+burned at Wolgast, the fool was walking at evening time up and
+down the great corridor, when a little manikin, hardly three hands
+high, started out from behind a beer-barrel, riding on a
+three-legged hare. He was dressed all in black, except little red
+boots which he had on, and he rides up and down the corridor--hop!
+hop! hop!--stares at my fool and makes a face at him; then rides
+off again--hop! hop! hop!--till he vanished behind the barrel.
+
+No one would believe the fool's story; but woe, alas! it soon
+became clear what the little manikin Puck denoted. For my gracious
+Prince, who had grown quite weak ever since this horrible
+witch-work, which had been raging for some weeks--so that
+Pomerania never had seen the like--became daily worse, and not
+even the fine Falernian wine from Italy, which used to cure him,
+helped him now. So he died on the 17th July 1591, aged forty-six
+years, seven months, and fifteen days, leaving his only son,
+Philippus Julius, a child of eight years old, to reign in his
+place. Whereupon the deeply afflicted widow placed the boy under
+the tutelage and guardianship of his uncle, the princely Lord of
+Stettin; but, woe! woe! the guardian must soon follow his dear
+brother! and all through the evil wickedness of Sidonia, as we
+shall hear in the following chapters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of
+Marienfliess--Item, how their Princely and Electoral Graces of
+Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to
+Wolgast, and of the divers pastimes of the journey._
+
+
+After this, Sidonia disappeared again for a couple of years, and
+no man knew whither she had flown or what she did, until one
+morning she appeared at the convent of Marienfliess, driving a
+little one-horse waggon herself, and dressed no better than a
+fish-wife. On driving into the court, she desired to speak with
+the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf; and when she came, Sidonia
+ordered the cell of the deceased nun, Barbara Kleist, to be got
+ready for her reception, as his Highness of Stettin had presented
+her to a _praebenda_ here.
+
+So the pious old abbess believed the story, and forthwith
+conducted her to the cell, No. 11; but Sidonia spat out at it,
+said it was a pig-sty, and began to run clattering through all the
+cells till she reached the refectory, a large chamber where the
+nuns assembled for evening prayer. This, she said, was the only
+spot fit for her to put her nose in, and she would keep it for
+herself. Meanwhile, the whole sisterhood ran together to the
+refectory to see Sidonia; and as most of them were girls under
+twenty, they tittered and laughed, as young women-folk will do
+when they behold a hag. This angered her.
+
+"Ha!" she exclaimed, "the flesh and the devil have not been
+destroyed in them yet, but I will soon give them something else to
+think of than their lovers."
+
+And here, as one of them laughed louder than the rest, Sidonia
+gave her a blow on the mouth.
+
+"Let that teach the peasant-girl more respect for a castle and
+land dowered maiden."
+
+When the good abbess saw and heard all this, she nearly fainted
+with shame, and had to hold by a stool, or she would have fallen
+to the ground. However she gained fresh courage, when, upon asking
+for Sidonia's documents, she found that there were none to show.
+Without more ado, therefore, she bade her leave the convent; and,
+amidst the jeers and laughter of all the sisterhood, Sidonia was
+obliged to mount her one-horse cart again, or the convent porter
+had orders to force her out.
+
+By this all may perceive that, in place of repenting, Sidonia had
+fallen still further in the mire, wherein she wallowed yet for
+many years, as if it were, indeed, her true and natural element,
+like that beetle of which Albertus Magnus speaks, that died if one
+covered it with rose-leaves, but came to life again when laid in
+dung.
+
+Hardly had she left the convent-gate when the old abbess bade a
+carl get ready a carriage, and flew in it to Stettin herself, to
+lay the whole case before my gracious Prince, and entreat him,
+even on her knees, not to send such a notorious creature amongst
+them; for what blessing could the convent hope to obtain if they
+harboured such an infamous sinner? So his Grace wonders much over
+the daring of the harlot; for he had given her no
+_proebenda,_ though she was writing to him constantly
+requesting one. Nor would he ever think of giving her one; for why
+should he send such a hell-besom to sweep the pious convent of
+Marienfliess? The good abbess might rise up, for as long as he
+lived Sidonia should never enter the convent.
+
+And his Grace held by his word, though it cost him his life, as I
+shall just now relate with bitter sighs.
+
+It happened that, A.D. 1600, there was a terribly hard winter, so
+that the fresh Haff [Footnote: The river Haff] was quite frozen
+over, and able to bear heavy beams. Now, as the ice was smooth and
+beautiful as a mirror, my Lord of Stettin proposed to his
+guests--Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg, his
+brother-in-law, and old Duke Ulrich of Mecklenburg, his uncle, to
+go over the Haff in sleighs, and pay a visit to the princely widow
+and her little son.
+
+Their Graces were well pleased at the idea. Whereupon his Highness
+of Stettin gave orders to have such a procession formed as never
+had been seen in Pomerania before for magnificence and beauty, and
+therefore I shall note down some particulars here.
+
+There were a hundred sleighs, some drawn by reindeer caparisoned
+like horses, and all decorated gaily. The three ducal sleighs in
+particular were entirely girded and lined with sable skin; each
+was drawn by four Andalusian horses; and my Lady Erdmuth, who was
+a great lover of show and pomp, had hers hung with little tinkling
+bells and chains of gold, so that no one to look at them could
+imagine how very little of the dear gold her gracious lord and
+husband had in his purse, by reason of the hardness of the times.
+
+The adornments of the other sleighs were less costly. Upon them
+came the ministers, the officials, and others pertaining to the
+retinue of the three princes: _item_, the ladies-in-waiting,
+and divers of the reverend clergy; last of all came the Duke's
+henchman, with a pack of wolf-dogs in leash: _item,_ several
+live hares and foxes; a live bear, which they purposed to let
+slip, for the pleasure and pastime of their Graces. But the young
+men out of the town, fifty head strong, and many of the knights,
+ran along on skates, headed by Dinnies Kleist, that mighty man,
+who bore in one hand the blood-banner of Pomerania, and in the
+other that of Brandenburg. Barthold von Ramin ran by his side with
+the Mecklenburg standard. He was a strong knight too. But ah! my
+God! how my Ramin, with his ox-head, was distanced by the wild men
+of Pomerania, as they ran upon the ice over the Haff! [Footnote:
+The blood-standard was granted by the Emperor Maximilian II. to
+Duke Johann Friedrich of Pomerania because he carried the imperial
+banner during the Turkish war of 1566. It only differed from the
+old banner by having a red ground--from thence its name. Both
+Pomerania and Brandenburg had wild men in their escutcheon, while
+Mecklenburg bore an ox's head.] Two reserve sleighs, drawn by six
+Frisian horses, finished the procession; they were laden with
+axes, planks, ropes, and dry garments, both for men and women.
+
+When their Graces mounted the sleighs amidst the ringing of bells
+and roaring of cannon, great was their astonishment to see their
+own initials stamped into the hard ice by Dinnies Kleist, as thus:
+F. U. J. E. J. F., which, however, afterwards caused much dismay
+to the honest burghers, for one of them--M. Faber, _a
+praeceptor_--mistaking the J. for a G., read plainly upon the
+ice: "Fuge, J. F."--that is, "Fly, Johann Frederick!"
+
+Ah! truly has the gracious Prince flown from thence; but it is to
+a bitter death.
+
+During the journey, Duke Johann had much jesting with his
+brother-in-law, the Elector, who was filled with wonder at the
+strength of Dinnies Kleist, for he kept ahead even of the
+Andalusian stallions, and waved aloft the two banners of Pomerania
+and Brandenburg, while his long hair floated behind him; and
+sometimes he stopped, kissed the banners, and then inclined them
+to their Serene Princely Graces. Whereupon Duke Johann exclaimed,
+"Ay, brother, you might well give me a thousand of your
+wide-mouthed Berliners for this carl; though, methinks, if he had
+his will, he would make their wide mouths still wider." At this,
+his Electoral Grace looked rather vexed, and began to uphold the
+men of Cologne. Upon which his Highness cut him short, saying,
+"Marry, brother, you know the old proverb--
+
+   'The men of Cologne
+   Have no hues of their own,
+   But the men of Stettin
+   Are the true ever-green.'
+
+For where truly could your fellows find the true green in their
+sandy dust-box? Marry, cousin, one Pomerania is worth ten
+Margravates; and I will show your Grace just now that my land in
+winter is more productive than yours even in autumn."
+
+His Grace here alluded to the fisheries; for along the way, for
+twelve or fourteen miles, the fishermen had been ordered to set
+their nets by torchlight the night before, in holes dug through
+the ice, so that on the arrival of the princely party the nets
+might be drawn up, and the draught exhibited to their Graces.
+
+Now, when they entered the fresh Haff, which lay before them like
+a large mirror, six miles long and four broad, his Grace of
+Pomerania called out--
+
+"See here, brother, this is my first storeroom; let us try what it
+will give us to eat."
+
+Upon which he signed to Dinnies Kleist to steer over to the first
+heap of nets, which lay like a black wood in the distance. These
+belonged to the Ziegenort fishermen, as the old schoolmaster,
+Peter Leisticow, himself told me; and as they had taken a great
+draught the day before, many people from the towns of Warp,
+Stepenitz, and Uckermund were assembled there to buy up the fish,
+and then retail it, as was their custom, throughout the country.
+They had made a fire upon a large sheet of iron laid upon the ice,
+while their horses were feeding close by upon hay, which they
+shook out before them. And having taken a merry carouse together,
+they all set to dancing upon the ice with the women to the
+bagpipe, so that the encampment looked right jovial as their
+Graces arrived.
+
+Now when the grand train came up, the peasants roared out--
+
+"Donnerwetter, [Note: A common oath.] look at the ploetz-eaters!
+See the cursed ploetz-eaters! Donnerwetter, what ploetz-eaters!"
+[Note: Ploetz-eaters was a nickname given by the Pomeranians to the
+people of the Margravates. For the ploetz (_Cyprinus
+Exythrophthalmus_) is a very poor tasteless fish, while the
+rivers of Pomerania are stocked with the very finest of all kinds.
+In return, the men of the Marks called the Pomeranians
+"Feather-heads," from the quantity of moor-palms (_Eriophorum
+vaginatum_) which grow in their numerous rich meadows.]
+
+And now they observed, during their shouting, that the water had
+risen up to their knees; and when the ducal procession rushed up,
+the abyss re-echoed with a noise like thunder, so that the foreign
+princes were alarmed, but soon grew accustomed thereto. Then the
+pressure of such a crowd upon the ice caused the water to spout
+out of the holes to the height of a man. So that by the time they
+were two bowshots from the nets, all the folk, the women and
+children especially, were running, screaming, in every direction,
+trying to save themselves on the firm ice, to the great amusement
+of their Graces, while a peasant cried out to the sleigh drivers--
+
+"Stop, stop! or ye'll go into the cellar!"
+
+Hereupon his Grace of Pomerania beckoned over the Ziegenort
+schoolmaster, and asked him what they had taken, to which he
+answered--
+
+"Gracious Prince, we have taken bley; the nets are all loaded;
+we've taken seventy schuemers, [Footnote: A schuemer was a measure
+which contained twelve bushels.] and your Grace ought to take one
+with you for supper."
+
+Now his Highness the Elector wished to see the nets emptied, so
+they rested a space while the peasants shovelled out the fish, and
+pitched them into the aforesaid schuemers. But ah! woe to the
+fish-thieves who had come over from Warp and other places; for the
+water having risen up and become all muddy with fish-slime, they
+never saw the great holes, and tumbled in, to the great amusement
+of the peasants and pastime of their Graces.
+
+How their Highnesses laughed when the poor carls in the water
+tried to get hold of a net or a rope or a firm piece of ice, while
+they floundered about in the water, and the peasants fished them
+up with their long hooks, at the same time giving many of them a
+sharp prod on the shoulder, crying out--
+
+"Ha! will ye steal again? Take that for your pains, you robbers!"
+
+Now when their Graces were tired laughing and looking at the fish
+hauled, they prepared to depart; but the schoolmaster prayed his
+Highness of Stettin yet again to take a schuemer of fish for their
+supper, as their Graces were going to stop for the night in
+Uckermund.
+
+"But what could I do with all the fish?" quoth the Duke.
+
+To which the carl answered in his jargon--
+
+"Eh! gracious master, give them to the plotz-eaters; that will be
+something new for them. Never fear but they'll eat them all up!"
+
+Hereupon his Highness the Elector grew nettled, and cried out--
+
+"Ho! thou damned peasant, thinkest thou we have no bley?"
+
+"Well, ye've none here," replied the man cunningly.
+
+So their Graces laughed, and ordered a couple of bushels of the
+largest to be placed upon the safety sleigh.
+
+Now when they had gone a little farther and found the ice as
+smooth as glass, the henchman let loose the bear and the wolf-dogs
+after it. My stout Bruin first growls and paws the ice, then sets
+himself in earnest for the race, and, on account of his sharp
+claws, ran on straight for Uckermund without ever slipping, while
+the hounds fell down on all sides, or tumbled on their backs,
+howling with rage and disappointment.
+
+Yet more pleasant was the hare-hunt, for hounds and hares both
+tumbled down together, and the hares squeaked and the hounds
+yelped; some hares indeed were killed, but only after infinite
+trouble, while others ran away after the bear.
+
+After the hunt they came to another fishery, and so on till they
+reached Uckermund, passing six fisheries in succession, whereof
+each draught was as large as the first, so that his Grace the
+Elector marvelled much at the abundance, and seeing the nets full
+of zannats at the last halting-place, cried out--
+
+"Marry, brother, your storeroom is well furnished. I might grow
+dainty here myself. Let us take a bushel of these along with us
+for supper, for zannat is the fish for me!"
+
+This greatly rejoiced his Grace of Stettin, who ordered the fish
+to be laid on the sumpter sleigh, and in good time they reached
+the ducal house at Uckermund, Dinnies Kleist still keeping
+foremost, and waving his two banners over his head, while Barthold
+Barnim and the other skaters hung weary and tired upon the backs
+of the sleighs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+_How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably._
+
+
+The next morning early the whole train set off from Uckermund in
+the highest spirits, passing net after net, till the Duke of
+Mecklenburg, as well as the Elector, lifted their hands in
+astonishment. From the Haff they entered the Pene, and from that
+the Achterwasser. [Footnote: A large bay formed by the Pene.] Here
+a great crowd of people stood upon the ice, for the town of
+Quilitz lay quite near; besides, more fish had been taken here
+than had yet been seen upon the journey, so that people from
+Wolgast, Usdom, Lassahn, and all the neighbouring towns had run
+together to bid for it. But what happened?
+
+Alas! that his Grace should have desired to halt, for scarcely had
+his sleigh stopped, when a little old woman, meanly clad, with
+fisher's boots, and a net filled with bley-fish in her hand,
+stepped up to it and said--
+
+"My good Lord, I am Sidonia von Bork; wherefore have you not
+replied to my demand for the _proebenda_ of Barbara von
+Kleist in Marienfliess?"
+
+"How could he answer her? He knew nothing at all of her mode of
+living, or where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"She had bid him lay the answer upon the altar of
+St. Jacob's in Stettin. Why had he not done so?"
+
+"That was no place for such letters, only for the words of the
+Holy Spirit and the Blessed Sacrament of his Saviour; therefore,
+let her say now where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"The richest maiden in Pomerania could ill say where
+the poorest now dwelt," weeping.
+
+"The richest maiden had only herself to blame if she were now the
+poorest; better had she wept before. The _proebenda_ she
+could never have; let her cease to think of it; but here was an
+alms, and she might now go her ways."
+
+_Illa_.--(Refuses to take it, and murmurs.) "Your Grace will
+soon have bitter sorrow for this."
+
+As she so menaced and spat out three times, the thing angered
+Dinnies Kleist (who held her in abhorrence ever since the
+adventure in the Uckermund forest), and as he had lost none of his
+early strength, he hit her a blow with the blood-standard over the
+shoulder, exclaiming, "Pack off to the devil, thou shameless hag!
+What does the witch mean by her spittings? The _proebenda_ of
+my sister Barbara shall thou never have!"
+
+However, the hag stirred not from the spot, answered no word, but
+spat out again; and as the illustrious party drove off she still
+stood there, and spat out after them.
+
+What this devil's sorcery denoted we shall soon see; for as they
+approached Ziemitze, and the ducal house of Wolgast appeared in
+sight, Dinnies Kleist started on before the safety sleigh; and as
+soon as the high towers of the castle rose above the trees, he
+waved the two banners above his head, and brought them together
+till they kissed. Having so held them for a space, he set forward
+again with giant strides, in order to be the first to
+arrive--although, indeed, the town was aware of the advance of the
+princely train, for the bells were ringing, and the blood-standard
+waved from St. Peter's and the three other towers.
+
+But woe, alas! Dinnies, in his impatience, never observed a
+windwake direct in his path, and down he sank, while the sharp ice
+cut his head clean off, as if an executioner had done it; and the
+head, with the long hair, rolled hither and thither, while the
+body remained fast in the hole, only one arm stuck up above the
+ice--it was that which held the Brandenburg standard, but the
+blood-banner of Pomerania had sunk for ever in the abyss.
+[Footnote: A windwake is a hole formed by the wind in the thawing
+season, and which afterwards becomes covered with a thin coating
+of ice by a subsequent frost.]
+
+When his Grace of Stettin beheld this, he was filled with more
+sorrow than even at the death of his fool; and, weeping bitterly,
+commanded seven sleighs to return and seize the evil hag; then
+with all speed, and for a terrible example, to burn her upon the
+Quilitz mountain.
+
+But when many present assured his Grace that such-like accidents
+were very common, and many skaters had perished thus, whereof even
+Duke Ulrich named several instances, so that his Grace of Stettin
+need not impute such natural accidents to witchcraft or the power
+of the hag, he was somewhat calmed. Still he commanded the seven
+sleighs to return and bring the witch bound to Wolgast, that he
+might question her as to wherefore she had spat out.
+
+So the sleighs returned, but the vile sorceress was no longer on
+the ice, neither did any one know whither she had gone; whereupon
+the sleighs hastened back again after the others.
+
+Now it was the Friday before Shrove Tuesday, about mid-day, when
+the princely party arrived at Wolgast; and Prince Bogislaff of
+Barth was there to receive them, with his five sons--namely,
+Philip, Franz, George, Ulrich, and Bogislaff. [Footnote: Marginal
+note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"This is not true; for I had a fever
+at the time, and remained at home."] And there was a great uproar
+in the castle--some of the young lords playing ball in the castle
+court with the young Prince, Philip Julius, others preparing for
+the carnival mummeries, which were to commence next evening by a
+great banquet and dance in the hall. Indeed, that same evening
+their Graces had a brave carouse, to try and make Duke Johann
+forget his grief about his well-beloved Dinnies Kleist: and his
+Grace thus began to discourse concerning him:--
+
+"Truly, brothers, who knows what the devil may have in store for
+us? for it was a strange thing how my blood-standard sunk in the
+abyss, while that of my brother of Brandenburg floated above it.
+Think you that our male line will become extinct, and the heritage
+of fair Pomerania descend to Brandenburg? For, in truth, it is
+strange that, out of five brothers, two of us only have
+heirs--Bogislaff and Ernest Ludovicus, who has left indeed but one
+only son."
+
+Then Duke Bogislaff (whom our Lord God had surely blessed for his
+humility in resigning the government, and also because of his
+dutiful conduct ever towards his mother, even in his youth having
+brought her a tame seagull) made answer, laughingly: "Dear
+brother, I think Herr Bacchus has done more to turn Frau Venus
+against our race than Sidonia or any of her spells, therefore ye
+need not wonder if ye have no heirs. However, if my five young
+Princes listen to my warnings and shun the wine-cup, trust me the
+blood-standard will be lifted up again, and our ancient name never
+want a fitting representative."
+
+Meanwhile, as they so discoursed, and the gracious ladies looked
+down for shame upon the ground, young Lord Philip began a Latin
+argument with the Rev. Dr. Glambecken, court chaplain at Wolgast
+_de monetis;_ and pulled out of his pocket a large bag of old
+coins, which had been presented to him by Doctor Chytraeus,
+professor of theology at Rostock, with whom his Grace interchanged
+Latin epistles. [Foonote: See the Latin letters of the talented
+young Prince in Oelrich's "Contributions to the Literary History
+of the Pomeranian Dukes," vol. i. p. 67. He fell a victim to
+intemperance, though his death was imputed likewise to Sidonia,
+and formed the subject of the sixth torture examination.]
+
+This gave the conversation a new turn, and the ladies particularly
+were much pleased examining the coins; but the devil himself
+surely must have anagrammatised one of them, for over the letters,
+Pomerania, figures were scratched  356412789
+--thus--Pomerania--giving the terrible meaning, _rape omnia_
+(rob all); and many said that this must have been the very coin
+which the devil took that time he rent the oblation-table, at the
+exorcism of the young Princess.
+
+This discovery filled the Pomeranian Duke with strong
+apprehensions, and young Prince Franz handed over the coin to the
+Elector of Brandenburg, saying bitterly, "Yes, rob all! Doctor
+Joel of Grypswald has long since told me that it would all end
+this way--even as Satan himself has scratched down here--but my
+lord father will not credit him, he is so proud of his five sons.
+Doctor Joel, however, is a right learned man, and no one knows the
+mysteries of the black art better; besides, who reads the stars
+more diligently each night than he?"
+
+And behold, while he is speaking, the fool runs into the hall,
+pale, and trembling in every limb.
+
+"Alas! Lord Franz," he exclaimed, "I have seen the manikin again
+on his three-legged hare, which appeared at the death of Duke
+Ernest Ludovicus."
+
+But the young lord boxed him, crying, "Away, thou knave! must thy
+chatter help to make us more melancholy?"
+
+However Duke Bogislaff bid the fool stay, and tell them when and
+where he had seen the imp.
+
+My fool wiped his eyes, and began: "The young Lord Franz had bid
+him put on his best jacket (that which had been given him as a
+Christmas-box) for the carnival mummings on Shrove Tuesday; so he
+went up to the garret to get it himself out of the trunk, but,
+before he had quite reached the trunk, the black dwarf, with his
+little red boots, rode out from behind it on his three-legged
+hare--hop! hop! hop!--made a frightful face at him, and after a
+little while rode back again--hop! hop! hop! behind his old boots,
+which stood in a corner, and disappeared!"
+
+What the malicious Puck denoted we shall soon see--Oh, woe! woe!
+
+Next day all sorts of amusements were set on foot, to chase away
+gloomy thoughts out of the hearts of the illustrious guests--such
+as tilting with lances, dancing upon stilts, wrestling,
+rope-dancing. _Item,_ pickleherring and harlequins. Amongst
+these last the fool showed off to great advantage, for who could
+twist his face into more laughable grimaces? _Item,_ in the
+evening there was a mask of mummers, in which one fellow played
+the angel, and another dressed as Satan, with a large horse's foot
+and cock's plume, spat red fire from his mouth, and roared
+horribly when the angel overcame him (but withal I think the
+gloomy thoughts stayed there yet).
+
+And mark what in truth soon happened! When the drums and trumpets
+struck up the last mask dance in the great Ritter Hall, which
+every one joins in, old and young, his Grace, Duke Johann, went to
+the room of his dear cousin Hedwig, the princely widow, and prayed
+her to tread the dance with him; but she refuses, and sits by the
+fire and weeps.
+
+"Let not my dear cousin fret," said the Duke, "about the chatter
+of the fool."
+
+To which she replied, "Alas! wherefore not? For surely it betokens
+death to my darling little son, Philip Julius."
+
+"No," exclaimed the Duke quickly, "it betokens mine!" and he fell
+flat upon the ground.
+
+One can easily imagine how the gracious lady screamed, so that all
+ran in from the Knight's Hall in their masks and mumming-dresses,
+to see indeed the mumming of the true bodily Satan; and Doctor
+Pomius, who was at the mask likewise, ran in with a
+smelling-bottle, but all was in vain. His Grace lingered for three
+days, and then having received the Holy Sacrament from Doctor
+Glambecken, died in the same chamber in which he was born, having
+lived fifty-seven years, five months, twelve days, and fourteen
+hours. How can I describe the lamentations of the princely
+company--yea, indeed, of the whole town; for every one saw now
+plainly that the anger of God rested upon this ancient and
+illustrious Pomeranian race, and that He had given it over
+helplessly to the power of the evil one.
+
+_Summa._--On the 9th February the princely corse was laid in
+the very sleigh which had brought it a living body, and, followed
+by a grand train of princes, nobles, and knights, along with a
+strong guard of the ducal soldatesca, was conveyed back to
+Stettin; and there, with all due and befitting ceremonies, was
+buried on Palm Sunday in the vault of the castle church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+_How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how
+Sidonia meets him as she is gathering bilberries. Item, of the
+unnatural witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir
+refuses, in consequence, to succeed him._
+
+
+Now Barnim the Tenth succeeded to that very duchy about which he
+had been so wroth the day of the Diet at Wollin, but it brought
+him little good. He was, however, a pious Prince, and much beloved
+at his dower of Ruegenwald, where he spent his time in making a
+little library of all the Lutheran hymn-books which he could
+collect, and these he carried with him in his carriage wherever he
+went; so that his subjects of Ruegenwald shed many tears at losing
+so pious a ruler.
+
+_Item,_ the moment his Grace succeeded to the government, he
+caused all the courts to be reopened, along with the treasury and
+the chancery, which his deceased Grace had kept closed to the
+last; and for this goodness towards his people, the states of the
+kingdom promised to pay all his debts, which was done; and thus
+lawlessness and robbery were crushed in the land.
+
+But woe, alas!--Sidonia can no man crush! She wrote immediately to
+his Grace, soliciting the _proebenda,_ and even presented
+herself at the ducal house of Stettin; but his Grace positively
+refused to lay eyes on her, knowing how fatal a meeting with her
+had proved to each of his brothers, who no sooner met her evil
+glance than they sickened and died.
+
+Therefore his Highness held all old women in abhorrence. Indeed,
+such was his fear of them, that not one was allowed to approach
+the castle; and when he rode or drove out, lacqueys and squires
+went before with great horsewhips, to chase away all the old women
+out of his Grace's path, for truly Sidonia might be amongst them.
+From this, it came to pass that as soon as it was rumoured in the
+town, "His Grace is coming," all the old mothers seized up their
+pattens, and scampered off, helter-skelter, to get out of reach of
+the horsewhips.
+
+But who can provide against all the arts of the devil? for though
+it is true that Sidonia destroyed his two brothers, also his Grace
+himself, along with Philip II., by her breath and glance, yet she
+caused a great number of other unfortunate persons to perish,
+without using these means, as we shall hear further on; whereby
+many imagined that her familiar Chim could not have been so weak a
+spirit as she represented him, on the rack, in order to save her
+life, but a strong and terrible demon. These things, however, will
+come in their proper place.
+
+_Summa._--After Duke Barnim had reigned several years, with
+great blessing to his people, it happened that word came from
+Ruegenwald how that his brother, Duke Casimir, was sick. This was
+the Prince whom, we may remember, Sidonia had whipped with her
+irreverent hands upon his princely _podex,_ when he was a
+little boy.
+
+Now Duke Barnim had quarrelled with the estates because they
+refused funds for the Turkish war; however, he became somewhat
+merrier that evening with the Count Stephen of Naugard, when the
+evil tidings came to him of his beloved brother (yet more bitter
+sorrow is before him, I think). So the next morning the Duke set
+off with a train of six carriages to visit his sick brother, and
+by the third evening they reached the wood which lies close beside
+Ruegenwald. Here there was a large oak, the stem of which had often
+served his Grace for a target, when he amused himself by
+practising firing. So he stopped the carriage, and alighted to see
+if the twenty or thirty balls he had shot into it were still
+there.
+
+But alas! as he reached the oak, that devil's spectre (I mean
+Sidonia) stepped from behind it; she had an old pot in her hand
+filled with bilberries, and asked his Grace, would he not take
+some to refresh himself after his journey.
+
+His Highness, however, recoiled horror-struck, and asked who she
+was.
+
+She was Sidonia von Bork, and prayed his Grace yet once more for
+the _proebenda_ in Marienfliess.
+
+Hereat the Duke was still more horrified, and exclaimed, "Curse
+upon thy _proebenda,_ but thou shalt get something else, I
+warrant thee! Thou art a vile witch, and hast in thy mind to
+destroy our whole noble race with thy detestable sorceries."
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! no one had called her a witch before; how
+could she bewitch them? It was a strange story to tell of her."
+
+_The Duke._--"How did it happen, then, that he had no
+children by his beloved Amrick?" [Footnote: Anna Maria, second
+daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg.]
+
+_Illa_ (laughing).--"He better ask his beloved Amrick
+herself. How could she know?"
+
+But here she began to contort her face horribly, and to spit out,
+whereupon the Duke called out to his retinue--"Come here, and hang
+me this hag upon the oak-tree; she is at her devil's sorceries
+again! And woe! woe! already I feel strange pains all through my
+body!"
+
+Upon this, divers persons sprang forward to seize her, but the
+nimble night-bird darted behind a clump of fir-trees, and
+disappeared. Unluckily they had no bloodhounds along with them,
+otherwise I think the devil would have been easily seized, and
+hung up like an acorn on the oak-tree. But God did not so will it,
+for though they sent a pack of hounds from Ruegenwald, the moment
+they arrived there, yet no trace of the hag could be found in the
+forest.
+
+And now mark the result: the Duke became worse hour by hour, and
+as Duke Casimir had grown much better by the time he arrived, and
+was in a fair way of recovery, his Grace resolved to take leave of
+him and return with all speed to his own house at Stettin; but on
+the second day, while they were still a mile from Stettin, Duke
+Barnim grew so much worse, that they had to stop at Alt-Damm for
+the night. And scarcely had he laid himself down in bed when he
+expired. This was on the 1st of September 1603, when he was
+fifty-four years, six months, sixteen days, and sixteen hours old.
+
+But the old, unclean night-bird would not let his blessed Highness
+go to his grave in peace (probably because he had called her an
+accursed witch). For the 18th of the same month, when all the
+nobles and estates were assembled to witness the ceremonial of
+interment, along with several members of the ducal house, and
+other illustrious personages, such a storm of hail, rain, and
+wind, came on just at a quarter to three, as they had reached the
+middle of the service, that the priest dropped the book from his
+hands, and the church became so suddenly dark, that the sexton had
+to light the candles to enable the preacher to read his text.
+Never, too, was heard such thunder, so that many thought St.
+Jacob's Tower had fallen in, and the princes and nobles rushed out
+of the church to shelter themselves in the houses, while the most
+terrific lightning flashed round them at every step.
+
+Yet truly it must have been all witch-work, for when the funeral
+was over, the weather became as serene and beautiful as possible.
+
+And a great gloom fell upon every one in consequence, for that it
+was no natural storm, a child could have seen. Indeed, Dr. Joel,
+who was wise in these matters, declared to his Highness Duke
+Bogislaff XIII. that without doubt it was a witch-storm, for the
+doctor was present at the funeral, as representative of the
+University of Grypswald. And respecting the clouds, he observed
+particularly that they were formed like dogs' tails, that is, when
+a dog carries his tail in the air so that it forms an arc of a
+circle. And this, indeed, was the truth.
+
+_Summa._--As by the death of Duke Barnim the government
+devolved upon Duke Casimir of Ruegenwald, the estates proceeded
+thither to offer him their homage, but the Prince hesitated, said
+he was sickly, and who could tell whether it would not go as ill
+with him as with his brothers? But the estates, both temporal and
+spiritual, prayed him so earnestly to accept the rule, that he
+promised to meet them on the next morning by ten of the clock, in
+the great Rittersaal (knights' hall), and make them acquainted
+with his decision.
+
+The faithful states considered this a favourable answer, and were
+in waiting next morning, at the appointed hour, in the Rittersaal.
+But what happened? Behold, as the great door was thrown open, in
+walked the Duke, not with any of the insignia of his princely
+station, but in the dress of a fisherman. He wore a linen jacket,
+a blue smock, a large hat, and great, high fisher's boots,
+reaching nearly to his waist. _Item,_ on his back the Duke
+carried a fisherman's basket; six fishermen similarly dressed
+accompanied him, and others in a like garb followed.
+
+All present wondered much at this, and a great murmur arose in the
+hall; but the Duke threw his basket down by his side, and leaned
+his elbow on it, while he thus went on to speak: "Ye see here, my
+good friends, what government I intend to hold in future with
+these honest fishers, who accompanied me up to my dear brother's
+funeral. I shall return this day to Ruegenwald. The devil may rule
+in Pomerania, but I will not; if you kill an ox there is an end of
+it, but here there is no end. Satan treats us worse than the poor
+ox. Choose a duke wheresoever you will; but as for me, I think
+fishing and ruling the rudder is pleasanter work than to rule your
+land."
+
+And when the unambitious Prince had so spoken, he drew forth a
+little flask containing branntwein [Footnote: Whisky] (a new drink
+which some esteemed more excellent than wine, which, however, I
+leave in its old pre-eminence; I tasted the other indeed but once,
+but it seemed to me to set my mouth on fire--such is not for my
+drinking), and drank to the fishers, crying, "What say you,
+children--shall we not go and flounder again upon the Ruegenwald
+strand?" Upon which they all shouted, "Ay! ay!"
+
+His Grace then drank to the states for a farewell, and leaving the
+hall, proceeded with his followers to the vessel, which he
+ascended, singing gaily, and sailed home directly to his new
+fishing-lodge at Neuhausen.
+
+Such humility, however, availed his Grace nothing in preserving
+him from the claws of Satan; for scarcely a year and a half had
+elapsed when he was seized suddenly, even as his brothers, and
+died on the 10th May 1605, at the early age of forty-eight years,
+one month, twenty-one days, and seventeen hours.
+
+But to return to the states. They were dumb with grief and despair
+when his Grace left the hall. The land marshal stood with the
+staff, the court marshal with the sword, and the chancellor with
+the seals, like stone statues there, till a noble at the window
+called out--
+
+"Let us hasten quickly to Prince Bogislaff, before he journeys
+off, too, with his five sons, and we are left without any ruler.
+See, there are the horses just putting to his carriage!"
+
+Upon this, they all ran out to the coach, and the chancellor
+asked, in a lamentable voice, "If his Grace were indeed going to
+leave them, like that other gracious Prince who owned the dukedom
+by right? The states would promise everything he desired--they
+would pay all his debts--only his Grace must not leave them and
+their poor fatherland in their sore need."
+
+Hereat his Grace laughed, and told them, "He was not going to his
+castle of Franzburg, only as far as Oderkrug, with his dear sons,
+to look at the great sheep-pens there, and drink a bowl of ewe's
+milk with the shepherds under the apple-tree. He hoped to arrive
+there before his brother Casimir in his boat, and then they might
+discuss the _casus_ together; indeed, when he showed him the
+sheep-pens, it was not probable that he would refuse a duchy which
+had a fold of twenty thousand sheep, for his brother Casimir was a
+great lover of sheep as well as of fish."
+
+Upon this, the states and privy council declared that they would
+follow him to Oderkrug to learn the result, but meanwhile begged
+of his Grace not to delay setting off, lest Duke Casimir might
+have left Oderkrug before he reached it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired
+_proebenda_--_Item,_ of her arrival at the convent of
+Marienfliess.
+
+
+Now my gracious Lord Bogislaff had scarcely alighted at Oderkrug
+from his carriage, and drunk a bowl of milk under the apple-tree,
+when he spied the yellow sails of his brother's boat above the
+high reeds; upon which he ran down to the shore, and called out
+himself--
+
+"Will you not land, brother, and drink a bowl of ewe's milk with
+us, or take a glance at the great sheep-pen? It is a rare wonder,
+and my lord brother was always a great lover of sheep!"
+
+But Prince Casimir went on, and never slackened sail. Whereupon
+his Highness called out again, "The states and privy councillors
+are coming, brother, and want to have a few words with you."
+
+Hereat Prince Casimir laughed in the boat, and returned for
+answer--"He knew well enough what they wanted; but no--he had no
+desire to be bewitched to death. Just give him the lands of
+Lauenburg and Butow as an addition to his dower, and then his dear
+Bogislaff might take all Pomerania to himself if he pleased."
+
+After which, doffing his hat for an _addio,_ he steered
+bravely through the _Pappenwasser_.
+
+When young Prince Franz heard this, he laughed loud, and said,
+"Truly our uncle is the wisest--he will not be bewitched to death,
+as he says--but what will my lord father do now, for see, here
+come the states already in their carriages over the hill!"
+
+Duke Bogislaff answered, "What else remains for me to do but to
+accept the government?"
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, and be struck dead by witchcraft, like my
+three uncles! Ah, my gracious lord father, before ever you accept
+the rule of the duchy, let the witch be seized and burned. Doctor
+Joel hath told me much about these witches; and believe me, there
+is no wiser man in all Pomerania than this magister. He can do
+something more than eat bread." Then he fell upon his father's
+neck, and caressed him--"Ah, dear father, do not jump at once into
+the government; burn the witch first: we cannot spare our dear
+lord father!"
+
+And the two young Princes George and Ulrich prayed him in like
+manner; but young Philip Secundus spake--"I think, brothers, it
+were better if our dear father gave this long-talked-of
+_proebenda_ to the witch at once; then, whether she bewitches
+or not, we are safe at all events."
+
+Hereupon his Highness answered--"My Philip is right; for in truth
+no one can say whether your uncles died by Sidonia's sorceries or
+by those of the evil man Bacchus. Therefore I warn you, dear
+children, flee from this worst of all sorcerers; not starting at
+appearances, as a horse at a shadow, for appearance is the shadow
+of truth. Be admonished, therefore, by St. Peter, and 'gird up the
+loins of your spirit: be sober, and watch unto prayer.' Then ye
+may laugh all witches to scorn; for God will turn the devices of
+your enemy to folly."
+
+Meanwhile the states have arrived; and having alighted from their
+coaches at the great sheep-pen, they advanced respectfully to the
+Duke, who was seated under the apple-tree--the land marshal first,
+with the staff, then the court marshal with the sword, and lastly
+the chancellor with the seals.
+
+The had seen from the hill how Duke Casimir sailed away without
+waiting to hear them, and prayed and hoped that his Highness would
+accept the insignia which they here respectfully tendered, and not
+abandon his poor fatherland in such dire need. The devil and
+wicked men could do much, but God could do more, as none knew
+better than his Highness.
+
+Herewith his Grace sighed deeply, and taking the insignia, laid
+staff and sword beside him; then, taking up the sword hastily
+again, he held it in his hand while he thus spake:--
+
+"My faithful, true, and honourable states, ye know how that I
+resigned the government, out of free will, at the Diet at Wollin,
+because I thought, and still think, that nothing weighs heavier
+than this sword which I hold in my hand. Therefore I went to my
+dower at Barth, and have founded the beautiful little town of
+Franzburg to keep the Stralsund knaves in submission, and also to
+teach our nobles that there is some nobler work for a man to do in
+life than eating, drinking, and hunting. _Item,_ I have
+encouraged commerce, and especially given my protection to the
+woollen trade; but all my labours will now fall to the ground, and
+the Stralsund knaves be overjoyed; [Footnote: The apprehension was
+justified by the event; for on the departure of Duke Bogislaff,
+Franzburg fell rapidly to a mere village, to the great joy of the
+Stralsunders, who looked with much envy on a new town springing up
+in their vicinity.] however, I must obey God's will, and not kick
+against the pricks. Therefore I take the sword of my father,
+hoping that it will not prove too heavy for me, an old man;
+[Footnote: The Duke was then sixty.] and that He who puts it into
+my hand (even the strong God) will help me to bear it. So let His
+holy will be done. Amen."
+
+Then his Highness delivered back the insignia to the states, who
+reverently kissed his hand, and blessed God for having given so
+good and pious a Prince to reign over them. Then they approached
+the five young lords, and kissed their hands likewise, wishing at
+the same time that many fair olive-branches might yet stand around
+their table. This made the old Duke laugh heartily, and he prayed
+the states to remain a little and drink ewe's milk with them for a
+pleasant pastime; the shepherds would set out the bowls.
+
+Duke Philip alone went away into the town to examine the library,
+and all the vases, pictures, statues, and other costly works of
+art, which his deceased uncle, Duke Johann Frederick, had
+collected; and these he delivered over to the marshal's care, with
+strict injunctions as to their preservation. But a strange thing
+happened next day; for as the Duke and his sons were sitting at
+breakfast, and the wine-can had just been locked up, because each
+young lord had drunk his allotted portion, namely, seven glasses
+(the Duke himself only drank six), a lacquey entered with a note
+from Sidonia, in which she again demanded the _proebenda,_
+and hoped that his Highness would be more merciful that his dead
+brothers, now that he had succeeded to the duchy. Let him
+therefore send an order for her admission to the cloister of
+Marienfliess. The answer was to be laid upon St. Mary's altar.
+
+Here young Lord Francis grew quite pale, and dropped the fork from
+his hands, then spake--"Now truly we see this hag learns of the
+devil, for how else could she have known that our gracious father
+had accepted the government, unless Satan had visited her in her
+den? But let his dearest father be careful. In his opinion, the
+Duke should promise her the _proebenda;_ but as soon as the
+accursed hag showed herself at the cloister (for the devil now
+kept her concealed), let her be seized and burned publicly, for a
+terrible warning and example."
+
+This advice did not please the old Duke. "Franz," he said, "thou
+art a fool, and God forbid that ever thou shouldst reign in the
+land; for know that the word of a Prince is sacred. Yes, Sidonia
+shall have the _proebenda;_ but I will not entrap my enemy
+through deceit to death, but will try to win her over by
+gentleness. The chancellor shall answer her instantly, and write
+another letter to the abbess of Petersdorf; and Sidonia's shall be
+laid upon the altar of St. Mary's this night, as she requested, by
+one of my lacqueys."
+
+Then Duke Philip kissed his pious father's hand, and the tears
+fell from the good youth's eyes as he exclaimed--
+
+"Alas, if she should murder you too!"
+
+And here are the two letters, according to the copies which are
+yet to be seen in the princely chancery. _Sub. Hit. Marienfliess
+K, No. 683._
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, POMERANIA,
+CASSUBEN, AND WENDEN; PRINCE OF RUGEN; COUNT OF CUTZKOW, OF THE
+LANDS OP LAUENBURG AND BUTOW; LORD, &c.
+
+"In consequence of your repeated entreaties for a _proetenda_
+in the cloister of Marienfliess, We, of our great goodness, hereby
+grant the same unto you; hoping that, in future, you will lead an
+humble, quiet life, as beseems a cloistered maiden, and, in
+especial, that you will always show yourself an obedient and
+faithful servant of our princely house. So we commit you to God's
+keeping!
+
+Signatum, Old Stettin, the 2oth October 1603. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The other letter, to the abbess of Petersdorf, was sent by a
+salmon lad to the convent, as we shall hear further on, and ran
+thus:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, &c.
+
+"WORTHY ABBESS, TRUSTY AND WELL-BELOVED FRIEND!
+
+"Hereby we send to you a noble damsel, named Sidonia von Bork, and
+desire a cell for her in your cloisters, even as the other nuns.
+We trust that misery may have softened her heart towards God; but
+if she do not demean herself with Christian sobriety, you have our
+commands to send her, along with the fish peasants and others, to
+our court for judgment.
+
+"God keep you; pray for us! Signatum, &c. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The letter to Sidonia was, in truth, laid that same night upon the
+altar of St. Mary's, by a lacquey, who was further desired to hide
+himself in the church, and see what became of it. Now, the fellow
+had a horrible dread of staying alone in the church by night, so
+he took the cook, Jeremias Bild, along with him; and after they
+had laid the letter down upon the altar, they crept both of them
+into a high pew close by, belonging to the Aulick Counsellor,
+Dieterick Stempel.
+
+Now mark what happened. They had been there about an hour, and the
+moon was pouring down as clear as daylight from the high altar
+window; when, all at once, the letter upon the altar began to move
+about of itself, as if it were alive, then it hopped down upon the
+floor, from that danced down the altar steps, and so on all along
+the nave, though no human being laid hands on it the while, and
+not a breath or stir was heard in the church. [Footnote: Something
+similar is related in the _Seherin of Prevorst_, where a
+glass of water moved of its own accord to another place.]
+
+Our two carls nearly died of the fright, and solemnly attested by
+oath to his Highness the truth of their relation. Thereby young
+Lord Franz was more strengthened in his belief concerning
+Sidonia's witchcraft, and had many arguments with his father in
+consequence.
+
+"His lord father might easily know that a letter could not move of
+itself without devil's magic. Now, this letter had moved of
+itself; _ergo_," &c.
+
+Whereupon his Highness answered--
+
+"When had he ever doubted the power of Satan? Ah, never; but in
+this instance who could tell what the carls in their fright had
+seen or not seen? For, perhaps, Sidonia, when she observed them
+hiding in the pew, had stuck a fish-hook into the letter, and so
+drawn it over to herself. He remembered in his youth a trick that
+had been played on the patron--for this patron always went to
+sleep during the sermon. So the sexton let down a fish-hook
+through the ceiling of the church, which, catching hold of the
+patron's wig, drew it up in the sight of the whole congregation,
+who afterwards swore that they had seen the said wig of their
+patron carried up to the roof of the church by witchcraft, and
+disappear through a hole in the ceiling, as if it had been a bird.
+Some time after, however, the sexton confessed his knavery, and
+the patron's flying wig had been a standing joke in the country
+ever since."
+
+But the young lord still shook his head--
+
+"Ah, they would yet see who was right. He was still of the same
+opinion."
+
+But I shall leave these arguments at once, for the result will
+fully show which party was in the right.
+
+_Summa._--Sidonia, next day, drove in her one-horse cart
+again to the convent gate at Marienfliess, accompanied by another
+old hag as her servant. Now the peasants had just arrived with the
+salmon, which the Duke despatched every fortnight as a present to
+the convent, and the letter of his Grace had arrived also. So,
+many of the nuns were assembled on the great steps looking at the
+fish, and waiting for the abbess to divide it amongst them, as was
+her custom. Others were gathered round the abbess, weeping as she
+told them of the Duke's letter, and the good mother herself nearly
+fainted when she read it.
+
+So Sidonia drove straight into the court, as the gates were lying
+open, and shouted--
+
+"What the devil! Is this a nuns' cloister, where all the gates lie
+open, and the carls come in and out as if it were a dove-cot?
+Shame on ye, for light wantons! Wait; Sidonia will bring you into
+order. Ha! ye turned me out; but now ye must have me, whether ye
+will or no!"
+
+At such blasphemies the nuns were struck dumb. However, the abbess
+seemed as though she heard them not, but advancing, bid Sidonia
+welcome, and said--
+
+"It was not possible to receive her into the cloister, until she
+had command from his Grace so to do, which command she now held in
+her hand."
+
+This softened Sidonia somewhat, and she asked--
+
+"What are the nuns doing there with the fish?"
+
+"Dividing the salmon," was the answer.
+
+Whereupon she jumped out of the cart, and declared that she must
+get her portion also, for salmon was a right good thing for
+supper.
+
+Whereupon the sub-prioress, Dorothea von Stettin, cut her off a
+fine large head-piece, which Sidonia, however, pushed away
+scornfully, crying--
+
+"Fie! what did she mean by that? The devil might eat the
+head-piece, but give her the tail. She had never in her life eaten
+anything but the tail-piece; the tail was fatter."
+
+So the abbess signed to them to give her the tail-end; after
+which, she asked to see her cell, and, on being shown it, cried
+out again--
+
+"Fie on them! was that a cell for a lady of her degree? Why, it
+was a pig-sty. Let the abbess put her young litter of nuns there;
+they would be better in it than running up and down the convent
+court with the fish-carls. She must and will have the refectory."
+
+And when the abbess answered--
+
+"That was the prayer-room, where the sisters met night and morning
+for vespers and matins," she heeded not, but said--
+
+"Let them pray in the chapel--the chapel is large enough."
+
+And so saying, she commanded her maid, who was no other than Wolde
+Albrechts, though not a soul in the convent knew her, to carry all
+her luggage straight into the refectory.
+
+What could the poor abbess do? She had to submit, and not only
+give her up the refectory, but, finding that she had no bed, order
+one in for her. _Item,_ seeing that Sidonia was in rags, she
+desired black serge for a robe to be brought, and a white veil,
+such as the sisterhood wore, and bid the nuns stitch them up for
+her, thinking thus to win her over by kindness. Also she desired
+tables, stools, &c., to be arranged in the refectory, since she so
+ardently desired to possess this room. But what fruit all this
+kindness brought forth we shall see in _liber tertius_.
+
+
+END OF SECOND BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS UP
+TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19th, 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and
+extols her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairywoman,
+and how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Serene Highness will
+surely pardon me if I pass over, in _libra tertio_, many of
+the quarrels, bickerings, strifes, and evil deeds, with which
+Sidonia disturbed the peace of the convent, and brought many a
+goodly person therein to a cruel end; first, because these things
+are already much known and talked of; and secondly, because such
+dire and Satanic wickedness must not be so much as named to gentle
+ears by me.
+
+I shall therefore only set down a few of the principal events of
+her convent life, by which your Grace and others may easily
+conjecture much of what still remains unsaid; for truly wickedness
+advanced and strengthened in her day by day, as decay in a rotting
+tree.
+
+The morning after her arrival in the convent, while it was yet
+quite early, and Wolde Albrechts, her lame maid, was sweeping out
+the refectory, the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, came to pay her
+a visit. She had a piece of salmon, and a fine haddock's liver, on
+a plate, to present to the lady, and was full of joy and gratitude
+that so pious and chaste a maiden should have entered this
+convent. "Ah, yes! it was indeed terrible to see how the convent
+gates lay open, and the men-folk walked in and out, as the lady
+herself had seen yesterday. And would sister Sidonia believe it,
+sometimes the carls came in bare-legged? Not alone old Matthias
+Winterfeld, the convent porter, but others--yea, even in their
+shirt-sleeves sometimes--oh, it was shocking even to think of! She
+had talked about it long enough, but no one heeded her, though
+truly she was sub-prioress, and ought to have authority. However,
+if sister Sidonia would make common cause with her from this time
+forth, modesty and sobriety might yet be brought back to their
+blessed cloister."
+
+Sidonia desired nothing better than to make common cause with the
+good, simple Dorothea--but for her own purposes. Therefore she
+answered, "Ay, truly; this matter of the open gates was a grievous
+sin and shame. What else were these giddy wantons thinking of but
+lovers and matrimony? She really blushed to see them yesterday."
+
+_Illa._--"True, true; that was just it. All about love and
+marriage was the talk for ever amongst them. It made her heart die
+within her to think what the young maidens were nowadays."
+
+_Haec._--"Had she any instances to bring forward; what had
+they done?"
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! instances enough. Why, not long since, a nun
+had married with a clerk, and this last chaplain, David Grosskopf,
+had taken another nun to wife himself."
+
+_Haec._--"Oh, she was ready to faint with horror."
+
+_Illa _ (sobbing, weeping, and falling upon Sidonia's
+neck).--"God be praised that she had found one righteous soul in
+this Sodom and Gomorrah. Now she would swear friendship to her for
+life and death! And had she a little drop of wine, just to pour on
+the haddock's liver? it tasted so much better stewed in wine! but
+she would go for some of her own. The liver must just get one turn
+on the fire, and then the butter and spices have to be added. She
+would teach her how to do it if she did not know, only let the old
+maid make up the fire."
+
+_Haec_.--"What was she talking about? Cooking was child's play
+to her; she had other things to cook than haddocks' livers."
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"Ah! let not her chaste sister be angry;
+she had meant it all in kindness."
+
+_Haec_.--"No doubt--but why did she call the convent a Sodom
+and Gomorrah? Did the nuns ever admit a lover into their cells?"
+
+_Illa_ (screaming with horror).--"No, no, fie! how could the
+chaste sister bring her lips to utter such words?"
+
+_Haec_.--"What did she mean, then, by the Sodom and Gomorrah?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! the whole world was a Sodom and Gomorrah,
+why, then, not the convent, since it lay in the world? For though
+we do not sin in words or works, yet we may sin in thought; and
+this was evidently the case with some of these young things, for
+if the talk in their hearing was of marriage, they laughed and
+tittered, so that it was a scandal and abomination!"
+
+_Haec_.--"But had she anything else to tell her--what had she
+come for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she had forgotten. The abbess sent to say, that
+she must begin to knit the gloves directly for the canons of
+Camyn. Here was the thread."
+
+_Haec_.--"Thousand devils! what did she mean?" _Illa_
+(crossing herself).--"Ah! the pious sister might let the devils
+alone, though (God be good to us) the world was indeed full of
+them!"
+
+_Haec_.--"What did she mean, then, by this knitting--to talk
+to her so--the lady of castles and lands?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the matter was thus. The reverend canons of
+Camyn, who were twelve in number, purchased their beer always from
+the convent--for such had been the usage from the old Catholic
+times--and sent a waggon regularly every half-year to fetch it
+home. In return for this goodness, the nuns knit a pair of thread
+gloves for each canon in spring, and a pair of woollen ones in
+winter."
+
+_Haec_.--"Then the devil may knit them if he chooses, but she
+never will. What! a lady of her rank to knit gloves for these old
+fat paunches! No, no; the abbess must come to her! Send a message
+to bid her come."
+
+And truly, in a little time, the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf,
+came as she was bid; for she had resolved to try and conquer
+Sidonia's pride and insolence by softness and humility.
+
+But what a storm of words fell upon the worthy matron!
+
+"Was this treatment, forsooth, for a noble lady? To be told to
+knit gloves for a set of lazy canons. Marry, she had better send
+the men at once to her room, to have them tried on. No wonder that
+levity and wantonness should reign throughout the convent!"
+
+Here the good mother interposed--
+
+"But could not sister Sidonia moderate her language a little? Such
+violence ill became a spiritual maiden. If she would not hold by
+the old usage, let her say so quietly, and then she herself, the
+abbess, would undertake to knit the gloves, since the work so
+displeased her."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room, but, on opening the door,
+tumbled right against sister Anna Apenborg, who was stuck up close
+to it, with her ear against the crevice, listening to what was
+passing inside. Anna screamed at first, for the good mother's head
+had given her a stout blow, but recovering quickly, as the two
+prioresses passed out, curtsied to Sidonia--
+
+"Her name was Anna Apenborg. Her father, Elias, dwelt in
+Nadrensee, near Old Stettin, and her great-great-grandfather,
+Caspar, had been with Bogislaff X. in the Holy Land. She had come
+to pay her respects to the new sister, for she was cooking in the
+kitchen yesterday when the lady arrived, and never got a sight of
+her, but she heard that this dear new sister was a great lady,
+with castles and lands. Her father's cabin was only a poor thing
+thatched with straw," &c.
+
+All this pleased the proud Sidonia mightily, so she beckoned her
+into the room, where the aforesaid Anna immediately began to stare
+about her, and devour everything with her eyes; but seeing such
+scanty furniture, remarked inquiringly--
+
+"The dear sister's goods are, of course, on the road?"
+
+This spoiled all Sidonia's good-humour in a moment, and she
+snappishly asked--
+
+"What brought her there?"
+
+Hereupon the other excused herself--
+
+"The maid had told her that the dear sister was going to eat her
+salmon for her lunch, with bread and butter, but it was much
+better with kale, and if she had none, her maid might come down
+now and cut some in the garden. This was what she had to say. She
+heard, indeed, that the sub-prioress and Agnes Kleist ate their
+salmon stewed in butter, but that was too rich; for one should be
+very particular about salmon, it was so apt to disagree. However,
+if sister Sidonia would just mind her, she would teach her all the
+different ways of dressing it, and no one was ever the worse for
+eating salmon, if they followed her plan."
+
+But before Sidonia had time to answer, the chatterbox had run to
+the door and lifted the latch--
+
+"There was a strange woman in the courtyard, with something under
+her apron. She must go and see what it was, but would be back
+again instantly with the news."
+
+In a short time she returned, bringing along with her Sheriff
+Sparling's dairy-woman, who carried a large bundle of flax under
+her apron. This she set down before Sidonia--
+
+"And his worship bid her say that she must spin all this for him
+without delay, for he wanted a new set of shirts, and the thread
+must be with the weaver by Christmas."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she fell into a right rage in earnest--
+
+"May the devil wring his ears, the peasant carl! To send such a
+message to a lady of her degree!"
+
+Then she pitched the flax out of the door, and wanted to shove the
+dairy-woman out after it, but she stopped, and said--
+
+"His worship gave all the nuns a bushel of seed for their trouble,
+and sowed it for them; so she had better do as the others did."
+
+Sidonia, however, was not to be appeased--
+
+"May the devil take her and her flax, if she did not trot out of
+that instantly."
+
+So she pushed the poor woman out, and then panting and blowing
+with rage, asked Anna Apenborg to tell her what this boor of a
+sheriff was like?
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a strange man. Ate fish every day, and
+always cooked the one way, namely, in beer. How this was possible
+she could not understand. To-day she heard he was to have pike for
+his dinner."
+
+_Haec_.--"Was she asking the fool what he ate? What did she
+care about his dinners? But what sort of man was he, and did all
+the nuns, in truth, spin for him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, except Barbara Schetzkow; she was dead
+now. But once when he went storming to her cell, she just turned
+him out, and so she had peace ever after. For he roared like a
+bear, but, in truth, was a cowardly rabbit, this same sheriff. And
+she heard, that one time, when he was challenged by a noble, he
+shrank away, and never stood up to his quarrel."
+
+But just then in walked the sheriff himself, with a horse-whip in
+his hand. He was a thick-set, grey-headed fellow, and roared at
+Sidonia--
+
+"What! thou old, lean hag--so thou wilt spin no flax? May the
+devil take thee, but thou shalt obey my commands!"
+
+While he thus scolded, Sidonia quietly caught hold of the broom,
+and grasping it with both hands, gave such a blow with the handle
+on the grey pate of the sheriff, that he tumbled against the door,
+while she screamed out--
+
+"Ha! thou peasant boor, take that for calling me a hag--the lady
+of castle and lands!"
+
+Then she struck him again and again, till the sheriff at last got
+the door open and bolted out, running down the stairs as hard as
+he could, and into the courtyard, where, when he was safely
+landed, he shook the horsewhip up at Sidonia's windows, crying
+out--
+
+"I will make you pay dear for this. Anna Apenborg was witness of
+the assault. I will swear information this very day before his
+Highness, how the hag assaulted me, the sheriff, and
+superintendent of the convent, in the performance of my duty, and
+pray him to deliver an honourable cloister from the presence of
+such a vagabond."
+
+Then he went to the abbess, and begged her and the nuns to sustain
+him in his accusation--
+
+"Such wickedness and arrogance had never yet been seen under the
+sun. Let the good abbess only feel his head; there was a lump as
+big as an egg on it. Truly, he had had a mind to horsewhip her
+black and blue; but that would have been illegal; so he thanked
+God that he had restrained himself."
+
+Then he made the abbess feel his head again; also Anna Apenborg,
+who happened to come in that moment. But the worthy mother knew
+not what to do. She told the sheriff of Sidonia's behaviour as she
+drove into the convent; also how she had possessed herself of the
+refectory by force, refused to knit or spin, and had sent for her,
+the abbess, bidding her come to her, as if she were no better than
+a serving-wench.
+
+At last the sheriff desired all the nuns to be sent for, and in
+their presence drew up a petition to his Highness, praying that
+the honourable convent might be delivered from the presence of
+this dragon, for that no peace could be expected within the walls
+until this vagabond and evil-minded old hag were turned out on the
+road again, or wherever else his Highness pleased. Every one
+present signed this, with the exception of Anna Apenborg and the
+sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin. And many think that in
+consideration of this gentleness, Sidonia afterwards spared their
+lives, and did not bring them to a premature grave, like as she
+did the worthy abbess and others.
+
+For the next time that she caught Anna at her old habit of
+listening, Sidonia said, while boxing her--
+
+"You should get something worse than a box on the ear, only for
+your refusal to sign that lying petition to his Highness."
+
+_Summa_.--After a few days, an answer arrived from his Grace
+the Duke of Stettin, and the abbess, with the sheriff, proceeded
+with it to Sidonia's apartment.
+
+They found her brewing beer, an art in which she excelled; and the
+letter which they handed to her ran thus, according to the copy
+received likewise by the convent:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, &c.
+
+"Having heard from our sheriff and the pious sisterhood of
+Marienfliess, of thy unseemly behaviour, in causing uproars and
+tumults in the convent; further, of thy having struck our worthy
+sheriff on the head with a broom-stick--We hereby declare, desire,
+and command, that, unless thou givest due obedience to the
+authorities, lay and spiritual, doing this well, with humility and
+meekness, even as the other sisters, the said authorities shall
+have full power to turn thee out of the convent, by means of their
+bailiffs or otherwise, as they please, giving thee back again to
+that perdition from which thou wast rescued. Further, thou art
+herewith to deliver up the refectory to the abbess, of which We
+hear thou hast shamefully possessed thyself.
+
+"Old Stettin, 10th November, 1603.
+
+"BOGISLAFF."
+
+Sidonia scarcely looked at the letter, but thrust it under the pot
+on the fire, where it soon blazed away to help the brewing, and
+exclaimed--
+
+"They had forged it between them; the Prince never wrote a line of
+it. Nor would he have sent it to her by the hands of her enemies.
+Let it burn there. Little trouble would she take to read their
+villainy. But never fear, they should have something in return for
+their pains."
+
+Hereupon she blew on them both, and they had scarcely reached the
+court, after leaving her apartment, when both were seized with
+excruciating pains in their limbs; both the sheriff and the abbess
+were affected in precisely the same way--a violent pain first in
+the little finger, then on through the hand, up the arm, finally,
+throughout the whole frame, as if the members were tearing
+asunder, till they both screamed aloud for very agony. Doctor
+Schwalenberg is sent for from Stargard, but his salve does no
+good; they grow worse rather, and their cries are dreadful to
+listen to, for the pain has become intolerable.
+
+So my brave sheriff turns from a roaring ox into a poor cowardly
+hare, and sends off the dairy-woman with a fine haunch of venison
+and a sweetbread to Sidonia: "His worship's compliments to the
+illustrious lady with these, and begged to know if she could send
+him anything good for the rheumatism, which had attacked him quite
+suddenly. The Stargard doctor was not worth the air he breathed,
+and his salve had only made him worse in place of better. He would
+send the illustrious lady also some pounds of wax-lights; she
+might like them through the winter, but they were not made yet."
+
+When Sidonia heard this she laughed loudly, danced about, and
+repeated the verse which was then heard for the first time from
+her lips; but afterwards she made use of it, when about any evil
+deed:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+  Meine Hunde und meine Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    My dogs and my cats."]
+
+The dairy-woman stood by in silent wonder, first looking at
+Sidonia, then at Wolde, who began to dance likewise, and
+chanted:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+   Unsre Hunde und unsre Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    Our dogs and our cats."]
+
+At last Sidonia answered, "This time I will help him; but if he
+ever bring the roaring ox out of the stall again, assuredly he
+will repent it."
+
+Hereon the dairy-mother turned to depart, but suddenly stood quite
+still, staring at Anne Wolde; at length said, "Did I not see thee
+years ago spinning flax in my mother's cellar, when the folk
+wanted to bring thee to an ill end?"
+
+But the hag denied it all--"The devil may have been in her
+mother's cellar, but she had never seen Marienfliess in her life
+before, till she came hither with this illustrious lady."
+
+So the other seemed to believe her, and went out; and by the time
+she reached her master's door, his pains had all vanished, so that
+he rode that same day at noon to the hunt.
+
+The poor abbess heard of all this through Anna Apenborg, and
+thereupon bethought herself of a little embassy likewise.
+
+So she bid Anna take all sorts of good pastry, and a new kettle,
+and greet the Lady Sidonia from her--"Could the dear sister give
+her anything for the rheumatism?" She heard the sheriff was quite
+cured, and all the doctor's salves and plasters were only making
+her worse. She sent the dear sister a few dainties--_item_, a
+new kettle, as her own kettle had not yet arrived. _Item_,
+she begged her acceptance of all the furniture, &c., which she had
+lent her for her apartment.
+
+At this second message, the horrible witch laughed and danced as
+before, repeating the same couplet; and the old hag, Wolde, danced
+behind her like her shadow.
+
+Now Anna Apenborg's curiosity was excited in the highest degree at
+all this, and her feet began to beat up and down on the floor as
+if she were dying to dance likewise; at last she exclaimed, "Ah,
+dear lady! what is the meaning of that? Could you not teach it to
+me, if it cures the rheumatism? that is, if there be no devil's
+work in it (from which God keep us). I have twelve pounds of wool
+lying by me; will you take it, dear lady, for teaching me the
+secret?"
+
+But Sidonia answered, "Keep your wool, good Anna, and I will keep
+my secret, seeing that it is impossible for me to teach it to you;
+for know, that a woman can only learn it of a man, and a man of a
+woman; and this we call the doctrine of sympathies. However, go
+your ways now, and tell the abbess that, if she does my will, I
+will visit her and see what I can do to help her; but, remember,
+my will she must do."
+
+Hereupon sister Anna was all eagerness to know what her will was,
+but Sidonia bade her hold her tongue, and then locked up the
+viands in the press, while Wolde went into the kitchen with the
+kettle, where Anna Apenborg followed her slowly, to try and pick
+something out of the old hag, but without any success, as one may
+easily imagine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent._
+
+
+When Sidonia went to visit the abbess, as she had promised, she
+found her lying in bed and moaning, so that it might have melted
+the heart of a stone; but the old witch seemed quite
+surprised--"What could be the matter with the dear, good mother?
+but by God's help she would try and cure her. Only, concerning
+this little matter of the refectory, it might as well be settled
+first, for Anna Apenborg told her the room was to be taken from
+her; but would not the good mother permit her to keep it?"
+
+And when the tortured matron answered, "Oh yes; keep it, keep it,"
+Sidonia went on--
+
+"There was just another little favour she expected for curing her
+dear mother (for, by God's help, she expected to cure her). This
+was, to make her sub-prioress in place of Dorothea Stettin; for,
+in the first place, the situation was due to her rank, she being
+the most illustrious lady in the convent, dowered with castles and
+lands; secondly, because her illustrious forefathers had helped to
+found this convent; and thirdly, it was due to her age, for she
+was the natural mother of all these young doves, and much more
+fitted to keep them in order and strict behaviour than Dorothea
+Stettin."
+
+Here the abbess answered, "How could she make her sub-prioress
+while the other lived? This was not to be done? Truly sister
+Dorothea was somewhat prudish and whining, this she could not
+deny, for she had suffered many crosses in her path; but, withal,
+she was an upright, honest creature, with the best and simplest
+heart in the world; and so little selfishness, that verily she
+would lay down her life for the sisterhood, if it were necessary."
+
+_Illa_.--"A good heart was all very well, but what could it
+do without respect? and how could a poor fool be respected who
+fell into fits if she saw a bride, particularly here, where the
+young sisters thought of nothing but marriage from morning till
+night."
+
+_Haec_.--"Yet she was held in great respect and honour by all
+the sisterhood, as she herself could testify."
+
+_Illa_.--"Stuff! she must be sub-prioress, and there was an
+end of it, or the abbess might lie groaning there till she was as
+stiff as a pole."
+
+"Alas! Sidonia," answered the abbess, "I would rather lie here as
+stiff as a pole--or, in other words, lie here a corpse, for I
+understand thy meaning--than do aught that was unjust."
+
+_Illa_.--"What was unjust? The old goose need not be turned
+out of her office by force, but persuaded out of it--that would be
+an easy matter, if she were so humble and excellent a creature."
+
+_Haec_.--"But then deceit must be practised, and that she
+could never bring herself to."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yet you could all practise deceit against me, and
+send off that complaint to his Highness the Prince."
+
+_Haec_.--"There was no falsehood there nor deceit, but the
+openly expressed wish of the whole convent, and of his worship the
+sheriff."
+
+_Illa_.--"Then let the whole convent and his worship the
+sheriff make her well again; she would not trouble herself about
+the matter."
+
+Whereupon she rose to depart, but the suffering abbess stretched
+out her hands, and begged, for the sake of Jesus, that she would
+release her from this torture! "Take everything--everything thou
+wishest, Sidonia--only leave me my good conscience. Thy dying hour
+must one day come too; oh! think on that."
+
+_Illa_.--"The dying hour is a long way off yet" (and she
+moved to the door).
+
+_Haec _(murmuring):--
+
+  "Why should health from God estrange thee?
+  Morning cometh and may change thee;
+  Life, to-day, its hues may borrow
+  Where the grave-worm feeds to-morrow."
+
+_Illa_.--"Look to yourself then. Speak! Make me sub-prioress,
+and be Cured on the instant."
+
+_Haec _ (turning herself back upon the pillow).--"No, no,
+temptress; begone:--
+
+  "'Softest pillow for the dying,
+  Is a conscience void of dread.'
+
+Go, leave me; my life is in the hand of God. 'For if we live, we
+live unto the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord. Living,
+therefore, or dying, we are the Lord's.'"
+
+So saying, the pious mother turned her face to the wall, and
+Sidonia went out of the chamber.
+
+In a little while, however, she returned--"Would the good mother
+promise, at least, to offer no opposition, if Dorothea Stettin
+proposed, of her own free will, to resign the office of
+sub-prioress? If so, let her reach forth her hand; she would soon
+find the pains leave her."
+
+The poor abbess assented to this, and oh, wonder! as it came, so
+it went; first out of the little finger, and then by degrees out
+of the whole body, so that the old mother wept for joy, and
+thanked her murderess.
+
+Just then the door opened, and David Ludeck, the chaplain, whom
+the abbess had sent for, entered in his surplice. He was a fine
+tall man, of about thirty-five years, with bright red lips and
+jet-black beard.
+
+He wondered much on hearing how the abbess had been cured by what
+Sidonia called "sympathies," and smelled devil's work in it, but
+said nothing--for he was afraid; spoke kindly to the witch-hag
+even, and extolled her learning and the nobility of her race;
+declaring that he knew well that the Von Borks had helped mainly
+to found this cloister.
+
+This mightily pleased the sorceress, and she grew quite friendly,
+asking him at last, "What news he had of his wife and children?"
+And when he answered, "He had no wife nor children," her eyes lit
+up again like old cinders, and she began to jest with him about
+his going about so freely in a cloister, as she observed he did.
+But when she saw that the priest looked grave at the jestings, she
+changed her tone, and demurely asked him, "If he would be ready
+after sermon on Sunday to assist at her assuming the nun's dress;
+for though many had given up this old usage, yet she would hold by
+it, for love of Jesu." This pleased the priest, and he promised to
+be prepared. Then Sidonia took her leave; but scarcely had she
+reached her own apartment when she sent for Anna Apenborg. "What
+sort of man was this chaplain? she saw that he went about the
+convent at his pleasure. This was strange when he was unmarried."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a right friendly and well-behaved gentleman.
+Nothing unseemly in word or deed had ever been heard of him."
+
+_Haec_.--"Then he must have some private love-affair."
+
+_Illa_.--"Some said he was paying court to Bamberg's sister
+there in Jacobshagen."
+
+_Haec_.--"Ha! very probable. But was it true? for otherwise he
+should never go about amongst the nuns the way he did. It was
+quite abominable: an unmarried man; Dorothea Stettin was right.
+But how could they ascertain the fact?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was easily done. She was going next morning to
+Jacobshagen, and would make out the whole story for her. Indeed,
+she herself, too, was curious about it."
+
+_Haec_.--"All right. This must be done for the honour of the
+cloister. For according to the rules of 1569, the court chaplain
+was to be an old man, who should teach the sisters to read and
+write. Whereas, here was a fine carl with red lips and a black
+beard--unmarried too. Did he perchance ever teach any of them to
+read or write?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; for they all knew how already."
+
+_Haec_.--"Still there was something wrong in it. No, no, in
+such matters youth has no truth; Dorothea Stettin was quite right.
+Ah, what a wonderful creature, that excellent Dorothea! Such
+modesty and purity she had never met with before. Would that all
+young maidens were like her, and then this wicked world would be
+something better."
+
+_Illa_ (sighing).--"Ah, yes; but then sister Dorothea went
+rather far in her notions."
+
+_Haec_.--"How so? In these matters one could never go too
+far."
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, when a couple were called in church, or a
+woman was churched, Dorothea nearly fainted. Then, there was a
+niche in the chancel for which old Duke Barnim had given them an
+Adam and Eve, which he turned and carved himself. But Dorothea was
+quite shocked at the Adam, and made a little apron to hang before
+him, though the abbess and the whole convent said that it was not
+necessary. But she told them, that unless Adam wore his apron,
+never would she set foot in the chapel. Now, truly this was going
+rather far. _Item_, she has been heard to wonder how the Lord
+God could send all the animals naked into the world; as cats,
+dogs, horses, and the like. Indeed, she one day disputed sharply
+on the matter with the chaplain; but he only laughed at her,
+whereupon Dorothea went away in a sulk."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed outright too; but soon said with grave
+decorum, "Quite right. The excellent Dorothea was a treasure above
+all treasures for the convent. Ah, such chastity and virtue were
+rarely to be met with in this wicked world."
+
+Now Anna Apenborg had hardly turned her back, to go and chatter
+all this back again to the sub-prioress, when Sidonia proceeded to
+tap some of her beer, and called the convent porter to her,
+Matthias Winterfeld, bidding him carry it with her greetings to
+the chaplain, David Ludeck. (For her own maid, Wolde, was lame,
+ever since the racking she got at Wolgast. So Sidonia was in the
+habit of sending the porter all her messages, much to his
+annoyance.) When he came now he was in his shirt-sleeves, at which
+Sidonia was wroth--"What did he mean by going about the convent in
+shirt-sleeves? Never let him appear before her eyes in such
+unseemly trim. And was this a time even for shirt-sleeves, when
+they were in the month of November? But winter or summer, he must
+never appear so,"
+
+Hereupon the fellow excused himself. He was killing geese for some
+of the nuns, and had just put off his coat, not to have it spoiled
+by the down; but she is nothing mollified--scolds him still, so
+the fellow makes off without another word, fearing he might get a
+touch of the rheumatism, like the abbess and his worship the
+sheriff, and carries the beer-can to the reverend chaplain; from
+whom he soon brings back "his grateful acknowledgments to the Lady
+Sidonia."
+
+Two days now passed over, but on the third morning Anna Apenborg
+trotted into the refectory full of news. She was quite tired from
+her journey yesterday; for the snow was deep on the roads, but to
+pleasure sister Sidonia (and besides, as it was a matter that
+concerned the honour of the convent) she had set off to
+Jacobshagen, though indeed the snow lay ankle-deep. However, she
+was well repaid, and had heard all she wanted; oh, there was great
+news!
+
+_Illa_.--"Quick! what? how? why? Remember it is for the
+honour and reputation of the entire convent."
+
+_Haec_.--"She had first gone to one person, who pretended not
+to know anything at all of the matter; but then another person had
+told her the whole story--under the seal of the strictest secrecy,
+however."
+
+_Illa_.--"What is it? what is it? How she went on chattering
+of nothing."
+
+_Haec_.--"But will the dear sister promise not to breathe it
+to mortal? She would be ruined with her best friend otherwise."
+
+_Illa_.--"Nonsense, girl; who could I repeat it to? Come, out
+with it!"
+
+So Anna began, in a very long-winded manner, to explain how the
+burgomaster's wife in Jacobshagen said that her maid said that
+Provost Bamberg's maid said, that while she was sweeping his study
+the other morning, she heard the provost's sister say to her
+brother in the adjoining room, that she could not bear the
+chaplain, David Ludeck, for he had been visiting there off and on
+for ever so long, and yet never had asked her the question. He was
+a faint-hearted coward evidently, and she hated faint-hearted men.
+
+Sidonia grew as red as a lire-beacon when she heard this, and
+walked up and down the apartment as if much perturbed, so that
+Anna asked if the dear sister were ill? "No," was the answer. "She
+was only thinking how best to get rid of this priest, and prevent
+him running in and out of the convent whenever he pleased. She
+must try and have an order issued, that he was only to visit the
+nuns when they were sick. This very day she would see about it.
+Could the good Anna tell her what the sheriff had for lunch
+to-day?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, could she; for the milk-girl, who had
+brought her some fresh milk, told her that he had got plenty of
+wild fowl, which the keeper had snared in the net; and there was
+to be a sweetbread besides. But what was the dear sister herself
+to eat?"
+
+_Haec_.--"No matter--but did she not hear a great ringing of
+bells? What could the ringing be for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was a strange thing, truly. And there was no
+one dead, nor any child to be christened, that she had heard of.
+She would just run out and see, and bring the dear sister word."
+
+_Illa_.-"Well then, wait till evening, for it is near noon
+now, and I expect a guest to lunch."
+
+_Haec_.--"Eh? a guest!--and who could it be?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the chaplain himself. I want to arrange about
+his dismissal."
+
+So, hardly had she got rid of the chatterbox, when Sidonia called
+the porter, Matthias, and bid him greet the reverend chaplain from
+her, and say, that as she had somewhat to ask him concerning the
+investiture on Sunday, would he be her guest that day at dinner?
+She hoped to have some game with a sweetbread, and excellent beer
+to set before him.
+
+When the porter returned with the answer from his reverence,
+accepting the invitation, she sent him straight to the sheriff
+with a couple of covered dishes, and a message, begging his
+worship to send her half-a-dozen brace or so of game, for she
+heard that a great many had been taken in his nets; and a
+sweetbread, if he had it, for she had a guest to-day at dinner.
+
+So the dishes came back full--everything just ready to be served;
+for the cunning hag knew well that he dare not refuse her; and
+immediately afterwards the priest arrived to dinner. He was very
+friendly, but Sidonia caught him looking very suspiciously at a
+couple of brooms which she had laid crosswise under the table. So
+she observed, "I lay these brooms there, to preserve our dear
+mother and the sheriff from falling again into this sickness. It
+is part of the doctrine of sympathies, and I learned it out of my
+Herbal, as I can show you." Upon which she went to her trunk and
+got the book for the priest, whose fears diminished when he saw
+that it was _printed_; but he could not prevail on her to
+lend it to him.
+
+_Summa_.--The priest grew still more friendly over the good
+eating and drinking; and she, the old hypocrite, discoursed him
+the while about her heavenly bridegroom, and threw up her eyes and
+sighed, at the same time pressing his hand fervently. But the
+priest never minded it, for she was old enough to be his mother,
+and besides, he remembered the Scripture--"No man can call Jesus
+Lord, except through the Holy Ghost." So as her every third word
+was "Jesus," he looked upon her as a most discreet and pious
+Christian, and went away much satisfied by her and the good
+dinner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails
+through a mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she
+bewitched the whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the
+grievous sorrow of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto
+this day._ [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"Ay, and
+will to the last day, _vaeh mihi_."]
+
+
+As soon as the pious abbess was able to leave her bed, she sent
+for the priest, for she had strange suspicions about Sidonia, and
+asked the reverend clerk, if indeed her cure could have been
+effected by sympathy? and were it not rather some work of the
+bodily Satan himself? But my priest assured her concerning
+Sidonia's Christian faith; _item_, told, to the great
+wonderment of the abbess, that she no longer cared for the
+sub-prioret (we know why--she would sooner have the priest than
+the prioret), but was content to let Dorothea Stettin keep it or
+resign it, just as she pleased.
+
+After this, the investiture of Sidonia took place, and the priest
+blessed her at the altar, and admonished her to take as her model
+the wise virgins mentioned Matt. xxv. (but God knows, she had
+followed the foolish virgins up to that period, and never ceased
+doing so to the end of her days).
+
+Even on that very night, we shall see her conduct; for she bid her
+maid, Wolde, run and call up the convent porter, and despatch him
+instantly for the priest, saying that she was very ill, and he
+must come and pray with her. This excited no suspicion, since she
+herself had forbade the priest entering the convent, unless any of
+the sisters were sick. But Anna Apenborg slipped out of bed when
+she heard the noise, and watched from the windows for the porter's
+return. Then she tossed up the window, though the snow blew in all
+over her bed, and called out, "Well, what says he? will he come?
+will he come?"
+
+And when the fellow grunted in answer, "Yes, he's coming," she
+wrapped a garment round her, and set herself to watch, though her
+teeth were chattering from cold all the time. In due time the
+priest came, whereupon the curious virgin crept out of her garret,
+and down the stairs to a little window in the passage which looked
+in upon the refectory, and through which, in former times,
+provisions were sometimes handed in. There she could hear
+everything that passed.
+
+When the priest entered, Sidonia stretched out her meagre arms
+towards him, and thanked him for coming; would he sit down here on
+the bed, for there was no other seat in the room? she had much to
+tell him that was truly wonderful. But the priest remained
+standing: let her speak on.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! it concerned himself. She had dreamt a strange
+dream (God be thanked that it was not a reality), but it left her
+no peace. Three times she awoke, and three fell asleep and dreamt
+it again. At last she sent for him, for there might be danger in
+store for him, and she would turn it away if possible."
+
+_Hic_.--"It was strange, truly. What, then, had she dreamed?"
+
+_Illa_.--"It seemed to her that murderers had got up into his
+room through the window, and just as they were on the point of
+strangling him, she had appeared and put them to flight,
+whereupon--" (here she paused and sighed).
+
+_Hic _(in great agitation).--"Go on, for God's sake go
+on--what further?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Whereupon--ah! she must tell him now, since he
+forced her to do it. Whereupon, out of gratitude, he took her to
+be his wife, and they were married" (sighing, and holding both
+hands before her eyes).
+
+_Hic_ (clasping his hands).--"Merciful Heaven! how strange! I
+dreamt all that precisely myself." [Footnote: The power of
+producing particular dreams by volition, was recognised by the
+ancients and philosophers of the Middle Ages. _Ex._ Albertus
+Magnus relates (_De Mirabilibus Mundi_ 205) that horrible
+dreams can be produced by placing an ape's skin under the pillow.
+He also gives a receipt for making women tell their secrets in
+sleep (but this I shall keep to myself). Such phenomena are
+neither physiologically nor psychologically impossible, but our
+modern physiologists are content to take the mere poor form of
+nature, dissect it, anatomise it, and then bury it beneath the
+sand of their hypotheses. Thus, indeed, "the dead bury their
+dead," while all the strange, mysterious, inner powers of nature,
+which the philosophers of the Middle Ages, as Psellus, Albertus
+Magnus, Trithemius, Cardanus, Theophastus, &c., did so much to
+elucidate, are at once flippantly and ignorantly placed in the
+category of "Superstitions," "Absurdities," and "Artful
+Deceptions."]
+
+Upon which Sidonia cried out, "How can it be possible? Oh, it is
+the will of God, David--it is the will of God" (and she seized him
+by both hands).
+
+But the priest remained as cold as the snow outside, drew back his
+head, and said, "Ah! no doubt these absurdities about marriage
+came into my head because I had been thinking so much over our
+young Lord Philip of Wolgast, who was wedded to-day at Berlin."
+
+Sidonia started up at this, and screamed in rage and anger--"What!
+Duke Philip married to-day in Berlin? The accursed prioress told
+me the wedding was not to be for eight days after the next new
+moon."
+
+The priest now was more astonished at her manner than even at the
+coincidence of the dreams, and he started back from the bed.
+Whereupon, perceiving the mistake she had made, the horrible witch
+threw herself down again, and letting her head fall upon the
+pillow, murmured, "Oh! my head! my head! She must have locked up
+the moon in the cellar. How will the poor people see now by
+night?--why did the prioress lock up the moon? Oh! my head! my
+head!" Then she thanked the priest for coming--it was so good of
+him; but she was worse--much worse. "Ah! her head! her head!
+Better go now--but let him come again in the morning to see her."
+So the good priest believed in truth that the detestable hag was
+very ill, and evidently suffering from fever; so he went his way
+pitying her much, and without the least suspicion of her wicked
+purposes.
+
+Scarcely, however, had he closed the door, when Sidonia sprang
+like a cat from her bed, and called out, "Wolde, Wolde!" And as
+the old witch hobbled in with her lame leg, Sidonia raged and
+stamped, crying out, "The accursed abbess has lied to me. Ernest
+Ludovicus' brat was married to-day at Berlin. Oh! if I am too late
+now, as on his father's marriage, I shall hang myself in the
+laundry. Where is Chim--the good-for-nothing spirit?--he should
+have seen to this." And she dragged him out and beat him, while he
+quaked like a hare.
+
+Whereupon Wolde called out, "Bring the padlock from the trunk."
+The other answered, "What use now?--the bridal pair are long since
+wedded and asleep." To which the old witch replied, "No; it is
+twelve o'clock here, but in Berlin it wants a quarter to it yet.
+There is time. The Berlin brides never retire to their apartment
+till the clock strikes twelve. There is time still."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Sidonia, "since the devil cannot tell me on what
+day they hold bridal, I will make an end now of the whole accursed
+griffin brood, in all its relationships, branch and root, now and
+for evermore, in Wolgast as in Stettin; be they destroyed and
+rooted out for ever and for ever." Then she took the padlock, and
+murmured some words over it, of which Anna Apenborg could only
+catch the names, Philip, Francis, George, Ulrich, Bogislaff, who
+were all sons to Duke Bogislaff XIII., and, in truth, died each
+one without leaving an heir. And, during the incantation, the
+light trembled and burned dim upon the table, and the thing which
+she had beaten seemed to speak with a human voice, and the bells
+on the turret swung in the wind with a low sound, so that Anna
+fell on her knees from horror, and scarcely dared to breathe. Then
+the accursed sorceress gave the padlock and key to Wolde, bidding
+her go forth by night and fling it into the sea, repeating the
+words:--
+
+   "Hid deep in the sea
+   Let my dark spell be,
+   For ever, for ever!
+   To rise up never!"
+
+Then Wolde asked, "Had she forgotten Duke Casimir?" Whereat
+Sidonia laughed and said, "The spell had long been on him." And
+immediately after, Anna Apenborg beheld _three_ shadows, in
+place of two, thrown upon the white wall opposite the little
+window. So she strengthened her heart to look in, and truly there
+was _another_ form present now. And the three danced
+together, and chanted strange rhymes, while the shadows on the
+wall danced up and down likewise. Then a deep bass voice called
+out, "Ha! there is Christian flesh here! Ha! there is Christian
+flesh!" Whereupon Anna, though nearly dead with fright, crept up
+to her garret on her knees, while loud laughter resounded behind
+her; and it seemed as if old pots were flung up the stairs after
+her. [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Incredibile sane, et
+tamen verum. Cur, mi Deus?--(It seems impossible, and yet how
+true. Wherefore, my God?)
+
+The spell by knotting the girdle is noticed by Virgil, 8th
+eclogue:
+
+  "Necte tribus nodis ternos Amarylli colores;
+  Necte Amarylli modo, et Veneris die vincula necto."
+
+  [In three knots Amaryllis weaves three different colours;
+  Amaryllis knots and says: I knot the girdle of Venus.]
+
+The use of the padlock is not mentioned until the Middle Ages,
+when it seems to have been so much employed that severe ordinances
+were directed against its use.] For the rest of that night she
+could not close her eyes.
+
+Next morning, one can easily imagine with what eagerness she
+hurried to the abbess, to relate the past night's horrible tale.
+Sidonia likewise is astir early, for by daybreak she despatched
+her old lame Wolde to the chaplain (the porter was not up yet)
+with a can of beer for his great trouble the night before, and
+trusted it would strengthen his heart. In this beer she had poured
+her detestable love-philtrum, to awaken a passion for herself in
+the breast of the reverend David, but it turned out quite
+otherwise, and ended after the most ludicrous fashion, no doubt
+all owing to the malice of the spirit Chim, in revenge for the
+blows she had given him the night previous; for, behold, as soon
+as the priest had swallowed a right good draught of beer, he began
+to stare at the old hag and murmur; then he passed his hand over
+his eyes, and motioned her to remain. Again he looked at
+her--twice, thrice--put some silver into her hand, and at last
+spake--"Ah! Wolde, what a beautiful creature you are! Where have
+my eyes been, that I never discovered this before?"
+
+The cunning hag saw now plainly what the drink had done, and which
+way the wind blew. So she sat herself down simpering, by the
+stove, and my priest crept up close beside her; he took her
+hand--"Ah! how fat and plump it was--such a beautiful hand."
+
+But the old hag drew it back, saying, "Let me go, Mr. David!" To
+which he answered, "Yes, go, my treasure! I love to see you walk!
+What an exquisite limp! How stupid are men nowadays not to see all
+the beauty of a limp! Ah! Venus knew it well, and therefore chose
+Vulcan, for he, too, limped like my Wolde. Give me a kiss then,
+loveliest of women! Ah! what enchanting snow-white hair, like the
+purest silver, has my treasure on her head."
+
+No wonder the old lame hag was tickled with the commendations,
+for, in all the sixty years of her life, she never had heard the
+like before. But she played the prude, and pushed away the priest
+with her hand, just as, by good fortune, a messenger from the
+abbess knocked at the door, with a request that the chaplain would
+come to the good mother without delay. So the old hag went away
+with the maid of the abbess, and the priest stopped to dress
+himself more decently.
+
+But in some time the abbess, who was on the watch, saw him
+striding past her door; so she opened the window and called out to
+know "Where was he going? Had he forgotten that she lived there?"
+To which he answered, "He must first visit Sidonia." At this the
+worthy matron stared at him in horror; but my priest went on; and
+as he cared more for the maid than the mistress now, ran at once
+into the kitchen, without waiting to see Sidonia in the refectory;
+and seizing hold of Wolde, whispered, "That she must give him the
+kiss now--she need not be such a prude, for he had no wife. And
+what beautiful hair! Never in his life had he seen such beautiful
+white hair!" But the old hag still resisted; and in the struggle a
+stool, on which lay a pot, was thrown down.
+
+Sidonia rushed in at the noise; and behold! there was my priest
+holding Wolde by the hand. She nearly fainted at the sight. What
+was he doing with her maid? Then seizing a heavy log of wood, she
+began to lay it on Wolde's shoulders, who screamed and roared,
+while my priest slunk away ashamed, without a word; and as he ran
+down the steps, heard the blows and the screams still resounding
+from the kitchen.
+
+As he passed the door of the abbess's room, again she called him
+in; but as he entered, she exclaimed in terror, "My God, what ails
+your reverence? You look as black and red in the face as if you
+had had a fit, and had grown ten years older in one night!"
+
+"Nothing ails me," he answered; then sighed, and walked up and
+down the room, murmuring, "What is the world to me? Why should I
+care what the world thinks?" Then falls flat on the ground as if
+he were dead, while the good abbess screams and calls for help. In
+runs Anna Apenborg--_item_, several other sisters with their
+maids, and they stretch the priest out upon a bench near the
+stove, where he soon begins to foam at the mouth, and throw up all
+the beer, with the love-philtrum therein, which he had drunk
+(Sidonia's power effected this, no doubt, since she saw how
+matters stood).
+
+Then he heaved a deep sigh, opened his eyes, and asked, "Where am
+I?" Whereupon, finding that his reason and clear understanding had
+been restored to him, he requested the sisterhood to depart (for
+they had all rushed in to hear what was going on) and leave him
+alone with the abbess, as he had matter of grave import to discuss
+with her. Whereupon they all went out, except Anna Apenborg, who
+said that she, too, had matter of grave import to relate. So
+finding she would not stir, the priest took her by the hand, and
+put her out at the door along with the others.
+
+Now when they were both left alone, we can easily imagine the
+subject of their conversation. The poor priest made his
+confession, concealing nothing, only lamenting bitterly how he had
+disgraced his holy calling; but he had felt like one in a dream,
+or under some influence which he could not shake off. In return,
+the abbess told him of the horrible scene witnessed by Anna
+Apenborg the night before; upon which they both agreed that no
+more accursed witch and sorceress was in the world than their poor
+cloister held at that moment. Finally, putting all the
+circumstances together, the reverend David began to perceive what
+designs Sidonia had upon him, particularly when he heard of Anna
+Apenborg's visit to Jacobshagen, and the news which she had
+brought back from thence. So to destroy all hope at once in the
+accursed sorceress, and save himself from further importunity and
+persecution on her part, he resolved to offer his hand the very
+next day to Barbara Bamberg, for, in truth, he had long had an eye
+of Christian love upon the maiden, who was pious and discreet, and
+just suited to be a pastor's wife.
+
+Then they agreed to send for the sheriff, and impart the whole
+matter to him, he being cloister superintendent; but his answer
+was, "Let them go to him, if they wanted to speak to him; for, as
+to him, he would never enter the convent again--his poor body had
+suffered too much there the last time."
+
+Whereupon they went to him; but he could give no counsel, only to
+leave the matter in the hands of God the Lord; for if they
+appealed to the Prince, the sorceress would surely bewitch them
+again, and they would be screaming day and night, or maybe die at
+once, and then what help for them, &c.
+
+Sidonia meanwhile was not idle; for she sent messages throughout
+the whole convent that she lay in her bed sick unto death, and
+they must needs come and pray with her, along with the priest,
+before they assembled in the chapel for service. At this open
+blasphemy and hypocrisy, a great fear and horror fell upon the
+abbess, likewise upon the priest, since the witch had specially
+named him, and desired that he would come _before_ service to
+pray with her. For a long while he hesitated, at last promised to
+visit her _after_ service; but again bethought himself that
+it would be more advisable to visit her before, for he might
+possibly succeed in unveiling all her iniquities, or if not, he
+could pray afterwards in the church, "that if indeed Sidonia were
+really sick, and a child of God, the just and merciful Father
+would raise her up and strengthen her in her weakness; but if she
+were practising deceit, and were no child of God, but an accursed
+limb of Satan, then he would give her up into the hands of God for
+punishment, for had He not said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
+repay, saith the Lord'? (Romans xii. 19.)"
+
+This pleased the abbess, and forthwith the reverend David
+proceeded to the refectory.
+
+Now Sidonia had not expected him so early, and she was up and
+dressed, busily brewing another hellish drink to have ready for
+him by the time he arrived; but when his step sounded in the
+passage, she whipped into bed and covered herself up with the
+clothes, not so entirely, however, but that a long tail of her
+black robe fell outside from under the white sheet--this,
+unluckily for herself, she knew nothing of. The priest, however,
+saw it plainly, and had, moreover, heard the jump she gave into
+bed just as he opened the door; but he made no remark, only
+greeted her as usual, and asked what she wanted with him.
+
+_Illa.--"Ah! she was sick, sick unto death--would he not pray
+for her? for the night before she was too ill to pray, and no
+doubt the Lord was angry with her, by reason of the omission. This
+morning, indeed, she had crept out of bed, just to scold her
+awkward maid for breaking all the pots and pans, as he himself
+saw, but had to go to bed again, and was growing weaker and weaker
+every quarter of an hour. But the good priest must taste her beer;
+let him drink a can of it first to strengthen his heart. It was
+the best beer she had made yet, and her maid had just tapped a
+fresh barrel."
+
+Here the reverend David made answer--"He thanked her for her beer,
+but would drink none. He could not believe, either, that she was
+as ill as she said, and had been lying in bed all the morning."
+
+But she persisted so vehemently in her falsehoods that the very
+boards under her must have felt ashamed, if they had possessed any
+consciousness. Whereupon the priest shuddered in horror and
+disgust, bent down silently, and lifted up the piece of her robe
+which lay outside.
+
+"What did this mean? did she wear her nun's dress in bed? or was
+she not rather making a mock of him, and the whole convent, by her
+pretended sickness?"
+
+Here Sidonia grew red with shame and wrath; but, ere she could
+utter a word, the priest continued with a holy and righteous
+anger--
+
+"Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou art a byword amongst the people.
+Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou hast passed thy youth in wantonness
+and thy old age in sin. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thy hellish arts
+brought thy mother the abbess, and thy father the superintendent,
+nearly to their graves. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for this past night
+thou hast taken a horrible revenge upon the whole princely race,
+and cursed them by the power which the devil gives thee. Woe to
+thee, Sidonia! for by thy hellish drink thou didst seek to destroy
+me, the servant of the living God, to thy horrible maid still more
+horribly attracting me. Woe to thee, Sidonia! accursed witch and
+sorceress, blasphemer of God and man! Behold, thy God liveth, and
+thy Prince liveth, and they will rain fire and brimstone upon thy
+infamous head. Woe to thee! woe to thee! woe to thee! thou false
+serpent--thou accursed above all the generations of vipers--how
+wilt thou escape eternal damnation?"
+
+When the righteous priest of God had ended his fearful
+malediction, he started at himself, for he knew not how the words
+had come into his mouth; then turned from the bed and went out,
+while a peal of laughter followed him from the room. But no evil
+happened to him at that time, as he had fully expected, from
+Sidonia (probably she feared to exasperate the convent and the
+Prince against her too much); but she treasured up her vengeance
+to another opportunity, as we shall hear further on.
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sidonia The Sorceress V1, by William Mienhold
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+Title: Sidonia The Sorceress V1
+
+Author: William Mienhold
+
+Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6700]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on January 17, 2003]
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIDONIA THE SORCERESS V1 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steve Schulze, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+This file was produced from images generously made available
+by the CWRU Preservation Department Digital Library
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+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED DESTROYER OF THE WHOLE REIGNING DUCAL HOUSE OF
+POMERANIA
+
+TRANSLATED BY LADY WILDE
+
+MARY SCHWEIDLER
+
+
+THE AMBER WITCH
+
+BY
+
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I.
+
+1894
+
+
+
+DEDICATION OF THE GERMAN EDITION.
+
+TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
+
+_LADY LUCY DUFF GORDON,_
+
+THE
+
+YOUNG AND GIFTED TRANSLATOR
+
+OF
+
+_"THE AMBER WITCH,"_
+
+THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Amongst all the trials for witchcraft with which we are
+acquainted, few have attained so great a celebrity as that of the
+Lady Canoness of Pomerania, Sidonia von Bork. She was accused of
+having by her sorceries caused sterility in many families,
+particularly in that of the ancient reigning house of Pomerania,
+and also of having destroyed the noblest scions of that house by
+an early and premature death. Notwithstanding the intercessions
+and entreaties of the Prince of Brandenburg and Saxony, and of the
+resident Pomeranian nobility, she was publicly executed for these
+crimes on the 19th of August 1620, on the public scaffold, at
+Stettin; the only favour granted being, that she was allowed to be
+beheaded first and then burned.
+
+This terrible example caused such a panic of horror, that
+contemporary authors scarcely dare to mention her name, and, even
+then, merely by giving the initials. This forbearance arose partly
+from respect towards the ancient family of the Von Borks, who
+then, as now, were amongst the most illustrious and wealthy in the
+land, and also from the fear of offending the reigning ducal
+family, as the Sorceress, in her youth, had stood in a very near
+and tender relation to the young Duke Ernest Louis von
+Pommern-Wolgast.
+
+These reasons will be sufficiently comprehensible to all who are
+familiar with the disgust and aversion in which the paramours of
+the evil one were held in that age, so that even upon the rack
+these subjects were scarcely touched upon.
+
+The first public, judicial, yet disconnected account of Sidonia's
+trial, we find in the Pomeranian Library of Daehnert, fourth
+volume, article 7, July number of the year 1755.
+
+Daehnert here acknowledges, page 241, that the numbers from 302 to
+1080, containing the depositions of the witnesses, were not
+forthcoming up to his time, but that a priest in Pansin, near
+Stargard, by name Justus Sagebaum, pretended to have them in his
+hands, and accordingly, in the fifth volume of the above-named
+journal (article 4, of April 1756), some very important extracts
+appear from them.
+
+The records, however, again disappeared for nearly a century,
+until Barthold announced, some short time since, [Footnote:
+"History of Rugen and Pomerania," vol. iv. p. 486.] that he had at
+length discovered them in the Berlin Library; but he does not say
+which, for, according to Schwalenberg, who quotes Daehnert, there
+existed two or three different copies, namely, the _Protocollum
+Jodoci Neumarks,_ the so-called _Acta Lothmanni,_ and that
+of _Adami Moesters,_ contradicting each other in the most
+important matters. Whether I have drawn the history of my Sidonia
+from one or other of the above-named sources, or from some
+entirely new, or, finally, from that alone which is longest known,
+I shall leave undecided.
+
+Every one who has heard of the animadversions which "The Amber
+Witch" excited, many asserting that it was only dressed-up
+history, though I repeatedly assured them it was simple fiction,
+will pardon me if I do not here distinctly declare whether Sidonia
+be history or fiction.
+
+The truth of the material, as well as of the formal contents, can
+be tested by any one by referring to the authorities I have named;
+and in connection with these, I must just remark, that in order to
+spare the reader any difficulties which might present themselves
+to eye and ear, in consequence of the old-fashioned mode of
+writing, I have modernised the orthography, and amended the
+grammar and structure of the phrases. And lastly, I trust that all
+just thinkers of every party will pardon me for having here and
+there introduced my supernatural views of Christianity. A man's
+principles, as put forward in his philosophical writings, are in
+general only read by his own party, and not by that of his
+adversaries. A Rationalist will fly from a book by a
+Supernaturalist as rapidly as this latter from one by a Friend of
+Light. But by introducing my views in the manner I have adopted,
+in place of publishing them in a distinct volume, I trust that all
+parties will be induced to peruse them, and that many will find,
+not only what is worthy their particular attention, but matter for
+deep and serious reflection.
+
+I must now give an account of those portraits of Sidonia which are
+extant.
+
+As far as I know, three of these (besides innumerable sketches)
+exist, one in Stettin, the other in the lower Pomeranian town
+Plathe, and a third at Stargard, near Regenwalde, in the castle of
+the Count von Bork. I am acquainted only with the last-named
+picture, and agree with many in thinking that it is the only
+original.
+
+Sidonia is here represented in the prime of mature beauty--a gold
+net is drawn over her almost golden yellow hair, and her neck,
+arms, and hands are profusely covered with jewels. Her bodice of
+bright purple is trimmed with costly fur, and the robe is of azure
+velvet. In her hand she carries a sort of pompadour of brown
+leather, of the most elegant form and finish. Her eyes and mouth
+are not pleasing, notwithstanding their great beauty--in the
+mouth, particularly, one can discover an expression of cold
+malignity.
+
+The painting is beautifully executed, and is evidently of the
+school of Louis Kranach.
+
+Immediately behind this form there is another looking over the
+shoulder of Sidonia, like a terrible spectre (a highly poetical
+idea), for this spectre is Sidonia herself painted as a Sorceress.
+It must have been added, after a lapse of many years, to the
+youthful portrait, which belongs, as I have said, to the school of
+Kranach, whereas the second figure portrays unmistakably the
+school of Rubens. It is a fearfully characteristic painting, and
+no imagination could conceive a contrast more shudderingly awful.
+The Sorceress is arrayed in her death garments--white with black
+stripes; and round her thin white locks is bound a narrow band of
+black velvet spotted with gold. In her hand is a kind of a
+work-basket, but of the simplest workmanship and form.
+
+Of the other portraits I cannot speak from my own personal
+inspection; but to judge by the drawings taken from them to which
+I have had access, they appear to differ completely, not only in
+costume, but in the character of the countenance, from the one I
+have described, which there is no doubt must be the original, not
+only because it bears all the characteristics of that school of
+painting which approached nearest to the age in which Sidonia
+lived--namely, from 1540 to 1620--but also by the fact that a
+sheet of paper bearing an inscription was found behind the
+painting, betraying evident marks of age in its blackened colour,
+the form of the letters, and the expressions employed. The
+inscription is as follows:--
+
+"This Sidonia von Bork was in her youth the most beautiful and the
+richest of the maidens of Pomerania. She inherited many estates
+from her parents, and thus was in her own right a possessor almost
+of a county. So her pride increased, and many noble gentlemen who
+sought her in marriage were rejected with disdain, as she
+considered that a count or prince alone could be worthy of her
+hand. For these reasons she attended the Duke's court frequently,
+in the hopes of winning over one of the seven young princes to her
+love. At length she was successful; Duke Ernest Louis von Wolgast,
+aged about twenty, and the handsomest youth in Pomerania, became
+her lover, and even promised her his hand in marriage. This
+promise he would faithfully have kept if the Stettin princes, who
+were displeased at the prospect of this unequal alliance, had not
+induced him to abandon Sidonia, by means of the portrait of the
+Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, the most beautiful princess in all
+Germany. Sidonia thereupon fell into such despair, that she
+resolved to renounce marriage for ever, and bury the remainder of
+her life in the convent of Marienfliess, and thus she did. But the
+wrong done to her by the Stettin princes lay heavy upon her heart,
+and the desire for revenge increased with years; besides, in place
+of reading the Bible, her private hours were passed studying the
+_Amadis_, wherein she found many examples of how forsaken
+maidens have avenged themselves upon their false lovers by means
+of magic. So she at last yielded to the temptations of Satan, and
+after some years learned the secrets of witchcraft from an old
+woman. By means of this unholy knowledge, along with several other
+evil deeds, she so bewitched the whole princely race that the six
+young princes, who were each wedded to a young wife, remained
+childless; but no public notice was taken until Duke Francis
+succeeded to the duchy in 1618. He was a ruthless enemy to
+witches; all in the land were sought out with great diligence and
+burned, and as they unanimously named the Abbess of Marienfliess
+[Footnote: Sidonia never attained this dignity, though Micraelius
+and others gave her the title.] upon the rack, she was brought to
+Stettin by command of the Duke, where she freely confessed all the
+evil wrought by her sorceries upon the princely race.
+
+"The Duke promised her life and pardon if she would free the other
+princes from the ban; but her answer was that she had enclosed the
+spell in a padlock, and flung it into the sea, and having asked
+the devil if he could restore the padlock again to her, he
+replied, 'No; that was forbidden to him;' by which every one can
+perceive that the destiny of God was in the matter.
+
+"And so it was that, notwithstanding the intercession of all the
+neighbouring courts, Sidonia was brought to the scaffold at
+Stettin, there beheaded, and afterwards burned.
+
+"Before her death the Prince ordered her portrait to be painted,
+in her old age and prison garb, behind that which represented her
+in the prime of youth. After his death, Bogislaff XIV., the last
+Duke, gave this picture to my grandmother, whose husband had also
+been killed by the Sorceress. My father received it from her, and
+I from him, along with the story which is here written down.
+
+"HENRY GUSTAVUS SCHWALENBERG."
+
+[Footnote: The style of this "Inscription" proves it to have been
+written in the beginning of the preceding century, but it is first
+noticed by Daehnert. I have had his version compared with the
+original in Stargord--through the kindness of a friend, who
+assures me that the transcription is perfectly correct, and yet
+can he be mistaken? for Horst (Magic Library, vol. ii. p. 246),
+gives the conclusion thus: "From whom my father received it, and I
+from him, along with the story precisely as given here by H. G.
+Schwalenberg." By this reading, which must have escaped my friend,
+a different sense is given to the passage; by the last reading it
+would appear that the "I" was a Bork, who had taken the tale from
+Schwalenberg's history of the Pomeranian Dukes, a work which
+exists only in manuscript, and to which I have had no access; but
+if we admit the first reading, then the writer must be a
+Schwalenberg. Even the "grandmother" will not clear up the matter,
+for Sidonia, when put to the torture, confessed, at the seventh
+question, that she had caused the death of Doctor Schwalenberg (he
+was counsellor in Stettin then), and at the eleventh question,
+that her brother's son, Otto Bork, had died also by her means. Who
+then is this "I"? Even Sidonia's picture, we see, utters
+mysteries.
+
+In my opinion the writer was Schwalenberg, and Horst seems to have
+taken his version from Paulis's "General History of Pomerania,"
+vol. iv. p. 396, and not from the original of Daehnert.
+
+For the picture at that early period was not in the possession of
+a Bork, but belonged to the Count von Mellin in Schillersdorf, as
+passages from many authors can testify. This is confirmed by
+another paper found along with that containing the tradition, but
+of much more modern appearance, which states that the picture was
+removed by successive inheritors, first from Schillersdorf to
+Stargord, from thence to Heinrichsberg (there are three towns in
+Pomerania of this name), and finally from Heinrichsberg, in the
+year 1834, was a second time removed to Stargord by the last
+inheritor.
+
+This Schillersdorf lies between Gartz and Stettin on the Oder.
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD.]
+
+
+LETTER OF DR. THEODORE PLOeNNIES
+
+TO BOGISLAFF THE FOURTEENTH, THE LAST DUKE OF POMERANIA.
+
+MOST EMINENT PRINCE AND GRACIOUS LORD,--Serene Prince, your
+Highness gave me a commission in past years to travel through all
+Pomerania, and if I met with any persons who could give me certain
+"information" respecting the notorious and accursed witch Sidonia
+von Bork, to set down carefully all they stated, and bring it
+afterwards into _connexum_ for your Highness. It is well
+known that Duke Francis, of blessed memory, never would permit the
+accursed deeds of this woman to be made public, or her confession
+upon the rack, fearing to bring scandal upon the princely house.
+But your Serene Highness viewed the subject differently, and said
+that it was good for every one, but especially princes, to look
+into the clear mirror of history, and behold there the faults and
+follies of their race. For this reason may no truth be omitted
+here.
+
+To such princely commands I have proved myself obedient,
+collecting all information, whether good or evil, and concealing
+nothing. But the greater number who related these things to me
+could scarcely speak for tears, for wherever I travelled
+throughout Pomerania, as the faithful servant of your Highness,
+nothing was heard but lamentations from old and young, rich and
+poor, that this execrable Sorceress, out of Satanic wickedness,
+had destroyed this illustrious race, who had held their lands from
+no emperor, in feudal tenure, like other German princes, but in
+their own right, as absolute lords, since five hundred years, and
+though for twenty years it seemed to rest upon five goodly
+princes, yet by permission of the incomprehensible God, it has now
+melted away until your Highness stands the last of his race, and
+no prospect is before us that it will ever be restored, but with
+your Highness (God have mercy upon us!) will be utterly
+extinguished, and for ever. "Woe to us, how have we sinned!"
+(Lament, v. 16). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff
+XIV.-"In tuas manus commendo spiritum meum, quia tu me redemisti
+fide deus,"]
+
+I pray therefore the all-merciful God, that He will remove me
+before your Highness from this vale of tears, that I may not
+behold the last hour of your Highness or of my poor fatherland.
+Rather than witness these things, I would a thousand times sooner
+lie quiet in my grave.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS.
+
+BOOK I.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UNTIL HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM._
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the education of Sidonia.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that befell
+there.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law, Vidante
+von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor Gerschovius
+comforts him out of God's Word.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how Clara
+von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How Sidonia wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how she
+whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness was
+celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back to
+Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia resolved
+on there.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and how
+in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+_FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UP TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians, and
+how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and locks
+him up in the Red Sea.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Of Otto Bork's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to wed
+her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of Stettin
+received her.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at Wollin,
+and what happened there.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann Appelmann.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure at Alten Damm--Item, of
+their reception by the robber-band.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night--Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the castle.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann by
+the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the great
+mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on her
+coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon, and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the young
+Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and of the
+sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of Pomerania.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of Marienfliess--Item,
+how their Princely and Electoral Graces of Pomerania, Brandenburg,
+and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to Wolgast, and of the divers
+pastimes of the journey.
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably.
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how Sidonia
+meets him as she is gathering bilberries--Item, of the unnatural
+witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir refuses,
+in consequence, to succeed him.
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired praebenda--Item, of her
+arrival at the convent of Marienfliess.
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS
+UP TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19TH, 1620._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and extols
+her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairy-woman, and
+how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails through a
+mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she bewitched the
+whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the grievous sorrow
+of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto this day.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I.
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UNTIL
+HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM.
+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the education of Sidonia._
+
+
+The illustrious and high-born prince and lord, Bogislaff,
+fourteenth Duke of Pomerania, Prince of Cassuben, Wenden, and
+Rugen, Count of Guezkow, Lord of the lands of Lauenburg and Butow,
+and my gracious feudal seigneur, having commanded me, Dr. Theodore
+Ploennies, formerly bailiff at the ducal court, to make search
+throughout all the land for information respecting the world-famed
+sorceress, Sidonia von Bork, and write down the same in a book, I
+set out for Stargard, accompanied by a servant, early one Friday
+after the _Visitationis Mariae_, 1629; for, in my opinion, in
+order to form a just judgment respecting the character of any one,
+it is necessary to make one's self acquainted with the
+circumstances of their early life; the future man lies enshrined
+in the child, and the peculiar development of each individual
+nature is the result entirely of education. Sidonia's history is a
+remarkable proof of this. I visited first, therefore, the scenes
+of her early years; but almost all who had known her were long
+since in their graves, seeing that ninety years had passed since
+the time of her birth. However, the old inn-keeper at Stargard,
+Zabel Wiese, himself very far advanced in years (whom I can
+recommend to all travellers--he lives in the Pelzerstrasse), told
+me that the old bachelor, Claude Uckermann of Dalow, an aged man
+of ninety-two years old, was the only person who could give me the
+information I desired, as in his youth he had been one of the many
+followers of Sidonia. His memory was certainly well nigh gone from
+age, still all that had happened in the early period of his life
+lay as fresh as the Lord's Prayer upon his tongue. Mine host also
+related some important circumstances to me myself, which shall
+appear in their proper place.
+
+I accordingly proceeded to Dalow, a little town half a mile from
+Stargard, and visited Claude Uckermann. I found him seated by the
+chimney corner, his hair as white as snow. "What did I want? He
+was too old to receive strangers; I must go on to his son Wedig's
+house, and leave him in quiet," &c. &c. But when I said that I
+brought him a greeting from his Highness, his manner changed, and
+he pushed the seat over for me beside the fire, and began to chat
+first about the fine pine-trees, from which he cut his
+firewood--they were so full of resin; and how his son, a year
+before, had found an iron pot in the turf moor under a tree, full
+of bracelets and earrings, which his little grand-daughter now
+wore.
+
+When he had tired himself out, I communicated what his Highness
+had so nobly commanded to be done, and prayed him to relate all he
+knew and could remember of this detestable sorceress, Sidonia von
+Bork. He sighed deeply, and then went on talking for about two
+hours, giving me all his recollections just as they started to his
+memory. I have arranged what he then related, in proper order. It
+was to the following effect:--
+
+Whenever his father, Philip Uckermann, attended the fair at
+Stramehl, a town belonging to the Bork family, he was in the habit
+of visiting Otto von Bork at his castle, who, being very rich,
+gave free quarters to all the young noblemen of the vicinity, so
+that from thirty to forty of them were generally assembled at his
+castle while the fair lasted; but after some time his father
+discontinued these visits, his conscience not permitting him
+further intercourse. The reason was this. Otto von Bork, during
+his residence in Poland, had joined the sect of the enthusiasts,
+[Footnote: Probably the sect afterwards named Socinians; for we
+find that Laelius Socinus taught in Poland, even before
+Melancthon's death (1560).] and had lost his faith there, as a
+young maiden might her honour. He made no secret of his new
+opinions, but openly at Martinmas fair, 1560, told the young
+nobles at dinner that Christ was but a man like other people, and
+ignorance alone had elevated Him to a God; which notion had been
+encouraged by the greed and avarice of the clergy. They should
+therefore not credit what the hypocritical priests chattered to
+them every Sunday, but believe only what reason and their five
+senses told them was truth, and that, in fine, if he had his will,
+he would send every priest to the devil.
+
+All the young nobles remained silent but Claude Zastrow, a feudal
+retainer of the Borks, who rose up (it was an evil moment to him)
+and made answer: "Most powerful feudal lord, were the holy
+apostles then filled with greed and covetousness, who were the
+first to proclaim that Christ was God, and who left all for His
+sake? Or the early Christians who, with one accord, sold their
+possessions, and gave the price to the poor?" Claude had before
+this displeased the knight, who now grew red with anger at the
+insolence of his vassal in thus answering him, and replied: "If
+they were not preachers for gain, they were at least stupid
+fellows." Hereupon a great murmur arose in the hall, but the
+aforesaid Zastrow is not silenced, and answered: "It is
+surprising, then, that the twelve stupid apostles performed more
+than twelve times twelve Greek or Roman philosophers. The knight
+might rage until he was black in the face, and strike the table.
+But he had better hold his tongue and use his understanding;
+though, after all, the intellect of a man who believed nothing but
+what he received through his five senses was not worth much; for
+the brute beasts were his equals, inasmuch as they received no
+evidence either but from the senses."
+
+Then Otto sprang up raging, and asked him what he meant; to which
+the other answered: "Nothing more than to express his opinion that
+man differed from the brute, not through his understanding, but by
+his faith, for that animals had evidently understanding, but no
+trace of faith had ever yet been discovered in them." [Footnote:
+This axiom is certainly opposed to modern ontology, which denies
+all ideas to the brute creation, and explains each proof of their
+intellectual activity by the unintelligible word "instinct." The
+ancients held very different opinions, particularly the new
+Platonists, one of whom (Porphyry, liber ii. _De
+abstinentia_) treats largely of the intellect and language of
+animals. Since Cartesius, however, who denied not only
+understanding, but even feeling, to animals, and represented them
+as mere animated machines (_De passionib. Pars i. Artic. iv. et
+de Methodo,_ No. 5, page 29, &c.), these views upon the
+psychology of animals produced the most mischievous results; for
+they were carried out until if not feeling, at least intellect,
+was denied to all animals more or less; and modern philosophy at
+length arrived at denying intelligence even to God, in whom and by
+whom, as formerly, man no longer attains to consciousness, but it
+is by man and through man that God arrives to a conscious
+intelligent existence. Some philosophers of our time, indeed, are
+condescending enough to ascribe _Understanding_ to animals
+and _Reason_ to man as the generic difference between the
+two. But I cannot comprehend these new-fashioned distinctions; for
+it seems to me absurd to split into the two portions of reason and
+understanding one and the same spiritual power, according as the
+object on which it acts is higher or lower; just as if we adopted
+two names for the same hand that digs up the earth and directs the
+telescope to heaven, or maintained that the latter was quite a
+different hand from the former. No. There is but one understanding
+for man and beasts, as but one common substance for their material
+forms. The more perfect the form, so much the more perfect is the
+intellect; and human and animal intellects are only dynamically
+different in human and animal bodies.
+
+And even if, among animals of the more perfect form, understanding
+has been discovered, yet in man alone has been found the innate
+feeling of connection with the supernatural, or _Faith_. If
+this, as the generic sign of difference, be called _Reason_,
+I have nothing to object, except that the word generally conveys a
+different meaning. But _Faith_ is, in fact, the pure Reason,
+and is found in all men, existing alike in the lowest
+superstitions as well as in the highest natures.]
+
+Otto's rage now knew no bounds, and he drew his dagger, roaring,
+"What! thou insolent knave, dost thou dare to compare thy feudal
+lord to a brute?" And before the other had time to draw his
+poignard to defend himself, or the guests could in any way
+interfere to prevent him, Otto stabbed him to the heart as he sat
+there by the table. (It was a blessed death, I think, to die for
+his Lord Christ.) And so he fell down upon the floor with
+contorted features, and hands and feet quivering with agony. Every
+one was struck dumb with horror at such a death; but the knight
+laughed loudly, and cried, "Ha! thou base-born serf, I shall teach
+thee how to liken thy feudal lord to a brute," and striding over
+his quivering limbs, he spat upon his face.
+
+Then the murmuring and whispering increased in the hall, and those
+nearest the door rushed out and sprang upon their horses; and
+finally all the guests, even old Uckermann, fled away, no one
+venturing to take up the quarrel with Otto Bork. After that, he
+fell into disrepute with the old nobility, for which he cared
+little, seeing that his riches and magnificence always secured him
+companions enough, who were willing to listen to his wisdom, and
+were consoled by his wine.
+
+And when I, Dr. Theodore Ploennies, inquired from the old bachelor
+if his Serene Highness had not punished the noble for his shameful
+crime, he replied that his wealth and powerful influence protected
+him. At least it was whispered that justice had been blinded with
+gold; and the matter was probably related to the prince in quite a
+different manner from the truth; for I have heard that a few years
+after, his Highness even visited this godless knight at his castle
+in Stramehl.
+
+As to Otto, no one observed any sign of repentance in him. On the
+contrary, he seemed to glory in his crime, and the neighbouring
+nobles related that he frequently brought in his little daughter
+Sidonia, whom he adored for her beauty, to the assembled guests,
+magnificently attired; and when she was bowing to the company, he
+would say, "Who art thou, my little daughter?" Then she would
+cease the salutations which she had learned from her mother, and
+drawing herself up, proudly exclaim, "I am a noble maiden, dowered
+with towns and castles!" Then he would ask, if the conversation
+turned upon his enemies--and half the nobles were so--"Sidonia,
+how does thy father treat his enemies?" Upon which the child would
+straighten her finger, and running at her father, strike it into
+his heart, saying, "_Thus_ he treats them." At which Otto
+would laugh loudly, and tell her to show him how the knave looked
+when he was dying. Then Sidonia would fall down, twist her face,
+and writhe her little hands and feet in horrible contortions. Upon
+which Otto would lift her up, and kiss her upon the mouth. But it
+will be seen how the just God punished him for all this, and how
+the words of the Scriptures were fulfilled: "Err not, God is not
+mocked; for what a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
+
+The parson of Stramehl, David Dilavius, related also to old
+Uckermann another fact, which, though it hardly seems credible,
+the bachelor reported thus to me:--
+
+This Dilavius was a learned man whom Otto had selected as
+instructor to his young daughter; "but only teach her," he said,
+"to read and write, and the first article of the Ten Commandments.
+The other Christian doctrines I can teach her myself; besides, I
+do not wish the child to learn so many dogmas."
+
+Dilavius, who was a worthy, matter-of-fact, good, simple
+character, did as he was ordered, and gave himself no further
+trouble until he came to ask the child to recite the first article
+of the creed out of the catechism for him. There was nothing wrong
+in that; but when he came to the second article, he crossed
+himself, not because it concerned the Lord Christ, but her own
+father, Otto von Bork, and ran somewhat thus:--
+
+"And I believe in my earthly father, Otto von Bork, a
+distinguished son of God, born of Anna von Kleist, who sitteth in
+his castle at Stramehl, from whence he will come to help his
+children and friends, but to slay his enemies and tread them in
+the dust."
+
+The third article was much in the same style, but he had partly
+forgotten it, neither could he remember if Dilavius had called the
+father to any account for his profanity, or taught the daughter
+some better Christian doctrine. In fine, this was all the old
+bachelor could tell me of Sidonia's education. Yes--he remembered
+one anecdote more. Her father had asked her one day, when she was
+about ten or twelve years old, "What kind of a husband she would
+like?" and she replied, "One of equal birth." _Ille:_
+[Footnote: In dialogue the author makes use of the Latin pronouns,
+_Ille_, he; _Illa_, she, to denote the different
+characters taking part in it; and sometimes _Hic_ and
+_Haec_, for the same purposes. _Summa_ he employs in the
+sense of "to sum up," or "in short."] "Who is her equal in the
+whole of Pomerania?" _Illa:_ "Only the Duke of Pomerania, or
+the Count von Ebersburg." _Ille:_ "Right! therefore she must
+never marry any other but one of these."
+
+It happened soon after, old Philip Uckermann, his father, riding
+one day through the fields near Stramehl, saw a country girl
+seated by the roadside, weeping bitterly. "Why do you weep?" he
+asked. "Has any one injured you?" "Sidonia has injured me," she
+replied. "What could she have done? Come dry your tears, and tell
+me." Whereupon the little girl related that Sidonia, who was then
+about fourteen, had besought her to tell her what marriage was,
+because her father was always talking to her about it. The girl
+had told her to the best of her ability; but the young lady beat
+her, and said it was not so, that long Dorothy had told her quite
+differently about marriage, and there she went on tormenting her
+for several days; but upon this evening Sidonia, with long
+Dorothy, and some of the milkmaids of the neighbourhood, had taken
+away one of the fine geese which the peasants had given her in
+payment of her labour. They picked it alive, all except the head
+and neck, then built up a large fire in a circle, and put the
+goose and a vessel of water in the centre. So the fat dripped down
+from the poor creature alive, and was fried in a pan as it fell,
+just as the girls eat it on their bread for supper. And the goose,
+having no means of escape, still went on drinking the water as the
+fat dripped down, whilst they kept cooling its head and heart with
+a sponge dipped in cold water, fastened to a stick, until at last
+the goose fell down when quite roasted, though it still screamed,
+and then Sidonia and her companions cut it up for their amusement,
+living as it was, and ate it for their supper, in proof of which,
+the girl showed him the bones and the remains of the fire, and the
+drops of fat still lying on the grass.
+
+Then she wept afresh, for Sidonia had promised to take away a
+goose every day, and destroy it as she had done the first. So my
+father consoled her by giving her a piece of gold, and said, "If
+she does so again, run by night and cloud, and come to Dalow by
+Stargard, where I will make thee keeper of my geese." But she
+never came to him, and he never heard more of the maiden and her
+geese.
+
+So far old Uckermann related to me the first evening, promising to
+tell me of many more strange doings upon the following morning,
+which he would try to think over during the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that
+befell there._
+
+
+The following morning, by seven o'clock, the old man summoned me
+to him, and on entering I found him seated at breakfast by the
+fire. He invited me to join him, and pushed a seat over for me
+with his crutch, for walking was now difficult to him. He was very
+friendly, and the eyes of the old man burned as clear as those of
+a white dove. He had slept little during the night, for Sidonia's
+form kept floating before his eyes, just as she had looked in the
+days when he paid court to her. Alas! he had once loved her
+deeply, like all the other young nobles who approached her, from
+the time she was of an age to marry. In her youth she had been
+beautiful; and old and young declared that for figure, eyes,
+bosom, walk, and enchanting smile, there never had been seen her
+equal in all Pomerania.
+
+"Nothing shall be concealed from you," he said, "of all that
+concerns my foolish infatuation, that you and your children may
+learn how the all-wise God deals best with His servants when He
+uses the rod and denies that for which they clamour as silly
+children for a glittering knife." Here he folded his withered
+hands, murmured a short prayer, and proceeded with his story.
+
+"You must know that I was once a proud and stately youth, upon
+whom a maiden's glance in no wise rested indifferently, trained in
+all knightly exercise, and only two years older than Sidonia. It
+happened in the September of 1566, that I was invited by Caspar
+Roden to see his eel-nets, as my father intended laying down some
+also at Krampehl [Footnote: A little river near Dalow] and along
+the coast. When we returned home weary enough in the evening, a
+letter arrived from Otto von Bork, inviting him the following day
+to a bear-hunt; as he intended, in honour of the nuptials of his
+eldest daughter Clara, to lay bears' heads and bears' paws before
+his guests, which even in Pomerania would have been a rarity, and
+desiring him to bring as many good huntsmen with him as he
+pleased. So I accompanied Caspar Roden, who told me on the way
+that Count Otto had at first looked very high for his daughter
+Clara, and scorned many a good suitor, but that she was now
+getting rather old, and ready, like a ripe burr, to hang on the
+first that came by. Her bridegroom was Vidante von Meseritz, a
+feudal vassal of her father's, upon whom, ten years before, she
+would not have looked at from a window. Not that she was as proud
+as her young sister Sidonia. However, their mother was to blame
+for much of this; but she was dead now, poor lady, let her rest in
+peace.
+
+So in good time we reached the castle of Stramehl, where thirty
+huntsmen were already assembled, all noblemen, and we joined them
+in the grand state hall, where the morning meal was laid out.
+Count Otto sat at the head of the table, like a prince of
+Pomerania, upon a throne whereon his family arms were both carved
+and embroidered. He wore a doublet of elk-skin, and a cap with a
+heron's plume upon his head. He did not rise as we entered, but
+called to us to be seated and join the feast, as the party must
+move off soon. Costly wines were sent round; and I observed that
+on each of the glasses the family arms were cut. They were also
+painted upon the window of the great hall, and along the walls,
+under the horns of all the different wild animals killed by Otto
+in the chase--bucks, deers, harts, roes, stags, and elks--which
+were arranged in fantastical groups.
+
+After a little while his two daughters, Clara and Sidonia,
+entered. They wore green hunting-dresses, trimmed with
+beaver-skin, and each had a gold net thrown over her hair. They
+bowed, and bid the knights welcome. But we all remained breathless
+gazing upon Sidonia, as she lifted her beautiful eyes first on
+one, and then on another, inviting us to eat and drink; and she
+even filled a small wine-glass herself, and prayed us to pledge
+her. As for me, unfortunate youth, from the moment I beheld her I
+breathed no more through my lungs, but through my eyes alone, and,
+springing up, gave her health publicly. A storm of loud, animated,
+passionate voices soon responded to my words with loud vivas. The
+guests then rose, for the ladies were impatient for the hunt, and
+found the time hang heavily.
+
+So we set off with all our implements and our dogs, and a hundred
+beaters went before us. It happened that my host, Caspar Roden,
+and I found an excellent sheltered position for a shot near a
+quarry, and we had not long been there (the beaters had not even
+yet begun their work) when I spied a large bear coming down to
+drink at a small stream not twenty paces from me. I fired; but she
+retired quickly behind an oak, and, growling fiercely, disappeared
+amongst the bushes. Not long after, I heard the cries of women
+almost close to us; and running as fast as possible in the
+direction from whence they came, I perceived an old bear trying to
+climb up to the platform where Clara and Sidonia stood. There was
+a ruined chapel here--which, in the time of papacy, had contained
+a holy image--and a scaffolding had been erected round it, adorned
+with wreaths of evergreen and flowers, from which the ladies could
+obtain an excellent view of the hunt, as it commanded a prospect
+of almost the entire wood, and even part of the sea. Attached to
+this scaffolding was a ladder, up which Bruin was anxiously trying
+to ascend, in order to visit the young ladies, who were now
+assailed by two dangers--the bear from below, and a swarm of bees
+above, for myriads of these insects were tormenting them, trying
+to settle upon their golden hair-nets; and the young ladies,
+screaming as if the last day had come, were vainly trying to beat
+them off with their girdles, or trample them under their feet. A
+huntsman who stood near fired, indeed, at Bruin, but without
+effect, and the bees assailing his hands and face at the same
+time, he took to flight and hid himself, groaning, in the quarry.
+
+In the meantime I had reached the chapel, and Sidonia stretched
+forth her beautiful little hands, crying, along with her sister,
+"Help! help! He will eat us. Will you not kill him?" But the bear,
+as if already aware of my intention, began now to descend the
+ladder. However, I stepped before him, and as he descended, I
+ascended. Luckily for me, the interval between each step was very
+small, to accommodate the ladies' little feet, so that when Bruin
+tried to thrust his snout between them to get at me, he found it
+rather difficult work to make it pass. I had my dagger ready; and
+though the bees which he brought with him in his fur flew on my
+hands, I heeded them not, but watching my opportunity, plunged it
+deep into his side, so that he tumbled right down off the ladder;
+and though he raised himself up once and growled horribly, yet in
+a few seconds he lay dead before our eyes. How the ladies now
+tripped down the ladder, not two or three, but four or five steps
+at a time! and what thanks poured forth from their lips! I rushed
+first to Sidonia, who laid her little head upon my breast, while I
+endeavoured to remove the bees which had got entangled in her
+hair-net. The other lady went to call the huntsman, who was hiding
+in the quarry, and we were left alone. Heavens! how my heart
+burned, more than my inflamed hands all stung by the bees, as she
+asked, how could she repay my service. I prayed her for one kiss,
+which she granted. She had escaped with but one sting from the
+bees, who could not manage to get through her long, thick,
+beautiful hair, and she advanced joyfully to meet her father and
+the hunting-train, who had heard the cries of the ladies. When
+Count Otto heard what had happened, and saw the dead bear, he
+thanked me heartily, praying me to attend his daughter Clara's
+wedding, which was to be celebrated next week at the castle, and
+to remain as his guest until then. There was nothing in the world
+I could have desired beyond this, and I gratefully accepted his
+offer. Alas! I suffered for it after, as the cat from poisoned
+dainties.
+
+But to return to our hunt. No other bear was killed that day, but
+plenty of other game, as harts, stags, roes, boars--more than
+enough. And now we discovered what an old hunter had conjectured,
+that the dead bear was the father, who had been alarmed by the
+growls of his partner, at whom I had fired whilst he was
+endeavouring to carry off the honey from a nest of wild bees in a
+neighbouring tree. For looking around us, we saw, at the distance
+of about twenty paces, a tall oak-tree, about which clouds of bees
+were still flying, in which he had been following his occupation.
+No one dared to approach it, to bring away the honeycombs which
+still lay beneath, by reason of the bees, and, moreover, swarms of
+ants, by which they were covered. At length Otto Bork ordered the
+huntsman to sound the return; and after supper I obtained another
+little kiss from Sidonia, which burned so like fire through my
+veins that I could not sleep the whole night. I resolved to ask
+her hand in marriage from her father.
+
+Stupid youth as I was, I then believed that she looked upon me
+with equal love; and although I knew all about the mode in which
+she had been brought up, and many other things beside, which have
+now slipped from my memory, yet I looked on them but as idle
+stories, and was fully persuaded that Sidonia was sister to the
+angels in beauty, goodness, and perfection. In a few days,
+however, I had reason to change my opinion.
+
+Next day the two young ladies were in the kitchen, overseeing the
+cooking of the bear's head, and, as I passed by and looked in,
+they began to titter, which I took for a good omen, and asked,
+might I not be allowed to enter. They said, "Yes, I might come in,
+and help them to cleave the head." So I entered, and they both
+began to give me instructions, with much laughter and merry
+jesting. First, the bear's head had to be burned with hot irons;
+and when I said to Sidonia that thus she burned my heart, she
+nearly died of laughter. Then I cut some flesh off the mouth,
+broke the nose, and handed it all over to the maidens, who set it
+on the fire with water, wine, and vinegar. As I now played the
+part of kitchen-boy, they sent me to the castle garden for thyme,
+sage, and rosemary, which I brought, and begged them for a taste
+of the head; but they said it was not fit to eat yet--must be
+cooled in brine first; so in place of it I asked one little kiss
+from each of the maidens, which Sidonia granted, but her sister
+refused. However, I was not in the least displeased at her
+refusal, seeing it was only the little sister I cared for.
+
+But judge of my rage and jealousy, that same day a cousin arrived
+at the castle, and I observed that Sidonia allowed him to kiss her
+every moment. She never even appeared to offer any resistance, but
+looked over at me languishingly every time to see what I would
+say. What could I say? I became pale with jealousy, but said
+nothing. At last I rushed from the hall, mute with despair, when I
+observed him finally draw her on his knee. I only heard the peal
+of laughter that followed my exit, and I was just near leaving the
+whole wedding-feast, and Stramehl for ever, when Sidonia called
+after me from the castle gates to return. This so melted my heart,
+that the tears came into my eyes, thinking that now indeed I had a
+proof of her love. Then she took my hand, and said, "I ought not
+to be so unkind. That was her manner with all the young nobles.
+Why should she refuse a kiss when she was asked? Her little mouth
+would grow neither larger nor smaller for it." But I stood still
+and wept, and looked on the ground. "Why should I weep?" she
+asked. Her cousin Clas had a bride of his own already, and only
+took a little pastime with her, and so she must cure me now with
+another little kiss.
+
+I was now again a happy man, thinking she loved me; and the
+heavens seemed so propitious, that I determined to ask her hand.
+But I had not sufficient courage as yet, and resolved to wait
+until after her sister's marriage, which was to take place next
+day. What preparations were made for this event it would be
+impossible adequately to describe. All the country round the
+castle seemed like a royal camp. Six hundred horses were led into
+the stables next day to be fed, for the Duke himself arrived with
+a princely retinue. Then came all the feudal vassals to offer
+homage for their fiefs to Lord Otto. But as the description is
+well worth hearing, I shall defer it for another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law,
+Vidante von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast._
+
+
+Next morning the stir began in the castle before break of day, and
+by ten o'clock all the nobles, with their wives and daughters, had
+assembled in the great hall. Then the bride entered, wearing her
+myrtle wreath, and Sidonia followed, glittering with diamonds and
+other costly jewels. She wore a robe of crimson silk with a cape
+of ermine, falling from her shoulders, and looked so beautiful
+that I could have died for love, as she passed and greeted me with
+her graceful laugh. But Otto Bork, the lord of the castle, was
+sore displeased because his Serene Highness the Prince was late
+coming, and the company had been waiting an hour for his presence.
+A platform had been erected at the upper end of the hall covered
+with bearskin; on this was placed a throne, beneath a canopy of
+yellow velvet, and here Otto was seated dressed in a crimson
+doublet, and wearing a hat half red and half black, from which
+depended plumes of red and black feathers that hung down nearly to
+his beard, which was as venerable as a Jew's. Every instant he
+despatched messengers to the tower to see if the prince were at
+hand, and as the time hung heavy, he began to discourse his
+guests. "See how this turner's apprentice [Footnote: So this
+prince was called from his love of turning and carving dolls.]
+must have stopped on the road to carve a puppet. God keep us from
+such dukes!" For the prince passed all his leisure hours in
+turning and carving, particularly while travelling, and when the
+carriage came to bad ground, where the horses had to move slowly,
+he was delighted, and went on merrily with his work; but when the
+horses galloped, he grew ill-tempered and threw down his tools.
+
+At length the warder announced from the tower that the duke's six
+carriages were in sight, and the knight spoke from his throne: "I
+shall remain here, as befits me, but Clara and Sidonia, go ye
+forth and receive his Highness; and when he has entered, the
+kinsman [Footnote: This was the feudal term for the next relation
+of a deceased vassal, upon whom it devolved to do homage for the
+lands to the feudal lord.] in full armour shall ride into the hall
+upon his war-horse, bearing the banner of his house in his hand,
+and all my retainers shall follow on horses, each bearing his
+banner also, and shall range themselves by the great window of the
+hall; and let the windows be open, that the wind may play through
+the banners and make the spectacle yet grander."
+
+Then all rushed out to meet the Duke, and I, too, went, for truly
+the courtyard presented a gorgeous sight--all decorated as it was,
+and the pride and magnificence of Lord Otto were here fully
+displayed; for from the upper storey of the castle floated the
+banner of the Emperor, and just beneath it that of Lord Otto (two
+crowned wolves with golden collars on a field or for the shield),
+and the crest, a crowned red-deer springing. Beneath this banner,
+but much inferior to it in size and execution, waved that of the
+Dukes of Pomerania; and lowest of all, hung the banner of Otto's
+feudal vassals--but they themselves were not visible. Neither did
+the kinsman appear to receive and greet his Highness. Otto knew
+well, it seems, that he could defy the Duke (however, I think if
+my gracious Lord of Wolgast had been there, he would not have
+suffered such insults, but would have taken Otto's banner and
+flung it in the mud). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff,
+"And so would I."] Be this as it may, Duke Barnim never appeared
+to notice anything except Otto's two daughters. He was a little
+man with a long grey beard, and as he stepped slowly out of the
+carriage held a little puppet by the arm, which he had been
+carving to represent Adam. It was intended for a present to the
+convent at Kobatz. His _superintendens generalis_, Fabianus
+Timaeus (a dignified-looking personage), accompanied him in the
+carriage, for his Highness was going on the same day to attend the
+diet at Treptow, and only meant to pay a passing visit here. But
+Lord Otto concealed this fact, as it hurt his pride. The other
+carriages contained the equerries and pages of his Highness, and
+then followed the heavy waggons with the cooks, valets, and
+stewards.
+
+When the Prince entered the state hall, Lord Otto rose from his
+throne and said: "Your Highness is welcome, and I trust will
+pardon me for not having gone forth with my greetings; but those
+of a couple of young damsels were probably more agreeable than the
+compliments of an old knight like myself, who besides, as your
+Grace perceives, is engaged here in the exercise of his duty. And
+now, I pray your Highness to take this seat at my right hand."
+Whereupon he pointed to a plain chair, not in the least raised
+from the ground, and altogether as common a seat as there was to
+be found in the hall; but his Highness sat down quietly (at which
+every one wondered in silence) and took the little puppet in his
+lap, only exclaiming in low German, "What the devil, Otto! you
+make more of yourself, man, than I do;" to which the knight
+replied, "Not more than is necessary."
+
+"And now," continued the old man, "the ceremony of offering homage
+commenced, which is as fresh in my memory as if all had happened
+but yesterday, and so I shall describe it that you may know what
+were the usages of our fathers, for the customs of chivalry are,
+alas! fast passing away from amongst us.
+
+When Otto Bork gave the sign with his hand, six trumpets sounded
+without, whereupon the doors of the hall were thrown wide open as
+far as they could go, and the kinsman Vidante von Meseritz entered
+on a black charger, and dressed in complete armour, but without
+his sword. He carried the banner of his house (a pale gules with
+two foxes running), and riding straight up to Lord Otto, lowered
+it before him. Otto then demanded, "Who art thou, and what is thy
+request?" to which he answered, "Mighty feudal Lord, I am kinsman
+of Dinnies von Meseritz, and pray you for the fief." "And who are
+these on horseback who follow thee?" "They are the feudal vassals
+of my Lord, even as my father was." And Otto said, "Ride up, my
+men, and do as your fathers have done." Then Frederick Ubeske rode
+up, lowered his banner (charged with a sun and peacock's tail)
+before the knight, then passed on up to the great windows of the
+hall, where he took his place and drew his sword, while the wind
+played through the folds of his standard.
+
+Next came Walter von Locksted--lowered his banner (bearing a
+springing unicorn), rode up to the window, and drew his sword.
+After him, Claud Drosedow, waving his black eagle upon a white and
+red shield, rode up to the window and drew his sword; then Jacob
+Pretz, on his white charger, bearing two spears transverse through
+a fallen tree on his flag; and Dieterich Mallin, whose banner fell
+in folds over his hand, so that the device was not visible; and
+Lorenz Prechel, carrying a leopard gules upon a silver shield; and
+Jacob Knut, with a golden becker upon an azure field, and three
+plumes on the crest; and Tesmar von Kettler, whose spurs caught in
+the robe of a young maiden as he passed, and merry laughter
+resounded through the hall, many saying it was a good omen, which,
+indeed, was the truth, for that evening they were betrothed; and
+finally came Johann Zastrow, bearing two buffaloes' horns on his
+banner, and a green five-leaved bush, rode up to the window after
+the others, and drew his sword.
+
+There stood the nine, like the muses at the nuptials of Peleus,
+[Footnote: The nine muses were present at the marriage of Peleus
+and Thetis.--_See Pindar, pyth._. 3, 160] and the wind played
+through their banners. Then Lord Otto spoke--
+
+"True, these are my leal vassals. And now, kinsman of Meseritz,
+dismount and pay homage, as did thy father, ere thou canst ride up
+and join them." So the young man dismounted, threw the reins of
+his horse to a squire, and ascended the platform. Then Otto,
+holding up a sword, spoke again--
+
+"Behold, kinsman, this is the sword of thy father; touch it with
+me, and pronounce the feudal oath." Here all the vassals rode up
+from the window, and held their swords crosswise over the
+kinsman's head, while he spake thus--
+
+"I, Vidante von Meseritz, declare, vow, and swear to the most
+powerful, noble, and brave Otto von Bork, lord of the lands and
+castles of Labes, Pansin, Stramehl, Regenwalde, and others, and my
+most powerful feudal lord, and to his lawful heirs, a right loyal
+fealty, to serve him with all duty and obedience, to warn him of
+all evil, and defend him from all injury, to the best of my
+ability and power."
+
+Then he kissed the knight's hand, who girded his father's sword on
+him, and said--
+
+"Thus I acknowledge thee for my vassal, as my father did thy
+father."
+
+Then turning to his attendants he cried, "Bring hither the camp
+furniture." Hereupon the circle of spectators parted in two, and
+the pages led up, first, Vidante's horse, upon which he sprung;
+then others followed, bearing rich garments and his father's
+signet, and laid them down before him, saying, "Kinsman, the
+garments and the seal of thy father." A third and a fourth bore a
+large couch with a white coverlet, set it down before him, and
+said, "Kinsman, a couch for thee and thy wife." Then came a great
+crowd, bearing plates and dishes, and napkins, and table-covers,
+besides eleven tin cans, a fish-kettle, and a pair of iron
+pot-hooks; in short, a complete camp furniture; all of which they
+set down before the young man, and then disappeared.
+
+During this entire time no one noticed his Highness the Duke,
+though he was indeed the feudal head of all. Even when the
+trumpets sounded again, and the vassals passed out in procession,
+they lowered their standards only before Otto, as if no princely
+personage were present. But I think this proud Lord Otto must have
+commanded them so to do, for such an omission or breach of respect
+was never before seen in Pomerania. Even his Highness seemed, at
+last, to feel displeasure, for he drew forth his knife, and began
+to cut away at the little wooden Adam, without taking further
+notice of the ceremony.
+
+At length when the vassals had departed, and many of the guests
+also, who wished to follow them, had left the hall, the Duke
+looked up with his little glittering eyes, scratched the back of
+his head with the knife, and asked his Chancellor, Jacob Kleist,
+who had evidently been long raging with anger, "Jacob, what dost
+thou think of this _spectaculo?_" who replied, "Gracious
+lord, I esteem it a silly thing for an inferior to play the part
+of a prince, or for a prince to be compelled to play the part of
+an inferior." Such a speech offended Otto mightily, who drew
+himself up and retorted scornfully, "Particularly a poor inferior
+who, as you see, is obliged to draw the plough by turns with his
+serfs." Hereupon the Chancellor would have flung back the scorn,
+but his Highness motioned with the hand that he should keep
+silence, saying, "Remember, good Jacob, that we are here as
+guests; however, order the carriages, for I think it is time that
+we proceed on our journey."
+
+When Otto heard this, he was confounded, and, descending from his
+throne, uttered so many flattering things, that his Highness at
+length was prevailed upon to remain (I would not have consented,
+to save my soul, had I been the Prince--no, not even if I had to
+pass the night with the bears and wolves in the forest before I
+could reach Treptow); so the good old Prince followed him into
+another hall, where breakfast was prepared, and all the lords and
+ladies stood there in glittering groups round the table,
+particularly admiring the bear's head, which seemed to please his
+Highness mightily also. Then each one drained a large goblet of
+wine, and even the ladies sipped from their little wine-glasses,
+to drink themselves into good spirits for the dance.
+
+Otto now related all about the hunt, and presented me to his
+Grace, who gave me his hand to kiss, saying, "Well done, young
+man--I like this bravery. Were it not for you, in place of a
+wedding, and a bear's head in the dish, Lord Otto might have had a
+funeral and two human heads in a coffin." His Grace then pledged
+me in a silver becker of wine; and afterwards the bride and
+bridegroom, who had sat till then kissing and making love in a
+corner; but they now came forward and kissed the hand of the Duke
+with much respect. The bridegroom had on a crimson doublet, which
+became him well; but his father's jack-boots, which he wore
+according to custom, were much too wide, and shook about his legs.
+The bride was arrayed in a scarlet velvet robe, and bodice furred
+with ermine. Sidonia carried a little balsam flask, depending from
+a gold chain which she wore round her neck. (She soon needed the
+balsam, for that day she suffered a foretaste of the fate which
+was to be the punishment for her after evil deeds.) And now, as we
+set forward to the church, a group of noble maidens distributed
+wreaths to the guests; but the bride presented one to the Duke,
+and Sidonia (that her hand might have been withered) handed one to
+me, poor love-stricken youth.
+
+It was the custom then, as now, in Pomerania, for all the
+bride-maidens, crowned with beautiful wreaths, to precede the
+bride and bridegroom to church. The crowd of lords, and ladies,
+and young knights pouring out of the castle gates, in order to see
+them, separated Sidonia from this group, and she was left alone
+weeping. Now the whole population of the little town were running
+from every street leading to the church; and it happened that a
+courser [Footnote: A man who courses greyhounds.] of Otto Bork's
+came right against Sidonia with such violence, that, with a blow
+of his head, he knocked her down into the puddle (she was to lie
+there really in after-life). Her little balsam-flask was of no use
+here. She had to go back, dripping, to the castle, and appeared no
+more at her sister's nuptials, but consoled herself, however, by
+listening to the bellowing of the huntsman, whom they were beating
+black and blue by her orders beneath her window.
+
+I would willingly have returned with her, but was ashamed so to
+do, and therefore followed the others to church. All the common
+people that crowded the streets were allowed to enter. Then the
+bridegroom and his party, of whom the Duke was chief, advanced up
+to the right of the altar, and the bride and her party, of which
+Fabianus Timaeus was the most distinguished, arrayed themselves on
+the left.
+
+I had now an opportunity of hearing the learned and excellent
+parson Dilavius myself; for he represented his patron (who was not
+present at the feast, but apologised for his absence by alleging
+that he must remain at the castle to look after the preparations)
+almost as an angel, and the young ladies, especially the bride,
+came in for even a larger share of his flattery; but he was so
+modest before these illustrious personages, that I observed,
+whenever he looked up from the book, he had one eye upon the Duke
+and another on Fabianus.
+
+When we returned to the castle, Sidonia met the bridemaidens again
+with joyous smiles. She now wore a white silk robe, laced with
+gold, and dancing-slippers with white silk hose. The diamonds
+still remained on her head, neck, and arms. She looked beautiful
+thus; and I could not withdraw my eyes from her. We all now
+entered the bridechamber, as the custom is, and there stood an
+immense bridal couch, with coverlet and draperies as white as
+snow; and all the bridemaids and the guests threw their wreaths
+upon it. Then the Prince, taking the bridegroom by the hand, led
+him up to it, and repeated an old German rhyme concerning the
+duties of the holy state upon which he had entered.
+
+When his Highness ceased, Fabianus took the bride by the hand, who
+blushed as red as a rose, and led her up in the same manner to the
+nuptial couch, where he uttered a long admonition on her duties to
+her husband, at which all wept, but particularly the
+bride-maidens. After this we proceeded to the state hall, where
+Otto was seated on his throne waiting to receive them, and when
+his children had kissed his hand the dancing commenced. Otto
+invited the Prince to sit near him, and all the young knights and
+maidens who intended to dance ranged themselves on costly carpets
+that were laid upon the floor all round by the walls. The trumpets
+and violins now struck up, and a band was stationed at each end of
+the hall, so that while the dancers were at the top one played,
+and when at the lower end the other.
+
+I hastened to Sidonia, as she reclined upon the carpet, and
+bending low before her, said, "Beautiful maiden! will you not
+dance?" [Footnote: It will interest my fair readers to know that
+this was, word for word, the established form employed in those
+days for an invitation to dance.] Upon which she smilingly gave me
+her little hand, and I raised her up, and led her away.
+
+I have said that I was a proficient in all knightly exercises, so
+that every one approached to see us dance. When Sidonia was tired
+I led her back, and threw myself beside her on the carpet. But in
+a little while three other young nobles came and seated themselves
+around her, and began to jest, and toy, and pay court to her. One
+played with her left hand and her rings, another with the gold net
+of her hair, while I held her right hand and pressed it. She
+coquettishly repelled them all--sometimes with her feet, sometimes
+with her hands. And when Hans von Damitz extolled her hair, she
+gave him such a blow on the nose with her head that it began to
+bleed, and he was obliged to withdraw. Still one could see that
+all these blows, right and left, were not meant in earnest. This
+continued for some time until an Italian dance began, which she
+declined to join, and as I was left alone with her upon the
+carpet, "Now," thought I, "there can be no better time to decide
+my fate;" for she had pressed my hand frequently, both in the
+dance and since I had lain reclining beside her.
+
+"Beautiful Sidonia!" I said, "you know not how you have wounded my
+heart. I can neither eat nor sleep since I beheld you, and those
+five little kisses which you gave me burn through my frame like
+arrows."
+
+To which she answered, laughing, "It was your pastime, youth. It
+was your own wish to take those little kisses."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I said, "it was my will; but give me more now and make
+me well."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, "you desire more kisses? Then will your
+pain become greater, if, as you say, with every kiss an arrow
+enters your heart, so at last they would cause your death."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I answered, "unless you take pity on me, and promise to
+become my wife, they will indeed cause my death." As I said this,
+she sprang up, tore her hand away from me, and cried with mocking
+laughter, "What does the knave mean? Ha! ha! the poor, miserable
+varlet!"
+
+I remained some moments stupefied with rage, then sprung to my
+feet without another word, left the hall, took my steed from the
+stable, and turned my back on the castle for ever. You may imagine
+how her ingratitude added to the bitterness of my feelings, when I
+considered that it was to me she owed her life. She afterwards
+offered herself to me for a wife, but she was then dishonoured,
+and I spat out at her in disgust. I never beheld her again till
+she was carried past my door to the scaffold.
+
+All this the old man related with many sighs; but his
+after-meeting with her shall be related more _in extenso_ in
+its proper place. I shall now set down what further he
+communicated about the wedding-feast.
+
+You may imagine, he said, that I was curious to know all that
+happened after I left the castle, and my friend, Bogislaff von
+Suckow of Pegelow, told me as follows.
+
+After my departure, the young lords grew still more free and
+daring in their manner to Sidonia, so that when not dancing she
+had sufficient exercise in keeping them off with her hands and
+feet, until my friend Bogislaff attracted her whole attention by
+telling her that he had just returned from Wolgast, where the
+ducal widow was much comforted by the presence of her son, Prince
+Ernest Ludovick, whom she had not seen since he went to the
+university. He was the handsomest youth in all Pomerania, and
+played the lute so divinely that at court he was compared to the
+god Apollo.
+
+Sidonia upon this fell into deep thought. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that his Highness old Duke Barnim was greatly struck by
+her beauty, and wished to get near her upon the carpet; for his
+Grace was well known to be a great follower of the sex, and many
+stories are whispered about a harem of young girls he kept at St.
+Mary's--but these things are allowable in persons of his rank.
+
+However, Fabianus Timaeus, who sat by him, wished to prevent him
+approaching Sidonia, and made signs, and nudged him with his
+elbow; and finally they put their heads together and had a long
+argument.
+
+At last the Prince started up, and stepping to Otto, asked him,
+Would he not dance? "Yes," he replied, "if your Grace will dance
+likewise." "Good," said the Prince, "that can be soon arranged,"
+and therewith he solicited Sidonia's hand. At this Fabianus was so
+scandalised that he left the hall, and appeared no more until
+supper. After the dance, his Highness advanced to Otto, who was
+reseated on his throne, and said, "Why, Otto, you have a beautiful
+daughter in Sidonia. She must come to my court, and when she
+appears amongst the other ladies, I swear she will make a better
+fortune than by staying shut up here in your old castle."
+
+On which Otto replied, sarcastically smiling, "Ay, my gracious
+Prince, she would be a dainty morsel for your Highness, no doubt;
+but there is no lack of noble visitors at my castle, I am proud to
+say." Jacob Kleist, the Chancellor, was now so humbled at the
+Duke's behaviour that he, too, left the hall and followed
+Fabianus. Even the Duke changed colour; but before he had time to
+speak, Sidonia sprang forward, and having heard the whole
+conversation, entreated her father to accept the Duke's offer, and
+allow her either to visit the court at Wolgast or at Old Stettin.
+What was she to do here? When the wedding-feast was over, no one
+would come to the castle but huntsmen and such like.
+
+So Otto at last consented that she might visit Wolgast, but on no
+account the court at Stettin.
+
+Then the young Sidonia began to coax and caress the old Duke,
+stroking his long beard, which reached to his girdle, with her
+little white hands, and prayed that he would place her with the
+princely Lady of Wolgast, for she longed to go there. People said
+that it was such a beautiful place, and the sea was not far off,
+which she had never been at in all her life. And so the Duke was
+pleased with her caresses, and promised that he would request his
+dear cousin, the ducal widow of Wolgast, to receive her as one of
+her maids of honour. Sidonia then further entreated that there
+might be no delay, and he answered that he would send a note to
+his cousin from the Diet at Treptow, by the Grand Chamberlain of
+Wolgast, Ulrich von Schwerin, and that she would not have to wait
+long. But she must go by Old Stettin, and stop at his palace for a
+while, and then he would bring her on himself to Wolgast, if he
+had time to spare.
+
+While Sidonia clapped her hands and danced about for joy, Otto
+looked grave, and said, "But, gracious Lord, the nearest way to
+Wolgast is by Cammin. Sidonia must make a circuit if she goes by
+Old Stettin."
+
+The conversation was now interrupted by the lacqueys, who came to
+announce that dinner was served.
+
+Otto requested the Duke to take a place beside him at table, and
+treated him with somewhat more distinction than he had done in the
+morning; but a hot dispute soon arose, and this was the cause. As
+Otto drank deep in the wine-cup, he grew more reckless and daring,
+and began to display his heretical doctrines as openly as he had
+hitherto exhibited his pomp and magnificence, so that every one
+might learn that pride and ungodliness are twin brothers. May God
+keep us from both!
+
+And one of the guests having said, in confirmation of some fact,
+"The Lord Jesus knows I speak the truth!" the godless knight
+laughed scornfully, exclaiming, "The Lord Jesus knows as little
+about the matter as my old grandfather, lying there in his vault,
+of our wedding-feast to-day."
+
+There was a dead silence instantly, and the Prince, who had just
+lifted up some of the bear's paw to his lips, with mustard sauce
+and pastry all round it, dropped it again upon his plate, and
+opened his eyes as wide as they could go; then, hastily wiping his
+mouth with the salvet, exclaimed in low German, "What the devil,
+Otto! art thou a freethinker?" who replied, "A true nobleman may,
+in all things, be a freethinker, and neither do all that a prince
+commands nor believe all that a pope teaches." To which the Duke
+answered, "What concerns me I pardon, for I do not believe that
+you will ever forget your duty to your Prince. The times are gone
+by when a noble would openly offer violence to his sovereign; but
+for what concerns the honour of our Lord Christ, I must leave you
+in the hands of Fabianus to receive proper chastisement."
+
+Now Fabianus, seeing that all eyes were fixed on him, grew red and
+cleared his throat, and set himself in a position to argue the
+point with Lord Otto, beginning--"So you believe that Christ the
+Lord remained in the grave, and is not living and reigning for all
+eternity?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; that is my opinion."
+
+_Hic_.--"What do you believe, then? or do you believe in
+anything?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; I believe firmly in an all-powerful and
+omniscient God."
+
+_Hic_.--"How do you know He exists?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Because my reason tells me so."
+
+_Hic_.--"Your reason does not tell you so, good sir. It
+merely tells you that something supermundane exists, but cannot
+tell you whether it be one God or two Gods, or a hundred Gods, or
+of what nature are these Gods--whether spirits, or stars, or
+trees, or animals, or, in fine, any object you can name, for
+paganism has imagined a Deity in everything, which proves what I
+assert. You only believe in _one_ God, because you sucked in
+the doctrine with your mother's milk." [Footnote: The history of
+all philosophy shows that this is psychologically true. Even
+Lucian satirises the philosophers of his age who see God or Gods
+in numbers, dogs, geese, trees, and other things. But monotheistic
+Christianity has preserved us for nearly 2000 years from these
+aberrations of philosophy. However, as the authority of
+Christianity declined, the pagan tendency again became visible;
+until at length, in the Hegelian school, we have fallen back
+helplessly into the same pantheism which we left 2000 years ago.
+In short, what Kant asserts is perfectly true: that the existence
+of God cannot be proved from reason. For the highest objects of
+all cognition--God, Freedom, and Immortality--can as little be
+evolved from the new philosophy as beauty from the disgusting
+process of decomposition. And yet more impossible is it to imagine
+that this feeble Hegelian pantheism should ever become the crown
+and summit of all human thought, and final resting-place for all
+human minds. Reason, whether from an indwelling instinct, or from
+an innate causality-law, may assert that something supermundane
+exists, but can know nothing more and nothing further. So we see
+the absurdity of chattering in our journals and periodicals of the
+progress of reason. The advance has been only _formal_, not
+_essential_. The formal advance has been in printing,
+railroads, and such like, in which direction we may easily suppose
+progression will yet further continue. But there has been no
+essential advance whatever. We know as little now of our own
+being, of the being of God, or even of that of the smallest
+infusoria, as in the days of Thales and Anaximander. In short,
+when life begins, begins also our feebleness; "Therefore," says
+Paul, "we walk by faith, not by sight." Yet these would-be
+philosophers of our day will only walk by sight, not by faith,
+although they cannot see into anything--not even into themselves.]
+
+_Ille_.--"How did it happen, then, that Abraham arrived at
+the knowledge of the _one_ God, and called on the name of the
+Lord?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Do you compare yourself with Abraham? Have you ever
+studied Hebrew?"
+
+_Ille_.--"A little. In my youth I read through the book of
+Genesis."
+
+_Hic_.--"Good! then you know that the Hebrew word for
+_name_ is _Shem_?"
+
+_Ille_.-"Yes; I know that."
+
+_Hic_.--"Then you know that from the time of Enos the
+_name_ [Footnote: In order to understand the argument, the
+reader must remember that the _name_ here is taken in the
+sense of the Greek logos, and is considered as referring
+especially to Christ.] was preached (Genesis iv. 26), showing that
+the pure doctrine was known from the beginning. This doctrine was
+darkened and obscured by wise people like you, so that it was
+almost lost at the time of Abraham, who again preached the
+_name_ of the Lord to unbelievers."
+
+_Ille_.--"What did this primitive doctrine contain?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Undoubtedly not only a testimony of the one living
+God of heaven and earth, but also clearly of Christ the Messiah,
+as He who was promised to our fallen parents in paradise (Genesis
+iii. 15)."
+
+_Ille_.--"Can you prove that Abraham had the witness of
+Christ?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Yes; from Christ's own words (John viii.
+56):--'Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw
+it, and was glad.' Item: Moses and all the Prophets have witnessed
+of Him, of whom you say that He lies dead in the grave."
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh, that is just what the priests say."
+
+_Hic_.--"And Christ Himself, Luke xxvi. 25 and 27. Do you not
+see, young man, that you mock the Prince of Life, whom God, that
+cannot lie, promised before the world began--Titus i. 2--ay, even
+more than you mocked your temporal Prince this day? Poor sinner,
+what does it help you to believe in one God?"
+
+"Even the devils believe and tremble," added Jacob Kleist the
+Chancellor. "No, there is no other name given under heaven by
+which you can be saved; and will you be more wise than Abraham,
+and the Prophets, and the Apostles, and all holy Christian
+Churches up to this day? Shame on you, and remember what St. Paul
+says: 'Thinking themselves wise, they became fools.' And in 1st
+Cor. xv. 17: 'If Christ be not risen, than is your faith vain, and
+our preaching also vain. Ye are yet in your sins, and they who
+sleep in Christ are lost.'" [Footnote: This proof of Christ's
+divinity from the Old Testament was considered of the highest
+importance in the time of the Apostles; but Schleiermacher, in his
+strange system, which may be called a mystic Rationalism,
+endeavours to shake the authority of the Old Testament in a most
+unpardonable and incomprehensible manner. This appears to me as if
+a man were to tear down a building from the sure foundation on
+which it had rested for 1000 years, and imagine it could rest in
+true stability only on the mere breath of his words.]
+
+So Otto was silenced and coughed, for he had nothing to answer,
+and all the guests laughed; but, fortunately, just then the
+offering-plate was handed round, and the Duke laid down two
+ducats, at which Otto smiled scornfully, and flung in seven
+rix-dollars, but laughed outright when Fabianus put down only four
+groschen.
+
+This seemed to affront his Highness, for he whispered to his
+Chancellor to order the carriages, and rose up from table with his
+attendants. Then, offering his hand to Otto, said, "Take care,
+Otto, or the devil will have you one day in hell, like the rich
+man in Scripture." To which Otto replied, bowing low, "Gracious
+Lord, I hope at least to meet good company there. Farewell, and
+pardon me for not attending you to the castle gates, but I may not
+leave my guests."
+
+Then all the nobles rose up, and the young knights accompanied his
+Highness, as did also Sidonia, who now further entreated his Grace
+to remove her from her father's castle, since he saw himself how
+lightly God's Word was held there. Fabianus was infinitely pleased
+to hear her speak in this manner, and promised to use all his
+influence towards having her removed from this Egypt.
+
+Here ended all that old Uckermann could relate of Sidonia's youth;
+so I determined to ride on to Stramehl, and learn there further
+particulars if possible.
+
+Accordingly, next day I took leave of the good old man, praying
+God to give him a peaceful death, and arrived at Stramehl with my
+servant. Here, however, I could obtain no information; for even
+the Bork family pretended to know nothing, just as if they never
+had heard of Sidonia (they were ashamed, I think, to acknowledge
+her), and the townspeople who had known her were all dead. The
+girl, indeed, was still living whose goose Sidonia had killed, but
+she was now an old woman in second childhood, and fancied that I
+was myself Sidonia, who had come to take away another goose from
+her. So I rode on to Freienwald, where I heard much that shall
+appear in its proper place; then to Old Stettin; and, after
+waiting three days for a fair wind, set sail for Wolgast,
+expecting to obtain much information there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there._
+
+
+In Wolgast I met with many persons whose fathers had known
+Sidonia, and what they related to me concerning her I have summed
+up into connection for your Highness as follows.
+
+When Duke Barnim reached the Diet at Treptow, he immediately made
+known Sidonia's request to the Grand Chamberlain of Wolgast,
+Ulrich von Schwerin, who was also guardian to the five young
+princes. But he grumbled, and said--"The ducal widow had maids of
+honour enough to dam up the river with if she chose; and he wished
+for no more pet doves to be brought to court, particularly not
+Sidonia; for he knew her father was ambitious, and longed to be
+called 'your Grace.'"
+
+Even Fabianus could not prevail in Sidonia's favour. So the Duke
+and he returned home to Stettin; but scarcely had they arrived
+there, when a letter came from the ducal widow of Wolgast, saying,
+that on no account would she receive Sidonia at her court. The
+Duke might therefore keep her at his own if he chose.
+
+So the Duke took no further trouble. But Sidonia was not so easily
+satisfied; and taking the matter in her own hands she left her
+father's castle without waiting his permission, and set off for
+Stettin.
+
+On arriving, she prayed the Duke to bring her to Wolgast without
+delay, as she knew there was an honourable, noble lady there who
+would watch over her, as indeed she felt would be necessary at a
+court. And Fabianus supported her petition; for he was much
+edified with her expressed desire to crucify the flesh, with the
+affections and lusts.
+
+Ah! could he have known her!
+
+So the kind-hearted Duke embarked with her immediately, without
+telling any one; and having a fair wind, sailed up directly to the
+little water-gate, and anchored close beneath the Castle of
+Wolgast.
+
+Here they landed; the Duke having Sidonia under one arm, and a
+little wooden puppet under the other. It was an Eve, for whom
+Sidonia had served as the model; and truly she was an Eve in sin,
+and brought as much evil upon the land of Pomerania as our first
+mother upon the whole world. Sidonia was enveloped in a black
+mantle, and wore a hood lined with fur covering her face. The Duke
+also had on a large wrapping cloak, and a cap of yellow leather
+upon his head.
+
+So they entered the private gate, and on through the first and
+second courts of the castle, without her Grace hearing a word of
+their arrival. And they proceeded on through the gallery, until
+they reached the private apartments of the princess, from whence
+resounded a psalm which her Grace was singing with her ladies
+while they spun, and which psalm was played by a little musical
+box placed within the Duchess's own spinning-wheel. Duke Barnim
+had made it himself for her Grace, and it was right pleasant to
+hear.
+
+After listening some time, the Duke knocked, and a maid of honour
+opened the door. When they entered, her Grace was so confounded
+that she dropped her thread and exclaimed, "Dear uncle! is this
+maiden, then, Sidonia?" examining her from head to foot while she
+spoke. The Duke excused himself by saying that he had promised her
+father to bring her here; but her Grace cut short his apologies
+with "Dear uncle, Dr. Martin Luther told me on my wedding-day that
+he never allowed himself to be interrupted at his prayers, because
+it betokened the presence of something evil. And you have now
+broken in on our devotions; therefore sit down with the maiden and
+join our psalm, if you know it." Then her Grace took up the reel
+again, and having set the clock-work going with her foot, struck
+up the psalm once more, in a clear, loud voice, joined by all her
+ladies. But Sidonia sat still, and kept her eyes upon the ground.
+
+When they had ended, her Grace, having first crossed herself,
+advanced to Sidonia, and said, "Since you arrived at my court, you
+may remain; but take care that you never lift your eyes upon the
+young men. Such wantons are hateful to my sight; for, as the
+Scripture says, 'A fair woman without discretion is like a circlet
+of gold upon a swine's head.'"
+
+Sidonia changed colour at this; but the Duke, who held quite a
+different opinion about such women, entreated her Grace not to be
+always so gloomy and melancholy--that it was time now for her to
+forget her late spouse, and think of gayer subjects. To which she
+answered, "Dear uncle, I cannot forget my Philip, particularly as
+my fate was foreshadowed at my bridal by a most ominous
+occurrence."
+
+Now, the Duke had heard this story of the bridal a hundred times;
+yet to please her he asked, "And what was it, dear cousin?"
+
+"Listen," she replied. "When Dr. Martin Luther exchanged our
+rings, mine fell from his hand to the ground; at which he was
+evidently troubled, and taking it up, he blew on it; then turning
+round, exclaimed--'Away with thee, Satan! away with thee, Satan!
+Meddle not in this matter!' And so my dear lord was taken from me
+in his forty-fifth year, and I was left a desolate widow." Here
+she sobbed and put her kerchief to her eyes.
+
+"But, cousin," said the Duke, "remember you have a great blessing
+from God in your five fine sons. And that reminds me--where are
+they all now?"
+
+This restored her Grace, and she began to discourse of her
+children, telling how handsome was the young Prince Ernest, and
+that he and the little Casimir were only with her now.
+
+Here Sidonia, as the other ladies remarked, moved restlessly on
+her chair, and her eyes flashed like torches, so that it was
+evident some plan had struck her, for she was strengthening day by
+day in wickedness.
+
+"Ay, cousin," cried the Duke, "it is no wonder a handsome mother
+should have handsome sons. And now what think you of giving us a
+jolly wedding? It is time for you to think of a second husband,
+methinks, after having wept ten years for your Philip. The best
+doctor, they say, for a young widow, is a handsome lover. What
+think you of myself, for instance?" And he pulled off his leather
+cap, and put his white head and beard up close to her Grace.
+
+Now, though her Grace could not help laughing at his position and
+words, yet she grew as sour as vinegar again immediately; for all
+the ladies tittered, and, as to Sidonia, she laughed outright.
+
+"Fie! uncle," said her Grace, "a truce to such folly; do you not
+know what St. Paul says--'Let the widows abide even as I'?"
+
+"Ay, true, dear cousin; but, then, does he not say, too, 'I will
+that the younger widows marry'?"
+
+"Ah, but, dear uncle, I am no longer young."
+
+"Why, you are as young and active as a girl; and I engage, cousin,
+if any stranger came in here to look for the widow, he would find
+it difficult to make her out amongst the young maidens; don't you
+think so, Sidonia?"
+
+"Ah, yes," she replied; "I never imagined her Grace was so young.
+She is as blooming as a rose."
+
+This appeared to please the Princess, for she smiled slightly and
+then sighed; but gave his Grace a smart slap when he attempted to
+seize her hand and kiss it, saying--"Now, uncle, I told you to
+leave off this foolery."
+
+At this moment the band outside struck up Duke Bogislaff's
+march--the same that was played before him in Jerusalem when he
+ascended the Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha; for it was the custom
+here to play this march half-an-hour before dinner, in order to
+gather all the household, knights, squires, pages, and even grooms
+and peasants, to the castle, where they all received
+entertainment. And ten rooms were laid with dinner, and all stood
+open, so that any one might enter under the permission of the
+Court Marshal. All this I must notice here, because Sidonia
+afterwards caused much scandal by these means. The music now
+rejoiced her greatly, and she began to move her little feet, not
+in a pilgrim, but in a waltz measure, and to beat time with them,
+as one could easily perceive by the motion underneath her mantle.
+
+The Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, now entered, and
+having looked at Sidonia with much surprise, advanced to kiss the
+hand of the Duke and bid him welcome to Wolgast. Then, turning to
+her Grace, he inquired if the twelve pages should wait at table to
+do honour to the Duke of Stettin. But the Duke forbade them,
+saying he wished to dine in private for this day with the Duchess
+and her two sons; the Grand Chamberlain, too, he hoped would be
+present, and Sidonia might have a seat at the ducal table, as she
+was of noble blood; besides, he had taken her likeness as Eve, and
+the first of women ought to sit at the first table. Hereupon the
+Duke drew forth the puppet, and called to Ulrich--"Here! you have
+seen my Adam in Treptow; what think you now of Eve? Look, dear
+cousin, is she not the image of Sidonia?"
+
+At this speech both looked very grave. Ulrich said nothing; but
+her Grace replied, "You will make the girl vain, dear uncle." And
+Ulrich added, "Yes, and the image has such an expression, that if
+the real Eve looked so, I think she would have left her husband in
+the lurch and run with the devil himself to the devil."
+
+While the last verse of the march was playing--"To Zion comes
+Pomerania's Prince"--they proceeded to dinner--the Duke and the
+Princes leading, while from every door along the corridor the
+young knights and pages peeped out to get a sight of Sidonia, who,
+having thrown off her mantle, swept by them in a robe of crimson
+velvet laced with gold.
+
+When they entered the dining-hall, Prince Ernest was leaning
+against one of the pillars wearing a black Spanish mantle,
+fastened with chains of gold. He stepped forward to greet the
+Duke, and inquire after his health.
+
+The Duke was well pleased to see him, and tapped him on the cheek,
+exclaiming--
+
+"By my faith, cousin, I have not heard too much of you. What a
+fine youth you have grown up since you left the university."
+
+But how Sidonia's eyes sparkled when (for his misfortune) she
+found herself seated next him at table. The Duchess now called
+upon Sidonia to say the "gratias;" but she blundered and
+stammered, which many imputed to modesty, so that Prince Ernest
+had to repeat it in her stead. This seemed to give him courage;
+for when the others began to talk around the table, he ventured to
+bid her welcome to his mother's court.
+
+When they rose from table, Sidonia was again commanded to say
+grace; but being unable, the Prince came to her relief and
+repeated the words for her. And now the evil spirit without doubt
+put it into the Duke's head, who had drunk rather freely, to say
+to her Grace--
+
+"Dear cousin, I have introduced the Italian fashion at my court,
+which is, that every knight kisses the lady next him on rising
+from dinner--let us do the same here." And herewith he first
+kissed her Grace and then Sidonia. Ulrich von Schwerin looked
+grave at this and shook his head, particularly when the Duke
+encouraged Prince Ernest to follow his example; but the poor youth
+looked quite ashamed, and cast down his eyes. However, when he
+raised them again Sidonia's were fixed on him, and she murmured,
+"Will you not learn?" with such a glance accompanying the words,
+that he could no longer resist to touch her lips. So there was
+great laughing in the hall; and the Duke then, taking his puppet
+under one arm and Sidonia under the other, descended with her to
+the castle gardens, complaining that he never got a good laugh in
+this gloomy house, let him do what he would.
+
+And the next day he departed, though the Prince sent his equerry
+to know would his Grace desire to hunt that day; or, if he
+preferred fishing, there were some excellent carp within the
+domain. But the Duke replied, that he would neither ride nor fish,
+but sail away at ten of the clock, if the wind were favourable.
+
+So many feared that his Grace was annoyed; and therefore the
+Duchess and Prince Ernest, along with the Grand Chamberlain,
+attended him to the gate; and even to please him, Sidonia was
+allowed to accompany them. The Pomeranian standard also was
+hoisted to do him honour, and finally he bade the illustrious
+widow farewell, recommending Sidonia to her care. But the fair
+maiden herself he took in his arms, she weeping and sobbing, and
+admonished her to be careful and discreet; and so, with a fair
+wind, set sail from Wolgast, and never once looked back.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast._
+
+
+Next day, Sunday, her Grace was unable to attend divine service in
+the church, having caught cold by neglecting to put on her mantle
+when she accompanied the Duke down to the water-gate. However,
+though her Grace could not leave her chamber, yet she heard the
+sermon of the preacher all the same; for an ear-tube descended
+from her apartment down on the top of the pulpit, by which means
+every word reached her, and a maid of honour always remained in
+attendance to find out the lessons of the day, and the other
+portions of the divine service, for her Grace, who thus could
+follow the clergyman word for word. Sidonia was the one selected
+for the office on this day.
+
+But, gracious Heavens! when the Duchess said, Find me out the
+prophet Isaiah, Sidonia looked in the New Testament; and when she
+said, Open the Gospel of St. John, Sidonia looked in the Old
+Testament. At first her Grace did not perceive her blunders; but
+when she became aware of them, she started up, and tearing the
+Bible out of her hands, exclaimed, "What! are you a heathen?
+Yesterday you could not repeat a simple grace that every child
+knows by heart, and to-day you do not know the difference between
+the Old and New Testaments. For shame! Alas! what an ill weed I
+have introduced into my house."
+
+So the cunning wench began to weep, and said, her father had never
+allowed her to learn Christianity, though she wished to do so
+ardently, but always made a mock of it, and for this reason she
+had sought a refuge with her Grace, where she hoped to become a
+truly pious and believing Christian. The Duchess was quite
+softened by her tears, and promised that Dr. Dionysius Gerschovius
+should examine her in the catechism, and see what she knew. He was
+a learned man from Daber [Footnote: A small town in Lower
+Pomerania.], and her Grace's chaplain. The very idea of the doctor
+frightened Sidonia so much, that her teeth chattered, and she
+entreated her Grace, while she kissed her hand, to allow her at
+least a fortnight for preparation and study before the doctor
+came.
+
+The Duchess promised this, and said, that Clara von Dewitz,
+another of her maidens, would be an excellent person to assist her
+in her studies, as she came from Daber also, and was familiar with
+the views and doctrines held by Dr. Gerschovius. This Clara we
+shall hear more of in our history. She was a year older than
+Sidonia, intelligent, courageous, and faithful, with a quiet,
+amiable disposition, and of most pious and Christian demeanour.
+She wore a high, stiff ruff, out of which peeped forth her head
+scarcely visible, and a long robe, like a stole, sweeping behind
+her. She was privately betrothed to her Grace's Master of the
+Horse, Marcus Bork by name, a cousin of Sidonia's; for, as her
+Grace discouraged all kinds of gallantry or love-making at her
+court, they were obliged to keep the matter secret, so that no
+one, not even her Grace, suspected anything of the engagement.
+
+This was the person appointed to instruct Sidonia in Christianity;
+and every day the fair pupil visited Clara in her room for an
+hour. But, alas! theology was sadly interrupted by Sidonia's folly
+and levity, for she chattered away on all subjects: first about
+Prince Ernest--was he affianced to any one? was he in love? had
+Clara herself a lover? and if that old proser, meaning the
+Duchess, looked always as sour? did she never allow a feast or a
+dance? and then she would toss the catechism under the bed, or
+tear it and trample on it, muttering, with much ill-temper, that
+she was too old to be learning catechisms like a child.
+
+Poor Clara tried to reason with her mildly, and said--"Her Grace
+was very particular on these points. The maids of honour were
+obliged to assemble weekly once in the church and once in her
+Grace's own room, to be examined by Dr. Gerschovius, not only in
+the Lutheran Catechism, which they all knew well, but also in that
+written by his brother, Dr. Timothy Gerschovius of Old Stettin; so
+Sidonia had better first learn the _Catechismum Lutheri_, and
+afterwards the _Catechismum Gerschovii_." At last Sidonia
+grew so weary of catechisms that she determined to run away from
+court.
+
+But Satan had more for her to do; so he put a little syrup into
+the wormwood draught, and thus it was. One day passing along the
+corridor from Clara's room, it so happened that Prince Ernest
+opened his door, just as she came up to it, to let out the smoke,
+and then began to walk up and down, playing softly on his lute.
+Sidonia stood still for a few minutes with her eyes thrown up in
+ecstasy, and then passed on; but the Prince stepped to the door,
+and asked her did she play.
+
+"Alas! no," she answered. "Her father had forbidden her to learn
+the lute, though music was her passion, and her heart seemed
+almost breaking with joy when she listened to it. If his Highness
+would but play one little air over again for her."
+
+"Yes, if you will enter, but not while you are standing there at
+my door."
+
+"Ah, do not ask me to enter, that would not be seemly; but I will
+sit down here on this beer-barrel in the corridor and listen;
+besides, music is improved by distance."
+
+And she looked so tenderly at the young Prince that his heart
+burned within him, and he stepped out into the corridor to play;
+but the sound reaching the ears of her Grace, she looked out, and
+Sidonia jumped up from the beer-barrel and fled away to her own
+room.
+
+When Sunday came again, all the maids of honour were assembled, as
+usual, in her Grace's apartment, to be examined in the catechism;
+and probably the Duchess had lamented much to the doctor over
+Sidonia's levity and ignorance, for he kept a narrow watch on her
+the whole day. At four of the clock Dr. Gerschovius entered in his
+gown and bands, looking very solemn; for it was a saying of his
+"that the devil invented laughter; and that it were better for a
+man to be a weeping Heraclitus than a laughing Democritus." After
+he had kissed the hand of her Grace, he said they had better now
+begin with the Commandments; and, turning to Sidonia, asked her,
+"What is forbidden by the seventh commandment?"
+
+Now Sidonia, who had only learned the Lutheran Catechism, did not
+understand the question in this form out of the Gerschovian
+Catechism, and remained silent.
+
+"What!" said the doctor, "not know my brother's catechism! You
+must get one directly from the court bookseller--the Catechism of
+Doctor Timothy Gerschovius--and have it learned by next Sunday."
+Then turning to Clara, he repeated the question, and she, having
+answered, received great praise.
+
+Now it happened that just at this time the ducal horse were led up
+to the horse-pond to water, and all the young pages and knights
+were gathered in a group under the window of her Grace's
+apartment, laughing and jesting merrily. So Sidonia looked out at
+them, which the doctor no sooner perceived than he slapped her on
+the hand with the catechism, exclaiming, "What! have you not heard
+just now that all sinful desires are forbidden by the seventh
+commandment, and yet you look forth upon the young men from the
+window? Tell me what are sinful desires?"
+
+But the proud girl grew red with indignation, and cried, "Do you
+dare to strike me?" Then, turning to her Grace, she said, "Madam,
+that sour old priest has struck me on the fingers. I will not
+suffer this. My father shall hear of it."
+
+Hereupon her Grace, and even the doctor, tried to appease her, but
+in vain, and she ran crying from the apartment. In the corridor
+she met the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who hated the doctor
+and all his rigid doctrines. So she complained of the treatment
+which she had received, and pressed his hand and stroked his
+beard, saying, would he permit a castle and land dowered maiden to
+be scolded and insulted by an old parson because she looked out at
+a window? That was worse than in the days of Popery. Now
+Zitsewitz, who had a little wine in his head, on hearing this, ran
+in great wrath to the apartment of her Grace, where soon a great
+uproar was heard.
+
+For the treasurer, in the heat of his remonstrance with the
+priest, struck a little table violently which stood near him, and
+overthrew it. On this had Iain the superb escritoire of her
+Highness, made of Venetian glass, in which the ducal arms were
+painted; and also the magnificent album of her deceased lord, Duke
+Philip. The escritoire was broken, the ink poured forth upon the
+album, from thence ran down to the costly Persian carpet, a
+present from her brother, the Prince of Saxony, and finally
+stained the velvet robe of her Highness herself, who started up
+screaming, so that the old chamberlain rushed in to know what had
+happened, and then he fell into a rage both with the priest and
+the treasurer. At length her Grace was comforted by hearing that a
+chemist in Grypswald could restore the book, and mend the glass
+again as good as new; still she wept, and exclaimed, "Alas! who
+could have thought it? all this was foreshadowed to her by Dr.
+Martinus dropping her ring."
+
+Here the treasurer, to conciliate her Grace, pretended that he
+never had heard the story of the betrothal, and asked, "What does
+your Grace mean?" Whereupon drying her eyes she answered, "O
+Master Jacob, you will hear a strange story"--and here she went
+over each particular, though every child in the street had it by
+heart. So this took away her grief, and every one got to rights
+again, for that day. But worse was soon to befall.
+
+I have said that half-an-hour before dinner the band played to
+summon all within the castle and the retainers to their respective
+messes, as the custom then was; so that the long corridor was soon
+filled with a crowd of all conditions--pages, knights, squires,
+grooms, maids, and huntsmen, all hurrying to the apartments where
+their several tables were laid. Sidonia, being aware of this, upon
+the first roll of the drum skipped out into the corridor, dancing
+up and down the whole length of it to the music, so that the
+players declared they had never seen so beautiful a dancer, at
+which her heart beat with joy; and as the crowd came up, they
+stopped to admire her grace and beauty. Then she would pause and
+say a few pleasing words to each, to a huntsman, if he were
+passing--"Ah, I think no deer in the world could escape you, my
+fine young peasant;" or if a knight, she would praise the colour
+of his doublet and the tie of his garter; or if a laundress, she
+would commend the whiteness of her linen, which she had never seen
+equalled; and as to the old cook and butler, she enchanted them by
+asking, had his Grace of Stettin ever seen them, for assuredly, if
+he had, he would have taken their fine heads as models for Abraham
+and Noah. Then she flung largess amongst them to drink the health
+of the Duchess. Only when a young noble passed, she grew timid and
+durst not venture to address him, but said, loud enough for him to
+hear, "Oh, how handsome! Do you know his name?" Or, "It is easy to
+see that he is a born nobleman"--and such like hypocritical
+flatteries.
+
+The Princess never knew a word of all this, for, according to
+etiquette, she was the last to seat herself at table. So Sidonia's
+doings were not discovered until too late, for by that time she
+had won over the whole court, great and small, to her interests.
+
+Amongst the cavaliers who passed one day were two fine young men,
+Wedig von Schwetzkow, and Johann Appelmann, son of the burgomaster
+at Stargard. They were both handsome; but Johann was a dissolute,
+wild profligate, and Wedig was not troubled with too much sense.
+Still he had not fallen into the evil courses which made the other
+so notorious. "Who is that handsome youth?" asked Sidonia as
+Johann passed; and when they told her, "Ah, a gentleman!" she
+exclaimed, "who is of far higher value in my eyes than a
+nobleman."
+
+_Summa:_ they both fell in love with her on the instant; but
+all the young squires were the same more or less, except her
+cousin Marcus Bork, seeing that he was already betrothed. Likewise
+after dinner, in place of going direct to the ladies' apartments,
+she would take a circuitous route, so as to go by the quarter
+where the men dined, and as she passed their doors, which they
+left open on purpose, what rejoicing there was, and such running
+and squeezing just to get a glimpse of her--the little putting
+their heads under the arms of the tall, and there they began to
+laugh and chat; but neither the Duchess nor the old chamberlain
+knew anything of this, for they were in a different wing of the
+castle, and besides, always took a sleep after dinner.
+
+However, old Zitsewitz, when he heard the clamour, knew well it
+was Sidonia, and would jump up from the marshal's table, though
+the old marshal shook his head, and run to the gallery to have a
+chat with her himself, and she laughed and coquetted with him, so
+that the old knight would run after her and take her in his arms,
+asking her where she would wish to go. Then she sometimes said, to
+the castle garden to feed the pet stag, for she had never seen so
+pretty a thing in all her life; and she would fetch crumbs of
+bread with her to feed it. So he must needs go with her, and
+Sidonia ran down the steps with him that led from the young men's
+quarter to the castle court, while they all rose up to look after
+her, and laugh at the old fool of a treasurer. But in a short time
+they followed too, running up and down the steps in crowds, to see
+Sidonia feeding the stag and caressing it, and sometimes trying to
+ride on it, while old Zitsewitz held the horns.
+
+Prince Ernest beheld all this from a window, and was ready to die
+with jealousy and mortification, for he felt that Sidonia was gay
+and friendly with every one but him. Indeed, since the day of the
+lute-playing, he fancied she shunned him and treated him coldly.
+But as Sidonia had observed particularly, that whenever the young
+Prince passed her in the gallery he cast down his eyes and sighed,
+she took another way of managing him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum._
+
+
+The day preceding that on which Sidonia was to repeat the
+Catechism of Doctor Gerschovius (of which, by the way, she had not
+learned one word), the young Duke suddenly entered his mother's
+apartment, where she and her maidens were spinning, and asked her
+if she remembered anything about a Laplander with a drum, who had
+foretold some event to her and his father whilst they were at
+Penemunde some years before; for he had been arrested at Eldena,
+and was now in Wolgast.
+
+"Alas!" said her Grace, "I perfectly remember the horrible
+sorcerer. One spring I was at the hunt with your father near
+Penemunde, when this wretch suddenly appeared driving two cows
+before him on a large ice-field. He pretended that while he was
+telling fortunes to the girls who milked the cows, a great storm
+arose, and drove him out into the wide sea, which was a terrible
+misfortune to him. But your father told him in Swedish, which
+language the knave knew, that it had been better to prophesy his
+own destiny. To which he replied, a man could as little foretell
+his own fate as see the back of his own head, which every one can
+see but himself. However, if the Duke wished, he would tell him
+his fortune, and if it did not come out true, let all the world
+hold him as a liar for his life long.
+
+"Alas! your father consented. Whereupon the knave began to dance
+and play upon his drum like one frenzied; so that it was evident
+to see the spirit was working within him. Then he fell down like
+one dead, and cried, 'Woe to thee when thy house is burning! Woe
+to thee when thy house is burning!'
+
+"Therefore be warned, my son; have nothing to do with this fellow,
+for it so happened even as he said. On the 11th December '57, our
+castle was burned, and your poor father had a rib broken in
+consequence. Would that I had been the rib broken for him, so that
+he might still reign over the land; and this was the true cause of
+his untimely death. Therefore dismiss this sorcerer, for it is
+Satan himself speaks in him."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite pale, and dropped the thread, as if taken
+suddenly ill. Then she prayed the Duchess to excuse her, and
+permit her to retire to her own room.
+
+The moment the Duchess gave permission, Sidonia glided out; but,
+in place of going to her chamber, she threw herself in a languid
+attitude upon a seat in the corridor, just where she knew Prince
+Ernest must pass, and leaned her head upon her hand. He soon came
+out of his mother's room, and seeing Sidonia, took her hand
+tenderly, asking, with visible emotion--
+
+"Dear lady, what has happened?"
+
+"Ah," she answered, "I am so weak that I cannot go on to my little
+apartment. I know not what ails me; but I am so afraid----"
+
+"Afraid of what, dearest lady?"
+
+"Of that sour old priest. He is to examine me to-morrow in the
+Catechism of Gerschovius, and I cannot learn a word of it, do what
+I will. I know Luther's Catechism quite well" (this was a
+falsehood, we know), "but that does not satisfy him, and if I
+cannot repeat it he will slap my hands or box my ears, and my lady
+the Duchess will be more angry than ever; but I am too old now to
+learn catechisms."
+
+Then she trembled like an aspen-leaf, and fixed her eyes on him
+with such tenderness that he trembled likewise, and drawing her
+arm within his, supported her to her chamber. On the way she
+pressed his hand repeatedly; but with each pressure, as he
+afterwards confessed, a pang shot through his heart, which might
+have excited compassion from his worst enemy.
+
+When they reached her chamber, she would not let him enter, but
+modestly put him back, saying, "Leave me--ah! leave me, gracious
+Prince. I must creep to my bed; and in the meantime let me entreat
+you to persuade the priest not to torment me to-morrow morning."
+
+The Prince now left her, and forgetting all about the Lapland
+wizard whom he had left waiting in the courtyard, he rushed over
+the drawbridge, up the main street behind St. Peter's, and into
+the house of Dr. Gerschovius.
+
+The doctor was indignant at his petition.
+
+"My young Prince," he said, "if ever a human being stood in need
+of God's Word, it is that young maiden." At last, however, upon
+the entreaties of Prince Ernest, he consented to defer her
+examination for four weeks, during which time she could fully
+perfect herself in the catechism of his learned brother.
+
+He then prayed the Prince not to allow his eyes to be dazzled by
+this fair, sinful beauty, who would delude him as she had done all
+the other men in the castle, not excepting even that old sinner
+Zitsewitz.
+
+When the Prince returned to the castle, he found a great crowd
+assembled round the Lapland wizard, all eagerly asking to have
+their fortunes told, and Sidonia was amongst them, as merry and
+lively as if nothing had ailed her. When the Prince expressed his
+surprise, she said, that finding herself much relieved by lying
+down, she had ventured into the fresh air, to recreate herself,
+and have her fortune told. Would not the Prince likewise wish to
+hear his?
+
+So, forgetting all his mother's wise injunctions, he advanced with
+Sidonia to the wizard. The Lapland drum, which lay upon his knees,
+was a strange instrument; and by it we can see what arts Satan
+employs to strengthen his kingdom in all places and by all means.
+For the Laplanders are Christians, though they in some sort
+worship the devil, and therefore he imparts to them much of his
+own power. This drum which they use is made out of a piece of
+hollow wood, which must be either fir, pine, or birch, and which
+grows in such a particular place that it follows the course of the
+sun; that is, the pectines, fibrae, and lineae in the annual rings
+of the wood must wind from right to left. Having hollowed out such
+a tree, they spread a skin over it, fastened down with little
+pegs; and on the centre of the skin is painted the sun, surrounded
+by figures of men, beasts, birds, and fishes, along with Christ
+and the holy Apostles. All this is done with the rind of the
+elder-tree, chewed first beneath their teeth. Upon the top of the
+drum there is an index in the shape of a triangle, from which hang
+a number of little rings and chains. When the wizard wishes to
+propitiate Satan and receive his power, he strikes the drum with a
+hammer made of the reindeer's horn, not so much to procure a sound
+as to set the index in motion with all its little chains, that it
+may move over the figures, and point to whatever gives the
+required answer. At the same time the magician murmurs
+conjurations, springs sometimes up from the ground, screams,
+laughs, dances, reels, becomes black in the face, foams, twists
+his eyes, and falls to the ground at last in an ecstasy, dragging
+the drum down upon his face.
+
+Any one may then put questions to him, and all will come to pass
+that he answers. All this was done by the wizard; but he desired
+strictly that when he fell upon the ground, no one should touch
+him with the foot, and secondly, that all flies and insects should
+be kept carefully from him. So after he had danced, and screamed,
+and twisted his face so horribly that half the women fainted, and
+foamed and raged until the demon seemed to have taken full
+possession of him, he fell down, and then every one put questions
+to him, to which he responded; but the answers sometimes produced
+weeping, sometimes laughing, according as some gentle maiden heard
+that her lover was safe, or that he had been struck by the mast on
+shipboard and tumbled into the sea. And all came out true, as was
+afterwards proved.
+
+Sidonia now invited the Prince to try his fortune; and so,
+forgetting the admonitions of the Duchess, he said, "What dost
+thou prophesy to me?"
+
+"Beware of a woman, if you would live long and happily," was the
+answer.
+
+"But of what woman?"
+
+"I will not name her, for she is present."
+
+Then the Prince turned pale and looked at Sidonia, who grew pale
+also, but made no answer, only laughed, and advancing asked, "What
+dost thou prophesy to me?" But immediately the wizard shrieked,
+"Away! away! I burn, I burn! thou makest me yet hotter than I am!"
+
+Many thought these exclamations referred to Sidonia's beauty,
+particularly the young lords, who murmured, "Now every one must
+acknowledge her beauty, when even this son of Satan feels his
+heart burning when she approaches." And Sidonia laughed merrily at
+their gallantries.
+
+Just then the Grand Chamberlain came by, and having heard what had
+happened, he angrily dismissed the crowd, and sending for the
+executioner, ordered the cheating impostor to be whipped and
+branded, and then sent over the frontier.
+
+The wizard, who had been lying quite stiff, now cried out (though
+he had never seen the Chamberlain before)--"Listen, Ulrich! I will
+prophesy something to thee: if it comes not to pass, then punish
+me; but if it does, then give me a boat and seven loaves, that I
+may sail away to-morrow to my own country."
+
+Ulrich refused to hear his prophecy; but the wizard cried
+out--"Ulrich, this day thy wife Hedwig will die at Spantekow."
+
+Ulrich grew pale, but only answered, "Thou liest! how can that
+be?" He replied, "Thy cousin Clas will visit her; she will descend
+to the cellar to fetch him some of the Italian wine for which you
+wrote, and which arrived yesterday; a step of the stairs will
+break as she is ascending; she will fall forward upon the flask,
+which will cut her throat through, and so she will die."
+
+When he ceased, the alarmed Ulrich called loudly to the chief
+equerry, Appelmann, who just then came by--"Quick! saddle the best
+racer in the stables, and ride for life to Spantekow, for it may
+be as he has prophesied, and let us outwit the devil. Haste,
+haste, for the love of God, and I will never forget it to thee!"
+
+So the equerry rode without stop or stay to Spantekow, and he
+found the cousin Clas in the house; but when he asked for the Lady
+Hedwig, they said, "She is in the cellar." So no misfortune had
+happened then; but as they waited and she appeared not, they
+descended to look for her, and lo! just as the wizard had
+prophesied, she had fallen upon the stairs while ascending, and
+there lay dead.
+
+The mournful news was brought by sunset to Wolgast, and Ulrich, in
+his despair and grief, wished to burn the Laplander; but Prince
+Ernest hindered him, saying, "It is more knightly, Ulrich, to keep
+your word than to cool your vengeance." So the old man stood
+silent a long space, and then said, "Well, young man, if you
+abandon Sidonia, I will release the Laplander."
+
+The Prince coloured, and the Lord Chamberlain thought that he had
+discovered a secret; but as the prophecy of the wizard came again
+into Prince Ernest's mind, he said--
+
+"Well, Ulrich, I will give up the maiden Sidonia. Here is my
+hand."
+
+Accordingly, next morning the wizard was released from prison and
+given a boat, with seven loaves and a pitcher of water, that he
+might sail back to his own country. The wind, however, was due
+north, but the people who crossed the bridge to witness his
+departure were filled with fear when they saw him change the wind
+at his pleasure to suit himself; for he pulled out a string full
+of knots, and having swung it about, murmuring incantations, all
+the vanes on the towers creaked and whirled right about, all the
+windmills in the town stopped, all the vessels and boats that were
+going up the stream became quite still, and their sails flapped on
+the masts, for the wind had changed in a moment from north to
+south, and the north waves and the south waves clashed together.
+
+As every one stood wondering at this, the sailors and fishermen in
+particular, the wizard sprang into his boat and set forth with a
+fair wind, singing loudly, "Jooike Duara! Jooike Duara!"
+[Footnote: This is the beginning of a magic rhyme, chanted even by
+the distant Calmucks--namely, _Dschie jo eie jog_.] and soon
+disappeared from sight, nor was he ever again seen in that
+country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor
+Gerschovius comforts him out of God's Word._
+
+
+This affair with the Lapland wizard much troubled the Grand
+Chamberlain, and his faith suffered sore temptations. So he
+referred to Dr. Gerschovius, and asked him how the prophets of God
+differed from those of the devil. Whereupon the doctor recommended
+him to meditate on God's Word, wherein he would find a source of
+consolation and a solution of all doubts.
+
+So the mourning Ulrich departed for his castle of Spantekow,
+trusting in the assistance of God. And her Grace, with all her
+court, resolved to attend the funeral also, to do him honour. They
+proceeded forth, therefore, dressed in black robes, their horses
+also caparisoned with black hangings, and the Duchess ordered a
+hundred wax lights for the ceremony. Sidonia alone declined
+attending, and gave out that she was sick in bed. The truth,
+however, was, that as Duke Ernest was obliged to remain at home to
+take the command of the castle, and affix his signature to all
+papers, she wished to remain also.
+
+The mourning cortege, therefore, had scarcely left the court, when
+Sidonia rose and seated herself at the window, which she knew the
+young Prince must pass along with his attendants on their way to
+the office of the castle. Then taking up a lute, which she had
+purchased privately, and practised night and morning in place of
+learning the catechism, she played a low, soft air, to attract
+their attention. So all the young knights looked up; and when
+Prince Ernest arrived he looked up also, and seeing Sidonia,
+exclaimed, with surprise, "Beautiful Sidonia, how have you learned
+the lute?" At which she blushed and answered modestly, "Gracious
+Prince, I am only self-taught. No one here understands the lute
+except your Highness."
+
+"Does this employment, then, give you much pleasure?"
+
+"Ah, yes! If I could only play it well; I would give half my life
+to learn it properly. There is no such sweet enjoyment upon earth,
+I think, as this."
+
+"But you have been sick, lady, and the cold air will do you an
+injury."
+
+"Yes, it is true I have been ill, but the air rather refreshes me;
+and besides, I feel the melancholy of my solitude less here."
+
+"Now farewell, dear lady; I must attend to the business of the
+castle."
+
+This little word--"dear lady"--gave Sidonia such confidence, that
+by the time she expected Prince Ernest to pass again on his
+return, she was seated at the window awaiting him with her lute,
+to which she now sang in a clear, sweet voice. But the Prince
+passed on as if he heard nothing--never even once looked up, to
+Sidonia's great mortification. However, the moment he reached his
+own apartment, he commenced playing a melancholy air upon his
+lute, as if in response to hers. The artful young maiden no sooner
+heard this than she opened her door. The Prince at the same
+instant opened his to let out the smoke, and their eyes met, when
+Sidonia uttered a feeble cry and fell fainting upon the floor. The
+Prince, seeing this, flew to her, raised her up, and trembling
+with emotion, carried her back to her room and laid her down upon
+the bed. Now indeed it was well for him that he had given that
+promise to Ulrich. When Sidonia after some time slowly opened her
+eyes, the Prince asked tenderly what ailed her; and she said, "I
+must have taken cold at the window, for I felt very ill, and went
+to the door to call an attendant; but I must have fainted then,
+for I remember nothing more." Alas! the poor Prince, he believed
+all this, and conjured her to lie down until he called a maid, and
+sent for the physician if she desired it; but, no--she refused,
+and said it would pass off soon. (Ah, thou cunning maiden! it may
+well pass off when it never was on.)
+
+However, she remained in bed until the next day, when the Princess
+and her train returned home from the funeral. Her Grace had
+assisted at the obsequies with all princely state, and even laid a
+crown of rosemary with her own hand upon the head of the corpse,
+and a little prayer-book beside it, open at that fine hymn "Pauli
+Sperati" (which also was sung over the grave). Then the husband
+laid a tin crucifix on the coffin, with the inscription from I
+John iii. 8--"The Son of God was manifested that He might destroy
+the works of the devil." After which the coffin was lowered into
+the grave with many tears.
+
+Some days after this, being Sunday, Doctor Gerschovius and the
+Grand Chamberlain were present at the ducal table. Ulrich indeed
+ate little, for he was filled with grief, only sipped a little
+broth, into which he had crumbled some reindeer cheese, not to
+appear ungracious; but when dinner was over, he raised his head,
+and asked Doctor Gerschovius to inform him now in what lay the
+difference between the prophets of God and those of the devil. The
+Duchess was charmed at the prospect of such a profitable
+discourse, and ordered a cushion and footstool to be placed for
+herself, that she might remain to hear it. Then she sent for the
+whole household--maidens, squires, and pages--that they too might
+be edified, and learn the true nature of the devil's gifts. The
+hall was soon as full, therefore, as if a sermon were about to be
+preached; and the doctor, seeing this, stroked his beard, and he
+begun as follows: [Footnote: Perhaps some readers will hold the
+rationalist doctrine that no prophecy is possible or credible, and
+that no mortal can under any circumstances see into futurity; but
+how then can they account for the wonderful phenomena of animal
+magnetism, which are so well authenticated? Do they deny all the
+facts which have been elicited by the great advance made recently
+in natural and physiological philosophy? I need not here bring
+forward proofs from the ancients, showing their universal belief
+in the possibility of seeing into futurity, nor a cloud of
+witnesses from our modern philosophers, attesting the truth of the
+phenomena of somnambulism, but only observe that this very Academy
+of Paris, which in 1784 anathematised Mesmer as a quack, a cheat,
+and a charlatan or fool, and which in conjunction with all the
+academies of Europe (that of Berlin alone excepted) reviled his
+doctrines and insulted all who upheld them, as witches had been
+reviled in preceding centuries, and compelled Mesmer himself to
+fly for protection to Frankfort--this very academy, I say, on the
+12th February 1826, rescinded all their condemnatory verdicts, and
+proclaimed that the wonderful phenomena of animal magnetism had
+been so well authenticated that doubt was no longer possible. This
+confession of faith was the more remarkable, because the members
+of the commission of inquiry had been carefully selected, on
+purpose, from physicians who were totally adverse to the doctrines
+of Mesmer.
+
+There are but two modes, I think, of explaining these
+extraordinary phenomena--either by supposing them effected by
+supernatural agency, as all seers and diviners from antiquity,
+through the Middle Ages down to our somnambulists, have pretended
+that they really stood in communication with spirit; or, by
+supposing that there is an innate latent divining element in our
+own natures, which only becomes evident and active under certain
+circumstances, and which is capable of revealing the _future_
+with more or less exactitude just as the mind can recall the
+_past_. For _past_ and _future_ are but different
+forms of our own subjective intuition of time, and because this
+internal intuition represents no figure, we seek to supply the
+defect by an analogy. For time exists _within_ us, not
+_without_ us; it is not something which subsists of itself,
+but it is the form only of our internal sense.
+
+These two modes of explaining the phenomena present, I know, great
+difficulties; the latter especially. However, the pantheistical
+solution of the Hegelian school adopted by Kieser, Kluge, Wirth,
+Hoffman, pleases me still less. I even prefer that of
+Jung-Stilling and Kerner--but at all events one thing is certain,
+the _facts_ are there; only ignorance, stupidity, and
+obstinacy can deny them. The _cause_ is still a subject of
+speculation, doubt, and difficulty. It is only by a vast induction
+of facts, as in natural philosophy, that we can ever hope to
+arrive at the knowledge of a general law. The crown of all
+creation is _man_; therefore while we investigate so acutely
+all other creatures, let us not shrink back from the strange and
+unknown depths of our own nature which magnetism has opened to
+us.]
+
+I am rejoiced to treat of this subject now, considering how lately
+that demon Lapp befooled ye all. And I shall give you many signs,
+whereby in future a prophet of God may be distinguished from a
+prophet of the devil. 1st, Satan's prophets are not conscious of
+what they utter; but God's prophets are always perfectly
+conscious, both of the inspiration they receive and the
+revelations they make known. For as the Laplander grew frenzied,
+and foamed at the mouth, so it has been with all false prophets
+from the beginning. Even the blind heathen called prophesying
+_mania_, or the wisdom of _madness_. The secret of
+producing this madness was known to them; sometimes it was by the
+use of roots or aromatic herbs, or by exhalations, as in the case
+of the Pythoness, whose incoherent utterances were written by the
+priests of Apollo, for when the fit was over, all remembrance of
+what she had prophesied vanished too. In the Bible we find all
+false prophets described as frenzied. In Isaiah xliv. 25--"God
+maketh the diviners mad." In Ezekiel xiii. 3--"Woe to the foolish
+prophets." Hosea ix. 7--"The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man
+is mad." And Isaiah xxviii. 7 explains fully how this madness was
+produced.
+
+Namely, by wine and the strong drink _Sekar_. [Footnote: It
+is doubtful of what this drink was composed. Hieronymus and Aben
+Ezra imagine that it was of the nature of strong beer. Probably it
+resembled the potion with which the mystery-men amongst the
+savages of the present day produce this divining frenzy. We find
+such in use throughout Tartary, Siberia, America, and Africa, as
+if the usage had descended to them from one common tradition.
+Witches, it is well known, made frequent use of potions, and as
+all somnambulists assert that the seat of the soul's greatest
+activity is in the stomach, it is not incredible what Van Helmont
+relates, that having once tasted the root _napellus_, his
+intellect all at once, accompanied by an unusual feeling of
+ecstasy, seemed to remove from his brain to his stomach.] Further
+examples of this madness are given in the Bible, as Saul when
+under the influence of the evil spirit flung his spear at the
+innocent David; and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal,
+who leaped upon the altar, and screamed, and cut themselves with
+knives and lancets until the blood flowed; and the maiden with the
+spirit of divination, that met Paul in the streets of Philippi;
+with many others.
+
+But all this is an abomination in the sight of God. For as the
+Lord came not to His prophet Elijah in the strong wind, nor in the
+earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice, so does
+He evidence Himself in all His prophets; and we find no record in
+Scripture, either of their madness, or of their having forgotten
+the oracles they uttered, like the Pythoness and others inspired
+by Satan. [Footnote: It is well known that somnambulists never
+remember upon their recovery what they have uttered during the
+crisis. Therefore phenomena of this class appear to belong, in
+some things, to that of the divining frenzy, though in others to
+quite a different category of the divining life.] Further, you may
+observe that the false prophets can always prophesy when they
+choose, Satan is ever willing to come when they exorcise him; but
+the true prophets of God are but instruments in the hand of the
+Lord, and can only speak when He chooses the spirit to enter into
+them. So we find them saying invariably--"This is the word which
+came unto me," or "This is the word which the Lord spake unto me."
+For the Lord is too high and holy to come at the bidding of a
+creature, or obey the summons of his will. St. Peter confirms
+this, 2 Pet. i. 21, that no prophecy ever came at the will of man.
+
+Again, the false prophets were persons of known infamous
+character, and in this differed from the prophets of God, who were
+always righteous men in word and deed. Diodorus informs us of the
+conduct of the Pythoness and the priests of Apollo, and also that
+all oracles were bought with gold, and the answer depended on the
+weight of the sack. As Ezekiel notices, xiii. 19; and Micah iii.
+8. Further, the holy prophets suffered all manner of persecution
+for the sake of God, as Daniel, Elias, Micah, yet remained
+faithful, with but one exception, and were severely punished if
+they fell into crime, and the gift of prophecy taken from them;
+for God cannot dwell in a defiled temple, but Satan can dwell in
+no other.
+
+Also, Satan's prophets speak only of temporal things, but God's
+people of spiritual things. The heathen oracles, for instance,
+never foretold any events but those concerning peace or war, or
+what men desire in riches, health, or advancement--in short,
+temporal matters alone. Whereas God's people, in addition to
+temporal concerns, preached repentance and holiness to the Jewish
+people, and the coming of Christ's kingdom, in whom all nations
+should be blessed. For as the soul is superior to the body, so are
+God's prophets superior to those of the Prince of this world.
+
+And in conclusion, observe that Satan's seers abounded with lies,
+as all heathen history testifies, or their oracles were capable of
+such different interpretations that they became a subject of
+mockery and contempt to the wise amongst the ancient philosophers.
+But be not surprised if they sometimes spoke truth, as the Lapland
+wizard has done, for the devil's power is superior to man's, and
+he can see events which, though close at hand, are yet hidden from
+us, as a father can foretell an approaching storm, though his
+little son cannot do so, and therefore looks upon his father's
+wisdom as supernatural. [Footnote: The somnambulists also can
+prophesy of those events which are near at hand, but never of the
+distant.] But the devil has not the power to see into futurity,
+nor even the angels of God, only God Himself.
+
+The prophets of God, on the contrary, are given power by Him to
+look through all time at a glance, as if it were but a moment; for
+a thousand years to Him are but as a watch of the night; and
+therefore they all from the beginning testified of the Saviour
+that was to come, and rejoiced in His day as if they really beheld
+Him, and all stood together as brothers in one place, and at the
+same time in His blessed presence. But what unanimity and feeling
+has ever been observed by the seers of Satan, when the
+contradictions amongst their oracles were notorious to every one?
+
+And as the eyes of all the holy prophets centred upon Christ, so
+the eyes of the greatest of all prophets penetrated the furthest
+depths of futurity. Not only His own life, sufferings, death, and
+resurrection were foretold by Him, but the end of the Jewish
+kingdom, the dispersion of their race, the rise of His Church from
+the grain of mustard-seed to the wide, world-spreading tree; and
+all has been fulfilled. Be assured, therefore, that this eternal
+glory, which He promised to those who trust in Him, will be
+fulfilled likewise when He comes to judge all nations. So, my
+worthy Lord Ulrich, cease to weep for your spouse who sleeps in
+Jesus, for a greater Prophet than the Lapland wizard has said, "I
+am the resurrection and the life, whosoever believeth in Me shall
+never die." [Footnote: In addition to the foregoing distinctions
+between the Satanic and the holy prophets, I may add the
+following--that almost all the diviners amongst the heathen were
+_women_. For instance, Cassandra, the Pythia in Delphi,
+Triton and Peristhaea in Dodona, the Sybils, the Velleda of
+Tacitus, the Mandragoras, and Druidesses, the witches of the
+Reformation age; and in fine, the modern somnambules are all women
+too. But throughout the whole Bible we find that the prophetic
+power was exclusively conferred upon _men_, with two
+exceptions--namely, Deborah, Judges iv. 4, and Hilda, 2 Chron.
+xxxiv. 22--for there is no evidence that Miriam had a seer spirit;
+she was probably only God-inspired, though classed under the
+general term prophet. We find, indeed, that woe was proclaimed
+against the divining women who prophesy out of their own head,
+Ezekiel xiii. 17-23; so amongst the people of God the revelation
+of the future was confined to _men_, amongst the heathen to
+_women_, or if men are mentioned in these pagan rites, it is
+only as assistants and inferior agents, like animals, metals,
+roots, stones, and such like. See Cicero, _De Divinatione_,
+i. 18.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom._
+
+
+When the discourse had ended, her Grace retired to her apartment
+and Ulrich to his, for it was their custom, as I have said, to
+sleep after dinner. Doctor Gerschovius returned home, and the
+young Prince descended to the gardens with his lute. Now was a
+fine time for the young knights, for they had been sadly disturbed
+in their carouse by that godly prophesying of the doctor's, and
+they now returned to their own quarter to finish it, headed by the
+old treasurer Zitsewitz. Then a merry uproar of laughing, singing,
+and jesting commenced, and as the door lay wide open as usual,
+Sidonia heard all from her chamber; so stepping out gently with a
+piece of bread in her hand, she tripped along the corridor past
+their door. No sooner was she perceived than a loud storm of
+cheers greeted her, which she returned with smiles and bows, and
+then danced down the steps to the courtyard. Several rose up to
+pursue her, amongst whom Wedig and Appelmann were the most eager.
+
+But they were too late, and saw nothing but the tail of her dress
+as she flew round the corner into the second court. Just then an
+old laundress, bringing linen to the castle for her Highness,
+passed by, and told the young men that the young lady had been
+feeding the tame stag with bread, and then jumped on its back
+while she held the horns, and that the animal had immediately
+galloped off like lightning into the second court; so that the
+young knights and squires rushed instantly after her, fearing that
+some accident might happen, and presently they heard her scream
+twice. Appelmann was the first to reach the outer court, and there
+beheld poor Sidonia in a sad condition, for the stag had flung her
+off. Fortunately it was on a heap of soft clay, and there she lay
+in a dead faint.
+
+Had the stag thrown her but a few steps further, against the
+manger for the knights' horses, she must have been killed. But
+Satan had not yet done with her, and therefore, no doubt, prepared
+this soft pillow for her head.
+
+When Appelmann saw that she was quite insensible, he kneeled down
+and kissed first her little feet, then her white hands, and at
+last her lips, while she lay at the time as still as death, poor
+thing. Just then Wedig came up in a great passion; for the
+castellan's son, who was playing ball, had flung the ball right
+between his legs, out of tricks, as he was running by, and nearly
+threw him down, whereupon Wedig seized hold of the urchin by his
+thick hair to punish him, for all the young knights were laughing
+at his discomfiture; but the boy bit him in the hip, and then
+sprang into his father's house, and shut the door. How little do
+we know what will happen! It was this bite which caused Wedig's
+lamentable death a little after.
+
+But if he was angry before, what was his rage now when he beheld
+the equerry, Appelmann, kissing the insensible maiden.
+
+"How now, peasant," he cried, "what means this boldness? How dare
+this tailor's son treat a castle and land dowered maiden in such a
+way? Are noble ladies made for his kisses?" And he draws his
+poignard to rush upon Appelmann, who draws forth his in return,
+and now assuredly there would have been murder done, if Sidonia
+had not just then opened her eyes, and starting up in amazement
+prayed them for her sake to keep quiet. She had been quite
+insensible, and knew nothing at all of what had happened. The old
+treasurer, with the other young knights, came up now, and strove
+to make peace between the two rivals, holding them apart by force;
+but nothing could calm the jealous Wedig, who still cried, "Let me
+avenge Sidonia!--let me avenge Sidonia!" So that Prince Ernest,
+hearing the tumult in the garden, ran with his lute in his hand to
+see what had happened. When they told him, he grew as pale as a
+corpse that such an indignity should have been offered to Sidonia,
+and reprimanded his equerry severely, but prayed that all would
+keep quiet now, as otherwise the Duchess and the Lord Chamberlain
+would certainly be awakened out of their after-dinner sleep, and
+then what an afternoon they would all have. This calmed every one,
+except the jealous Wedig, who, having drunk deeply, cried out
+still louder than before, "Let me go. I will give my life for the
+beautiful Sidonia. I will avenge the insolence of this peasant
+knave!"
+
+When Sidonia observed all this, she felt quite certain that a
+terrible storm was brewing for all of them, and so she ran to
+shelter herself through the first open door that came in her way,
+and up into the second corridor; but further adventures awaited
+her here, for not being acquainted with this part of the castle,
+she ran direct into an old lumber-room, where she found, to her
+great surprise, a young man dressed in rusty armour, and wearing a
+helmet with a serpent crest upon his head. This was Hans von
+Marintzky, whose brain Sidonia had turned by reading the Amadis
+with him in the castle gardens, and as she had often sighed, and
+said that she, too, could have loved the serpent knight, the poor
+love-stricken Hans, taking this for a favourable sign, determined
+to disguise himself as described in the romance, and thus secure
+her love.
+
+So when her beautiful face appeared at the door, Hans screamed for
+joy, like a young calf, and falling on one knee,
+exclaimed--"Adored Princess, your serpent knight is here to claim
+your love, and tender his hand to you in betrothal, for no other
+wife do I desire but thee; and if the Princess Rosaliana herself
+were here to offer me her love, I would strike her on the face."
+
+Sidonia was rather thunderstruck, as one may suppose, and
+retreated a few steps, saying, "Stand up, dear youth; what ails
+you?"
+
+"So I am dear to you," he cried, still kneeling; "I am then really
+dear to you, adored Princess? Ah! I hope to be yet dearer when I
+make you my spouse."
+
+Sidonia had not foreseen this termination to their romance
+reading, but she suppressed her laughter, remembering how she had
+lost her lover Uckermann by showing scorn; so she drew herself up
+with dignity, and said, with as grave a face as a chief mourner--
+
+"If you will not rise, sir knight, I must complain to her
+Highness; for I cannot be your spouse, seeing that I have resolved
+never to marry." (Ah! how willingly, how willingly you would have
+taken any husband half a year after.) "But if you will do me a
+service, brave knight, run instantly to the court, where Wedig and
+Appelmann are going to murder each other, and separate them, or my
+gracious lady and old Ulrich will awake, and then we shall all be
+punished."
+
+The poor fool jumped up instantly, and exclaiming, "Death for my
+adored princess!" he sprung down the steps, though rather
+awkwardly, not being accustomed to the greaves; and rushing into
+the middle of the crowd, with his vizor down, and the drawn sword
+in his hand, he began making passes at every one that came in his
+way, crying, "Death for my adored princess! Long live the
+beautiful Sidonia! Knaves, have done with your brawling, or I
+shall lay you all dead at my feet."
+
+At first every one stuck up close by the wall when they saw the
+madman, to get out of reach of his sword, which he kept whirling
+about his head; but as soon as he was recognised by his voice,
+Wedig called out to him--
+
+"Help, brother, help! Will you suffer that this peasant boor
+Appelmann should kiss the noble Sidonia as she lay there faint and
+insensible? Yet I saw him do this. So help me, relieve me, that I
+may brand this low-born knave for his daring."
+
+"What? My adored princess!" exclaimed the serpent knight. "This
+valet, this groom, dared to kiss her? and I would think myself
+blessed but to touch her shoe-tie;" and he fell furiously upon
+Appelmann.
+
+The uproar was now so great that it might have aroused the Duchess
+and Ulrich even from their last sleep, had they been in the
+castle.
+
+But, fortunately, some time before the riot began, both had gone
+out by the little private gate, to attend afternoon service at St.
+Peter's Church, in the town. For the archdeacon was sick, and
+Doctor Gerschovius was obliged to take his place there. No one,
+therefore, was left in the castle to give orders or hold command;
+even the castellan had gone to hear service; and no one minded
+Prince Ernest, he was so young, besides being under tutelage; and
+as to old Zitsewitz, he was as bad as the worst of them himself.
+
+The Prince threatened to have the castle bells rung if they were
+not quiet; and the uproar had indeed partially subsided just at
+the moment the serpent knight fell upon Appelmann. The Prince then
+ordered his equerry to leave the place instantly, under pain of
+his severe displeasure, for he saw that both had drunk rather
+deeply.
+
+So Appelmann turned to depart as the Prince commanded, but Wedig,
+who had been relieved by Hans the serpent, sprung after him with
+his dagger, limping though, for the bite in his hip made him
+stiff. Appelmann darted through the little water-gate and over the
+bridge; the other pursued him; and Appelmann, seeing that he was
+foaming with rage, jumped over the rails into a boat. Wedig
+attempted to do the same, but being stiff from the bite, missed
+the boat, and came down plump into the water.
+
+As he could not swim, the current carried him rapidly down the
+stream before the others had time to come up; but he was still
+conscious, and called to Hans, "Comrade, save me!" So Hans,
+forgetting his heavy cuirass, plunged in directly, and soon
+reached the drowning man. Wedig, however, in his death-struggles,
+seized hold of him with such force that they both instantly
+disappeared. Then every one sprang to the boats to try and save
+them; but being Sunday, the boats were all moored, so that by the
+time they were unfastened it was too late, and the two unfortunate
+young men had sunk for ever.
+
+What calamities may be caused by the levity and self-will of a
+beautiful woman! From the time of Helen of Troy up to the present
+moment, the world has known this well; but, alas! this was but the
+beginning of that tragedy which Sidonia played in Pomerania, as
+that other wanton did in Phrygia.
+
+Let us hear the conclusion, however. Prince Ernest, now being
+truly alarmed, despatched a messenger to the church for her
+Highness; but as Doctor Gerschovius had not yet ended his
+exordium, her Grace would by no means be disturbed, and desired
+the messenger to go to Ulrich, who no sooner heard the tidings
+than he rushed down to the water-gate. There he found a great
+crowd assembled, all eagerly trying, with poles and hooks, to fish
+out the bodies of the two young men; and one fellow even had tied
+a piece of barley bread to a rope, and flung it into the water--as
+the superstition goes that it will follow a corpse in the stream,
+and point to where it lies. And the women and children were
+weeping and lamenting on the bridge; but the old knight pushed
+them all aside with his elbows, and cried--"Thousand devils! what
+are ye all at here?"
+
+Every one was silent, for the young men had agreed not to betray
+Sidonia. Then Ulrich asked the Prince, who replied, that
+Marintzky, having put on some old armour to frighten the others,
+as he believed, they pursued him in fun over the bridge, and he
+and another fell over into the water. This was all he knew of the
+matter, for he was playing on the lute in the garden when the
+tumult began.
+
+"Thousand devils!" cries Ulrich; "I cannot turn my back a moment
+but there must be a riot amongst the young fellows. Listen! young
+lord--when it comes to your turn to rule land and people, I
+counsel you, send all the young fellows to the devil. Away with
+them! they are a vain and dissolute crew. Get up the bodies, if
+you can; but, for my part, I would care little if a few more were
+baptized in the same way. Speak! some of you: who commenced this
+tavern broil? Speak! I must have an answer."
+
+This adjuration had its effect, for a man answered--"Sidonia made
+the young men mad, and so it all happened." It was her own cousin,
+Marcus Bork, who spoke, for which reason Sidonia never could
+endure him afterwards, and finally destroyed him, as shall be
+related in due time.
+
+When Ulrich found that Sidonia was the cause of all, he raged with
+fury, and commanded them to tell him all. When Marcus had related
+the whole affair, he swore by the seven thousand devils that he
+would make her remember it, and that he would instantly go up to
+her chamber.
+
+But Prince Ernest stepped before him, saying, "Lord Ulrich, I have
+made you a promise--you must now make one to me: it is to leave
+this maiden in peace; she is not to blame for what has happened."
+But Ulrich would not listen to him.
+
+"Then I withdraw my promise," said the Prince. "Now act as you
+think proper."
+
+"Thousand devils! she had better give up that game," exclaimed
+Ulrich. However, he consented to leave her undisturbed, and
+departed with vehement imprecations on her head, just as the
+Duchess returned from church, and was seen advancing towards the
+crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how
+Clara von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways._
+
+
+It may be easily conjectured what a passion her Grace fell into
+when the whole story was made known to her, and how she stormed
+against Sidonia. At last she entered the castle; but Prince
+Ernest, rightly suspecting her object, slipped up to the corridor,
+and met her just as she had reached Sidonia's chamber. Here he
+took her hand, kissed it, and prayed her not to disgrace the young
+maiden, for that she was innocent of all the evil that had
+happened.
+
+But she pushed him away, exclaiming--"Thou disobedient son, have I
+not heard of thy gallantries with this girl, whom Satan himself
+has sent into my royal house? Shame on thee! One of thy noble
+station to take the part of a murderess!"
+
+"But you have judged harshly, my mother. I never made love to the
+maiden. Leave her in peace, and do not make matters worse, or all
+the young nobles will fight to the death for her."
+
+"Ay, and thou, witless boy, the first of all. Oh, that my beloved
+spouse, Philippus Primus, could rise from his grave--what would he
+say to his lost son, who, like the prodigal in Scripture, loves
+strange women and keeps company with brawlers!" (Weeping.)
+
+"Who has said that I am a lost son?"
+
+"Doctor Gerschovius and Ulrich both say it."
+
+"Then I shall run the priest through the body, and challenge the
+knight to mortal combat, unless they both retract their words."
+
+"No! stay, my son," said the Duchess; "I must have mistaken what
+they said. Stay, I command you!"
+
+"Never! Unless Sidonia be left in peace, such deeds will be done
+to-day that all Pomerania will ring with them for years."
+
+In short, the end of the controversy was, that the Duchess at last
+promised to leave Sidonia unmolested; and then retired to her
+chamber much disturbed, where she was soon heard singing the 109th
+psalm, with a loud voice, accompanied by the little spindle clock.
+
+Sidonia, who was hiding in her room, soon heard of all that had
+happened, through the Duchess's maid, whom she kept in
+pay;--indeed, all the servants were her sworn friends, in
+consequence of the liberal largess she gave them; and even the
+young lords and knights were more distractedly in love with her
+than ever after the occurrences of the day, for her cunning turned
+everything to profit.
+
+So next morning, having heard that Prince Ernest was going to
+Eldena to receive the dues, she watched for him, probably through
+the key-hole, knowing he must pass her door. Accordingly, just as
+he went by, she opened it, and presented herself to his eyes
+dressed in unusual elegance and coquetry, and wearing a short robe
+which showed her pretty little sandals. The Prince, when he saw
+the short robe, and that she looked so beautiful, blushed, and
+passed on quickly, turning away his head, for he remembered the
+promise he had given to Ulrich, and was afraid to trust himself
+near her.
+
+But Sidonia stepped before him, and flinging herself at his feet,
+began to weep, murmuring, "Gracious Prince and Lord, accept my
+gratitude, for you alone have saved me, a poor young maiden, from
+destruction."
+
+"Stand up, dear lady, stand up."
+
+"Never until my tears fall upon your feet." And then she kissed
+his yellow silk hose ardently, continuing, "What would have become
+of me, a helpless, forlorn orphan, without your protection?"
+
+Here the young Prince could no longer restrain his emotions; if he
+had pledged his word to the whole world, even to the great God
+Himself, he must have broken it. So he raised her up and kissed
+her, which she did not resist; only sighed, "Ah! if any one saw us
+now, we would both be lost." But this did not restrain him, and he
+kissed her again and again, and pressed her to his heart, when she
+trembled, and murmured scarcely audibly, "Oh! why do I love you
+so! Leave me, my lord, leave me; I am miserable enough."
+
+"Do you then love me, Sidonia? Oh! let me hear you say it once
+more. You love me, enchanting Sidonia!"
+
+"Alas!" she whispered, while her whole frame trembled, "what have
+I foolishly said? Oh! I am so unhappy."
+
+"Sidonia! tell me once again you love me. I cannot credit my
+happiness, for you are even more gracious with the young nobles
+than with me, and often have you martyred my heart with jealousy."
+
+"Yes; I am courteous to them all, for so my father taught me, and
+said it was safer for a maiden so to be--but----"
+
+"But what? Speak on."
+
+"Alas!" and here she covered her face with her hands; but Prince
+Ernest pressed her to his heart, and kissed her, asking her again
+if she really loved him; and she murmured a faint "yes;" then as
+if the shame of such a confession had killed her, she tore herself
+from his arms, and sprang into her chamber. So the young Prince
+pursued his way to Eldena, but took so little heed about the dues
+that Ulrich shook his head over the receipts for half a year
+after.
+
+When mid-day came, and the band struck up for dinner, Sidonia was
+prepared for a similar scene with the young knights, and, as she
+passed along the corridor, she gave them her white hand to kiss,
+glittering with diamonds, thanking them all for not having
+betrayed her, and praying them to keep her still in their favour,
+whereat they were all wild with ecstasy; but old Zitsewitz, not
+content with her hand, entreated for a kiss on her sweet ruby
+lips, which she granted, to the rage and jealousy of all the
+others, while he exclaimed, "O Sidonia, thou canst turn even an
+old man into a fool!"
+
+And his words came true; for in the evening a dispute arose as to
+which of them Sidonia liked best, seeing that she uttered the same
+sweet things to all; and to settle it, five of them, along with
+the old fool Zitsewitz, went to Sidonia's room, and each in turn
+asked her hand in marriage; but she gave them all the same
+answer--that she had no idea then of marriage, she was but a
+young, silly creature, and would not know her own mind for ten
+years to come.
+
+One good resulted from Sidonia's ride upon the stag: her
+promenades were forbidden, and she was restricted henceforth
+entirely to the women's quarter of the castle. Her Grace and she
+had frequent altercations; but with Clara she kept upon good
+terms, as the maiden was of so excellent and mild a disposition.
+
+This peace, however, was destined soon to be broken; for though
+her Grace was silent in the presence of Sidonia, yet she never
+ceased complaining in private to the maids of honour of this
+artful wench, who had dared to throw her eyes upon Prince Ernest.
+So at length they asked why her Highness did not dismiss the girl
+from her service.
+
+"That must be done," she replied, "and without delay. For that
+purpose, indeed, I have written to Duke Barnim, and also to the
+father of the girl, at Stramehl, acquainting them with my
+intention."
+
+Clara now gently remonstrated, saying that a little Christian
+instruction might yet do much for the poor young sinner, and that
+if she did not become good and virtuous under the care of her
+Grace, where else could she hope to have her changed?
+
+"I have tried all Christian means," said her Grace, "but in vain.
+The ears of the wicked are closed to the Word of God."
+
+"But let her Grace recollect that this poor sinner was endowed
+with extraordinary beauty, and therefore it was no fault of hers
+if the young men all grew deranged for love of her."
+
+Here a violent tumult, and much scornful laughing, arose amongst
+the other maids of honour; and one Anna Lepels exclaimed--"I
+cannot imagine in what Sidonia's wonderful beauty consists. When
+she flatters the young men, and makes free with them as they are
+passing to dinner, what marvel if they all run after her? Any girl
+might have as many lovers if she chose to adopt such manners."
+
+Clara made no reply, but turning to her Grace, said with her
+permission she would leave her spinning for a while, to visit
+Sidonia in her room, who perhaps would hearken to her advice, as
+she meant kindly to her.
+
+"You may go," said her Grace; "but what do you mean to do? I tell
+you, advice is thrown away on her."
+
+"Then I will threaten her with the Catechism of Doctor
+Gerschovius, which she must repeat on Sunday, for I know that she
+is greatly afraid of that and the clergyman."
+
+"And you think you will frighten her into giving up running after
+the young men?"
+
+"Oh yes, if I tell her that she will be publicly reprimanded
+unless she can say it perfectly."
+
+So her Grace allowed her to depart, but with something of a weak
+faith.
+
+Although Sidonia had absented herself from the spinning, on the
+pretext of learning the catechism quietly in her own room, yet,
+when Clara entered, no one was there except the maid, who sat upon
+the floor at her work. She knew nothing about the young lady; but
+as she heard a great deal of laughter and merriment in the court
+beneath, it was likely Sidonia was not far off. On stepping to the
+window, Clara indeed beheld Sidonia.
+
+In the middle of the court was a large horse-pond built round with
+stones, to which the water was conducted by metal pipes
+communicating with the river Peene. In the middle of the pond was
+a small island, upon which a bear was kept chained. A plank was
+now thrown across the pond to the island; upon this Sidonia was
+standing feeding the bear with bread, which Appelmann, who stood
+beside her, first dipped into a can of syrup, and several of the
+young squires stood round them laughing and jesting.
+
+The idle young pages were wont to take great delight in shooting
+at the bear with blunt arrows, and when it growled and snarled,
+then they would calm it again by throwing over bits of bread
+steeped in honey or syrup. So Sidonia, waiting to see the fun, had
+got upon the plank ready to give the bread just as the bear had
+got to the highest pitch of irritation, when he would suddenly
+change his growling into another sort of speech after his fashion.
+All this amused Sidonia mightily, and she laughed and clapped her
+hands with delight.
+
+When the modest Clara beheld all this, and how Sidonia danced up
+and down on the plank, while the water splashed over her robe, she
+called to her--"Dear Lady Sidonia, come hither: I have somewhat to
+tell thee." But she answered tartly--"Dear Lady Clara, keep it
+then: I am too young to be told everything." And she danced up and
+down on the plank as before.
+
+After many vain entreaties, Clara had at length to descend and
+seize the wild bird by the wing--I mean thereby the arm--and carry
+her off to the castle. The young men would have followed, but they
+were engaged to attend his Highness on a fishing excursion that
+afternoon, and were obliged to go and see after their nets and
+tackle. So the two maidens could walk up and down the corridor
+undisturbed; and Clara asked if she had yet learned the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"No; I have no wish to learn it."
+
+_Haec_.--"But if the priest has to reprimand you publicly from
+the pulpit?"
+
+_Illa_.--"I counsel him not to do it."
+
+_Haec_.--"Why, what would you do to him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He will find that out."
+
+_Haec_.--"Dear Sidonia, I wish you well; and therefore let me
+tell you that not only the priest, but our gracious lady, and all
+the noble maidens of the court, are sad and displeased that you
+should make so free with the young men, and entice them to follow
+you, as I have seen but too often myself. Do it not, dear Sidonia
+I mean well by you;--do it not. It will injure your reputation."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ha! you are jealous now, you little pious
+housesparrow, that the young men do not run after you too. How can
+I help it?"
+
+_Haec_.--"Every maiden can help it; were she as beautiful as
+could be seen, she can help it. Leave off, Sidonia, or evil will
+come of it, particularly as her Grace has heard that you are
+seeking to entice our young lord the Prince. See, I tell you the
+pure truth, that it may turn you from your light courses. Tell me,
+what can you mean by it?--for when noble youths demand your hand
+in marriage, you reject them, and say you never mean to marry. Can
+you think that our gracious Prince, a son of Pomerania, will make
+thee his duchess--thou who art only a common nobleman's daughter?"
+
+_Illa_.--"A common nobleman's daughter!--that is good from
+the peasant-girl. You are common enough and low enough, I warrant;
+but my blood is as old as that of the Dukes of Pomerania, and
+besides, I am a castle and land dowered maiden. But who are you?
+who are you? Your forefathers were hunted out of Mecklenburg, and
+only got footing here in Pomerania out of charity."
+
+_Haec_.--"Do not be angry, dear lady--you say true; yet I must
+add that my forebears were once Counts in Mecklenburg, and from
+their loyalty to the Dukes of Pomerania were given possessions
+here in Daber, where they have been lords of castles and lands for
+two hundred and fifty years. Yet I will confess that your race is
+nobler than mine; but, dear child, I make no boast of my ancestry,
+nor is it fitting for either of us to do so. The right royal
+Prince, who is given as an example and model to us all--who is
+Lord, not over castle and land, but of the heavens and the
+earth--the Saviour, Jesus Christ--He took no account of His arms
+or His ancestry, though the whole starry universe was His banner.
+He was as humble to the little child as to the learned doctors in
+the temple--to the chiefs among the people, as to the trembling
+sinner and the blind beggar Bartimaeus. Let us take, then, this
+Prince for our example, and mind our life long what He says--'Come
+unto Me, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.' Will
+you not learn of Him, dear lady? I will, if God give me grace."
+
+And she extended her hand to Sidonia, who dashed it away,
+crying--"Stuff! nonsense! you have learned all this twaddle from
+the priest, who, I know, is nephew to the shoe-maker in Daber, and
+therefore hates any one who is above him in rank."
+
+Clara was about to reply mildly; but they happened now to be
+standing close to the public flight of steps, and a peasant-girl
+ran up when she saw them, and flung herself at Clara's feet,
+entreating the young lady to save her, for she had run away from
+Daber, where they were going to burn her as a witch. The pious
+Clara recoiled in horror, and desiring her to rise, said--"Art
+thou Anne Wolde, some time keeper of the swine to my father? How
+fares it with my dearest father and my mother?"
+
+They were well when she ran away, but she had been wandering now
+for fourteen days on the road, living upon roots and wild berries,
+or what the herds gave her out of their knapsacks for charity.
+
+_Haec_.--"What crime wast thou suspected of, girl, to be
+condemned to so terrible a death?"
+
+_Illa_.--"She had a lover named Albert, who followed her
+everywhere, but as she would not listen to him he hated her, and
+pretended that she had given him a love-drink."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed aloud, and asked if she knew how to brew the
+love-drink?
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; she learned from her elder sister how to make
+it, but had never tried it with any one, and was perfectly
+innocent of all they charged her with."
+
+Here Clara shook her head, and wished to get rid of the
+witch-girl; for she thought, truly if Sidonia learns the brewing
+secret, she will poison and destroy the whole castleful, and we
+shall have the devil bodily with us in earnest. So she pushed away
+the girl, who still clung to her, weeping and lamenting. Hereupon
+Sidonia grew quite grave and pious all of a sudden, and said--
+
+"See the hypocrite she is! She first sets before me the example of
+Christ, and then treats this poor sinner with nothing but cross
+thorns! Has not Christ said, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy'? But only see how this bigot can have Christ
+on her tongue, but not in her heart!"
+
+The pious Clara grew quite ashamed at such talk, and raising up
+the wretch who had again fallen on her knees, said--
+
+"Well, thou mayest remain; so get thee to my maid, and she will
+give thee food. I shall also write to my father for thy pardon,
+and meanwhile ask leave from her Grace to allow thee to remain
+here until it arrives; but if thou art guilty, I cannot promise
+thee my protection any longer, and thou wilt be burned here, in
+place of at Daber."
+
+So the witch-girl was content, and importuned them no further.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How Sidonia Wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince._
+
+
+When Prince Ernest returned home after an absence of some days,
+Sidonia had changed her tactics, for now she never lifted up her
+eyes when they met, but passed on blushing and confused, and in
+place of speaking, as formerly, only sighed. This turned his head
+completely, and sent the blood so quickly through his veins that
+he found it a hard matter to conceal his feelings any longer. For
+this reason he determined to visit Sidonia in her own room as soon
+as he could hit upon a favourable opportunity, and bring her then
+a beautiful lute, inlaid with gold and silver, which he had
+purchased for her at Grypswald.
+
+Now, it happened soon after, that her Grace and Clara went away
+one day into the town to purchase a jerkin for the little Prince
+Casimir, who accompanied them. Sidonia was immediately informed of
+their absence, and sought out Clara's maid without delay, put a
+piece of gold into her hand, and said--
+
+"Send the strange girl from Daber to my room for a few minutes;
+she can perhaps give me some tidings of my dear father and family,
+for Daber is only a little way from Stramehl. But mind," she
+added, "keep this visit a secret, as well from her Grace as from
+your mistress Clara; otherwise we shall all be scolded."
+
+So the maid very willingly complied, and brought the witch-girl
+directly to Sidonia's little apartment, and then ran to Clara's
+room to watch for the return of her Grace in time to give notice.
+
+The witch-girl was quite confounded (as she afterwards confessed
+upon the rack) when Sidonia began--
+
+"Thou knowest, Anne, that my entreaties alone obtained thee a
+shelter here, for I pitied thee from the first; and from what I
+hear, it is certain that her Grace means to deal no better with
+thee than thy judges at Daber, therefore my advice is--escape if
+thou canst."
+
+_Illa_, weeping.--"Where can I go? I shall die of hunger, or
+they will arrest me again as an evil-minded witch, and carry me
+back to Daber."
+
+"But do not tell them, stupid goose, that thou hast come from
+Daber."
+
+_Illa_.--"But what could she say? Besides, she had no money,
+and so must be lost and ruined for ever."
+
+"Well, I shall give thee gold enough to get thee through all
+dangers. I give it, mind, out of pure Christian charity; but now
+tell me honestly--canst thou really make a love-drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; her sister had taught her."
+
+"Is the drink of equal power for men and women?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; without doubt, it would make either mad with
+love."
+
+"Has it ever an injurious effect upon them? does it take away
+their strength?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; they fall down like flies. Some lose their
+memory, others become blind or lame."
+
+"Has she ever tried its effects upon any one herself?"
+
+_Illa_.--"But will the lady betray me?"
+
+"Out, fool! When I have promised thee gold enough to insure thy
+escape! I betray thee!"
+
+_Illa_.--"Then she will tell the lady the whole truth. She
+did give a love-drink to Albert, because he grew cross, and spent
+the nights away from her, and complained if she idled a little, so
+that her master beat her. Therefore she determined to punish him,
+and a rash came out over his whole body, so that he could neither
+sit nor lie for six weeks, and at night he had to be tied to a
+post with a hand-towel; but all this time his love for her grew so
+burning, that although he had previously hated and beaten her, yet
+now if she only brought him a drink of cold water, for which he
+was always screaming, he would kiss her hands and feet even though
+she spat in his face, and he would certainly have died if his
+relations had not found out an old woman who unbewitched him;
+whereupon his love came to an end, and he informed against her."
+
+That must be a wonderful drink. Would the girl teach her how to
+brew it?
+
+But just then our Lord God sent yet another warning to Sidonia,
+through His angel, to turn her from her villainy, for as the girl
+was going to answer, a knock was heard at the chamber-door. They
+both grew as white as chalk; but Sidonia bethought herself of a
+hiding-place, and bid the other creep under the bed while she went
+to the door to see who knocked, and as she opened it, so there
+stood Prince Ernest bodily before her eyes, with the lute in his
+hand.
+
+"Ah, gracious Prince, what brings you here? I pray your Highness,
+for the sake of God, to leave me. What would be said if any one
+saw you here?"
+
+"But who is to see us, my beautiful maiden? My gracious mother has
+gone out to drive; and now, just look at this lute that I have
+purchased for you in Grypswald. Will it please thee, sweet one?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas, gracious Prince, of what use will it be to
+me, when I have no one to teach me how to play?"
+
+"I will teach thee, oh, how willingly, but--thou knowest what I
+would say."
+
+_Illa_.--"No, no, I dare not learn from your Highness. Now
+go, and do not make me more miserable."
+
+"What makes thee miserable, enchanting Sidonia?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, if your Highness could know how this heart
+burns within me like a fire! What will become of me? Would that I
+were dead--oh, I am a miserable maiden! If your Highness were but
+a simple noble, then I might hope--but now. Woe is me! I must go!
+Yes, I must go!"
+
+"Why must thou go, my own sweet darling? and why dost thou wish me
+to be only a simple noble? Canst thou not love a duke better than
+a noble?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Gracious Prince, what is a poor count's daughter to
+your princely Highness? and would her Grace ever consent? Ah no, I
+must go--I must go!"
+
+Here she sobbed so violently, and covered her eyes with her hands,
+that the young Duke could no longer restrain his feelings. He
+seized her passionately in his arms, and was kissing away the
+crocodile tears, when lo, another knock came to the door, and
+Sidonia grew paler even than the first time, for there was no
+place to hide the Prince in, as the witch-wench was already under
+the bed, and not even quite hidden, for some of her red petticoat
+was visible round the post, and one could easily see by the way it
+moved that some living body was in it, for the girl was trembling
+with the most horrible fear and fright. But the Prince was too
+absorbed in love either to notice all this or to mind the knock at
+the door.
+
+Sidonia, however, knew well that it was over with them now, and
+she pushed away the young Prince, just as the door opened and
+Clara entered, who grew quite pale, and clasped her hands together
+when she saw the Duke and Sidonia together; then the tears fell
+fast from her eyes, and she could utter nothing but--"Ah, my
+gracious Prince--my poor innocent Prince--what has brought you
+here?" but neither of them spoke a word. "You are lost," exclaimed
+Clara; "the Duchess is coming up the corridor, and has just
+stopped to look at her pet cat and the kittens there by the page's
+room. Hasten, young Prince--hasten to meet her before she comes a
+step further."
+
+So the young lord darted out of the chamber, and found his
+gracious mother still examining her kittens, whereupon he prayed
+her then to descend with him to the courtyard and look also at his
+fine hounds, to which she consented.
+
+The moment Prince Ernest disappeared, Clara commenced upbraiding
+Sidonia for her evil ways, which could not be any longer
+denied--for had she not seen all with her own eyes?--and she now
+conjured her by the living God to turn away from the young Duke,
+and select some noble of her own rank as her husband. This could
+easily be done when so many loved her; but as to the Prince, as
+long as her Grace and Ulrich lived, or even one single branch of
+the princely house of Pomerania, this marriage would never be
+permitted, let the young lord do or say what he chose.
+
+"Ah, thou pious old priest in petticoats," exclaimed Sidonia, "who
+told thee I wanted to marry the Prince? How can I help if he
+chooses to come in here and, though I weep and resist, takes me in
+his arms and kisses me? So leave off thy preaching, and tell me
+rather what brings thee spying to my room?"
+
+Then Clara remembered what had really been her errand, although
+the love-scene had put everything else out of her head until now,
+and replied--"I was seeking the witch-girl from Daber, for when I
+went out with her Grace, I left her in charge of my maid; but as
+we returned home by the little garden gate, I slipped up to my
+room by the private stairs without any one seeing me, and found my
+maid looking out of the window, but no girl was to be seen. When I
+asked what had become of her, the maid answered she knew not, the
+girl must have slipped away while her back was turned, so I came
+here to ask if you had seen the impudent hussy, for I fear if her
+wings are not clipped she will do harm to some one."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite indignant--what could she know of a vile
+witch-wench? Besides, she had not been ten minutes there in the
+room.
+
+"But perchance the bird has found herself a nest somewhere," said
+Clara, looking towards the bed; "methinks, indeed, I see some of
+the feathers, for surely a red gown never trembled that way under
+a bed unless there was something living inside of it." When the
+witch-girl heard this her fright increased, so that, to make
+matters worse, she pulled her gown in under the bed, upon which
+Clara kneeled down, lifted the coverlet, and found the owl in its
+nest. Now she had to creep out weeping and howling, and promised
+to tell everything.
+
+But Sidonia gave her a look which she understood well, and
+therefore when she stood up straight by the bed, begged piteously
+that the Lady Clara would not scold her for having tried to
+escape, because she herself had threatened her with being burned
+there as well as at Daber, so not knowing where to hide, and
+seeing the Lady Sidonia's door open, she crept in there and got
+under the bed, intending to wait till night came and then ask her
+aid in effecting her flight, for the Lady Sidonia was the only one
+in the castle who had shown her Christian compassion.
+
+Hereat Sidonia rose up as if in great rage, and said, "Ha! thou
+impudent wench, how darest thou reckon on my protection!" and
+seizing her by the hand--in which, however, she pressed a piece of
+gold--pushed her violently out of the door.
+
+Now Clara, thinking that this was the whole truth, fell weeping
+upon Sidonia's neck, and asked forgiveness for her suspicions.
+"There, that will do," said Sidonia,--"that will do, old preacher;
+only be more cautious in future. What! am I to poke under my bed
+to see if any one is hiding there? You may go, for I suppose you
+have often hidden a lover there, your eyes turn to it so
+naturally."
+
+As Clara grew red with shame, Sidonia drew the witch-girl again
+into the room, and giving her a box on the ear that made her teeth
+chatter--"Now, confess," said she, "what I said to the young lord
+without knowing that you were listening." So the poor girl
+answered weeping, "Nothing but what was good did you say to him,
+namely, that he should go away; and then you pushed him so
+violently when he attempted to kiss you, that he stumbled over
+against the bed."
+
+"See, now, my pious preacher," said Sidonia, "this girl confirms
+exactly what I told you; so now go along with you, you hussy, or
+mayhap you will come off no better than she has done."
+
+Hereupon Clara went away humbly with the witch-girl to her own
+room, and never uttered another word. Nevertheless the affair did
+not seem quite satisfactory to her yet. So she conferred with her
+betrothed, Marcus Bork, on the subject. For when he carried books
+for her Highness from the ducal library, it was his custom to
+scrape with his feet in a peculiar manner as he passed Clara's
+door; then she knew who it was, and opened it. And as her maid was
+present, they conversed together in the Italian tongue; for they
+were both learned, not only in God's Word, but in all other
+knowledge, so that people talk about them yet in Pomeranian land
+for these things.
+
+Clara therefore told him the whole affair in Italian, before her
+maid and the witch-girl--of the visit of the young Prince, and how
+the girl was lying hid under the bed, and asked him was it not
+likely that Sidonia had brought her there to teach her how to brew
+the love-drink, with which she would then have bewitched the
+Prince and all the men-folk in the castle, and ought she not to
+warn her Grace of the danger.
+
+But Marcus answered, that if the witch-girl had been at the castle
+weeks before, he might have supposed that Sidonia had received the
+secret of the love-potion from her, since every man, old and
+young, was mad for love of her--but now he must needs confess that
+Sidonia's eyes and deceiving mouth were magic sufficient; and that
+it was not likely she would bring a vile damsel to her room to
+teach her that which she knew already so perfectly. So he thought
+it better not to tell her Highness anything on the subject.
+Besides, if the wench were examined, who knows what she might tell
+of Sidonia and the young lord that would bring shame on the
+princely house of Wolgast, since she had been hid under the bed
+all the time, and perhaps only kept silence through fear. It were
+well therefore on every account not to let the matter get wind,
+and to shut up the wench safely in the witches' tower until the
+answer came from Daber. If she were pronounced really guilty, it
+would then be time enough to question her on the rack about the
+love-drink and the conversation between the young lord and
+Sidonia.
+
+So this course was agreed on. It is, however, much to be regretted
+that Clara did not follow the promptings of her good angel, and
+tell all to her Grace and old Ulrich; for then much misfortune and
+scandal would have been spared to the whole Pomeranian land. But
+she followed her bride-groom's advice, and kept all secret. The
+witch-girl, however, was locked up that very day in the witches'
+tower, to guard against future evil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how
+she whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness._
+
+
+The Sunday came at last when Sidonia was to be examined publicly
+in the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius. Her Grace was filled with
+anxiety to see how all would terminate, for every one suspected
+(as indeed was the case) that not one word of it would she be able
+to repeat. So the church was crowded, and all the young men
+attended without exception, knowing what was to go forward, and
+fearing for Sidonia, because this Dr. Gerschovius was a stern,
+harsh man; but she herself seemed to care little about the matter,
+for she entered her Grace's closet as usual (which was right
+opposite the pulpit), and threw herself carelessly into a corner.
+However, when the doctor entered the pulpit she became more grave,
+and finally, when his discourse was drawing near to the close, she
+rose up quietly and glided out of the closet, intending to descend
+to the gardens. Her Grace did not perceive her movement, in
+consequence of the hat with the heron's plume which she wore, for
+the feathers drooped down at the side next Sidonia, and the other
+ladies were too much alarmed to venture to draw her attention to
+the circumstance. But the priest from the pulpit saw her well, and
+called out--"Maiden! maiden! Whither go you? Remember ye have to
+repeat your catechism!"
+
+Then Sidonia grew quite pale, for her Grace and all the
+congregation fixed their eyes on her. So when she felt quite
+conscious that she was looking pale, she said, "You see from my
+face that I am not well; but if I get better, doubt not but that I
+shall return immediately." Here all the maids of honour put up
+their kerchiefs to hide their laughter, and the young nobles did
+the same.
+
+So she went away; but they might wait long enough, I think, for
+her to come back. In vain her Grace watched until the priest left
+the pulpit, and then sent two of her ladies to look for the
+hypocrite; but they returned declaring that she was nowhere to be
+seen.
+
+_Summa_.--The whole service was ended, and her Grace looked
+as angry as the doctor; and when the organ had ceased, and the
+people were beginning to depart, she called out from her closet--
+
+"Let every one come this way, and accompany me to Sidonia's
+apartment. There I shall make her repeat the catechism before ye
+all. Messengers shall be despatched in all directions until they
+find out her hiding-place."
+
+This pleased the doctor and Ulrich well. So they all proceeded to
+Sidonia's little room; for there she was, to their great surprise,
+seated upon a chair with a smelling-bottle in her hand. Whereupon
+her Grace demanded what ailed her, and why she had not stayed to
+repeat the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she was so weak, she would certainly have
+fainted, if she had not descended to the garden for a little fresh
+air. She was so distressed that her Grace had been troubled
+sending for her, of which she was not aware until now."
+
+"Are you better now?" asked her Grace.
+
+_Illa_.--"Rather better. The fresh air had done her good."
+
+"Then," quoth her Grace, "you shall recite the catechism here for
+the doctor; for, in truth, Christianity is as necessary to you as
+water to a fish."
+
+The doctor now cleared his throat to begin; but she stopped him
+pertly, saying--
+
+"I do not choose to say my catechism here in my room, like a
+little child. Grown-up maidens are always heard in the church."
+
+Howbeit, her Grace motioned to him not to heed her. So to his
+first question she replied rather snappishly, "You have your
+answer already."
+
+No wonder the priest grew black with rage. But seeing a book lying
+open on a little table beside her bed, and thinking it was the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius which she had been studying, he
+stepped over to look. But judge his horror when he found that it
+was a volume of the _Amadis de Gaul_, and was lying open at
+the eighth chapter, where he read--"How the Prince Amadis de Gaul
+loved the Princess Rosaliana, and was beloved in return, and how
+they both attained to the accomplishment of their desires."
+
+He dashed the book to the ground furiously, stamped upon it, and
+cried--
+
+"So, thou wanton, this is thy Bible and thy catechism! Here thou
+learnest how to make young men mad! Who gave thee this infamous
+book? Speak! Who gave it to thee?"
+
+So Sidonia looked up timidly, and said, weeping, "It was his
+Highness Duke Barnim who gave it to her, and told her it was a
+merry book, and good against low spirits."
+
+Here the Duchess, who had lifted up her hand to give her a box on
+the ear, let it fall again with a deep sigh when she heard of the
+old Prince having given her such an infamous book, and lamented
+loudly, crying--
+
+"Who will free me from this shameless wanton, who makes all the
+court mad? Truly says Scripture, 'A beautiful woman without
+discretion is like a circlet of gold upon a swine's head.' Ah! I
+know that now. But I trust my messengers will soon return whom I
+have despatched to Stettin and Stramehl, and then I shall get rid
+of thee, thou wanton, for which God be thanked for evermore."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room with old Ulrich, who only shook
+his head, but remained as mute as a fish. Doctor Gerschovius,
+however, stayed behind with Sidonia, in order to exhort her to
+virtue; but as she only wept and did not seem to hear him, he grew
+tired, and finally went his way, also with many sighs and
+uplifting of his hands.
+
+A little after, as Sidonia was howling just out of pure
+ill-temper, for, in my opinion, nothing ailed her, the little
+Prince Casimir ran in to look for his mamma--she had gone to hear
+Sidonia her catechism, they told him.
+
+"What did he want with his lady mamma?"
+
+"His new jerkin hurt him, he wanted her to tie it another way for
+him; but is it really true, Sidonia, that you do not know your
+catechism? I can say it quite well. Just come now and hear me say
+it."
+
+It is probable that her Grace and the doctor had devised this plan
+in order to shame Sidonia, by showing her how even a little child
+could repeat it; but she took it angrily, and, calling him over,
+said, "Yes; come--I will hear you your catechism." And as the
+little boy came up close beside her, she slung him across her
+knee, pulled down his hose, and--oh, shame!--whipped his Serene
+Highness upon his princely _podex_, that it would have melted
+the heart of a stone. How this shows her cruel and evil
+disposition--to revenge on the child what she had to bear from the
+mother. Fie on the maiden!
+
+And here my gracious Prince will say--"O Theodore, this matter
+surely might have been passed over, since it brings a disrespect
+upon my princely house."
+
+I answer--"Gracious Lord and Prince, my most humble services are
+due to your Grace, but truth must be still truth, however it may
+displease your Highness. Besides, by no other act could I have so
+well proved the infernal evil in this woman's nature; for if she
+could dare to lay her godless hand upon one of your illustrious
+race, then all her future acts are perfectly comprehensible.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--This is true, and
+therefore I consent to let it remain; and I remember that Prince
+Casimir told me long afterwards that the scene remained indelibly
+impressed on his memory. "For," he said, "the wild eyes and the
+terrible voice of the witch frightened me more even than her cruel
+hand; as if even there I detected the devil in her, though I was
+but a little boy at the time."] When the malicious wretch let the
+boy go, he darted out of the room and ran down the whole corridor,
+screaming out that he would tell his mamma about Sidonia; but
+Zitsewitz met him, and having heard the story, the amorous old
+fool took him up in his arms, and promised him heaps of beautiful
+things if he would hold his tongue and not say a word more to any
+one, and that he would give Sidonia a good whipping himself, in
+return for what she had done to him. So, in short, her Grace never
+heard of the insult until after Sidonia's departure from court."
+
+Had her Highness been in her apartment, she must have heard the
+child scream; but it so happened that just then she was walking up
+and down the ducal gardens, whither she had gone to cool her
+anger.
+
+Soon after a stately ship was seen sailing down the river from
+Penemunde, [Footnote: A town in Pomerania.] which attracted all
+eyes in the castle, for on the deck stood a noble youth, with a
+heron's plume waving from his cap, and he held a tame sea-gull
+upon his hand, which from time to time flew off and dived into the
+water, bringing up all sorts of fish, great and small, in its
+beak, with which it immediately flew back to the handsome youth.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Clara, "there must be the sons of our gracious
+Princess! for to-morrow is her birthday, and here comes the noble
+bishop, Johann Frederick of Camyn, and his brother, Duke Bogislaff
+XIII., to pay their respects to their gracious mother."
+
+Her Grace, however, would scarcely credit that the handsome youth
+who was fishing after so elegant a manner was indeed her own
+beloved son; but Clara clapped her hands now, crying, "Look! your
+Grace--look! there is the flag hoisted!" And indeed there
+fluttered from the mast now the bishop's own arms. So the warder
+blew his horn, which was answered by the warder of St. Peter's in
+the town, and the bells in all the towers rang out, and the
+castellan ordered the cannon in the courtyard to be fired off.
+
+Her Grace was now thoroughly convinced, and weeping for joy, ran
+down to the little water-gate, where old Ulrich already stood
+waiting to receive the princes. As the vessel approached, however,
+they discovered that the handsome youth was not the bishop, but
+Duke Bogislaff, who had been staying on a visit at his brother's
+court at Camyn, along with several high prelates. The bishop,
+Johann Frederick, did not accompany him, for he was obliged to
+remain at home, in order to receive a visit from the Prince of
+Brandenburg.
+
+When the Duke stepped on shore he embraced his weeping mother
+joyfully, and said he came to offer her his congratulations on her
+birthday, and that she must not weep but laugh, for there should
+be a dance in honour of it, and a right merry feast at the castle
+on the morrow.
+
+Then he tumbled out on the bridge all the fish which the bird had
+caught; and her Grace wondered greatly, and stroked it as it sat
+upon the shoulder of the Prince. So he asked if the bird pleased
+her Grace, and when she answered "Yes," he said, "Then, dearest
+mother, let it be my birthday gift to you. I have trained it
+myself, and tried it here, as you see, upon the river. So any
+afternoon that you and your ladies choose to amuse yourselves with
+a sail, this bird will fish for you as long as you please, while
+you row down the river."
+
+Ah, what a good son was this handsome young Duke!--and when I
+think that Sidonia murdered them all--all--even this noble Prince,
+my heart seems to break, and the pen falls from my fingers.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Et quid mihi, misero
+filio? Domine in manus tuas commando spiritum meum, quia tu me
+redemisti fide Deus! (And what remains to me, wretched son? Lord,
+into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me,
+Thou God of truth.)--When one thinks that it was the general
+belief in that age that the whole ducal race had been destroyed
+and blasted by Sidonia's sorceries, it is impossible not to be
+affected by these melancholy yet resigned and Christian words of
+the last orphaned and childless representative of the ancient and
+illustrious house of Wolgast.]
+
+But to continue. The Duchess embraced the fine young Prince, who
+still continued talking of the dance they must have next day. It
+was time now for his gracious mother to give up mourning for her
+deceased lord, he said.
+
+But her Grace would not hear of a dance; and replied that she
+would continue to mourn for her dear lord all the rest of her
+life, to whom she had been wedded by Doctor Martinus. However, the
+Duke repeated his entreaties, and all the young nobles added
+theirs, and finally Prince Ernest besought her Grace not to deny
+them permission to have a festival on the morrow, as it was to
+honour her birthday. So she at last consented; but old Ulrich
+shook his head, and took her Grace aside to warn her of the
+scandal which would assuredly arise when the young nobles had
+drunk and grew excited by Sidonia. Hereupon her Grace made answer
+that she would take care Sidonia should cause no scandal--"As she
+has refused to learn her catechism, she must not appear at the
+feast. It will be a fitting punishment to keep her a prisoner for
+the whole day, and therefore I shall lock her up myself in her own
+room, and put the key in my pocket."
+
+So Ulrich was well pleased, and all separated for the night with
+much contentment and hopes of enjoyment on the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness
+was celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby._
+
+
+Before I proceed further, it will be necessary to state what
+happened a few days before concerning Prince Ernest's chief
+equerry, Johann Appelmann, otherwise many might doubt the facts I
+shall have to relate, though God knows I speak the pure truth.
+
+One came to his lordship the Grand Chamberlain--he was a shoemaker
+of the town--and complained to him of Appelmann, who had been
+courting his daughter for a long while, and running after her
+until finally he had disgraced her in the eyes of the whole town,
+and brought shame and scandal into his house. So he prayed Lord
+Ulrich to make the shameless profligate take his daughter to wife,
+as he had fairly promised her marriage long ago.
+
+Now Ulrich had long suspected the knave of bad doings, for many
+pearls and jewels had lately been missing from her Grace's
+shabrack and horse-trappings, and the groom, who always laid them
+on her Grace's white palfrey, knew nothing about them, though he
+was even put to the torture; but as Appelmann had all these things
+in his sole keeping, it was natural to think that he was not quite
+innocent. Besides, three hundred sacks of oats were missing on the
+new year, and no one knew what had become of them.
+
+Therefore Ulrich sent for the cheating rogue, and upbraided him
+with his profligate courses, also telling him that he must wed the
+shoemaker's daughter immediately. But the cunning knave knew
+better, and swore by all the saints that he was innocent, and
+finally prevailed upon Prince Ernest to intercede for him, so that
+Ulrich promised to give him a little longer grace, but then
+assuredly he would bring him to a strict account.
+
+And Appelmann drove the Prince that same day to Grypswald, to find
+out more musicians for the castle band, as the march of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great was to be played by eighty drums and forty
+trumpets in the grand ducal hall, to honour the birthday of her
+Highness.
+
+One can imagine what Sidonia felt when the Duchess announced that
+as she had refused to learn the catechism, and was neither
+obedient to God nor her Grace, she should remain a strict prisoner
+in her own room during the festival, as a signal punishment for
+her ungodly behaviour. But her maid might bring her food of all
+that she chose from the feast.
+
+Sidonia first prayed her Grace to forgive her for the love of God,
+and she would learn the whole catechism by heart. But as this had
+no effect, then she wept and lamented loudly, and at length fell
+down upon her knees before her Grace, who would, however, be
+neither moved nor persuaded; and when Sidonia threatened at last
+to leave her room, the Duchess went out, locked the door, and put
+the key in her pocket. The prisoner howled enough then, I warrant.
+
+But what did she do now, the cunning minx? She gave her maid a
+piece of gold, and told her to go up and down the corridor, crying
+and wringing her hands, and when any one asked what was the
+matter, to say, "That her beautiful young lady was dying of grief,
+because the Duchess had locked her up, like a little school-girl,
+in her own room, and all for not knowing the catechism of Dr.
+Gerschovius, which indeed was not taught in her part of the
+country, but another, which she had learned quite well in her
+childhood. And so for this, her poor young lady was not to be
+allowed to dance at the festival." The maid was to say all this in
+particular to Prince Ernest; or if he did not pass through the
+corridor, she was to stop weeping and groaning at his
+chamber-door, until he came out to ask what was the matter.
+
+The maid followed the instructions right well, and in less than an
+hour every soul in the castle, down to the cooks and washerwomen,
+knew what had happened, and everywhere the Duchess went she was
+assailed by old and young, great and small, with petitions of
+pardon for Sidonia.
+
+Her Grace, however, bid them all be silent, and threatened if they
+made such shameless requests to forbid the festival altogether.
+But when Prince Ernest likewise petitioned in her favour, she was
+angry, and said, "He ought to be ashamed of himself. It was now
+plain what a fool the girl had made of him. Her maternal heart
+would break, she knew it would--and this day would be one of
+sorrow in place of joy to her; all on account of this girl."
+
+So the young Prince had to hold his peace for this time; but he
+sent a message, nevertheless, to Sidonia, telling her not to fret,
+for that he would take her out of her room and bring her to the
+dance, let what would happen.
+
+Next morning, by break of day, the whole castle and town were
+alive with preparations for the festival. It was now seven
+years--that is, since the death of Duke Philip--since any one had
+danced in the castle except the rats and mice, and even yet the
+splendour of this festival is talked of in Wolgast; and many of
+the old people yet living there remember it well, and gave me many
+curious particulars thereof, which I shall set down here, that it
+may be known how such affairs were conducted in old time at our
+ducal courts.
+
+In the morning, by ten of the clock, the young princes, nobles,
+clergy, and the honourable counsellors of the town, assembled in
+the grand ducal hall, built by Duke Philip after the great fire,
+and which extended up all through the three stories of the castle.
+At the upper end of the hall was the grand painted window, sixty
+feet high, on which was delineated the pilgrimage of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great to Jerusalem, all painted by Gerard Homer;
+[Footnote: A Frieslander, and the most celebrated painter on glass
+of his time.] and round on the walls banners, and shields, and
+helmets, and cuirasses, while all along each side, four feet from
+the ground, there were painted on the walls figures of all the
+animals found in Pomerania: bears, wolves, elks, stags, deer,
+otters, &c., all exquisitely imitated.
+
+When all the lords had assembled, the drums beat and trumpets
+sounded, whereupon the Pomeranian marshal flung open the great
+doors of the hall, which were wreathed with flowers from the
+outside, and the princely widow entered with great pomp, leading
+the little Casimir by the hand. She was arrayed in the Pomeranian
+costume--namely, a white silk under-robe, and over it a surcoat of
+azure velvet, brocaded with silver, and open in front. A long
+train of white velvet, embroidered in golden laurel wreaths, was
+supported by twelve pages dressed in black velvet cassocks with
+Spanish ruffs. Upon her head the Duchess wore a coif of scarlet
+velvet with small plumes, from which a white veil, spangled with
+silver stars, hung down to her feet. Round her neck she had a
+scarlet velvet band, twisted with a gold chain; and from it
+depended a balsam flask, in the form of a greyhound, which rested
+on her bosom.
+
+As her Serene Highness entered with fresh and blushing cheeks, all
+bowed low and kissed her hand, glittering with diamonds. Then each
+offered his congratulations as best he could.
+
+Amongst them came Johann Neander, Archdeacon of St. Peter's, who
+was seeking preferment, considering that his present living was
+but a poor one; and so he presented her Grace with a printed
+_tractatum_ dedicated to her Highness, in which the question
+was discussed whether the ten virgins mentioned in Matt. xxv. were
+of noble or citizen rank. But Doctor Gerschovius made a mock of
+him for this afterwards, before the whole table. [Footnote: Over
+these exegetical disquisitions of a former age we smile, and with
+reason; but we, pedantic Germans, have carried our modern
+exegetical mania to such absurd lengths, that we are likely to
+become as much a laughing-stock to our contemporaries, as well as
+to posterity, as this Johannes Neander. In fact, our exegetists
+are mostly pitiful schoolmasters--word-anatomists--and one could
+as little learn the true spirit of an old classic poet from our
+pedantic philologists, as the true sense of holy Scripture from
+our scholastic theologians. What with their grammar twistings,
+their various readings, their dubious punctuations, their
+mythical, and who knows what other meanings, their
+hair-splittings, and prosy vocable tiltings, we find at last that
+they are willing to teach us everything but that which really
+concerns us, and, like the Danaides, they let the water of life
+run through the sieve of their learning. We may apply to them
+truly that condemnation of our Lord's (Matt, xxiii. 24)--"Ye blind
+guides; ye strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."]
+
+Now, when all the congratulations were over, the Duchess asked
+Prince Ernest if the water-works in the courtyard had been
+completed, [Footnote: The Prince took much interest in hydraulics,
+and built a beautiful and costly aqueduct for the town of
+Wolgast.] and when he answered "Yes," "Then," quoth her Grace,
+"they shall run with Rostock beer to-day, if it took fifty tuns;
+for all my people, great and small, shall keep festival to-day;
+and I have ordered my court baker to give a loaf of bread and a
+good drink to every one that cometh and asketh. And now, as it is
+fitting, let us present ourselves in the church."
+
+So the bells rung, and the whole procession swept through the
+corridor and down the great stairs, with drums and trumpets going
+before. Then followed the marshal with his staff, and the Grand
+Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, wearing his beautiful hat (a
+present from her Highness), looped up with a diamond aigrette, and
+spangled with little golden stars. Then came the Duchess,
+supported on each side by the young princes, her sons; and the
+nobles, knights, pages, and others brought up the rear, according
+to their rank and dignity.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's room, she began to beat the door and cry
+like a little spoiled child; but no one minded her, and the
+procession moved on to the courtyard, where the soldatesca fired a
+salute, not only from their muskets, but also from the great
+cannon called "the Old Aunt," which gave forth a deep joy-sigh.
+From all the castle windows hung banners and flags bearing the
+arms of Pomerania and Saxony, and the pavement was strewed with
+flowers.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's window she opened it, and appeared
+magnificently attired, and glittering with pearls and diamonds,
+but also weeping bitterly. At this sight old Ulrich gnashed his
+teeth for rage, but all the young men, and Prince Ernest in
+particular, felt their hearts die in them for sorrow. So they
+passed on through the great north gate out on the castle wall,
+from whence the whole town and harbour were visible. Here the
+flags fluttered from the masts and waved from the towers, and the
+people clapped their hands and cried "Huzza!" (for in truth they
+had heard about the beer, to my thinking, before the Princess came
+out upon the walls). _Summa_: There was never seen such joy;
+and after having service in church, they all returned to the
+castle in the same order, and set themselves down to the banquet.
+
+I got a list of the courses at the table of the Duchess from old
+Kuessow, and I shall here set it down, that people may see how our
+fathers banqueted eighty years ago in Pomerania; but, God help us!
+in these imperial days there is little left for us to grind our
+teeth upon. So smell thereat, and you will still get a delicious
+savour from these good old times.
+
+_First Course_.--1. A soup; 2. An egg-soup, with saffron,
+peppercorns, and honey thereon; 3. Stewed mutton, with onions
+strewed thereon; 4. A roasted capon, with stewed plums.
+
+_Second Course_.--1. Ling, with oil and raisins; 2. Beef,
+baked in oil; 3. Eels, with pepper; 4. Dried fish, with Leipsic
+mustard.
+
+_Third Course_.--1. A salad, with eggs; 2. Jellies strewed
+with almond and onion seed; 3. Omelettes, with honey and grapes;
+4. Pastry, and many other things besides.
+
+_Fourth Course_.--1. A roast goose with red beet-root,
+olives, capers, and cucumbers; 2. Little birds fried in lard, with
+radishes; 3. Venison; 4. Wild boar, with the marrow served on
+toasted rolls. In conclusion, all manner of pastry, with fritters,
+cakes, and fancy confectionery of all kinds.
+
+So her Grace selected something from each dish herself, and
+despatched it to Sidonia by her maid; but the maiden would none of
+them, and sent all back with a message that she had no heart to
+gormandise and feast; but her Grace might send her some bread and
+water, which was alone fitting for a poor prisoner to receive.
+
+The young men could bear this no longer, their patience was quite
+exhausted, and their courage rose as the wine-cups were emptied.
+So at length Prince Ernest whispered to his brother Bogislaus to
+put in a good word for Sidonia. He refused, however, and Prince
+Ernest was ashamed to name her himself; but some of the young
+pages who waited on her Grace were bold enough to petition for her
+pardon, whereupon her Grace gave them a very sharp reproof.
+
+After dinner the Duchess and Prince Bogislaus went up the stream
+in a pleasure-boat to try the tame sea-gull, and her Grace
+requested Lord Ulrich to accompany them. But he answered that he
+was more necessary to the castle that evening than a night-watch
+in a time of war, particularly if the young Prince was to have
+Rostock beer play from the fountains in place of water.
+
+And soon his words came true, for when the Duchess had sailed away
+the young men began to drink in earnest, so that the wine ran over
+the threshold down the great steps, and the peasants and boors who
+were going back and forward with dried wood to the ducal kitchen,
+lay down flat on their faces, and licked up the wine from the
+steps (but the Almighty punished them for this, I think, for their
+children now are glad enough to sup up water with the geese).
+
+Meanwhile many of the youths sprang up, swearing that they would
+free Sidonia; others fell down quite drunk, and knew nothing more
+of what happened. Then old Ulrich flew to the corridor, and
+marched up and down with his drawn dagger in his hand, and swore
+he would arrest them all if they did not keep quiet; that as to
+those who were lying dead drunk like beasts, he must treat them
+like other beasts--whereupon he sends to the castle fountain for
+buckets of cold water, and pours it over them. Ha! how they sprang
+up and raged when they felt it; but he only laughed and said--if
+they would not hold their peace he would treat them still worse;
+they ought to be ashamed of their filthiness and debauchery.
+[Footnote: Almost all writers of that age speak of the excesses to
+which intoxication was carried in all the ducal courts, but
+particularly that of Pomerania.]
+
+But now to the uproar within was added one from without, for when
+the fountains began to play with Rostock beer, all the town ran
+thither, and drank like leeches, while they begged the
+serving-wenches to bring them loaves to eat with it. How the old
+shoemaker threw up his cap in the air, and shouted--"Long live her
+Grace! no better Princess was in the whole world--they hoped her
+Grace might live for many years and celebrate every birthday like
+this!" Then they would pray for her right heartily, and the women
+chattered and cackled, and the children screamed so that no one
+could hear a word that was saying, and Sidonia tried for a long
+time in vain to make them hear her. At last she waved a white
+kerchief from the window, when the noise ceased for a little, and
+she then began the old song, namely, "Would they release her?"
+
+Now there were some brave fellows among them to whom she had given
+drink-money, or purchased goods from, and they now ran to fetch a
+ladder and set it up against the wall; but old Ulrich got wind of
+this proceeding, and dispersed the mob forthwith, menacing
+Sidonia, before their faces, that if she but wagged a finger, and
+did not instantly retire from the window, and bear her
+well-merited punishment patiently, he would have her carried
+straightway through the guard-room, and locked up in the bastion
+tower. This threat succeeded, and she drew in her head. Meantime
+the Duchess returned from fishing, but when she beheld the crowd
+she entered through the little water-gate, and went up a winding
+stair to her own apartment, to attire herself for the dance.
+
+The musicians now arrived from Grypswald, and all the knights and
+nobles were assembled except Zitsewitz, who lay sick, whether from
+love or jealousy I leave undecided; so the great affair at length
+began, and in the state hall the band struck up Duke Bogislaus'
+march, played, in fact, by eighty drums and forty-three trumpets,
+so that it was as mighty and powerful in sound as if the great
+trumpet itself had played it, and the plaster dropped off from the
+ceiling, and the picture of his Highness the Duke, in the north
+window, was so disturbed by the vibration, that it shook and
+clattered as if it were going to descend from the frame and dance
+with the guests in the hall, and not only the folk outside danced
+to the music, but down in the town, in the great market-place, and
+beyond that, even in the horse-market, the giant march was heard,
+and every one danced to it whether in or out of the house, and
+cheered and huzzaed. Now the Prince could no longer repress his
+feelings, for, besides that he had taken a good Pomeranian draught
+that day, and somewhat rebelled against his lady mother, he now
+flung the fourth commandment to the winds (never had he done this
+before), and taking three companions with him, by name Dieterich
+von Krassow, Joachim von Budde, and Achim von Weyer, he proceeded
+with them to the chamber of Sidonia, and with great violence burst
+open the door. There she lay on the bed weeping, in a green velvet
+robe, laced with gold, and embroidered with other golden
+ornaments, and her head was crowned with pearls and diamonds, so
+that the young Prince exclaimed, "Dearest Sidonia, you look like a
+king's bride. See, I keep my word; come now, and we shall dance
+together in the hall."
+
+Here he would willingly have kissed her, but was ashamed because
+the others were by, so he said, "Go ye now to the hall and see if
+the dance is still going on. I will follow with the maiden."
+Thereat the young men laughed, because they saw well that the
+Prince did not just then desire their company, and they all went
+away, except Joachim von Budde, the rogue, who crept behind the
+door, and peeped through the crevice.
+
+Now, the young lord was no sooner left alone with Sidonia than he
+pressed her to his heart--"Did she love him? She must say yes once
+again." Whereupon she clasped his neck with her little hands, and
+with every kiss that he gave her she murmured, "Yes, yes, yes!"
+"Would she be his own dear wife?" "Ah, if she dared. She would
+have no other spouse, no, not even if the Emperor came himself
+with all the seven electors. But he must not make her more
+miserable than she was already. What could they do? he never would
+be allowed to marry her." "He would manage that." Then he pressed
+her again to his heart, with such ardour that the knave behind the
+door grew jealous, and springing up, called out--"If his Highness
+wishes for a dance he must come now."
+
+When they both entered the hall, her Grace was treading a measure
+with old Ulrich, but he caught sight of them directly, and without
+making a single remark, resigned the hand of her Grace to Prince
+Bogislaus, and excused himself, saying that the noise of the music
+had made his head giddy, and that he must leave the hall for a
+little. He ran then along the corridor down to the courtyard, from
+thence to the guard, and commanded the officer with his troop,
+along with the executioner and six assistants, to be ready to rush
+into the hall with lighted matches, the moment he waved his hat
+with the white plumes from the window.
+
+When he returns, the dance is over, and my gracious lady,
+suspecting nothing as yet, sits in a corner and fans herself. Then
+Ulrich takes Sidonia in one hand and Prince Ernest in the other,
+brings them up straight before her Highness, and asks if she had
+herself given permission for the Prince and Sidonia to dance
+together in the hall. Her Highness started from her chair when she
+beheld them, her cheeks glowing with anger, and exclaimed, "What
+does this mean? Have you dared to release Sidonia?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; for this noble maiden has been treated worse
+than a peasant-girl by my lady mother."
+
+_Illa_.--"Oh, woe is me! this is my just punishment for
+having forgotten my Philip so soon, and even consenting to tread a
+measure in the hall." So she wept, and threw herself again upon
+the seat, covering her face with both hands.
+
+Now old Ulrich began. "So, my young Prince, this is the way you
+keep the admonitions that your father, of blessed memory, gave you
+on his death-bed! Fie--shame on you! Did you not give your promise
+also to me, the old man before you? Sidonia shall return to her
+chamber, if my word has yet some power in Pomerania. Speak,
+gracious lady, give the order, and Sidonia shall be carried back
+to her room."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she laid her white hand, all covered with
+jewels, upon the old man's arm, and looked up at him with
+beseeching glances, and stroked his beard after her manner,
+crying, with tears of anguish, "Spare a poor young maiden! I will
+learn anything you tell me; I will repeat it all on Sunday. Only
+do not deal so hardly with me." But the little hands for once had
+no effect, nor the tears, nor the caresses; for Ulrich, throwing
+her off, gave her such a slap in the face that she uttered a loud
+cry and fell to the ground.
+
+If a firebrand had fallen into a barrel of gunpowder, it could not
+have caused a greater explosion in the hall than that cry; for
+after a short pause, in which every one stood silent as if
+thunderstruck, there arose from all the nobles, young and old, the
+terrible war-cry--"Jodute! Jodute! [Footnote: The learned have
+puzzled their heads a great deal over the etymology of this
+enigmatical word, which is identical in meaning with the terrible
+"_Zettergeschrei_" of the Reformation era. It is found in the
+Swedish, Gothic, and Low German dialects, and in the Italian
+_Goduta_. One of the best essays on the subject--which,
+however, leads to no result--the lover of antiquarian researches
+will find in Hakeus's "Pomeranian Provincial Papers," vol. v. p.
+207.] to arms, to arms!" and the cry was re-echoed till the whole
+hall rung with it. Whoever had a dagger or a sword drew it, and
+they who had none ran to fetch one. But the Prince would at once
+have struck old Ulrich to the heart, if his brother Bogislaus had
+not sprung on him from behind and pinioned his arms. Then Joachim
+von Budde made a pass at the old knight, and wounded him in the
+hand. So Ulrich changed his hat from the right hand to the left,
+and still kept retreating till he could gain the window and give
+the promised sign to the guard, crying as he fought his way
+backward, step by step, "Come on now--come on, Ernest. Murder the
+old grey-headed man whom thy father called friend--murder him, as
+thou wilt murder thy mother this night."
+
+Then reaching the window, he waved his hat until the sign was
+answered; then sprang forward again, seized Sidonia by the hand,
+crying, "Out, harlot!" Hereupon young Lord Ernest screamed still
+louder, "Jodute! Jodute! Down with the grey-headed villain! What!
+will not the nobles of Pomerania stand by their Prince? Down with
+the insolent grey-beard who has dared to call my princely bride a
+harlot!" And so he tore himself from his brother's grasp, and
+sprang upon the old man; but her Grace no sooner perceived his
+intention than she rushed between them, crying, "Hold! hold! hold!
+for the sake of God, hold! He is thy second father." And as the
+young Prince recoiled in horror, she seized Sidonia rapidly, and
+pushing her before Ulrich towards the door, cried, "Out with the
+accursed harlot!" But Joachim Budde, who had already wounded the
+Grand Chamberlain, now seizing a stick from one of the drummers,
+hit her Grace such a blow on the arm therewith that she had to let
+go her hold of Sidonia. When old Ulrich beheld this, he screamed,
+"Treason! treason!" and rushed upon Budde. But all the young
+nobles, who were now fully armed, surrounded the old man, crying,
+"Down with him! down with him!" In vain he tried to reach a bench
+from whence he could defend himself against his assailants; in a
+few moments he was overpowered by numbers and fell upon the floor.
+Now, indeed, it was all over with him, if the soldatesca had not
+at that instant rushed into the hall with fierce shouts, and
+Master Hansen the executioner, in his long red cloak, with six
+assistants accompanying them.
+
+"Help! help!" cried her Grace; "help for the Lord Chamberlain!"
+
+So they sprang to the centre of the hall where he was lying,
+dashed aside his assailants, and lifted up the old man from the
+floor with his hand all bleeding.
+
+But Joachim Budde, who was seated on the very same bench which
+Ulrich had in vain tried to reach, began to mock the old knight.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked if it were he who had struck her Grace with
+the drumstick. "Ay," quoth he, laughing, "and would that she had
+got more of it for treating that darling, sweet, beautiful Sidonia
+no better than a kitchen wench. Where is the old hag now? I will
+teach her the catechism with my drumstick, I warrant you."
+
+And he was going to rise, when Ulrich made a sign to the
+executioner, who instantly dropped his red cloak, under which he
+had hitherto concealed his long sword, and just as Joachim looked
+up to see what was going on, he whirled the sword round like a
+flash of lightning, and cut Budde's head clean off from the
+shoulders, so that not even a quill of his Spanish ruff was
+disturbed, and the blood spouted up like three horse-tails to the
+ceiling (for he drank so much that all the blood was in his head),
+and down tumbled his gay cap, with the heron's plume, to the
+ground, and his head along with it.
+
+In an instant all was quietness; for though some of the ladies
+fainted, amongst whom was her Grace, and others rushed out of the
+hall, still there was such a silence that when the corpse fell
+down at length heavily upon the ground the clap of the hands and
+feet upon the floor was quite audible.
+
+When Ulrich observed that his victory was complete, he waved his
+hat in the air, exclaiming, "The princely house of Pomerania is
+saved! and, as long as I live, its honour shall never be tarnished
+for the sake of a harlot! Remove Prince Ernest and Sidonia to
+separate prisons. Let the rest go their ways;--this devil's
+festival is at an end, and with my consent, there shall never be
+another in Wolgast."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence._
+
+
+Now the Grand Chamberlain was well aware that no good would result
+from having Sidonia brought to a public trial, because the whole
+court was on her side.
+
+Therefore he called Marcus Bork, her cousin, to him in the night,
+and bid him take her and her luggage away next morning before
+break of day, and never stop or stay until they reached Duke
+Barnim's court at Stettin. The wind was half-way round now, and
+before nightfall they might reach Oderkruge. He would first just
+write a few lines to his Highness; and when Marcus had made all
+needful preparation, let him come here to his private apartment
+and receive the letter. He had selected him for the business
+because he was Sidonia's cousin, and also because he was the only
+young man at the castle whom the wanton had not ensnared in her
+toils.
+
+But that night Ulrich had reason to know that Sidonia and her
+lovers were dangerous enemies; for just as he had returned to his
+little room, and seated himself down at the table, to write to his
+Grace of Stettin the whole business concerning Sidonia, the window
+was smashed, and a large stone came plump down upon the ink-bottle
+close beside him, and stained all the paper. As Ulrich went out to
+call the guard, Appelmann, the equerry, came running up to him,
+complaining that his lordship's beautiful horse was lying there in
+the stable groaning like a human creature, for that some wretches
+had cut its tail clean off.
+
+_Ille_.--"Were any of the grooms in the stable lately? or had
+he seen any one go by the window?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; it was impossible to see any one, on account of
+the darkness; but he thought he had heard some one creeping along
+by the wall."
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him come then, fetch a lantern, and summon all
+the grooms; he would give it to the knaves. Had he heard anything
+of her Highness recently?"
+
+_Hic_.--"A maid told him that her Grace was better, and had
+retired to rest."
+
+_Ille_.--"Thank God. Now they might go."
+
+But as they proceeded along the corridor, which was now almost
+quite dark, the old knight suddenly received such a blow upon his
+hat that the beautiful aigrette was broken, and he himself thrown
+against the wall with such violence that he lay a quarter of an
+hour insensible; then he shook his grey head. What could that
+mean? Had Appelmann seen any one?
+
+_Hic_.--"Ah! no; but he thought he heard steps, as if of some
+one running away."
+
+So they went on to the ducal stables, but nothing was to be seen
+or heard. The grooms knew nothing about the matter--the guard knew
+nothing. Then the old knight lamented over his beautiful horse,
+and told Appelmann to ride next morning, with Marcus Bork and
+Sidonia, to the Duke's castle at Stettin, and purchase the piebald
+mare for him from his Grace, about which they had been bargaining
+some time back; but he must keep all this secret, for the young
+nobles were to know nothing of the journey.
+
+Ah, what fine fun this is for the cunning rogue. "If his lordship
+would only give him the purse, he would bring him back a far finer
+horse than that which some knaves had injured." Whereupon the old
+knight went down to reckon out the rose-nobles--but, lo! a stone
+comes whizzing past him close to his head, so that if it had
+touched him, methinks the old man would never have spoken a word
+more. In short, wherever he goes, or stops, or stands, stones and
+buffets are rained down upon him, so that he has to call the guard
+to accompany him back to his chamber; but he lays the saddle on
+the right horse at last, as you shall hear in another place.
+
+After some hours everything became quiet in the castle, for the
+knaves were glad enough to sleep off their drunkenness. And so,
+early in the morning before dawn, while they were all snoring in
+their beds, Sidonia was carried off, scream as she would along the
+corridor, and even before the young knight's chamber; not a soul
+heard her. For she had not been brought to the prison tower, as at
+first commanded, but to her own little chamber, likewise the young
+lord to his; for the Grand Chamberlain thought afterwards this
+proceeding would not cause such scandal.
+
+But there truly was great grief in the castle when they all rose,
+and the cry was heard that Sidonia was gone; and some of the
+murderous lords threatened to make the old man pay with his blood
+for it. _Item_, no sooner was it day than Dr. Gerschovius ran
+in, crying that some of the young profligates had broken all his
+windows the night before, and turned a goat into the rectory, with
+the catechism of his dear and learned brother tied round his neck.
+
+Then old Ulrich's anger increased mightily, as might be imagined,
+and he brought the priest with him to the Duchess, who had got but
+little rest that night, and was busily turning her wheel with the
+little clock-work, and singing to it, in a loud, clear voice, that
+beautiful psalm (120th)--"In deep distress I oft have cried." She
+paused when they entered, and began to weep. "Was it not all
+prophesied? Why had she been persuaded to throw off her mourning,
+and slight the memory of her loved Philip? It was for this the
+wrath of God had come upon her house; for assuredly the Lord would
+avenge the innocent blood that had been shed."
+
+Then Ulrich answered that, as her Grace knew, he had earnestly
+opposed this festival; but as to what regarded, the traitor whose
+head he had chopped off, he was ready to answer for that blood,
+not only to man but before God. For had not the coward struck his
+own sovereign lady the Princess with the drumstick? _Item_,
+was he not in the act of rising to repeat the blow, as the whole
+nobility are aware, only he lost his head by the way; and if this
+had not been done, all order and government must have ceased
+throughout the land, and the mice and the rats rule the cats,
+which was against the order of nature and contrary to God's will.
+But his gracious lady might take consolation, for Sidonia had been
+carried from the castle that morning by four of the clock, and, by
+God's grace, never should set foot in it again. But there was
+another _gravamen_, and that concerned the young nobles, who,
+no doubt, would become more daring after the events of last
+evening. Then he related what had happened to the priest.
+"_Item_, what did my gracious lady mean to do with those
+drunken libertines? If her Grace had kept up the huntings and the
+fishings, as in the days of good Duke Philip, mayhap the young men
+would have been less given to debauchery; but her Grace kept an
+idle house, and they had nothing to do but drink and brew
+mischief. If her Grace had no fitting employment for these young
+fellows, then he would pack them all off to the devil the very
+next morning, for they brought nothing but disrespect upon the
+princely house of Wolgast."
+
+So her Grace rejoiced over Sidonia's departure, but could not
+consent to send away the young knights. Her beloved husband and
+lord, Philippus Primus, always kept a retinue of such young
+nobles, and all the princely courts did the same. What would her
+cousin of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg say, when they heard that
+she had no longer knights or pages at her court? She feared her
+princely name would be mentioned with disrespect.
+
+So Ulrich replied, that at all events, this set of young
+boisterers must be sent off, as they had grown too wild and
+licentious to be endured any longer; and that he would select a
+new retinue for her Grace from the discreetest and most
+sober-minded young knights of the court. Marcus Bork, however,
+might remain; he was true, loyal, and brave--not a wine-bibber and
+profligate like the others.
+
+So her Grace at last consented, seeing that no good would come of
+these young men now; on the contrary, they would be more daring
+and riotous than ever from rage, when they found that Sidonia had
+been sent away; and that business of the window-smashing and the
+goat demanded severe punishment. So let Ulrich look out for a new
+household; these gay libertines would be sent away.
+
+While she was speaking, the door opened, and Prince Ernest entered
+the chamber, looking so pale and haggard, that her Grace clasped
+her hands together, and asked him, with terror, what had happened.
+
+_Ille._--"Did she ask what had happened, when all Pomerania
+rung with it?--when nobles were beheaded before her face as if
+they were nothing more than beggars' brats?--when the delicate and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, who had been entrusted to her care by Duke
+Barnim himself, was turned out of the castle in the middle of the
+night as if she were a street-girl, because, forsooth, she would
+not learn her catechism? The world would scarcely credit such
+scandalous acts, and yet they were all true. But to-morrow (if
+this weakness which had come over him allowed of it) he would set
+off for Stettin, also to Berlin and Schwerin, and tell the princes
+there, his cousins, what government they held in Wolgast. He would
+soon be twenty, and would then take matters into his own hands;
+and he would pray his guardian and dear uncle, Duke Barnim, to
+pronounce him at once of age; then the devil might take Ulrich and
+his government, but he would rule the castle his own way."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"But what did he complain of? What ailed him?
+She must know this first, for he was looking as pale as a corpse."
+
+_Ille_.--"Did she not know, then, what ailed him? Well, since
+he must tell her, it was anger-anger that made him so pale and
+weak."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Anger, was it? Anger, because the false
+wanton, Sidonia, had been removed by her orders from her princely
+castle? Ah! she knew now what the wanton had come there for; but
+would he kill his mother? She nearly sank upon the ground last
+night when he called the impudent wench his bride. But she forgave
+him; it must have been the wine he drank made him so forget
+himself; or was it possible that he spoke in earnest?"
+
+_Ille_ (sighing).--"The future will tell that." "Oh, woe is
+me! what must I live to hear? If thy father could look up from his
+grave, and see thee disgracing thy princely blood by a marriage
+with a bower maiden!--. thou traitorous, disobedient son, do not
+lie to me. I know from thy sighs what thy purpose is--for this
+thou art going to Stettin and Berlin."
+
+The Prince is silent, and looks down upon the ground.
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Oh, shame on thee! shame on thee for the sake
+of thy mother! shame on thee for the sake of this servant of God,
+thy second father, this old man here! What! a vile knave strike
+thy mother, before the face of all the court, and thou condemnest
+him because he avenged her! Truly thou art a fine, brave son, to
+let thy mother be struck before thy face, for the sake of a
+harlot. Canst thou deny it? I conjure thee by the living God, tell
+me is it thy true purpose to take this harlot to thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He could give but one answer, the future would
+decide."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"Oh, she was reserved for all
+misfortunes! Why did Doctor Martinus let her ring fall? All, all
+has followed from that! If he had chosen a good, humble, honest
+girl, she would say nothing; but this wanton, this light maiden,
+that ran after every carl and let them court her!"
+
+Here the young Prince was seized with such violent convulsions
+that he fell upon the floor, and her Grace raised him up with loud
+lamentations. He was carried in a dead faint to his chamber, and
+the court physician, Doctor Pomius, instantly summoned. Doctor
+Pomius was a pompous little man (for my father knew him well), dry
+and smart in his words, and with a face like a pair of
+nutcrackers, for his front teeth were gone, so that his lips
+seemed dried on his gums, like the skin of a mummy. He was withal
+too self-conceited and boastful, and malicious, full of gossip and
+ill-nature, and running down every one that did not believe that
+he (Doctor Pomius) was the only learned physician in the world.
+Following the celebrated rules laid down by Theophrastus
+Paracelsus, he cured everything with trash--and asses' dung was
+his infallible panacea for all complaints. This pharmacopoeia was
+certainly extremely simple, easily obtained, and universal in its
+application. If the dung succeeded, the doctor drew himself up,
+tossed his head, and exclaimed, "What Doctor Pomius orders always
+succeeds." But if the wretched patient slipped out of his hands
+into the other world, he shook his head and said, "There is an
+hour for every man to die; of course his had come--physicians
+cannot work miracles."
+
+Pomius hated every other doctor in the town, and abused them so
+for their ignorance and stupidity, that finally her Grace believed
+that no one in the world knew anything but Doctor Pomius, and that
+a vast amount of profound knowledge was expressed, if he only put
+his finger to the end of his nose, as was his habit.
+
+So, as I have said, she summoned him to attend the young lord; and
+after feeling his pulse and asking some questions respecting his
+general health, the doctor laid his finger, as usual, to his nose,
+and pronounced solemnly--"The young Prince must immediately take a
+dose of asses' dung stewed in wine, with a little of the
+_laudanum paracelsi_ poured in afterwards--this will restore
+him certainly."
+
+But it was all in vain; for the young Prince still continued day
+and night calling for Sidonia, and neither the Duchess nor Doctor
+Gerschovius could in any wise comfort him. This afflicted her
+Grace almost to the death; and by Ulrich's advice, she despatched
+her second son, Duke Barnim the younger, and Dagobert von
+Schwerin, to the court of Brunswick, to solicit in her name the
+hand of the young Princess Sophia Hedwig, for her son Ernest
+Ludovicus. Now, in the whole kingdom, there was no more beautiful
+princess than Sophia of Brunswick; and her Grace was filled with
+hope that, by her means, the influence of the detestable Sidonia
+over the heart of the young lord would be destroyed for ever.
+
+In due time the ambassadors returned, with the most favourable
+answer. Father, mother, and daughter all gave consent; and the
+Duke of Brunswick also forwarded by their hands an exquisite
+miniature of his beautiful daughter for Prince Ernest.
+
+This miniature her Grace now hung up beside his bed. Would he not
+look at the beautiful bride she had selected for him? Could there
+be a more lovely face in all the German empire? What was Sidonia
+beside her, but a rude country girl!--would he not give her up at
+last, this light wench? While, on the contrary, this illustrious
+princess was as virtuous as she was beautiful, and this the whole
+court of Brunswick could testify.
+
+But the young lord would give no heed to her Grace, and spat out
+at the picture, and cried to take away the daub--into the fire
+with it--anywhere out of his sight. Unless his dear, his beautiful
+Sidonia came to tend him, he would die--he felt that he was dying.
+
+So her Grace took counsel with old Ulrich, and Doctor Pomius, and
+the priest, what could be done now. The doctor mentioned that he
+must have been witch-struck. Then more doctors were sent for from
+the Grypswald, but all was in vain--no one knew what ailed him;
+and from day to day he grew worse.
+
+Clara von Dewitz now bitterly reproached herself for having
+concealed her suspicions about the love-drink from her
+Grace--though indeed she did so by desire of her betrothed, Marcus
+Bork. But now, seeing that the young Prince lay absolutely at the
+point of death, she could no longer hold her peace, but throwing
+herself on her knees before her Grace, told her the whole story of
+the witch-girl whom she had sheltered in the castle, and of her
+fears that Sidonia had learned from her how to brew a
+love-philtre, which she had afterwards given to the Prince.
+
+Her Grace was sore displeased with Clara for having kept all this
+a secret, and said that she would have expected more wisdom and
+discretion from her, seeing that she had always counted her the
+most worthy amongst her maidens; then she summoned Ulrich, and
+laid the evil matter before him. He shook his head; believed that
+they had hit on the true cause now. Such a sickness had nothing
+natural about it--there must be magic and witchwork in it; but he
+would have the whole land searched for the girl, and make her give
+the young lord some potion that would take off the spell.
+
+Now the witch-girl had been pardoned a few days before that, and
+sent back to Usdom, near Daber; but bailiffs were now sent in all
+directions to arrest her, and bring her again to Wolgast without
+delay.
+
+So the wretched creature was discovered, before long, in Kruge,
+near Mahlzow, where she had hired herself as a spinner for the
+winter, and brought before Ulrich and her Grace. She was there
+admonished to tell the whole truth, but persisted in asseverating
+that Sidonia had never learned from her how to make a love-drink.
+Her statement, however, was not believed; and Master Hansen was
+summoned, to try and make her speak more. The affair, indeed,
+appeared so serious to Ulrich, that he himself stood by while she
+was undergoing the torture, and carried on the _protocollum_,
+calling out to Master Hansen occasionally not to spare his
+squeezes. But though the blood burst from her finger-ends, and her
+hip was put out of joint, so that she limped ever after, she
+confessed nothing more, nor did she alter the statement which she
+had first made.
+
+_Item_, her Grace, and the priest, and all the bystanders
+exhorted her in vain to confess the truth (for her Grace was
+present at the torture). At last she cried out, "Yes, I know
+something that will cure him! Mercy! mercy! and I will tell it."
+
+So they unbound her, and she was going straightway to make her
+witch-potion, but old Ulrich changed his mind. Who could know
+whether this devil's fiend was telling them the truth? May be she
+would kill the young lord in place of curing him. So they gave her
+another stretch upon the rack. But as she still held by all her
+assertions, they spared her any further torture.
+
+But, in my opinion, the young lord must have obtained something
+from her, otherwise he could not have recovered all at once the
+moment that Sidonia was brought back, as I shall afterwards
+relate.
+
+_Sum total_.--The young Prince screamed day and night for
+Sidonia, and told her Grace that he now felt he was dying, and
+requested, as his last prayer upon this earth, to be allowed to
+see her once more. The maiden was an angel of goodness; and if she
+could but close his dying eyes, he would die happy.
+
+It can be easily imagined with what humour her Grace listened to
+such a request, for she hated Sidonia like Satan himself; but as
+nothing else could satisfy him, she promised to send for her, if
+Prince Ernest would solemnly swear, by the corpse of his father,
+that he would never wed her, but select some princess for his
+bride, as befitted his exalted rank--the Princess Hedwig, or some
+other--as soon as he had recovered sufficiently to be able to quit
+his bed. So he quickly stretched forth his thin, white hand from
+the bed, and promised his dearly beloved mother to do all she had
+asked, if she would only send horsemen instantly to Stettin, for
+the journey by water was insecure, and might be tedious if the
+wind were not favourable.
+
+Hereupon a great murmur arose in the castle; and young Duke
+Bogislaus fell into such a rage that he took his way back again to
+Camyn, and his younger brother, Barnim, accompanied him. But the
+anger of the Grand Chamberlain no words can express. He told her
+Grace, in good round terms, that she would be the mock of the
+whole land. The messengers had only just returned who had carried
+away Sidonia from the castle under the greatest disgrace; and now,
+forsooth, they must ride back again to bring her back with all
+honour.
+
+"Oh, it was all true, quite true; but then, if her dearest son
+Ernest were to die--"
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him die. Better lose his life than his honour."
+
+_Haec_.--"He would not peril his honour, for he had sworn by
+the corpse of his father never to wed Sidonia."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, he was quick enough in promising, but
+performing was a different thing. Did her Grace think that the
+passion of a man could be controlled by promises, as a tame horse
+by a bridle? Never, never. Passion was a wild horse, that no bit,
+or bridle, or curb could guide, and would assuredly carry his
+rider to the devil."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Still she could not give up her son to death;
+besides, he would repent and see his folly. Did not God's Word
+tell us how the prodigal son returned to his father, and would not
+her son return likewise?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, when he has kept swine. After that he may
+return, but not till then. The youngster was as great a fool about
+women as he had ever come across in his life."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"He was too harsh on the young man.
+Had she not sent away the girl at his command; and now he would
+let her own child die before her eyes, without hope or
+consolation?"
+
+_Ille_.--"But if her child is indeed dying, would she send
+for the devil to attend him in his last moments? Her Grace should
+be more consistent. If the young lord is dying, let him die; her
+Grace has other children, and God will know how to comfort her.
+Had he not been afflicted himself? and let her ask Dr. Gerschovius
+if the Lord had not spoken peace unto him."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Ah, true; but then neither of them are
+mothers. Her son is asking every moment if the messengers have
+departed, and what shall she answer him? She cannot lie, but must
+tell the whole bitter truth."
+
+_Ille_.--"He saw the time had come at last for him to follow
+the young princes. He was of no use here any longer. Her Grace
+must give him permission to take his leave, for he would sail off
+that very day for his castle at Spantekow, and then she might do
+as she pleased respecting the young lord."
+
+So her Grace besought him not to leave her in her sore trouble and
+perplexity. Her two sons had sailed away, and there was no one
+left to advise and comfort her.
+
+But Ulrich was inflexible. "She must either allow her son quietly
+to leave this miserable life, or allow him to leave this miserable
+court service."
+
+"Then let him go to Spantekow. Her son should be saved. She would
+answer before the throne of the Almighty for what she did. But
+would he not promise to return, if she stood in any great need or
+danger? for she felt that both were before her; still she must
+peril everything to save her child."
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes, he would be ready on her slightest summons;
+and he doubted not but that Sidonia would soon give her trouble
+and sorrow enough. But he could not remain now, without breaking
+his knightly oath to Duke Philip, his deceased feudal seigneur of
+blessed memory, and standing before the court and the world as a
+fool."
+
+So after many tears her Grace gave him his dismissal, and he rode
+that same day to Spantekow, promising to return if she were in
+need, and also to send her a new retinue and household
+immediately.
+
+This last arrangement displeased Marcus Bork mightily, for he had
+many friends amongst the knights who were now to be dismissed, and
+so he, too, prayed her Grace for leave to resign his office and
+retire from court. He had long looked upon Clara von Dewitz with a
+holy Christian love, and, if her Grace permitted, he would now
+take her home as his dear loving wife.
+
+Her Grace replied that she had long suspected this
+betrothal--particularly from the time that Clara told her of his
+advice respecting the concealment of the witch-girl's visit to
+Sidonia; and as he had acted wrongly in that business, he must now
+make amends by not deserting her in her greatest need. Her sons
+and old Ulrich had already left her; some one must remain in whom
+she could place confidence. It would be time enough afterwards to
+bring home his beloved wife Clara, and she would wish them God's
+blessing on their union.
+
+_Ille_.--"True, he had been wrong in concealing that business
+with the witch-girl, but her Grace must pardon him. He never
+thought it would bring the young lord to his dying bed. Whatever
+her Grace now commanded he would yield obedience to."
+
+"Then," said her Grace, "do you and Appelmann mount your horses
+instantly, ride to Stettin, and bring back Sidonia. For her dearly
+beloved son had sworn that he could not die easy unless he beheld
+Sidonia once more, and that she attended him in his last moments."
+
+It may be easily imagined how the good knight endeavoured to
+dissuade her Highness from this course, and even spoke to the
+young Prince himself, but in vain. That same day he and Appelmann
+were obliged to set off for Stettin, and on their arrival
+presented the following letter to old Duke Barnim:--
+
+"MARIA, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, BORN DUCHESS OF SAXONY, &c.
+
+"ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND MY DEAR UNCLE,--It has not been concealed
+from your Highness how our clear son Ernest Ludovicus, since the
+departure of Sidonia, has fallen, by the permission of God, into
+such a state of bodily weakness that his life even stands in
+jeopardy.
+
+"He has declared that nothing will restore him but to see Sidonia
+once more. We therefore entreat your Highness, after admonishing
+the aforesaid maiden severely upon her former light and unseemly
+behaviour, to dismiss her with our messengers, that they may
+return and give peace and health to our dearly beloved son.
+
+"If your Highness would enjoy a hunt or a fishing with a tame
+sea-gull, it would give us inexpressible pleasure.
+
+"We commend you lovingly to God's holy keeping.
+
+"Given from our Castle of Wolgast, this Friday, April 15, 1569.
+
+"MARIA."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back
+to Wolgast._
+
+
+When his Highness of Stettin had finished the perusal of her
+Grace's letter, he laughed loudly, and exclaimed--
+
+"This comes of all their piety and preachings. I knew well what
+this extravagant holiness would make of my dear cousin and old
+Ulrich. If people would persist in being so wonderfully religious,
+they would soon become as sour as an old cabbage head; and Sidonia
+declared, that, for her part, a hundred horses should not drag her
+back to Wolgast, where she had been lectured and insulted, and all
+because she would not learn her catechism like a little
+school-girl."
+
+Nor would Otto Bork hear of her returning. (He was waiting at
+Stettin to conduct her back to Stramehl.) At last, however, he
+promised to consent, on condition that his Highness would grant
+him the dues on the Jena.
+
+Now the Duke knew right well that Otto wanted to revenge himself
+upon the people of Stargard, with whom he was at enmity; but he
+pretended not to observe the cunning knight's motives, and merely
+replied--
+
+"They must talk of the matter at Wolgast, for nothing could be
+decided upon without having the opinion of his cousin the
+Duchess."
+
+So the knight taking this as a half-promise, and Sidonia having at
+last consented, they all set off on Friday with a good south wind
+in their favour, and by that same evening were landed by the
+little water-gate at Wolgast. His Highness was received with
+distinguished honours--the ten knights of her Grace's new
+household being in waiting to receive him as he stepped on shore.
+
+So they proceeded to the castle, the Duke having Sidonia upon one
+arm, and a Cain under the other, which he had been carving during
+the passage, for the Eve had long since been finished. Otto
+followed; and all the people, when they beheld Sidonia, uttered
+loud cries of joy that the dear young lady had come back to them.
+
+This increased her arrogance, so that when her Grace received her,
+and began a godly admonishment upon her past levities, and
+conjured her to lead a modest, devout life for the future, Sidonia
+replied indiscreetly--"She knew not what her Grace and her parson
+meant by a modest, devout life, except it were learning the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius; from such modesty and devoutness she
+begged to be excused, she was no little school-girl now--she
+thought her Grace had got rid of all her whims and caprices, by
+sending for her after having turned her out of the castle without
+any cause whatever--but it was all the old thing over again."
+
+Her Grace coloured up with anger at this bitter speech, but held
+her peace. Then Otto addressed her, and begged leave to ask her
+Grace what kind of order was held at her court, where a priest was
+allowed to slap the fingers of a noble young maiden, and a
+chamberlain to smite her on the face? Had he known that such were
+the usages at her court of Wolgast, the Lady Sidonia (such he
+delighted to call her, as though she were of princely race) never
+should have entered it, and he would now instantly take her back
+to Stramehl, if her Grace would not consent to give him up the
+dues on the Jena.
+
+Now her Grace knew nothing about the dues, and therefore said,
+turning to the Duke--"Dear uncle, what does this arrogant knave
+mean? I do not comprehend his insolent speech." Hereupon Otto
+chafed with rage, that her Grace had named him with such contempt,
+and cried--"Then was your husband a knave, too! for my blood is as
+noble and nobler than your own, and I am lord of castles and
+lands. Come, my daughter; let us leave the robbers' den, or mayhap
+thy father will be struck even as thou wert."
+
+Now her Grace knew not what to do, and she lamented loudly--more
+particularly because at this moment a message arrived from Prince
+Ernest, praying her for God's sake to bring Sidonia to him, as he
+understood that she had been in the castle now a full quarter of
+an hour. Then old Otto laughed loudly, took his daughter by the
+hand, and cried again, "Come--let us leave this robber hole. Come,
+Sidonia!"
+
+This plunged her Grace into despair, and she exclaimed in anguish,
+"Will you not have pity on my dying child?" but Otto continued,
+"Come, Sidonia! come, Sidonia!" and he drew her by the hand.
+
+Here Duke Barnim rose up and said, "Sir Knight, be not so
+obstinate. Remember it is a sorrowing mother who entreats you. Is
+it not true, Sidonia, you will remain here?"
+
+Then the cunning hypocrite lifted her kerchief to her eyes, and
+replied, "If I did not know the catechism of Doctor Gerschovius,
+yet I know God's Word, and how the Saviour said, 'I was sick and
+ye visited Me,' and James also says, 'The prayer of faith shall
+save the sick.' No, I will not let this poor young lord die, if my
+visit and my prayer can help him."
+
+"No, no," exclaimed Otto, "thou shall not remain, unless the dues
+of the Jena be given up to me." And as at this moment another page
+arrived from Prince Ernest, with a similar urgent request for
+Sidonia to come to him, her Grace replied quickly, "I promise all
+that you desire," without knowing what she was granting; so the
+knight said he was content, and let go his daughter's hand.
+
+Now the good town of Stargard would have been ruined for ever by
+this revengeful man, if his treacherous designs had not been
+defeated (as we shall see presently) by his own terrible death. He
+had long felt a bitter hatred to the people of Stargard, because
+at one time they had leagued with the Greifenbergers and the Duke
+of Pomerania to ravage his town of Stramehl, in order to avenge an
+insult he had offered to the old burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann,
+father of the chief equerry, Johann Appelmann. In return for this
+outrage, Otto determined, if possible, to get the control of the
+dues of the Jena into his own hands, and when the Stargardians
+brought their goods and provisions up the Jena, and from thence
+prepared to enter the river Haff, he would force them to pay such
+exorbitant duty upon everything, that the merchants and the
+people, in short, the whole town, would be ruined, for their whole
+subsistence and merchandise came by these two rivers, and all this
+was merely to gratify his revenge. But the just God graciously
+turned away the evil from the good town, and let it fall upon
+Otto's own head, as we shall relate in its proper place.
+
+So, when the old knight had let go his daughter's hand, her Grace
+seized it, and went instantly with Sidonia to the chamber of the
+young lord, all the others following. And here a moving scene was
+witnessed, for as they entered, Prince Ernest extended his thin,
+pale hands towards Sidonia, exclaiming, "Sidonia, ah, dearest
+Sidonia, have you come at last to nursetend me?" then he took her
+little hand, kissed it, and bedewed it with his tears, still
+repeating, "Sidonia, dearest Sidonia, have you come to nursetend
+me?"
+
+So the artful hypocrite began to weep, and said--. "Yes, my
+gracious Prince, I have come to you, although your priest struck
+me on the fingers, and your mother and old Ulrich called me a
+harlot, before all the court, and lastly, turned me out of the
+castle by night, as if I had been a swine-herd; but I have not the
+heart to let your Highness surfer, if my poor prayers and help can
+abate your sickness; therefore let them strike me, and call me a
+harlot again, if they wish."
+
+This so melted the heart of my gracious Prince Ernest, that he
+cried out, "O Sidonia, angel of goodness, give me one kiss, but
+one little kiss upon my mouth, Sidonia! bend down to me--but one,
+one kiss!" Her Grace was dreadfully scandalised at such a speech,
+and said he ought to be ashamed of such words. Did he not remember
+what he had sworn by the corpse of his father at St. Peter's? But
+old Duke Barnim cried out, laughing--"Give him a kiss, Sidonia;
+that is the best plaster for his wounds; 'a kiss in honour brings
+no dishonour,' says the proverb."
+
+However, Sidonia still hesitated, and bending down to the young
+man, said, "Wait, gracious Prince, until we are alone."
+
+If the Duchess had been angry before, what was it to her rage
+now--"Alone! she would take good care they were never to be
+alone!"
+
+Otto took no notice of this speech, probably because he saw that
+matters were progressing much to his liking between the Prince and
+his daughter; but Duke Barnim exclaimed, "How now, dearest cousin,
+are you going to spoil all by your prudery? You brought the girl
+here to cure him, and what other answer could she give? Bend thee
+down, Sidonia, and give him one little kiss upon the lips--I, the
+Prince, command thee; and see, thou needst not be ashamed, for I
+will set thee an example with his mother. Come, dear cousin, put
+off that sour face, and give me a good, hearty kiss; your son will
+get well the sooner for it:" but as he attempted to seize hold of
+her Grace, she cried out, and lifted up her hands to Heaven,
+lamenting in a loud voice--"Oh, evil and wicked world! may God
+release me from this wicked world, and lay me down this day beside
+my Philip in the grave!" Then weeping and wringing her hands, she
+left the chamber, while the old knight, and--God forgive
+him!--even Duke Barnim, looked after her, laughing.
+
+"Come, Otto," said his Grace, "let us go too, and leave this pair
+alone; I must try and pacify my dear cousin." So they left the
+room, and on the way Otto opened his mind to the Duke about this
+love matter, and asked his Grace, would he consent to the union,
+if Prince Ernest, on his recovery, made honourable proposals for
+his daughter Sidonia.
+
+But his Grace was right crafty, and merely answered--"Time enough
+to settle that, Otto, when he is recovered; but methinks you will
+have some trouble with his mother unless you are more civil to
+her; so if you desire her favour, bear yourself more humbly, I
+advise you, as befits a subject."
+
+This the knight promised, and the conversation ceased, as they
+came up with the Duchess just then, who was waiting for them in
+the grand corridor. No sooner did she perceive that Sidonia was
+not with them than she cried out, "So my son is alone with the
+maiden!" and instantly despatched three pages to watch them both.
+
+Otto had now changed his tone, and instead of retorting, thanked
+her Grace for the praiseworthy and Christian care she took of his
+daughter. He did not believe this at first, but now he saw it with
+his own eyes. Alas, it was too true, the world was daily growing
+worse and worse, and the devil haunted us with his temptations,
+like our own flesh and blood. Then he sighed and kissed her hand,
+and prayed her Grace to pardon him his former bold language--but,
+in truth, he had felt displeased at first to see her Grace so
+harsh to Sidonia, when every one else at the castle received her
+with rapture; but he saw now that she only meant kindly and
+motherly by the girl.
+
+Then the Duke asked, her pardon for his little jest about the
+kissing. She knew well that he meant no harm; and also that it was
+not in his nature to endure any melancholy or lamentable faces
+around him.
+
+So her Grace was reconciled to both, and when the Duke announced
+that he and the knight proposed visiting Barth [Footnote: Barth, a
+little town; and Eldena was at that time a richly endowed convent
+near Greifswald.] and Eldena, from whence they would return in a
+few days, to take their leave of her, she said that if her dearest
+son Ernest grew any better, she would have a grand _battue_
+in honour of his Highness Duke Barnim, upon their return.
+
+Accordingly, after having amused themselves for a little fishing
+with the tame sea-gull, the Duke and Otto rode away, and her Grace
+went to the chamber of the young Prince, to keep watch there
+during the night. She would willingly have dismissed Sidonia, but
+he forbade her; and Sidonia herself declared that she would watch
+day and night by the bedside of the young lord. So she sat the
+whole night by his bed, holding his hand in hers, and told him
+about her journey, and how shamefully she had been smuggled away
+out of the castle by old Ulrich, because she would not learn the
+catechism; and of her anguish when the messengers arrived, and
+told of their young lord's illness. She was quite certain Ulrich
+must have given him something to cause it, as a punishment for
+having released her from prison, for if he could strike a maiden,
+it was not surprising that he would injure even his future
+reigning Prince to gratify his malice. It was well the old
+malignant creature was away now, as she was told, and if his Grace
+did right he would play him a trick in return, and set fire to his
+castle at Spantekow as soon as he was able to move.
+
+Her Grace endured all this in silence, for her dear son's sake,
+though in truth her anger was terrible. The young lord, however,
+grew better rapidly, and the following day was even able to creep
+out of bed for a couple of hours, to touch the lute. And he taught
+Sidonia all, and placed her little fingers himself on the strings,
+that she might learn the better. Then, for the first time, he
+called for something to eat, and after that fell into a profound
+sleep which lasted forty-eight hours. During this time he lay like
+one dead, and her Grace would have tried to awaken him, but the
+physician prevented her. At length, when he awoke, he cried out
+loudly, first for Sidonia, and then for some food.
+
+At last, to the great joy of her Grace, he was able, on the fourth
+day, to walk in the castle garden, and arranged to attend the hunt
+with his dear uncle upon his return to Wolgast. The Duke, on his
+arrival, rejoiced greatly to find the young lord so well, and said
+with his usual gay manner, "Come here, Sidonia; I have been rather
+unwell on the journey: come here and give me a kiss too, to make
+me better!" and Sidonia complied. Whereupon her Grace looked
+unusually sour, but said nothing, for fear of disturbing the
+general joy. Indeed, the whole castle was in a state of jubilee,
+and her Grace promised that she and her ladies would attend the
+hunt on the following day.
+
+About this time the castle was troubled by a strange
+apparition--no other than the spectre of the serpent knight, who
+had been drowned some time previously. It was reported that every
+night the ghost entered the castle by the little water-gate,
+though it was kept barred and bolted, traversed the whole length
+of the corridor, and sunk down into the earth, just over the place
+where the ducal coaches and sleighs were kept.
+
+Every one fled in terror before the ghost, and scarcely a
+lansquenet could be found to keep the night watch. What this
+spectre betokened shall be related further on in this little
+history, but at present I must give an account of the grand
+_battue_ which took place according to her Grace's orders,
+and of what befell there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia
+resolved on there._
+
+
+The preparations for the hunt commenced early in the morning, and
+the knights and nobles assembled in the hall of fishes (so called
+because the walls were painted with representations of all the
+fishes that are indigenous to Pomerania). Here a superb breakfast
+was served, and pages presented water in finger-basins of silver
+to each of the princely personages. Then costly wines were handed
+round, and Duke Barnim, having filled to the brim a cup bearing
+the Pomeranian arms, rose up and said, "Give notice to the warder
+at St. Peter's." And immediately, as the great bell of the town
+rang out, and resounded through the castle and all over the town,
+his Grace gave the health of Prince Ernest, who pledged him in
+return. Afterwards they all descended to the courtyard, and his
+Grace entered the ducal mews himself, to select a horse for the
+day. Now these mews were of such wonderful beauty, that I must
+needs append a description of them here.
+
+First there was a grand portico, and within a corridor with ranges
+of pillars on each side, round which were hung antlers and horns
+of all the animals of the chase. This led to the pond with the
+island in the centre, where the bear was kept, as I have already
+described. When Duke Barnim and the old knight emerged from the
+portico to enter the stable, they were met by Johann Appelmann,
+the chief equerry, who spread before the feet of his Highness a
+scarlet horse-cloth, embroidered with the ducal arms, whereon he
+laid a brush and a riding-whip; and then demanded his
+_Trinkgeld_.
+
+On entering, they observed numerous stalls filled with Pomeranian,
+Hungarian, Frisian, Danish, and Turkish horses--each race by
+itself, and each horse standing ready saddled and bridled since
+the morning. _Item_, all along the walls were ranged enormous
+brazen lions' heads, which conveyed water throughout the building,
+and cleansed the stables completely every day.
+
+Otto wondered much at all this magnificence, and asked his Grace
+what could her Highness want with all these horses.
+
+"They eat their oats in idleness, for the most part," replied the
+Duke. "No one uses them but the pages and knights of the
+household, who may select any for riding that pleases them; but
+her Highness would never diminish any of the state maintained by
+her deceased lord, Duke Philip. So there has been always, since
+that time, particular attention paid to the ducal stables at
+Wolgast."
+
+Now the train began to move towards the hunt, in all about a
+hundred persons, and in front rode her Grace upon an ambling
+palfrey, dressed in a riding-habit of green velvet, and wearing a
+yellow hat with plumes. Her little Casimir rode by her side on a
+Swedish pony; then followed her ladies-in-waiting, amongst whom
+rode Sidonia, all likewise dressed in green velvet
+hunting-dresses, fastened with golden clasps; but in place of
+yellow, they wore scarlet hats, with gilded herons' plumes. Duke
+Barnim and Prince Ernest rode along with her Grace; and though
+none but those of princely blood were allowed to join this group,
+yet Otto strove to keep near them, as if he really belonged to the
+party, just as the sacristan strives to make the people think he
+is as good as the priest by keeping as close as he can to him
+while the procession moves along the streets.
+
+After these came the marshal, the castellan, and then the
+treasurer, with the office-bearers, knights, and esquires of the
+household. Then the chief equerry, with the master of the hounds
+and the principal huntsmen. But the beaters, pages, lacqueys,
+drummers, coursers, and runners had already gone on before a good
+way; and never had the Wolgastians beheld such a stately hunt as
+this since the death of good Duke Philip. So the whole town ran
+together, and followed the procession for a good space, up to the
+spot where blue tents were erected for her Grace and her ladies.
+The ground all round was strewed with flowers and evergreens, and
+before the tents palisades were erected, on which lay loaded
+rifles, ready to discharge at any of the game that came that way;
+and for two miles round the master of the hunt had laid down nets,
+which were all connected together at a point close to the princely
+tent.
+
+When the beaters and their dogs had started the animals, he left
+the tent to reconnoitre, and if the sport promised to be
+plentiful, he ordered the drums to beat, in order to give her
+Highness notice. Then she took a rifle herself, and brought down
+several head, which was easily accomplished, when they passed upon
+each other as thick as sheep. Sidonia, who had often attended the
+hunts at Stramehl, was a most expert shot, and brought down ten
+roes and stags, whereon she had much jesting with the young lords,
+who had not been half so successful. And let no one imagine that
+there was danger to her Highness and her ladies in thus firing at
+the wild droves from her tent, for it was erected upon a
+scaffolding raised five feet from the ground, and surrounded by
+palisades, so that it was impossible the animals could ever reach
+it.
+
+On that day, there were killed altogether one hundred and fifty
+stags, one hundred roes, five hundred hares, three hundred foxes,
+one hundred wild boars, seven wolves, five wild-cats, and one
+bear, which was entangled in the net and then shot. And at last
+the right hearty pleasure of the day began.
+
+For it was the custom at the ducal court for each huntsman, from
+the master of the hunt down, to receive a portion of the game; and
+her Grace took much pleasure now in seeing the mode in which the
+distribution was made. It was done in this wise: each man received
+the head of the animal, and as much of the neck as he could cover
+with the ears, by dragging them down with all his might.
+
+So the huntsmen stood now toiling and sweating, each with one foot
+firmly planted against a stone and the other on the belly of the
+beast, dragging down the ears with all his force to the very
+furthest point they could go, when another huntsman, standing by,
+cut off the head at that point with his hunting-knife.
+
+Then each man let his dog bite at the entrails of a stag, while
+they repeated old charms and verses over them, such as:--
+
+  "Diana, no better e'er track'd a wood;
+  There's many a huntsman not half so good."
+
+Or, in Low German:--
+
+  "Wasser, if ever the devil you see,
+  Bite his leg for him, or he will bite me."
+
+These old rhymes pleased the young Casimir mightily: if his lady
+mother would only lend him a ribbon, he would lead up little
+Blaffert his dog to them, and have a rhyme said over him. So her
+Grace consented, and broke off her sandal-tie to fasten in the
+little dog's collar, because in her hurry she could find no other
+string, and left the tent herself with the child to conduct him to
+the huntsmen.
+
+Now the moment her Grace had taken her eyes off Sidonia, and that
+all the other ladies had left the tent to follow her and the
+little boy, who was laughing and playing with his dog, the young
+maiden, looking round to see that no one was observing her,
+slipped out and ran in amongst the bushes, and my lord, Prince
+Ernest, slipped after her. No one observed them, for all eyes were
+turned upon the princely child, who sprang to a huntsman and
+begged of him to say a rhyme or two over his little dog Blaffert.
+The carl rubbed his forehead, and at last gave out his psalm, as
+follows, in Low German:--
+
+  "Blaffert, Blaffert, thou art fat!
+    If my lord would only feed
+  All his people like to that
+    'Twould be well for Pommern's need."
+
+ [Footnote: Pomerania.]
+
+All the bystanders laughed heartily, and then the hounds were
+given their dinner according to the usage, which was this:--A
+number of oak and birch trees were felled, and over every two and
+two there was spread a tablecloth--that is, the warm skin of a
+deer or wild-boar; into this, as into a wooden trencher, was
+poured the warm blood of the wild animals, which the hounds lapped
+up, while forty huntsmen played a march with drums and trumpets,
+which was re-echoed from the neighbouring wood, to the great
+delight of all the listeners. When the hounds had lapped up all
+the blood, they began to eat up the tablecloths likewise; but as
+these belonged to the huntsmen, a great fight took place between
+them and the dogs for the skins, which was right merry to behold,
+and greatly rejoiced the ducal party and all the people.
+
+In the meantime, as I said, Sidonia had slipped into the wood, and
+the young lord after her. He soon found her resting under the
+shadow of a large nut-tree, and the following conversation took
+place between them, as he afterwards many times related:--
+
+"Alas, gracious Prince, why do you follow me? if your lady mother
+knew of this we should both suffer. My head ached after all that
+firing, and therefore I came hither to enjoy a little rest and
+quietness. Leave me, leave me, my gracious lord."
+
+"No, no, he would not leave her until she told him whether she
+still loved him; for his lady mother watched him day and night,
+like the dragon that guarded the Pomeranian arms, and until this
+moment he had never seen her alone."
+
+"But what could he now desire to say? Had he not sworn by the
+corpse of his father never to wed her?"
+
+"Yes; in a moment of anguish he had sworn it, because he would
+have died if she had not been brought back to the castle."
+
+"But still he must hold by his word to his lady mother, would he
+not?"
+
+"Impossible! all impossible! He would sooner renounce land and
+people for ever than his beautiful Sidonia. How he felt, for the
+first time, the truth of the holy words, 'Love is strong as
+death.'" [Footnote: Song of Solomon viii. 6.] Then he throws his
+arms round her and kissed her, and asked, would she be his?
+
+Here Sidonia covered her face with both hands, and sinking down
+upon the grass, murmured, "Yours alone, either you or death."
+
+The Prince threw himself down beside her, and besought her not to
+weep. "He could not bear to see her tears; besides, there was good
+hope for them yet, for he had spoken to old Zitsewitz, who wished
+them both well, and who had given him some good advice."
+
+_Sidonia_ (quickly removing her hands).--"What was it?"
+
+"To have a private marriage. Then the devil himself could not
+separate them, much less the old bigot Ulrich. There was a priest
+in the neighbourhood, of the name of Neigialink. He lived in
+Crummyn, [Footnote: A town near Wolgast.] with a nun whom he had
+carried off from her convent and married; therefore he would be
+able to sympathise with lovers, and would help them."
+
+"But his Highness should remember his kingly state, and not bring
+misery on them both for ever."
+
+"He had considered all that, they should therefore keep this
+marriage private for a year; she could live at Stramehl during
+that period, and receive his visits without his mother knowing of
+the matter. At the end of that year he would be of age, and his
+own master."
+
+_Sidonia_ (embracing him).--"Ah, if he really loved her so,
+then the sooner the better to the church. But let him take care
+that evil-minded people would not separate them for ever, and
+bring her to an early grave. Had the priest been informed that he
+would be required to wed them?"
+
+"Not yet; but if he continued as strong as he felt to-day, he
+would ride over to Crummyn himself (for it was quite near to
+Wolgast) the moment Duke Barnim and her father quitted the
+castle."
+
+"But how would she know the result of his visit? his mother
+watched her day and night. Could he send a page or a serving-maid
+to her?--though indeed there were none now he could trust, for
+Ulrich had dismissed all her good friends. And if he came himself
+to her room, evil might be spoken of it."
+
+"He had arranged all that already. There was the bear, as she
+remembered, chained upon the little island in the horse-pond, just
+under her window. Now when he returned from Crummyn, he would go
+out by seven in the morning, before his lady mother began her
+spinning, and commence shooting arrows at the bear, by way of
+sport; then, as if by chance, he would let fly an arrow at her
+window and shiver the glass, but the arrow would contain a little
+note, detailing his visit to the priest at Crummyn, and the
+arrangement he had made for carrying her away secretly from the
+castle. She must take care, however, to move away her seat from
+the window, and place it in a corner, lest the arrow might strike
+herself."
+
+But then a loud "Sidonia! Sidonia!" resounded through the wood,
+and immediately after, "Ernest! Ernest!"
+
+So she sprang up, and cried, "Run, dearest Prince, run as fast as
+you are able, to the other side, where the huntsmen are gathering,
+and mix with them, so that her Grace may not perceive you." This
+he did, and began to talk to the huntsmen about their dogs and the
+sweep of the chase, and as her Grace continued calling "Ernest!
+Ernest!" he stepped slowly towards her out of the crowd, and asked
+what was her pleasure? So she suspected nothing, and grew quite
+calm again.
+
+Duke Barnim now began to complain of hunger, and asked her Grace
+where she meant to serve them a collation, for he could never hold
+out until they reached Wolgast, and his friend Otto also was
+growing as ravenous as a wolf.
+
+Her Grace answered, the collation was laid in the Cisan tower,
+close beside them, and as the weather was good, his Grace could
+amuse himself with the _tubum opticum_, which a Pomeranian
+noble had bought in Middelburg from one Johann Lippersein,
+[Footnote: An optician, and the probable inventor of the
+telescope, which was first employed about the end of the sixteenth
+and the beginning of the seventeenth century.] and presented to
+her. By the aid of this telescope he would see as far as his own
+town of Stettin. Neither the Duke nor Otto Bork believed it
+possible to see Stettin, at the distance of thirteen or fourteen
+miles, with any instrument. But her Grace, who had heard of Otto's
+godless infidelity, rebuked him gravely, saying, "You will soon be
+convinced, sir knight; so we often hold that to be impossible in
+spiritual matters, which becomes not only possible, but certain,
+when we look through the telescope which the Holy Spirit presents
+to us, weak and short-sighted mortals. God give to every infidel
+such a _tubum opticum_!" The Duke, fearing now that her Grace
+would continue her sermon indefinitely, interrupted her in his
+jesting way--"Listen, dear cousin! I will lay a wager with you. If
+I cannot see Stettin, as you promise, you shall give me a kiss;
+but if I see it and recognise it clearly, then I shall give you a
+kiss."
+
+Her Grace was truly scandalised, as one may imagine, and replied
+angrily--"Good uncle! if you attempt to offer such indignities to
+me, the princely widow, I must pray your Grace to leave my court
+with all speed, and never to return!" This rebuke made every one
+grave until they reached the Cisan tower. This building lay only
+half a mile from the hunting-ground, and was situated on the
+summit of the Cisanberg, from whence its name. It was built of
+wood, and contained four stories, besides excellent stabling for
+horses. The apartments were light, airy, and elegant, so that her
+Grace frequently passed a portion of the summer time there. The
+upper story commanded a view of the whole adjacent country. At the
+foot of the hill ran the little river Cisa into the Peen, and many
+light, beautiful bridges were thrown over it at different points.
+The hill itself was finely wooded with pines and other trees, and
+the tower was made more light and airy than that which Duke Johann
+Frederick afterwards erected at Friedrichswald, and commanded a
+far finer prospect, seeing that the Cisanberg is the highest hill
+in Pomerania.
+
+While the party proceeded to the tower, Sidonia rode along by her
+father, and to judge from her animation and gestures, she was, no
+doubt, communicating to him all that the young lord had promised,
+and her hopes, in consequence, that a very short period would
+elapse before he might salute her as Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+When they reached the tower, all admired the view even from the
+lower window, for they could see the Peen, the Achterwasser, and
+eight or nine towns, besides the sea in the distance. I say
+nothing of Wolgast, which seemed to lie just beneath their feet,
+with its princely castle and cathedral perfectly distinct, and all
+its seats laid out like a map, where they could even distinguish
+the people walking. Then her Grace bade them ascend to the upper
+story, and look out for Stettin, but they sought for it in vain
+with their unassisted eyes; then her Grace placed the _tubum
+opticum_ before the Duke, and no sooner had he looked through
+it than he cried out, "As I live, Otto, there is my strong tower
+of St. James's, and my ducal castle to the left, lying far behind
+the Finkenwald mountain." But the unbelieving Thomas laughed, and
+only answered, "My gracious Prince! do not let yourself be so
+easily imposed upon."
+
+Hereupon the Duke made him look through the telescope himself; and
+no sooner had he applied his eye to the glass than he jumped back,
+rubbed his eyes, looked through a second time, and then
+exclaimed--
+
+"Well, as true as my name is Otto Bork, I never could have
+believed this."
+
+"Now, sir knight," said her Grace, "so it is with you as concerns
+spiritual things. How if you should one day find that to be true
+which your infidelity now presumptuously asserts to be false? Will
+not your repentance then be bitter? If you have found my words
+true--the words of a poor, weak, sinful woman, will you not much
+more find those of the holy Son of God? Yes, to your horror and
+dismay, you will find His words to be truth, of whom even His
+enemies testified that He never lied--Matt. xxii. 16. Tremble, sir
+knight, and bethink you that what often seems impossible to man is
+possible to God."
+
+The bold knight was now completely silenced, and the good-natured
+Duke, seeing that he had not a word to say in reply, advanced to
+his rescue, and changed the conversation by saying--
+
+"See, Otto, the wind seems so favourable just now, that I think we
+had better say '_Vale_' to our gracious hostess in the
+morning, and return to Stettin."
+
+Not a word did his Grace venture to say more about the wager of
+the kisses, for his dear cousin's demeanour restrained even his
+hilarity. Otto had nothing to object to the arrangement; and her
+Grace said, if they were not willing longer to abide at her
+widowed court, she would bid them both Godspeed upon their
+journey. "And you, sir knight, may take back your daughter
+Sidonia, for our dear son, as you may perceive, is now quite
+restored, and no longer needs her nursing. For the good deed she
+has wrought in curing him, I shall recompense her as befits me.
+But at my court the maiden can no longer abide."
+
+The knight was at first so thunderstruck by these words that he
+could not speak; but at last drawing himself up proudly, he said,
+"Good; I shall take the Lady Sidonia back with me to my castle;
+but as touching the recompense, keep it for those who need it."
+Sidonia, however, remained quite silent, as did also the young
+lord.
+
+But hear what happened. The festival lasted until late in the
+night, and then suddenly such a faintness and bodily weakness came
+over the young Prince Ernest that all the physicians had to be
+sent for; and they with one accord entreated her Grace, if she
+valued his life, not to send away Sidonia.
+
+One can imagine what her Grace felt at this news. Nothing would
+persuade her to believe but that Sidonia had given him some
+witch-drink, such as the girl out of Daber had taught her to make.
+
+No one could believe either that his Highness affected this
+sickness, in order to force his mother to keep Sidonia at the
+court; indeed, he afterwards strongly asseverated, and this at a
+time when he would have killed Sidonia with a look, if it had been
+possible, that this weakness came upon him suddenly like an ague,
+and that it could not have been caused by anything she had given
+him, for he had eaten nothing, except at the banquet at the Cisan
+tower.
+
+In short, the young Prince became as bad as ever; but Sidonia
+never heeded him, only busied herself packing up her things, as if
+she really intended going away with Otto, and finally, as eight
+o'clock struck the next morning, she wrapped herself in her mantle
+and hood, and went with her father and Duke Barnim to take leave
+of her Grace. She looked as bitter and sour as a
+vinegar-cruet--nothing would tempt her to remain even for one day
+longer. What was her Grace to do? the young lord was dying, and
+had already despatched two pages to her, entreating for one sight
+of Sidonia! She must give the artful hypocrite good words--but
+they were of no avail--Sidonia insisted on leaving the castle that
+instant with her father; then turning to Duke Barnim, she
+exclaimed with bitter tears, "Now, gracious Prince, you see
+yourself how I am treated here."
+
+Neither would the cunning Otto permit his daughter to remain on
+any account, unless, indeed, her Grace gave him a written
+authority to receive the dues on the Jena. Such shameless knavery
+at last enraged the old Duke Barnim to such a degree that he cried
+out--"Listen, Otto, my illustrious cousin here has no more to do
+with the dues on the Jena than you have; they belong to me alone,
+and I can give no promise until I lay the question before my
+council and the diet of the Stettin dukedom: be content,
+therefore, to wait until then." One may easily guess what was the
+termination of the little drama got up by Otto and his fair
+daughter--namely, that Otto sailed away with the Duke, and that
+Sidonia remained at the court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+
+So Sidonia was again seated by the couch of the young Prince, with
+her hand in his hand; but her Grace, as may well be imagined, was
+never very far off from them; and this annoyed Sidonia so much,
+that she did not scruple to treat the mourning mother and princely
+widow with the utmost contempt; at last disdaining even to answer
+the questions addressed to her by her Grace. All this the Duchess
+bore patiently for the sake of her dear son. But even Prince
+Ernest felt, at length, ashamed of such insolent scorn being
+displayed towards his mother, and said--
+
+"What, Sidonia, will you not even answer my gracious mother?"
+
+Hereupon the hypocrite sighed, and answered--
+
+"Ah, my gracious Prince! I esteem it better to pray in silence
+beside your bed than to hold a loud chattering in your ears.
+Besides, when I am speaking to God I cannot, at the same time,
+answer your lady mother."
+
+This pleased the young man, and he pressed her little hand, and
+kissed it. And very shortly after, his strength returned to him
+wonderfully, so that her Grace and Sidonia only watched by him one
+night. The next day he fell into a profound sleep, and awoke from
+it perfectly recovered.
+
+In the meantime, the ghost became so daring and troublesome, that
+all the house stood in fear of it. Oftentimes it would be seen
+even in the clear morning light; and a maid, who had forgotten to
+make the bed of one of the grooms, and ran to the stables at night
+to finish her work, encountered the ghost there, and nearly died
+of fright. _Item_, Clara von Dewitz, one beautiful moonlight
+night, having gone out to take a turn up and down the corridor,
+because she could not sleep from the toothache, saw the
+apparition, just as day dawned, sinking down into the earth, not
+far from the chamber of Sidonia, to her great horror and
+astonishment. _Item_, her Grace, that very same night, having
+heard a noise in the corridor, opened her door, and there stood
+the ghost before her, leaning against a pillar. She was
+horror-struck, and clapped to her door hastily, but said nothing
+to the young Prince, for fear of alarming him.
+
+He had recovered, as I have said, in a most wonderful manner, and
+though still looking pale and haggard, yet his love for the maiden
+would not permit him to defer his visit to Crummyn any longer;
+particularly as it lay only half a mile from the castle, but on
+the opposite bank of the river, near the island of Usdom.
+
+Thereupon, on the fourth night, he descended to the little
+water-gate, having previously arranged with his chief equerry,
+Appelmann, to have a boat there in readiness for him, and also a
+good horse, to take across the ferry with them to the other side.
+So, at twelve o'clock, he and Appelmann embarked privately, with
+Johann Bruwer, the ferryman, and were safely landed at Mahlzow.
+Here he mounted his horse, and told the two others to await his
+return, and conceal themselves in the wood if any one approached.
+Appelmann begged permission to accompany his Highness, which,
+however, was denied; the young Prince charging them strictly to
+hold themselves concealed till his return, and never reveal to
+human being where they had conducted him this evening, on pain of
+his severe anger and loss of favour for ever; but if they held
+their secret close, he would recompense them at no distant time,
+in a manner even far beyond their hopes.
+
+So his Highness rode off to Crummyn, where all was darkness,
+except, indeed, one small ray of light that glanced from the lower
+windows of the cloister--for it was standing at that time. He
+dismounted, tied his horse to a tree, and knocked at the window,
+through which he had a glimpse of an old woman, in nun's garments,
+who held a crucifix between her hands, and prayed.
+
+"Who are you?" she demanded. "What can you want here at such an
+hour?"
+
+"I am from Wolgast," he answered, "and must see the priest of
+Crummyn."
+
+"There is no priest here now."
+
+"But I have been told that a priest of the name of Neigialink
+lived here."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a Lutheran swaddler and no priest, otherwise
+he would not live in open sin with a nun."
+
+"It is all the same to me; only come and show me the way."
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he a heathen or a true Christian?"
+
+His Highness could not make out what the old mother meant, but
+when he answered, "I am a Christian," she opened the door, and let
+him enter her cell. As she lifted up the lamp, however, she
+started back in terror at his young, pale, haggard face. Then,
+looking at his rich garments, she cried--
+
+"This must be a son of good Duke Philip's, for never were two
+faces more alike."
+
+The Prince never imagined that the old mother could betray him,
+and therefore answered, "Yes; and now lead me to the priest."
+
+So the old mother began to lament over the downfall of the pure
+Christian doctrine, which his father, Duke Philip, had upheld so
+bravely. And if the young lord held the true faith (as she hoped
+by his saying he was a Christian), if so, then she would die
+happy, and the sooner the better--even if it were this night, for
+she was the last of all the sisterhood, all the other nuns having
+died of grief; and so she went on chattering.
+
+Prince Ernest regretted that he had not time to discourse with her
+upon the true faith, but would she tell him where the priest was
+to be found.
+
+_Illa_.--"She would take him to the parson, but he must first
+do her a service."
+
+"Whatever she desired, so that it would not detain him."
+
+_Illa_.--"It was on this night the vigil of the holy St.
+Bernard, their patron saint, was held; now, there was no one to
+light the altar candles for her, for her maid, who had grown old
+along with her, lay a-dying, and she was too old and weak herself
+to stretch up so high. And the idle Lutheran heretics of the town
+would mock, if they knew she worshipped God after the manner of
+her fathers. The old Lutheran swaddler, too, would not suffer it,
+if he knew she prayed in the church by nights. But she did not
+care for his anger, for she had a private key that let her in at
+all hours; and his Highness, the Prince, at her earnest prayers,
+had given her permission to pray in the church, at any time she
+pleased, from then till her death."
+
+So the old mother wept so bitterly, and kissed his Highness's
+hand, entreating him with such sad lamentations to remain with her
+until she said a prayer, that he consented. And she said, if the
+heretic parson came there to scold her, which of a surety he
+would, knowing that she never omitted a vigil, he could talk to
+him in the church, without going to disturb him and his harlot nun
+at their own residence. Besides, the church was the safest place
+to discourse in, for no one would notice them, and he would be
+able to protect her from the parson's anger besides.
+
+Here the old mother took up the church keys and a horn lantern,
+and led the young Prince through a narrow corridor up to the
+church door. Hardly, however, had she put the key in the lock,
+when the loud bark of a dog was heard inside, and they soon heard
+it scratching, and smelling, and growling at them close to the
+door.
+
+"What can that dog be here for?" said his Highness in alarm.
+
+"Alas!" answered the nun, "since the pure old religion was
+destroyed, profanity and covetousness have got the upper hand; so
+every church where even a single pious relic of the wealth of the
+good old times remains, must be guarded, as you see, by dogs.
+[Footnote: It is an undeniable fact, that the immorality of the
+people fearfully increased with the progress of the Reformation
+throughout Pomerania. An old chronicler, and a Protestant, thus
+testifies, 1542:--"And since this time (the Reformation) a great
+change has come over all things. In place of piety, we have
+profanity; in place of reverence, sacrilege and the plundering of
+God's churches; in place of alms-deeds, stinginess and
+selfishness; in place of feasts, greed and gluttony; in place of
+festivals, labour; in place of obedience and humility of children,
+obstinacy and self-opinion; in place of honour and veneration for
+the priesthood, contempt for the priest and the church ministers.
+So that one might justly assert that the preaching of the
+evangelism had made the people worse in place of better."
+
+Another Protestant preacher, John Borkmann, asserts, 1560:--"As
+for sin, it overflows all places and all stations. It is growing
+stronger in all offices, in all trades, in all employments, in
+every station of life--what shall I say more?--in every
+individual"--and so on. I would therefore recommend the blind
+eulogists of the good old times to examine history for themselves,
+and not to place implicit belief either in the pragmatical
+representations of the old and new Lutherans."] And she had herself
+locked up her pretty dog Stoerteback [Footnote: The name of a
+notorious northern pirate.] here, that no one might rob the altar
+of the golden candlesticks and the little jewels, at least as long
+as she lived."
+
+So she desired Stoerteback to lie still, and then entered the
+church with the Prince, who lit the altar candles for her, and
+then looked round with wonder on the silver lamps, the golden pix
+and caps, and other vessels adorned with jewels, used by the
+Papists in their ceremonies.
+
+The old mother, meanwhile, took off her white garment and black
+scapulary, and being thus naked almost to the waist, descended
+into a coffin, which was lying in a corner beside the altar. Here
+she groped till she brought up a crucifix, and a scourge of
+knotted cords. Then she kneeled down within the coffin, lashing
+herself with one hand till the blood flowed from her shoulders,
+and with the other holding up the crucifix, which she kissed from
+time to time, whilst she recited the hymn of the holy St.
+Bernard:--
+
+   "Salve caput cruentatum,
+   Totum spinis coronatum,
+   Conquassatum, vulneratum,
+   Arundine verberatum
+   Facie sputis illita."
+
+When she had thus prayed, and scourged herself a while, she
+extended the crucifix with her bleeding arm to the Prince, and
+prayed him, for the sake of God, to have compassion on her, and so
+would the bleeding Saviour and all the saints have compassion upon
+him at the last day. And when his Highness asked her what he could
+do for her, she besought him to bring her a priest from Grypswald,
+who could break the Lord's body once more for her, and give her
+the last sacrament of extreme unction here in her coffin. Then
+would she never wish to leave it, but die of joy if this only was
+granted to her.
+
+So the Prince promised to fulfil her wishes; whereupon she
+crouched down again in the coffin, and recommenced the scourging,
+while she repeated with loud sobs and groans the two last verses
+of the hymn. Scarcely had she ended when a small side-door opened,
+and the dog Stoerteback began to bark vociferously.
+
+"What!" exclaimed a voice, "is that old damned Catholic witch at
+her mummeries, and burning my good wax candles all for nothing?"
+
+And, silencing the dog, a man stepped forward hastily, but, seeing
+the Prince, paused in astonishment. Whereupon the old mother
+raised herself up out of the coffin, and said, "Did I not tell
+your Grace that you would see the hardhearted heretic here?--that
+is the man you seek." So the Prince brought him into the choir,
+and told him that he was Prince Ernest Ludovicus, and came here to
+request that he would privately wed him on the following night,
+without knowledge of any human being, to his beloved and affianced
+bride, Sidonia von Bork.
+
+The priest, however, did not care to mix himself up with such a
+business, seeing that he feared Ulrich mightily; but his Grace
+promised him a better living at the end of the year, if he would
+undertake to serve him now.
+
+To which the priest answered--"Who knows if your Highness will be
+alive by the end of the year, for you look as pale as a corpse?"
+
+"He never felt better in his life. He had been ill lately, but now
+was as sound as a fish. Would he not marry him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Certainly not; unless he received a handsome
+consideration. He had a wife and dear children; what would become
+of them if he incurred the displeasure of that stern Lord
+Chamberlain and of the princely widow?"
+
+"But could he not bring his family to Stettin; for he and his
+young bride intended to fly there, and put themselves under the
+protection of his dear uncle, Duke Barnim?"
+
+_Hic_.--"It was a dangerous business; still, if his Highness
+gave him a thousand gulden down, and a written promise, signed and
+sealed, that he would provide him with a better living before the
+year had expired, why, out of love for the young lord, he would
+consent to peril himself and his family; but his Highness must not
+think evil of him for demanding the thousand gulden paid down
+immediately, for how were his dear wife and children to be
+supported through the long year otherwise?"
+
+His Highness, however, considered the sum too large, and said that
+his gracious mother had scarcely more a year for herself than a
+thousand gulden--she that was the Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+However, they finally agreed upon four hundred gulden; for his
+Highness showed him that Doctor Luther himself had only four
+hundred gulden a year, and surely he would not require more than
+the great _reformator ecclesia_.
+
+So everything was arranged at last, the priest promising to
+perform the ceremony on the third night from that; "For some
+time," he said, "would be necessary to collect people to assist
+them in their flight, and money must be distributed; but his
+Highness would, of course, repay all that he expended in his
+behalf, and further promise to give him and his family free
+quarters when they reached Stettin."
+
+After the ceremony, they could reach the boat through the convent
+garden, and sail away to Warte. [Footnote: A town near Usdom.]
+Then he would have four or five peasants in waiting, with
+carriages ready, to escort them to East Clune, from whence they
+could take another boat and cross the Haff into Stettin; for, as
+they could not reckon on a fair wind with any certainty, it was
+better to perform the journey half by land and half by water;
+besides, the fishermen whom he intended to employ were not
+accustomed to sail up the Peen the whole way into the Haff, for
+their little fishing-smacks were too slight to stand a strong
+current.
+
+Hereupon the Prince answered, that, since it was necessary, he
+would wait until the third night, when the priest should have
+everything in readiness, but meanwhile should confide the secret
+to no one. So he turned away, and comforted the old mother again
+with his promises as he passed out.
+
+The next morning, having written all down for Sidonia, and
+concealed the note in an arrow, he went forth as he had arranged,
+and began to tease the bear by shooting arrows at him, till the
+beast roared and shook his chain. Then, perceiving that Sidonia
+had observed him from the window, he watched a favourable
+opportunity, and shot the arrow up, right through her window, so
+that the pane of glass rattled down upon the floor. In the billet
+therein concealed he explained the whole plan of escape; and asked
+her to inform him, in return, how she could manage to come to him
+on the third night. Would his dearest Sidonia put on the dress of
+a page? He could bring it to her little chamber himself the next
+night. She must write a little note in answer, and conceal it in
+the arrow as he had done, then throw it out of the window, and he
+would be on the watch to pick it up.
+
+So Sidonia replied to him that she was content; but, as regarded
+the page's dress, he must leave it, about ten o'clock the next
+night, upon the beer-barrel in the corridor, but not attempt to
+bring it himself to her chamber. Concerning the manner in which
+she was to meet him on the third night, had he forgotten that the
+old castellan barred and bolted all that wing of the castle by
+eleven o'clock, so that she could never leave the corridor by the
+usual way; but there was a trapdoor near her little chamber which
+led down into the ducal stables, and this door no one ever thought
+of or minded--it was never bolted night or day, and was quite
+large enough for a man to creep through. Her dear Prince might
+wait for her, by that trap-door, at eleven o'clock on the
+appointed night. He could not mistake it, for the large basket lay
+close behind, in which her Grace kept her darling little kittens;
+from thence they could easily get into the outer courtyard, which
+was never locked, and, after that, go where they pleased. If he
+approved of this arrangement, let him shoot another arrow into her
+room; but, above all things, he was to keep at a distance from her
+during the day, that her Grace might not suspect anything.
+
+Having thrown the arrow out of the window, and received another in
+answer from the Prince, which the artful hypocrite flung out as if
+in great anger, she ran to Clara's room, and complained bitterly
+how the young lord had broken her window, because, forsooth, he
+must be shooting arrows at the bear; and so she had to come into
+her room out of the cold air, until the glazier came to put in the
+glass. When Clara asked how she could be so angry with the young
+Prince--did she not love him any longer?--Sidonia replied, that
+truly she had grown very tired of him, for he did nothing but sigh
+and groan whenever he came near her, like an asthmatic old woman,
+and had grown as thin and dry as a baked plum. There was nothing
+very lovable about him now. Would to Heaven that he were quite
+well, and she would soon bid farewell to the castle and every one
+in it; but the moment she spoke of going his sickness returned, so
+that she was obliged to remain, which was much against her
+inclination; and this she might tell Clara in confidence, because
+she had always been her truest friend.
+
+Then she pretended to weep, and cursed her beauty, which had
+brought her nothing but unhappiness; thereupon the tender-hearted
+Clara began to comfort her, and kissed her; and the moment Sidonia
+left her to get the glass mended, Clara ran to her Grace to tell
+her the joyful tidings; but, alas! that very day the wickedness of
+the artful maiden was brought to light. For what happened in the
+afternoon? See, the nun of Crummyn steps out of a boat at the
+little water-gate, and places herself in a corner of the
+courtyard, where the people soon gather round in a crowd, to laugh
+at her white garments and black scapulary; and the boys begin to
+pelt the poor old mother with stones, and abuse her, calling her
+the old Papist witch; but by good fortune the castellan comes by,
+and commands the crowd to leave off tormenting her, and then asks
+her business.
+
+_Illa._--"She must speak instantly to her Grace the princely
+widow."
+
+So the old man brings her to her Grace, with whom Clara was still
+conversing, and the old nun, after she had kneeled to the Duchess
+and kissed her hand, began to relate how her young lord, Prince
+Ernest, had been with her the night before, while she was keeping
+the _vigilia_ of holy St. Bernard to the best of her ability,
+and had urgently demanded to see the Lutheran priest named
+Neigialink, and that when this same priest came into the church to
+scold her, as was his wont, he and the Prince had retired into the
+choir, and there held a long conversation which she did not
+comprehend. But the priest's mistress had told her the whole
+business this morning, under a promise of secrecy--namely, that
+the priest, her leman, had promised to wed Prince Ernest
+privately, on the third night from that, to a certain young damsel
+named Sidonia von Bork. That the Prince had given him a thousand
+gulden for his services, and a promise of a rich living when he
+succeeded to the government, so that in future she could live as
+grand as an abbess, and have what beautiful horses she chose from
+the ducal stables.
+
+"And this," said the nun, "was told me by the priest's mistress;
+but as I have a true Pomeranian heart, although, indeed, the
+Prince has left the good old religion, I could not rest in peace
+until I stepped into a boat, weak and old as I am, and sailed off
+here direct to inform your Grace of the plot." She only asked one
+favour in return for her service. It was that her Grace would
+permit her to end the rest of her days peaceably in the cloister,
+and protect her from the harshness of the Lutheran priests and the
+fury of the mob, who fell on her like mad dogs here in the castle
+court, and would have torn her to pieces if the castellan had not
+come by and rescued her. But above all, she requested and prayed
+her Grace to permit a true priest to come to her from Grypswald,
+who could give her the holy Eucharist, and prepare her for death.
+But her Grace was struck dumb by astonishment and alarm, and Clara
+could not speak either, only wrung her hands in anguish. And her
+Grace continued to walk up and down the room weeping bitterly,
+until at last she sat down before her desk to indite a note to old
+Ulrich, praying for his presence without delay, and straightway
+despatched the chief equerry, Appelmann, with it to Spantekow.
+
+The old nun still continued crying, would not her Grace send her a
+priest? But her Grace refused; for in fact she was a stern
+upholder of the pure doctrine. Anything else the old mother
+demanded she might have, but with the abominations of Popery her
+Grace would have nothing to do. Still the old nun prayed and
+writhed at her feet, crying and groaning, "For the love of God, a
+priest! for the love of God, a priest!" but her Grace drew herself
+up stiff and stern, and let the old woman writhe there unheeded,
+until at length she motioned to Clara to have her removed to the
+courtyard, where the poor creature leaned up against the pump in
+bitter agony, and drew forth a crucifix from her bosom, kissed it,
+and looking up to heaven, cried, "Jesu! Jesu! art Thou come at
+last?" and then dropped down dead upon the pavement, which the
+crowd no sooner observed than they gathered round the corpse,
+screaming out, "The devil has carried her off! See! the devil has
+carried off the old Papist witch!" Hearing the uproar, her Grace
+descended, as did also the young lord and Sidonia, who both
+appeared as if they knew nothing at all about the old nun. And her
+Grace commanded that the executioner should by no means drag away
+the body, as the people demanded, who were now rushing to the spot
+from all quarters of the town, but that it should be decently
+lifted into the boat and conveyed back again to Crummyn, there to
+be interred with the other members of the sisterhood at the
+cloister.
+
+No word did she speak, either to her undutiful son or to Sidonia,
+about what she had heard; only when the latter asked her what the
+nun came there for, she answered coldly, "For a Popish priest."
+Hereupon the young Prince was filled with joy, concluding that
+nothing had been betrayed as yet. And it was natural the old nun
+should come with this request, seeing that she had made the same
+to him. Her Grace also strictly charged Clara to observe a
+profound silence upon all they had heard, until the old
+chamberlain arrived, and this she promised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost._
+
+
+At eleven o'clock that same night, the good and loyal Lord Ulrich
+arrived at the castle with Appelmann, from Spantekow, and just
+waited to change his travelling dress before he proceeded to the
+apartment of her Grace. He found her seated with Clara and another
+maiden, weeping bitterly. Dr. Gerschovius was also present. When
+the old man entered, her Grace's lamentations became yet
+louder--alas! how she was afflicted! Who could have believed that
+all this had come upon her because the devil, out of malice, had
+made Dr. Luther drop her wedding-ring at the bridal! And when the
+knight asked in alarm what had happened, she replied that tears
+prevented her speaking, but Dr. Gerschovius would tell him all.
+
+So the doctor related the whole affair, from the declaration of
+the old nun to the hypocritical conduct of Sidonia towards Clara
+von Dewitz, upon which the old knight shook his head, and said,
+"Did I not counsel your Grace to let the young lord die, in God's
+name, for better is it to lose life than honour. Had he died then,
+so would the Almighty have raised him pure and perfect at the last
+day, but now he is growing daily in wickedness as a young wolf in
+ferocity."
+
+Then her Grace made answer, the past could not now be recalled;
+and that she was ready to answer before God for what she had done
+through motherly love and tenderness. They must now advise her how
+to save her infatuated son from the snares of this wanton. Dr.
+Gerschovius, thereupon, gave it as his opinion that they should
+each be placed in strict confinement for the next fourteen days,
+during which time he would visit and admonish them twice a day, by
+which means he hoped soon to turn their hearts to God.
+
+Here old Ulrich laughed outright, and asked the doctor, was he
+still bent upon teaching Sidonia her catechism? As to the young
+lord, no admonition would do him good now; he was thoroughly
+bewitched by the girl, and though he made a hundred promises to
+give her up, would never hold one of them. Alas! alas! that the
+son of good Duke Philip should be so degenerate.
+
+But her Grace wept bitterly, and said, that never was there a more
+obedient, docile, and amiable child than her dear Ernest; skilled
+in all the fine arts, and gifted by nature with all that could
+ensure a mother's love. "But how does all this help him now?"
+cried Ulrich. "It is with a good heart as with a good ship, unless
+you guide it, it will run aground--stand by the helm, or the best
+ship will be lost. What had the country to expect from a Prince
+who would die, forsooth? unless his mistress sat by his bedside?
+Ah! if he could only have followed the funeral of the young lord,
+he would have given a hundred florins to the poor that very day!"
+
+"It was not her son's fault--that base hypocrite had caused it all
+by some hell magic."
+
+_Ille_.--"That was quite impossible; however, he would
+believe it to please her Grace."
+
+"Then let him speak his opinion, if the counsel of Dr. Gerschovius
+did not please him."
+
+_Ille_.--"His advice, then, was to keep quiet until the third
+night, then secretly place a guard round the castle and at the
+wing, and when the bridal party met, take them out prisoners, send
+my young lord to the tower, but disgrace Sidonia publicly, and
+send her off where she pleased--to the fiend, if she liked."
+
+"Then they would have the same old scene over again; her son would
+fall sick, and Sidonia could not be brought back to cure him, if
+once she had been publicly disgraced before all the people. So
+matters would be worse than ever."
+
+Hereupon old Ulrich fell into such a rage that he cursed and
+swore, that her Grace treated him no better than a fool, to bring
+him hither from Spantekow, and then refuse to take his advice. As
+to Sidonia, her Grace had already brought disgrace upon her
+princely house, by first turning her out, and then praying her to
+come back before three days had elapsed. All Pomerania talked of
+it, and old Otto Bork did not scruple to brag and boast
+everywhere, that her Grace had no peace or rest from her
+conscience until she had asked forgiveness from the Lady Sidonia
+(as the vain old knave called her) and entreated her to return.
+Now if she took the advice of Doctor Gerschovius, and first
+imprisoned and then turned away Sidonia, no one would believe in
+her story of the intended marriage, but look on her conduct as
+only a confirmation of all the hard treatment which her Grace was
+reported to have employed towards the girl; whereas if she only
+waited till the whole bridal party were ready to start, and then
+arrested Sidonia, her Grace was justified before the whole world,
+for what greater fault could be committed than thus to entrap the
+young Prince into a secret marriage, and run away with him by
+night from the castle? Let her Grace then send for the
+executioner, and let him give Sidonia a public whipping before all
+the people. No one would think the punishment too hard, for
+seducing a Prince of Pomerania into a marriage with her.
+
+So the princely widow of Duke Philip will be justified before all
+the world; and when the young lord sees his bride so disgraced, he
+will assuredly be right willing to give her up; even if he fall
+sick, it is impossible that he could send for a maiden to sit by
+his bed who had been publicly whipped by the executioner. Those
+were stern measures, perhaps, but a branch of the old Pomeranian
+tree was decayed; it must be lopped, or the whole tree itself
+would soon fall.
+
+When the Grand Chamberlain ceased speaking, her Grace considered
+the matter well, and finally pronounced that she would follow his
+advice, whereupon, as the night waxed late, she dismissed the
+party to their beds, retaining only Clara with her for a little
+longer.
+
+But a strange thing happened as she, too, finally quitted her
+Grace, and proceeded along the corridor to her own little
+apartment--and here let every one consider how the hand of God is
+in everything, and what great events He can bring forth from the
+slightest causes, as a great oak springs up from a little acorn.
+
+For as the maiden walked along, her sandal became unfastened, and
+tripped her, so that she nearly fell upon her face, whereupon she
+paused, and placing her foot upon a beer-barrel that stood against
+the wall not far from Sidonia's chamber, began to fasten it, but
+lo! just at that moment the head of the ghost appeared rising
+through the trap-door, and looked round, then, as if aware of her
+presence, drew back, and she heard a noise as if it had jumped
+down on the earth beneath. She was horribly frightened, and crept
+trembling to her bed; but then on reflecting over this apparition
+of the serpent knight, it came into her head that it could not be
+a ghost, since it came down on the ground with such a heavy jump;
+she prayed to God, therefore, to help her in discovering this
+matter, and as she could not sleep, rose before the first glimmer
+of daylight to examine this hole which lay so close to Sidonia's
+chamber, and there truly she discovered the trap-door, and having
+opened, found that it lay right over a large coach in the ducal
+stables; thereupon she concluded that the ghost was no other than
+the Prince himself who thus visited Sidonia.
+
+Then she remembered that the ghost had been particularly active
+while the young Prince lay sick on his bed watched by his mother;
+so to make the matter clearer she went the next evening into the
+stables, and observing the coach, which lay just beneath the hole,
+sprinkled fine ash-dust all round it. Then returning to her room,
+she waited until it grew quite dark, and as ten o'clock struck and
+all the doors of the corridor leading to the women's apartments
+were barred and bolted, she wrapped herself in a black mantle and
+stole out with a palpitating heart into the gallery. Remembering
+the large beer-barrel near Sidonia's room, she crouched down
+behind it, and from thence had a distinct view of the trap-door,
+and also of Sidonia's chamber. There she waited for about an hour,
+when she perceived the young Prince coming, but not through the
+trap-door. He knocked lightly at Sidonia's door, who opened it
+instantly, and they held a long whispering conversation together.
+He had brought her the page's dress, and there was nothing to be
+feared now, for he had examined the trap and found they could
+easily get out through it on the top of the coach, and from thence
+into the stables. After that the way was clear. Surely some good
+angel had put the idea into her head. Then he kissed her tenderly.
+
+_Illa_.--"What did the old nun come for? Could she have
+betrayed them?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Impossible. She did not know a syllable of their
+affairs, and had come to ask his lady mother to send her a Popish
+priest, as she had asked himself." Then he kissed her again, but
+she tore herself from his arms, threw the little bundle into the
+room, and shut the door in his face. Whereupon the young Prince
+went his way, sighing as if his heart would break.
+
+Now Clara concluded, with reason, that the young lord was not the
+ghost, inasmuch as he did not creep through the trap-door, nor did
+he wear helmet or cuirass, or any sort of disguise. But when she
+heard Sidonia talk with such knowledge of the trap-door, she
+guessed there was some knavery in the matter, and though she sat
+the night there she was determined to watch. And behold! at twelve
+o'clock there was a great clattering heard below, and presently a
+helmet appeared rising through the hole, and then the entire
+figure of the ghost clambered up through it, and after cautiously
+looking round it, approached Sidonia's door, and knocked lightly.
+Immediately she opened it herself, admitted the ghost, and Clara
+heard her drawing the bolts of the door within.
+
+The pious and chaste maiden felt ready to faint with shame; for it
+was now evident that Sidonia deceived the poor young Prince as
+well as every one else, and that this ghost whom she admitted must
+be a favoured lover. She resolved to watch until he came out. But
+it was about the dawn of morning before he again appeared, and
+took his hellish path down through the trap-door, in the same way
+as he had risen. But to make all certain she took a brush, and
+before it was quite day, descended to the stables, where, indeed,
+she observed large, heavy footprints in the ashes all round the
+coach, quite unlike those which the delicate little feet of his
+Highness would have made. So she swept them all clean away to
+avoid exciting any suspicion, and crept back noiselessly to her
+little room. Then waiting till the morning was somewhat advanced,
+she despatched her maid on some errand into the town, in order to
+get rid of her, and then watched anxiously for her bridegroom,
+Marcus Bork, who always passed her door going to his office; and
+hearing his step, she opened her door softly, and drew him in.
+Then she related fully all she had heard and seen on the past
+night.
+
+The upright and virtuous young man clasped his hands together in
+horror and disgust, but could not resolve whether it were fitter
+to declare the whole matter to her Highness instantly or not.
+Clara, however, was of opinion that her Grace would derive great
+comfort from the information, because when the Prince found how
+Sidonia had betrayed him, he would give up the creature of his own
+accord. To which Marcus answered, that probably the Prince would
+not believe a word of the story, and then matters would be in a
+worse way than ever.
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he afraid to disgrace Sidonia because she was
+his kinswoman? Was it the honour of his name he wished to shield
+by sparing her from infamy?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; she wronged him. If she were his sister, he
+would still do his duty towards her Grace. The honour of the whole
+Pomeranian house was perilled here, and he would save it at any
+cost. But did his darling bride know who the ghost was?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; she had been thinking the whole night about him
+till her head ached, but in vain."
+
+At this moment the Grand Chamberlain passed the room on his way to
+the Duchess, and they both went to the door, and entreated him to
+come in and give them his advice. How the old knight laughed for
+joy when he heard all; it was almost as good news to him as the
+death of the young lord would have been. But no; they must not
+breathe a syllable of it to her Highness. Wait for this night, and
+if the dear ghost appeared again, he would give him and his
+paramour something to think of to the end of their lives. Then he
+walked up and down Clara's little room, thinking over what should
+be done; and finally resolved to open the matter to the young
+Prince that night between ten and eleven o'clock, and show him
+what a creature he was going to make Duchess of Pomerania. After
+which they should all, Marcus included, go armed to the
+stables--for the Prince, no doubt, would be slow of belief--and
+there conceal themselves in the coach until the ghost arrived. If
+he came, as was almost certain, they would follow him to Sidonia's
+room, break it open, and discover them together. In order that
+witnesses might not be wanting, he would desire all the pages and
+household to be collected in his room at that hour; and the moment
+they were certain of having trapped the ghost, Marcus should slip
+out of the coach, and run to gather them all together in the grand
+corridor. To ensure all this being done, he would take the keys
+from the castellan himself that night, and keep them in his own
+possession. But, above all things, they were to keep still and
+quiet during the day; and now he would proceed to her Grace.
+
+But Marcus Bork begged to ask him, if the ghost did not come that
+night, what was to be done? For the next was to be that of the
+marriage, and unless the Prince was convinced by his own eyes,
+nothing would make him credit the wickedness of his intended
+bride. Sidonia would swear by heaven and earth that the story was
+a malicious invention, and a plot to effect her utter destruction.
+
+This view of the case puzzled the old knight not a little, and he
+rubbed his forehead and paced up and down the room, till suddenly
+an idea struck him, and he exclaimed--"I have it, Marcus! You are
+a brave youth, dear Marcus, and a loyal subject and servant to her
+Grace. Your conduct will bring as much honour upon the noble name
+of Bork as Sidonia's has brought disgrace. Therefore I will trust
+you. Listen, Marcus. If the ghost does not appear to-night, then
+you must ride the morrow morn to Crummyn. Bribe the priest with
+gold. Tell him that he must write instantly to the young Prince,
+saying, that the marriage must be delayed for eight days, for
+there was no boat to be had safe enough to carry him and his bride
+up the Haff, seeing that all the boats and their crews were
+engaged at the fisheries, and would not be back to Crummyn until
+the following Saturday. The young lord, therefore, must have
+patience. Should the priest hesitate, then Marcus must threaten
+him with the loss of his living, as the whole princely house
+should be made acquainted with his villainy. He will then consent.
+I know him well!
+
+"If that is once arranged, then we shall seat ourselves every
+night in the coach until the ghost comes; and, methinks, he will
+not long delay, since hitherto he has managed his work with such
+security and success."
+
+The discreet and virtuous Marcus promised to obey Ulrich in all
+things, and the Grand Chamberlain then went his way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and
+how in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast_.
+
+
+The night came at last. And the Grand Chamberlain collected, as he
+had said, all the officials and pages of the household together in
+his office at the treasury, and bid them wait there until he
+summoned them. No one was to leave the apartment under pain of his
+severe displeasure. _Item_, he had prayed her Grace not to
+retire to rest that night before twelve of the clock; and when she
+asked wherefore, he replied that she would have to take leave of a
+very remarkable visitor that night; upon which she desired to know
+more, but he said that his word was passed not to reveal more. So
+her Grace thought he meant himself, and promised to remain up.
+
+As ten o'clock struck, the castellan locked, up, as was his wont,
+all that portion of the castle leading to the women's apartments.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked him for the keys, saying that he would keep
+them in his own charge. Then he prayed his Serene Highness Prince
+Ernest to accompany him to the lumber-room.
+
+His Highness consented, and they both ascended in the dark. On
+entering, Ulrich drew forth a dark lantern from beneath his cloak,
+and made the light fall upon an old suit of armour. Then turning
+to the Prince--"Do you know this armour?" he said.
+
+"Ah, yes; it was the armour of his dearly beloved father, Duke
+Philip."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. Did he then remember the admonitions which
+the wearer of this armour had uttered, upon his deathbed, to him
+and his brothers?"
+
+"Oh yes, well he remembered them; but what did this long sermon
+denote?"
+
+_Ille_.--"This he would soon know. Had he not given his right
+hand to the wearer of that armour, and pledged himself ever to set
+a good example before the people committed to his rule?"
+
+_Hic_.--"He did not know what all this meant. Had he even set
+a bad example to his subjects?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He was on the high-road to do it, when he had
+resolved to wed himself secretly to a maiden beneath his rank.
+(Here the young Prince became as pale as a corpse.) Let him deny,
+if he could, that he had sworn by his father's corpse, with his
+hand upon the coffin, to abandon Sidonia. He would not upbraid him
+with his broken promises to him, but would he bring his loving
+mother to her grave through shame and a broken heart? Would he
+make himself on a level with the lowest of the people, by wedding
+Sidonia the next night in the church at Crummyn?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Had that accursed Catholic nun then betrayed him?
+Ah, he was surrounded by spies and traitors; but if he could not
+obtain Sidonia now, he would wed her the moment he was of age and
+succeeded to the government. If he could in no way have Sidonia,
+then he would never wed another woman, but remain single and a
+dead branch for his whole life long. Her blood was as noble as his
+own, and no devil should dare to part them."
+
+_Ille.--"But if he could prove, this very night, to the young
+lord, that Sidonia was not an honourable maiden, but a dishonoured
+creature----" Here the young Prince drew his dagger and rushed
+upon the old man, with lips foaming with rage; but Ulrich sprang
+behind the armour of Duke Philip, and said calmly, "Ernest, if
+thou wouldst murder me who have been so leal and faithful a
+servant to thee and thine, then strike me dead here through the
+links of thy father's cuirass."
+
+And as the young man drew back with a deep groan, he
+continued--"Hear me, before thou dost a deed which eternity will
+not be long enough to repent. I cannot be angry with thee, for I
+have been young myself, and would have stricken any one to the
+earth who had called my own noble bride dishonoured. Listen to me,
+then, and strike me afterwards, if thou wilt." Hereupon the old
+knight stepped out from behind the armour, which was fixed upon a
+wooden frame in the middle of the apartment, with the helmet
+surmounting it, and leaning against the shoulder-piece, he
+proceeded to relate all that Clara had seen and heard.
+
+The young Prince turned first as red as scarlet, then pale as a
+corpse, and sunk down upon a pile of old armour, unable to utter
+anything but sighs and groans.
+
+Ulrich then asked if he remembered the silly youth who had been
+drowned lately in consequence of Sidonia's folly; for it was his
+apparition in the armour he then wore which it was reported
+haunted the castle. And did he remember also how that armour (in
+which the poor young man's father also had been killed fighting
+against the Bohemians) had been taken off the corpse and hung up
+again in that lumber-room?
+
+_Hic_.--"Of course he remembered all that; it had happened
+too lately for him to forget the circumstance."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, let him take the lantern himself, and
+see if the armour hung still upon the wall." So the young lord
+took the lantern with trembling hands, and advanced to the place;
+but no--there was no armour there now. Then he looked all round
+the room, but the armour with the serpent crest was nowhere to be
+seen. He dropped the lantern with a bitter execration. Hereupon
+the old knight continued--"You see, my gracious Prince, that the
+ghost must have flesh and blood, like you or me. The castellan
+tells me that when the ghost first began his pranks, the helmet
+and cuirass were still found every morning in their usual place
+here. But for eight days they have not been forthcoming; for the
+ghost, you see, is growing hardy and forgetting his usual
+precautions. However, the castellan had determined to watch him,
+and seize hold of him, for, as he rightly conjectured, a spirit
+could not carry away a heavy iron suit of armour on him; but his
+wife had dissuaded him from those measures up to the present time.
+Come now to the stables with me," continued Ulrich, "and let us
+conceal ourselves in the coach which I mentioned to you; Marcus
+Bork shall accompany us, and let us wait there until the ghost
+appears, and creeps through the trapdoor. After some time we shall
+follow him; and then this wicked cheat will be detected. But
+before we move, swear to me that you will await the issue
+peaceably and calmly in the coach; you must neither sigh nor
+groan, nor scarcely breathe. No matter what you hear or see, if
+you cannot control your fierce, jealous rage, all will be lost."
+
+Then the young Prince gave him his hand, and promised to keep
+silence, though it should cost him his life, for no one could be
+more anxious to discover the truth or falsehood of this matter
+than he himself. So they both descended now to the courtyard,
+Ulrich concealing the lantern under his mantle; and they crouched
+along by the wall till they reached the horse-pond, where Marcus
+Bork stood awaiting them; then they glided on, one by one, into
+the stables, and concealed themselves within the coach.
+
+It was well they did so without longer delay, for scarcely had
+they been seated when the ghost appeared. No doubt he had heard of
+the intended marriage, and wished to take advantage of his last
+opportunity. As the sound of his feet became audible approaching
+the coach, the Prince almost groaned audibly; but the stout old
+knight threw one arm powerfully round his body, and placed the
+hand of the other firmly over his mouth. The ghost now began to
+ascend the coach, and they heard him clambering up the hind wheel;
+he slipped down, however (a bad omen), and muttered a half-curse;
+then, to help himself up better, he seized hold of the sash of the
+window, and with it took a grip of Ulrich's beard, as he was
+leaning close to the side of the coach to watch his proceedings.
+Not a stir did the brave old knight make, but sat as still as
+marble, and even held his breath, lest the ghost might feel it
+warm upon his hand, and so discover their ambuscade.
+
+At last he was up; and they heard him clattering over their heads,
+then creeping through the trap-door into the corridor, and a
+little after, the sound of a door gently opening.
+
+All efforts were in vain to keep the Prince quiet. He must follow
+him. He would rush through the trap-door after him, though it cost
+him his life! But old Ulrich whispered in his ear, "Now I know
+that Prince Ernest has neither honour nor discretion, and
+Pomerania has little to hope from such a ruler." All in vain--he
+springs out of the coach, but the knight after him, who hastily
+gave Marcus Bork the keys of the castle, and bade him go fetch the
+household, down to the menials, here to the gallery. Marcus took
+them, and left the stables instantly. Then Ulrich seized the hand
+of Prince Ernest, who was already on the top of the coach, and
+asked him was it thus he would, leave an old man without any one
+to assist him. Let him in first through the trap-door, while the
+Prince held the lantern. To this he consented, and helped the old
+knight up, who, having reached the trap-door, put his head
+through; but, alas! the portly stomach of the stout old knight
+would not follow. He stretched out his head, however, on every
+side, as far as it could go, and heard distinctly low whispering
+voices from Sidonia's little room; then a sound as of the tramp of
+many feet became audible in the courtyard, by which he knew that
+Marcus and the household were advancing rapidly.
+
+But the young lord, who was waiting at the top of the coach, grew
+impatient, and pulled him back, endeavouring to creep through the
+hole himself. Praised be Heaven, however, this he failed to do
+from weakness; so he was obliged to follow the Grand Chamberlain,
+who whispered to him to come down, and they could reach the
+corridor through the usual entrance. Hereupon they both left the
+stables, and met Marcus in the courtyard with his company.
+
+Then all ascended noiselessly to the gallery, and ranged
+themselves around Sidonia's door. Ulrich now told eight of the
+strongest carls present to step forward and lean their shoulders
+against the door, but make no stir until he gave a sign; then when
+he cried "Now!" they should burst it open with all their force.
+
+As to the young Prince, he was trembling like an aspen leaf, and
+his weakness was so great that two young men had to support him.
+In short, as all present gradually stole closer and closer up to
+the door of Sidonia's room, the old knight drew forth his lantern,
+and signed to the men, who stood with their shoulders pressed
+against it; then when all was ready, he cried "Now!" and the door
+burst open with a loud crash. Every lock, and bar, and bolt
+shivered to atoms, and in rushed the whole party, Ulrich at their
+head, with his lantern lifted high up above them all.
+
+Sidonia and her visitor were standing in the middle of the room.
+Ulrich first flashed the light upon the face of the man. Who would
+have believed it?--no other than Johann Appelmann! The knight hit
+him a heavy blow across the face, exclaiming, "What! thou common
+horse-jockey--thou low-born varlet--is it thus thou bringest
+disgrace upon a maiden of the noblest house in Pomerania? Ha, thou
+shalt be paid for this. Wait! Master Hansen shall give thee some
+of his gentle love-touches this night!"
+
+But meanwhile the young Prince had entered, and beheld Sidonia, as
+she stood there trembling from shame, and endeavouring to cover
+her face with her long, beautiful golden hair that fell almost to
+her knees. "Sidonia!" he exclaimed, with a cry as bitter as if a
+dagger had passed through his heart--"Sidonia!" and fell
+insensible before her.
+
+Now a great clamour arose amongst the crowd, for beside the couch
+lay the helmet and cuirass of the ghost; so every one knew now who
+it was that had played this trick on them for so long, and kept
+the castle in such a state of terror.
+
+Then they gathered round the poor young Prince, who lay there as
+stiff as a corpse, and lamented over him with loud lamentations,
+and some of them lifted him up to carry him out of the chamber;
+but the Grand Chamberlain sternly commanded them to lay him down
+again before his bride, whom he had arranged to wed privately at
+Crummyn on the following night. Then seizing Sidonia by the hand,
+and dashing back her long hair, he led her forward before all the
+people, and said with a loud voice, "See here the illustrious and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, of the holy Roman Empire, Duchess of
+Pomerania, Cassuben, and Wenden, Princess of Ruegen, Countess of
+Guetzkow, and our Serene and most Gracious Lady, how she honours
+the princely house of Pomerania by sharing her love with this
+stable groom, this tailor's son, this debauched profligate! Oh! I
+could grow mad when I think of this disgrace. Thou shameless one!
+have I not long ago given thee thy right name? But wait--the name
+shall be branded on thee this night, so that all the world may
+read it."
+
+Just then her Grace entered with Clara, followed by all the other
+maids of honour; for, hearing the noise and tumult, they had
+hastened thither as they were, some half undressed, others with
+only a loose night-robe flung round them. And her Grace, seeing
+the young lord lying pale and insensible on the ground, wrung her
+hands and cried out, "Who has killed my son? who has murdered my
+darling child?"
+
+Here stepped forward Ulrich, and said, "The young lord was not
+dead; but, if it so pleased God, was in a fair way now to regain
+both life and reason." Then he related all which had led to this
+discovery; and how they had that night been themselves the
+witnesses of Sidonia's wickedness with the false ghost. Now her
+Grace knew his secret, which he had not told until certain of
+success.
+
+As he related all these things, her Grace turned upon Sidonia and
+spat on her; and the young lord, having recovered somewhat in
+consequence of the water they had thrown on him, cried out,
+"Sidonia! is it possible? No, Sidonia, it is not possible!"
+
+The shameless hypocrite had now recovered her self-possession, and
+would have denied all knowledge of Appelmann, saying that he
+forced himself in when she chanced to open the door; but he,
+interrupting her, cried, "Does the girl dare to lay all the blame
+on me? Did you not press my hand there when you were lying after
+you fell from the stag? Did you not meet me afterwards in the
+lumber-room--that day of the hunt when Duke Barnim was here last?"
+
+"No, no, no!" shrieked Sidonia. "It is a lie, an infamous lie!"
+But he answered, "Scream as you will, you cannot deny that this
+disguise of the ghost was your own invention to favour my visits
+to you. Did you not drop notes for me down on the coach, through
+the trap-door, fixing the nights when I might come? and bethink
+you of last night, when you sent me a note by your maid, wrapped
+up in a little horse-cloth which I had lent you for your cat, with
+the prayer that I would not fail to be with you that night nor the
+next"--Oh, just Heaven! to think that it was upon that very night
+that Clara should break her shoe-string, by which means the
+Almighty turned away ruin and disgrace from the ancient,
+illustrious, and princely house of Pomerania--all by a broken
+shoe-string! For if the ghost had remained away but that one
+night, or Clara had not broken her shoestring, Sidonia would have
+been Duchess of Pomerania; but what doth the Scripture say? "Man's
+goings are of the Lord. What man understandeth his own way?"
+(Prov. xx. 24).
+
+When Sidonia heard him tell all this, and how she had written
+notes of entreaty to him, she screamed aloud, and springing at him
+like a wild-cat, buried her ten nails in his hair, shrieking,
+"Thou liest, traitor; it is false! it is false!"
+
+Now Ulrich rushed forward, and seized her by her long hair to part
+them, but at that moment Master Hansen, the executioner, entered
+in his red cloak, with six assistants (for Ulrich had privately
+sent for him), and the Grand Chamberlain instantly let go his hold
+of Sidonia, saying, "You come in good time, Master Hansen; take
+away this wretched pair, lock them up in the bastion tower, and on
+the morn bring them to the horse-market by ten of the clock, and
+there scourge and brand them; then carry them both to the frontier
+out of our good State of Wolgast, and let them both go their ways
+from that, whither it may please them."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she let go her paramour and fell fainting
+upon the bed; but recovering herself in a little time, she
+exclaimed, "What is this you talk of? A noble maiden who is as
+innocent as the child in its cradle, to be scourged by the common
+executioner? Oh, is there no Christian heart here to take pity on
+a poor, helpless girl! Gracious young Prince, even if all the
+world hold me guilty, you cannot, no, you cannot; it is
+impossible!"
+
+Hereupon the young lord began to tremble like an aspen leaf, and
+said in a broken voice, "Alas, Sidonia! you betrayed yourself: if
+you had not mentioned that trap-door to me, I might still have
+believed you innocent (I, who thought some good angel had guided
+you to it!); now it is impossible; yet be comforted, the
+executioner shall never scourge you nor brand you--you are branded
+enough already." Then turning to the Grand Chamberlain he said,
+that with his consent a hangman should never lay his hands upon
+this nobly born maiden, whom he had once destined to be Duchess of
+Pomerania; but Appelmann, this base-born vassal, who had eaten of
+his bread and then betrayed him like a Judas, let him be flogged
+and branded as much as they pleased; no word of his should save
+the accursed seducer from punishment.
+
+Notwithstanding this, old Ulrich was determined on having Sidonia
+scourged, and my gracious lady the Duchess must have her scourged
+too. "Let her dear son only think that if the all-merciful God had
+not interposed, he would have been utterly ruined and his princely
+house disgraced, by means of this girl. Nothing but evil had she
+brought with her since first she set foot in the castle: she had
+caused his sickness; item, the death of two young knights by
+drowning; item, the terrible execution of Joachim Budde, who was
+beheaded at the festival; and had she not, in addition, whipped
+her dear little Casimir, which unseemly act had only lately come
+to her knowledge? and had she not also made every man in the
+castle that approached her mad for love of her, all by her
+diabolical conduct? No--away with the wretch: she merits her
+chastisement a thousand and a thousand-fold!" And old Ulrich
+exclaimed likewise, "Away with the wretch and her paramour!"
+
+Here the young lord made an effort to spring forward to save her,
+but fell fainting on the ground; and while the attendants were
+busy running for water to throw over him, Clara von Dewitz,
+turning away the executioner with her hand from Sidonia, fell down
+on her knees before her Grace, and besought her to spare at least
+the person of the poor, unfortunate maiden; did her Grace think
+that any punishment could exceed what she had already suffered?
+Let her own compassionate heart plead along with her words--and
+did not the Scripture say, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord."
+
+Hereupon her Grace looked at old Ulrich without speaking; but he
+understood her glance, and made answer--"No; the hangman must do
+his duty towards the wretch!" when her Grace said mildly, "But for
+the sake of this dear, good young maiden, I think we might let her
+go, for, remember, if she had not opened out this villainy to us,
+the creature would have been my daughter-in-law, and my princely
+house disgraced for evermore."
+
+Now Marcus Bork stepped forward, and added his prayers that the
+noble name he bore might not be disgraced in Sidonia. "He had ever
+been a faithful feudal vassal to her princely house, and had not
+even scrupled to bring the secret wicked deeds of his cousin
+before the light of day, though it was like a martyrdom of his own
+flesh and blood for conscience' sake."
+
+Here old Ulrich burst forth in great haste--"Seven thousand
+devils! Let the wench be off, then. Not another night should she
+rest in the castle. Let her speak--where would she go to? where
+should they bring her to?"
+
+And when Sidonia answered, sobbing, "To Stettin, to her gracious
+lord, Duke Barnim, who would take pity on her because of her
+innocence," Ulrich laughed outright in scorn. "I shall give the
+driver a letter to him, and another to thy father. Perhaps his
+Grace will show thee true pity, and drive thee with his horsewhip
+to Stramehl. But thou shalt journey in the same coach whereon thy
+leman clambered up to the trap-door, and Master Hansen shall sit
+on the coach-box and drive thee himself. As to thy darling
+stablegroom here, the master must set his mark on him before he
+goes; but that can be done when the hangman returns from Stettin."
+
+When Appelmann heard this, he fell at the feet of the Lord
+Chamberlain, imploring him to let him off too. "Had he not ridden
+to Spantekow, without stop or stay, at the peril of his life, to
+oblige Lord Ulrich that time the Lapland wizard made the evil
+prophecy; and though his illustrious lady died, yet that was from
+no fault of his, and his lordship had then promised not to forget
+him if he were but in need. So now he demanded, on the strength of
+his knightly word, that a horse should be given him from the ducal
+stables, and that he be permitted to go forth, free and scathless,
+to ride wherever it might please him. His sins were truly heavy
+upon him, and he would try and do better, with the help of God."
+
+When the old knight heard him express himself in this godly sort
+(for the knave knew his man well), he was melted to compassion,
+and said, "Then go thy way, and God give thee grace to repent of
+thy manifold sins."
+
+Her Grace had nothing to object; only to put a fixed barrier
+between the Prince and Sidonia, she added, "But send first for Dr.
+Gerschovius, that he may unite this shameless pair in marriage
+before they leave the castle, and then they can travel away
+together."
+
+Hereupon Johann Appelmann exclaimed, "No, never! How could he hope
+for God's grace to amend him, living with a thing like that, tied
+to him for life, which God and man alike hold in abhorrence?" At
+this speech Sidonia screamed aloud, "Thou lying and accursed
+stable-groom, darest thou speak so of a castle and land dowered
+maiden?" and she flew at him, and would have torn his hair, but
+Marcus Bork seized hold of her round the waist, and dragged her
+with great effort into Clara's room.
+
+Now the tears poured from the eyes of her Grace at such a
+disgraceful scene, and she turned to her son, who was slowly
+recovering--"Hast thou heard, Ernest, this groom--this servant of
+thine--refuses to take the girl to wife whom thou wast going to
+make Duchess of Pomerania? Woe! woe! what words for thy poor
+mother to hear; but it was all foreshadowed when Dr. Luther--" &c.
+&c.
+
+In short, the end of the infamous story was, that Sidonia was
+carried off that very night in the identical coach we know of, and
+Master Hansen was sent with her, bearing letters to the Duke and
+Otto from the Grand Chamberlain, and one also to the burgomaster
+Appelmann in Stargard; and the executioner had strict orders to
+drive her himself the whole way to Stettin. As for Appelmann, he
+sprung upon a Friesland clipper, as the old chamberlain had
+permitted, and rode away that same night. But the young lord was
+so ill from grief and shame, that he was lifted to his bed, and
+all the _medici_ of Grypswald and Wolgast were summoned to
+attend him.
+
+And such was the end of Sidonia von Bork at the ducal court of
+Wolgast. But old Kuessow told me that for a long while she was the
+whole talk of the court and town, many wondering, though they knew
+well her light behaviour, that she should give herself up to
+perdition at last for a common groom, no better than a menial
+compared to her. But I find the old proverb is true for her as
+well as for another, "The apple falls close to the tree; as is the
+sheep, so is the lamb;" for had her father brought her up in the
+fear of God, in place of encouraging her in revenge, pride, and
+haughtiness, Sidonia might have been a good and honoured wife for
+her life long. But the libertine example of her father so
+destroyed all natural instincts of modesty and maidenly reserve
+within her, that she fell an easy prey to the first temptation.
+
+In short, my gracious Prince Bogislaus XIV., as well as all those
+who love and honour the illustrious house of Wolgast, will
+devoutly thank God for having turned away this disgrace in a
+manner so truly wonderful.
+
+I have already spoken of the broken shoe-tie, but in addition, I
+must point out that if Sidonia had counselled her paramour to take
+the armour of Duke Philip, which hung in the same lumber-room, in
+place of that belonging to the serpent knight, that wickedness
+would never have come to light. For assuredly all in the castle
+would have believed that it was truly the ghost of the dead duke,
+who came to reproach his son for not holding the oath which he had
+sworn on his coffin, to abandon Sidonia. And consequently, respect
+and terror would have alike prevented any human soul in the castle
+from daring to follow it, and investigate its object. Therefore
+let us praise the name of the Lord who turned all things to good,
+and fulfilled, in Sidonia and her lover, the Scripture which
+saith, "Thinking themselves wise, they became fools" (Rom. i. 21).
+
+
+
+
+END OF FIRST BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UP
+TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Grace must be informed,
+that much of what I have here set down, in this second book, was
+communicated to me by that same old Uckermann of Dalow of whom I
+have spoken already in my first volume.
+
+Other important facts I have gleaned from the Diary of Magdalena
+von Petersdorfin, _Priorissa_ of the convent of Marienfliess.
+She was an old and worthy matron, whom Sidonia, however, used to
+mock and insult, calling her the old cat, and such-like names. But
+she revenged herself on the shameless wanton in no other way than
+by writing down what facts she could collect of her disgraceful
+life and courses, for the admonition and warning of the holy
+sisterhood.
+
+This little book the pious nun left to her sister Sophia, who is
+still living in the convent at Marienfliess; and she, at my
+earnest entreaties, permitted me to peruse it.
+
+Before, however, I continue the relation of Sidonia's adventures,
+I must state to your Grace what were the circumstances which
+induced Otto von Bork to demand so urgently the dues upon the Jena
+from their Highnesses of Stettin and Wolgast. In my opinion, it
+was for nothing else than to revenge himself upon the burgomaster
+of Stargard, Jacob Appelmann, father of the equerry. The quarrel
+happened years before, but Otto never forgot it, and only waited a
+fitting opportunity to take vengeance on him and the people of
+Stargard.
+
+This Jacob Appelmann was entitled to receive a great portion of
+the Jena dues, which were principally paid to him in kind,
+particularly in foreign spices, which he afterwards sold to the
+Polish Jews, at the annual fair held in Stramehl.
+
+It happened, upon one of these occasions, as Jacob, with two of
+his porters, appeared, as usual, carrying bags of spices, to sell
+to the Polish Jews, that Otto met him in the market-place, and
+invited him to come up to his castle, for that many nobles were
+assembled there who would, no doubt, give him better prices for
+his goods than the Polish Jews, and added that the worthy
+burgomaster must drink his health with him that day.
+
+Now, Jacob Appelmann was no despiser of good cheer or of broad
+gold pieces; so, unfortunately for himself, he accepted the
+invitation. But the knight had only lured him up to the castle to
+insult and mock him. For when he entered the hall, a loud roar of
+laughter greeted his appearance, and the half-drunk guests, who
+were swilling the wine as if they had tuns to fill, and not
+stomachs, swore that he must pledge each of them separately, in a
+lusty draught. So they handed him an enormous becker, cut with
+Otto's arms, bidding him drain it; but as the Herr Jacob
+hesitated, his host asked him, laughing, was he a Jesu disciple,
+that he refused to drink?
+
+Hereupon the other answered, he was too old for a disciple, but he
+was not ashamed to call himself a servant of Jesus.
+
+Then they all roared with laughter, and Otto spoke--
+
+"My good lords and dear friends, ye know how that the Stargard
+knaves joined with the Pomeranian Duke to ravage my good town of
+Stramehl, so that it can be only called a village now. And it is
+also not unknown to you that my disgrace then passed into a
+proverb, so that people will still say, 'He fell upon me as the
+Stargardians upon Stramehl.' Let us, then, revenge ourselves
+to-day. If this Jesu's servant will not drink, then tear open his
+mouth, put a tun-dish therein, and pour down a good draught till
+the knave cries 'enough!' As to his spices, let us scatter them
+before the Polish Jews, as pease before swine, and it will be
+merry pastime to see how the beasts will lick them up. Thus will
+Stramehl retort upon Stargard, and the whole land will shout with
+laughter. For wherefore does this Stargard pedlar come here to my
+fairs? Mayhap I shall visit his."
+
+Peals of laughter and applause greeted Otto's speech; but Jacob,
+when he heard it, determined, if possible, to effect his escape;
+and watching his opportunity, for he was the only one there not
+drunk, sprang out of the hall, and down the flight of steps, and
+being young then, never drew breath till he reached the
+market-place of Stramehl, and jumped into his own waggon.
+
+In vain Otto screamed out to "stop him, stop him!" all his
+servants were at the fair, where, indeed, the people of the whole
+country round were gathered. Then the host and the guests sprang
+up themselves, to run after Jacob Appelmann, but many could not
+stand, and others tumbled down by the way. However, with a chorus
+of cries, curses, and threats, Otto and some others at last
+reached the waggon, and laid hold of it. Then they dragged out the
+bags of spices, and emptied them all down upon the street,
+crying--
+
+"Come hither, ye Jews; which of you wants pepper? Who wants
+cloves?"
+
+So all the Jews in the place ran together, and down they went on
+all-fours picking up the spices, while their long beards swept the
+pavement quite clean. Hey! how they pushed and screamed, and dealt
+blows about among themselves, till their noses bled, and the place
+looked as if gamecocks had been fighting there, whereat Otto and
+his roistering guests roared with laughter.
+
+One of the bags they pulled out of the waggon contained cinnamon;
+but a huntsman of Otto Bork's, not knowing what it was, poured it
+down likewise into the street. Cinnamon was then so rare, that it
+sold for its weight in gold. So an old Jew, spying the precious
+morsel, cried out, "Praise be to God! Praise be to God!" and ran
+through Otto Bork's legs to get hold of a stick of it. This made
+the knight look down, and seeing the cinnamon, he straightway bid
+the huntsman gather it all up again quick, and carry it safely
+home to the castle.
+
+But the old Jew would by no means let go his hold of the booty,
+and kept the sticks in one hand high above his head, while with
+the other he dealt heavy buffets upon the huntsman. An apprentice
+of Jacob Appelmann's beheld all this from the waggon, and knowing
+what a costly thing this cinnamon was, he made a long arm out of
+the waggon, and snapped away the sticks from the Jew. Upon this
+the huntsman sprang at the apprentice; but the latter, seizing a
+pair of pot-hooks, which his master had that day bought in the
+fair, dealt such a blow with them upon the head of the huntsman,
+that he fell down at once upon the ground quite dead.
+
+Now every one cried out "Murder! murder! Jodute! Jodute! Jodute!"
+and they tore the bags right and left from the waggon, Jews as
+well as Christians; but Otto commanded them to seize the
+apprentice also. So they dragged him out too. He was a fine young
+man of twenty-three, Louis Griepentroch by name. There was such an
+uproar, that the men who held the horses' heads were forced away.
+Whereupon the burgomaster resolved to seize this opportunity for
+escape; and without heeding the lamentations of the other
+apprentice, Zabel Griepentroch, who prayed him earnestly to stop
+and save his poor brother, desired the driver to lash the horses
+into a gallop, and never stop nor stay until the unlucky town was
+left far behind them.
+
+Otto von Bork ordered instant pursuit, but in vain. The
+burgomaster could not be overtaken, and reached Wangerin in
+safety. There he put up at the inn, to give the panting horses
+breathing-time; and now the aforesaid Zabel besought him, with
+many tears, to write to Otto Bork on behalf of his poor brother,
+to which the burgomaster at last consented; for he loved these two
+youths, who were orphans and twins, and he had brought them up
+from their childhood, and treated them in all things like a true
+and loving godfather. So he wrote to Otto, "That if aught of ill
+happened to the young Louis Griepentroch, he (the burgomaster)
+would complain to his Grace of Stettin, for the youth had only
+done his duty in trying to save the property of his master from
+the hands of robbers." The good Jacob, however, admonished Zabel
+to make up his mind for the worst, for the knight was not a man
+whose heart could be melted, as he himself had experienced but too
+well that day.
+
+But the sorrowing youth little heeded the admonitions, only seized
+the letter, and ran with it that same evening back to Stramehl.
+Here, however, no one would listen to him, no one heeded him; and
+when at last he got up to Otto and gave him the letter, the knight
+swore he would flay him alive if he did not instantly quit the
+town. Now the poor youth gnashed his teeth in rage and despair,
+and determined to be revenged on the knight.
+
+Just then came by a great crowd leading his brother Louis to the
+gallows; and on his head they had stuck a high paper cap with the
+Stargard arms painted thereon, namely, a tower with two griffins
+(Sidonia, indeed, had painted it, and she was by, and clapping her
+hands with delight); and for the greater scandal to Stargard, they
+had tied two hares' tails to the back of the cap, with the
+inscription written in large letters above them--"So came the
+Stargardians to Stramehl!"
+
+And Otto and his guests gathered round the gallows, and all the
+market-folk, with great uproar and laughter. _Summa_, when
+the poor carl saw all this, and that there was no hope for his
+heart's dear brother, neither could he even get near him just to
+say a last "good-night," he ran like mad to the castle, which was
+almost empty now, as every one had gone to the market-place; and
+there, on the hill, he turned round and saw how the hangman had
+shoved his dear Louis from the ladder, and the body was swinging
+lamentably to and fro between heaven and earth. So he seized a
+brand and set fire to the brew-house, from which a thick smoke and
+light flames soon rose high into the air. Now all the people
+rushed towards the castle, for they suspected well who had done
+the deed, particularly as they had observed a young fellow
+running, as if for life or death, in the opposite direction
+towards the open country. So they pursued him with wild shouts
+from every direction; right and left they hemmed him in, and cut
+off his escape to the wood. And Otto Bork sprang upon a fresh
+horse, and galloped along with them, roaring out, "Seize the
+rascal!--seize the vile incendiary! He who takes him shall have a
+tun of my best beer!" But others he despatched to the castle to
+extinguish the flames.
+
+Now the poor Zabel knew not what to do, for on every side his
+pursuers were gaining fast upon him, and he heard Otto's voice
+close behind crying, "There he runs! there he runs! Seize the
+gallows-bird, that he may swing with his brother this night. A tun
+of my best beer to the man who takes him! Seize the incendiary!"
+So the poor wretch, in his anguish, threw off his smock upon the
+grass and sprang into the lake, hoping to be able to swim to the
+other side and reach the wood.
+
+"In after him!" roared Otto; and a fellow jumped in instantly, and
+seizing hold of Zabel by the hose, dragged him along with him; but
+they were soon both carried into deep water--Zabel, however, was
+the uppermost, and held the other down tight to stifle him.
+Another seeing this, plunged in to rescue his companion, and from
+the bank dived down underneath Zabel, intending to seize him round
+the body; but it so happened that the fishermen of Stramehl had
+laid their nets close to the place, and he plunged direct into the
+middle of the largest, and stuck there miserably; which when Zabel
+observed, he let the other go, who was now quite dead, and struck
+out boldly for the opposite bank. The fishermen sprang into their
+boats to pursue him, and the crowd ran round, hoping to cut off
+the pass before he could gain the bank; but he was a brave youth,
+and distanced them all, jumped on land before one of them could
+reach him, and plunged into the thick wood. Here it was vain to
+follow him, for night was coming on fast; so he pursued his path
+in safety, and returned to his master at Stramehl.
+
+Otto von Bork, however, would not let the matter rest here, for he
+had sustained great loss by the burning of his brew-house (the
+other buildings were saved); therefore he wrote to the honourable
+council at Stargard--"That by the shameful and scandalous burning
+of his brew-house, he had lost two fine hounds named Stargard and
+Stramehl, which he had brought himself from Silesia; _item_,
+two old servants and a woman; _item_, in the lake, two other
+servants had been drowned; and all by the revenge of an
+apprentice, because he had justly caused his brother to be
+executed. Therefore this apprentice must be given up to him, that
+he might have him broken on the wheel, otherwise their vassals on
+the Jena should suffer in such a sort, that the Stargardians would
+long have reason to remember Otto Bork."
+
+Now, some of the honourable councillors were of opinion that they
+should by no means give up the apprentice; first, because Otto had
+insulted the Stargard arms, and secondly, lest it might appear as
+if they feared he would fulfil his threats respecting the Jena.
+
+But Jacob Appelmann, the burgomaster, who lay sick in his bed from
+the treatment he had received at Stramehl, entirely disapproved of
+this resolution; and when they came to him for his advice,
+proposed to give for answer to the knight that he should first
+indemnify him for the loss of his costly spices, which he valued
+at one thousand florins, and when this sum was paid down, they
+might treat of the matter concerning the apprentice.
+
+The knight, however, mocked them for making such an absurd demand
+as compensation, and reiterated his threats, that if the young man
+were not delivered up to him, he would punish Stargard with a
+great punishment.
+
+The council, however, were still determined not to yield; and as
+the burgomaster lay sick in his bed, they released the apprentice
+from prison; and replied to Otto, "That if he broke the public
+peace of his Imperial Majesty, let the consequences fall on his
+own head--there was still justice for them to be had in
+Pomerania."
+
+When the burgomaster heard of this, he had himself carried in a
+litter, sick as he was, to the honourable council, and asked them,
+"Was this justice, to release an incendiary from prison? If they
+sought justice for themselves, let them deal it out to others. No
+one had lost more by the transaction than he: his income for the
+next two years was clean gone, and the care and anxiety he had
+undergone, besides, had reduced him to this state of bodily
+weakness which they observed. It was a heart-grief to him to give
+up the young man, for he had reared him from the baptism water,
+and he had been a faithful servant unto him up to this day. Could
+he save him, he would gladly give up his house and all he was
+worth, and go and take a lodging upon the wall; for this young man
+had once saved his life, by slaying a mad dog which had seized him
+by the tail of his coat; but it was not to be done. They must set
+an honourable example, as just and upright citizens and fearless
+magistrates, who hold that old saying in honour--'_Fiat justitia
+et pereat mundus_;' which means, 'Let justice be done, though
+life and fortune perish.' But the punishment of the wheel was, he
+confessed, altogether too severe for the poor youth; and therefore
+he counselled that they should hang him, as Otto had hung his
+brother."
+
+This course the honourable society consented at last to adopt; but
+the knight had disgraced their arms, and they ought in return to
+disgrace his. They could get the court painter from Stettin at the
+public expense, and let him paint Otto Bork's arms on the back of
+the young man's hose.
+
+Here the burgomaster again interfered--"Why should the honourable
+council attempt a stupid insult, because the knight had done so?"
+But he talked in vain; they were determined on this retaliation.
+At last (but after a great deal of trouble) he obtained a promise
+that they would have the arms painted before, upon his smock, and
+not behind, upon the hose, for that would be a sore disgrace to
+Otto, and bring his vengeance upon them. "Why should they do more
+to him than he had done unto them? The Scripture said, 'Eye for
+eye, tooth for tooth,' and not two eyes for an eye, two teeth for
+a tooth." Hereupon the honourable council pronounced sentence on
+the young man, and fixed the third day from that for his
+execution. But first the executioner must bring him up before the
+bed of the burgomaster, who thus spoke--"Ah, Zabel, wherefore
+didst thou not behave as I admonished thee in Wangerin?" And as
+the young man began to weep, he gave him his hand, and admonished
+him to be steadfast in the death-hour, asked his forgiveness for
+having condemned him, but it was his duty as a magistrate so to
+do--thanked him for having saved his life by slaying the mad dog;
+finally, bid him "Good-night," and then buried his face in the
+pillow.
+
+So the hangman carried back the weeping youth to the council-hall,
+where the honourable councillors had the Bork arms fastened upon
+his smock, and out of further malice against Otto (for they knew
+the burgomaster, being sick in his bed, could not hinder them),
+they placed over them a large piece of pasteboard, on which was
+written, "So did the Stargardians with Stramehl." _Item_,
+they fastened to the two corners a pair of wolf's ears, because
+Bork, in the Wendig tongue, signifies wolf. This was to revenge
+themselves for the hares' tails.
+
+Then the poor apprentice was carried to the gallows, amid loud
+laughter from the common people. And even the honourable
+councillors waxed merry at the sight; and as the hangman pushed
+him from the ladder, they cried out, "So will the Stargardians do
+to Stramehl!"
+
+Now Otto heard tidings of all these doings, but he feared to
+complain to his Highness the Duke, because he himself had begun
+the quarrel, and they had only retorted as was fair. _Item_,
+he did not dare to stop the boats upon the Jena--for he knew that
+although Duke Barnim was usually of a soft and placable temper,
+yet when he was roused there was no more dangerous enemy. And if
+the Stargardians leagued with him, they might fall upon his town
+of Stramehl, as they had done once before.
+
+Therefore he waited patiently for an opportunity of revenge, and
+held his peace until Sidonia acquainted him with the love of the
+young Prince Ernest. Then he resolved to demand the dues upon the
+Jena to be given up to him, and if his wicked desire had been
+gratified, I think the good citizens of Stargard might have taken
+to the beggar's staff for the rest of their days, for like all the
+old Hanseatic towns, their entire subsistence came to them by
+water, and all their wares and merchandise were carried up the
+Jena in boats to the town. These the knight would have rated so
+highly, if he had been made owner of the dues, that the town and
+people would have been utterly ruined.
+
+It has been already stated that the Duke Barnim gave an ambiguous
+answer to Otto upon the subject; but the knight, after his visit
+to Wolgast, was so certain of seeing his daughter in a short time
+Duchess of Pomerania, that he already looked upon the Jena dues as
+his own, and proceeded to act as shall be related in the next
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians,
+and how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and
+locks him up in the Red Sea._ [Footnote: A watch-tower, built
+in the Moorish style, upon the town wall of Stargard, from which
+the adjacent streets take their name.]
+
+
+As the aforesaid knight and my gracious lord, Duke Barnim,
+journeyed home from Wolgast, the former discoursed much on this
+matter of the Jena dues, but his Grace listened in silence, after
+his manner, and nicked away at his doll. (I think, however, that
+his Grace did not quite understand the matter of the Jena dues
+himself.)
+
+_Summa_, while Otto was at Stettin, he received information
+that three vessels, laden with wine and spices, and all manner of
+merchandise, were on their way to Stargard. So he took this for a
+good sign, and went straight to the town and up to the
+burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, would not sit down, however, but
+made himself as stiff as if his back would break, and asked
+whether he (Appelmann) was aware that the lands of the Bork family
+bordered close upon the Jena.
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, he knew it well."
+
+_Hic._--"Then he could not wonder if he now demanded dues
+from every vessel that went up to Stargard."
+
+_Ille._--"On the contrary, he would wonder greatly; since by
+an Act passed in the reign of Duke Barnim the First, A.D. 1243,
+the freedom of the Jena had been secured to them, and they had
+enjoyed it up to the present date."
+
+_Hic_.--"Stuff! what was the use of bringing up these old
+Acts. His Grace of Stettin, as well as the Duchess of Wolgast, had
+now given them over to him."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then let his lordship produce his charter; if he
+had got one, why not show it?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No, he had not got the written order yet, but he
+would soon have it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, until then they would abide by the old law."
+
+_Hic_.--"By no means. This very day he would insist on being
+paid the dues."
+
+_Ille_.--"That meant, that he purposed to break the peace of
+our lord the Emperor. Let him think well of it. It might cost him
+dear."
+
+_Hic_.--"That was his care. The Stargardians should not a
+second time hang his arms on the gallows."
+
+_Ille_.--"It was a simple act of retaliation; had he not
+read, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Nonsense! was that retaliation, when a set of low
+burgher carls took upon themselves to disgrace the lord of castles
+and lands; as well might one of his serfs, when he struck him,
+strike him in return; that would be retaliation too. Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+_Ille_.--"What did his lordship mean? He was no village
+justice, nor were the burghers of this good town serfs or boors."
+
+_Hic_.--"If he knew not now what he meant, he would soon
+learn; ay, and take off his hat so low to the Bork arms that it
+would touch the ground. Then, too, he might himself get a lesson
+in retaliation."
+
+And herewith the knight strode firmly out of the room, without
+even saluting the burgomaster; but Jacob knew well how to deal
+with him, so he sent instantly for the keeper of the forest, who
+lived in the thick wood on the banks of the Jena, and told him to
+watch by night and day, and if he observed anything unusual going
+on, to spring upon a horse and bring him the intelligence without
+delay.
+
+Meanwhile the knight summoned all his feudal vassals around him at
+Stramehl, and told them how his Grace had bestowed the Jena dues
+upon him, but the sturdy burghers of Stargard had dared to impugn
+his rights; therefore let each of them select two trusty
+followers, and meet all together on the morrow morn at Putzerlin,
+close to the Jena ferry. Then, if there came by any vessels laden
+with choice wines, let them be sure and drink a health to
+Stargard. So they all believed him, and came to the appointed
+place with twenty horsemen, and the knight himself brought twenty
+more. There they unsaddled and turned into the meadow, then set to
+work to throw a bridge over the river. As soon as the forest
+ranger spied them, he saddled his wild clipper, which he himself
+had caught in the Uckermund country, and flew like wind to the
+town (for the wild horses are much stouter and fleeter than the
+tame, but there are none to be found now in all Pomerania).
+
+When the burgomaster heard this tale, he told him to go back the
+way he came, and keep perfectly still until he saw a rocket rise
+from St. Mary's Tower, then let him loose all his hounds upon the
+horses in the meadow, and he and the burghers would follow soon,
+and make a quick end of the robber knights and freebooters; but he
+would wait for three hours before giving the promised sign from
+St. Mary's Tower, that he might have time to get back to the wood.
+Still the knight and his followers continued working at the bridge
+right merrily. They took the ferryman's planks and poles, and cut
+down large oak-trees, and every one that went across the ferry
+must stop and help them; but their work was not quite completed,
+when three vessels appeared in sight, laden with all sorts of
+merchandise, and making direct for Stargard. As soon as Otto
+perceived them, he took half-a-dozen fellows with him, and jumped
+into a ferry-boat, crying, "Hold! until the dues are paid, you can
+go no farther. The river and the land alike belong to me now, and
+I must have my dues, as his Grace of Stettin has commanded."
+
+The crew, however, strictly objected, saying that in the memory of
+man they had never paid dues upon their goods, and they would not
+pay them now; but Otto and his knights jumped on deck, followed by
+their squires, and having asked for the bill of lading, decimated
+all the goods, as a priest collecting his tithe of the sheaves.
+Then he took the best cask of wine, had it rolled on land, and
+called out to the crew, who were crying like children, "Now, good
+people, you may go your ways."
+
+But the poor devils were in despair, and followed him on land,
+praying and beseeching him not to ruin them, but to restore their
+property, at which Otto laughed loudly, and bid the strongest of
+his followers chase the miserable varlets back to their vessel.
+
+Meanwhile the cask of wine had been rolled up against a tree, and
+the knight and his followers set themselves round it upon the
+grass, and because they had no glasses, they drank out of kettles,
+and pots, and bowls, and dishes, or whatever the ferryman could
+give them. Yea, some of them drew off their boots and filled them
+with the wine, others drank it out of their caps, and so there
+they lay on the grass, swilling the wine, and the different wares
+they had seized lay all scattered round them, and they laughed and
+drank, and roared, "Thus we drink a health to Stargard!" Hereupon
+the crew, seeing that nothing could be got from the robbers, went
+their way with curses and imprecations, to which the knight and
+his party responded only with peals of laughter.
+
+But the vessel had scarcely set sail, when a woman's voice was
+heard crying out loudly from the deck--"Father! father! I am here.
+Listen, Otto von Bork, your daughter Sidonia is here!"
+
+When the knight heard this, he felt as if stunned by a blow, but
+immediately comforted himself by thinking that no doubt Prince
+Ernest was with her, particularly as he could observe in the
+twilight the figure of a man seated beside her on a bundle of
+goods. "This surely must be the Prince," he said to himself, and
+so called out with a joyful voice, "Ah, my dearest daughter,
+Sidonia! how comest thou in the merchant vessel?"
+
+Then he screamed to the sailors to stop and cast anchor; but they
+heeded neither his cries nor commands, and in place of stopping,
+began to crowd all sail. Otto now tried entreaties, and promised
+to restore all their goods, and even pay for the wine drunk, if
+they would only stop the vessel. This made them listen to him, but
+they demanded, beside, a compensation money of one hundred
+florins, for all the anxiety and delay they had suffered. This he
+promised also, only let them stop instantly. However, they would
+not trust his word, and not until he had pledged his knightly
+faith would they consent to stop. Some, indeed, were not even
+content with this, and required that he should stand bareheaded on
+the bank, and take a solemn oath, with his hand extended to
+heaven, that he would deal with them as he had promised.
+
+To this also the knight consented, since they would not believe he
+held his knightly word higher than any oath; though, in my
+opinion, he would have done anything they demanded, such was his
+anxiety to behold the Prince and Princess of Pomerania, for he
+could imagine nothing else, but that his daughter and her husband
+had been turned out of Wolgast by the harsh Duchess and the old
+Grand Chamberlain, and were now on their way to his castle at
+Stramehl.
+
+Here my gracious Prince will no doubt say, "But, Theodore, why did
+she not call on her father sooner, when, as you told me, he was on
+board this very vessel plundering the wares?"
+
+I answer--"Serene Prince! your Grace must know that she and her
+paramour were at that time crouching in the cabin, through fear of
+Otto, for the sailors did not know her, or who she was. They had
+taken her and Appelmann in at Damm, and believed this story: that
+he was secretary to the Duke at Stettin, and Sidonia was his wife;
+they were on their way to Stargard, but preferred journeying by
+water, on account of the robbers who infested the high-roads, and
+who, they heard, had murdered three travellers only a few days
+before."
+
+But when Sidonia had found what her father had done, and heard the
+crew cursing and vowing vengeance on him, she feared it would be
+worse for her even to fall into the hands of the Stargardians than
+into her father's, and therefore rushed up on deck and called out
+to him, though her paramour conjured her by heaven and earth to
+keep quiet, and not bring him under her father's sword.
+
+_Summa_, as the vessel once more stood still, the knight
+sprang quick as thought into the ferry-boat along with some of his
+followers, and rowed off to the vessel, where his daughter sat
+upon a bundle of merchandise and wept, but Appelmann crept down
+again into the cabin. When the knight stepped on board, he kissed
+and embraced her--but where was the young Prince whom he had seen
+standing beside her?
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! it was not the Prince; the young lord had
+shamefully deceived her!" (weeping.)
+
+_Hic_.--"He would make him suffer for it, then; let her tell
+him the whole business. If he had trifled with her, she should be
+revenged. Was he not as powerful as any duke in Pomerania?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He must send away all the bystanders first; did he
+not see how they all stood round, with their mouths open from
+wonder?" Hereupon the knight roared out, "Away, go all, all of ye,
+or I'll stick ye dead as calves. The devil take any of you who
+dare to listen!" His whole frame trembled meanwhile as an aspen
+leaf, and he could scarcely wait till the carls clambered over the
+bundles of goods--"What had happened? In the name of all the
+devils, let her speak, now that they were alone."
+
+But here the cunning wanton began to weep so piteously, that not a
+word could she utter; however, as old Otto grew impatient, and
+began to curse and swear, and shake her by the arm, she at last
+commenced (while Appelmann was listening from the cabin):--
+
+"Her dearest father knew how the young lord had bribed a priest in
+Crummyn to wed them privately; but this was all a trick which his
+wicked mother had suggested to him, in order to bring her to utter
+ruin; for on the very wedding night, while she was waiting for the
+Prince in her little room, according to promise, to flee with him
+to Crummyn, the perfidious Duchess, who was aware of the whole
+arrangement, sent a groom to her chamber at the appointed hour,
+and she being in the dark, embraced him, thinking he was the
+Prince. In the self-same instant the door was burst open, and the
+old revengeful hag, with Ulrich von Schwerin, rushed in, along
+with the young Prince and Marcus Bork, her cousin, amid a great
+crowd of people with lanterns. And no one would listen to her or
+heed her; so she was thrust that same night out of the castle,
+like a common swine-maid, though the young lord, when he saw the
+full extent of his wicked mother's treachery, fell down in a dead
+faint at her feet."
+
+And here she wept and groaned, as if her heart would break.
+
+"Who, then, was the gay youth who sat beside her there on the
+bundle?" screamed Otto.
+
+_Illa_.--"That was the very groom that she had embraced, for
+they had sent him away with her, to make their wicked story seem
+true."
+
+_Hic_.--"But what was his name? May the devil take her, to
+have gone off with a base-born groom. What was his name?"
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"What did he think of her, that she should
+love a common groom? truly, he had the title of equerry, but then
+he was nothing better than a common burgher carl. What could she
+do, when they turned her by night and cloud out of the castle? She
+must thank God for having had even this groom to protect her, but
+that he was her lover--fie!--no; that was, indeed, to think little
+of her."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would strike her dead if she did not answer. Who
+was the knave? Where did he come from?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He was called Johann Appelmann, and was son to the
+burgomaster of Stargard."
+
+Here the knight raved and chafed like a wild beast, and drew his
+sword to kill Sidonia, but she fled away down to her paramour in
+the cabin. However, he had heard the whole conversation, and flew
+at her to beat her, crying, "Am I then a base-born groom? Ha! thou
+proud wanton, didst thou not run after me like a common
+street-girl? I will teach thee to call me a groom!"
+
+And as the knight listened to all this, the sword dropped from his
+hands and fell into the hold, so that he could not get it up
+again. Then he was beside himself for rage, and seized a stone of
+the ballast, to rush down with it to the cabin.
+
+But, behold! a rocket shot up from St. Mary's Tower, and poured
+its clear light upon the deepening twilight, like a starry meteor,
+and, at the same instant, the deep bay of ten or twelve
+blood-hounds resounded fearfully across the meadow where the
+horses were grazing, and the dogs flew on them, and tore some of
+them to the ground, and bit others, so that they dashed nearly to
+their masters, who were lying round the wine-cask, and others fled
+into the wood bleeding and groaning with pain and agony, as if
+they had been human creatures.
+
+Then all the fellows jumped up from their wine-cask, and screamed
+as if the last day had come, and Otto let the stone fall from his
+hand with horror; but still called out boldly to his men to know
+what had happened. "Was the devil himself among them that accursed
+evening?"
+
+Then they shouted in return, that he must hasten to land, for the
+Stargardians were upon them, and had killed all their horses.
+
+"Strike them dead, then; kill all, and himself the last, but he
+would go over and help them."
+
+So he jumped into the boat with his companions, but had not time
+to set foot on shore, when the Stargardians, horse and foot, with
+the burgomaster at their head, dashed forth from the wood,
+shouting, "So fall the Stargardians upon Stramehl!"
+
+At this sight the knight could no longer restrain his impatience,
+but jumped out of the boat; and although the water reached up
+under his arms, strode forward, crying--
+
+"Courage, my brave fellows; down with the churls. Kill, slay, give
+no quarter. He who brings me the head of the burgomaster shall be
+my heir! His vile son hath brought my daughter to shame. Kill
+all--all! I will never outlive this day. Ye shall all be my
+heritors--only kill! kill! kill!"
+
+Then he jumps on land and goes to draw his sword, but he has
+none--only the scabbard is hanging there; and as the Stargard men
+are already pressing thick upon them, he shouts--
+
+"A sword, a sword! give me a sword! My good castle of Stramehl for
+a sword, that I may slay this base-born churl of a burgomaster!"
+
+But a blood-hound jumped at his throat, and tore him to the
+ground, and as he felt the horrible muzzle closer to his face, he
+screamed out--
+
+"Save me! save me! Oh, woe is me!"
+
+And at the same moment, Sidonia's voice was heard from the vessel,
+shrieking--
+
+"Father, father, save me! this groom is beating me to death--he is
+killing me!" while a loud roar of laughter from the crew
+accompanied her cries.
+
+No one, however, came to save the knight; for the Stargardians
+were slaying right and left, and Otto's followers were utterly
+discomfited. So the knight tried to draw his dagger, and having
+got hold of it, plunged it with great force into the heart of the
+ferocious animal, who fell back dead, and Otto sprang to his feet.
+Just then, however, a tanner recognised him, and seizing hold of
+him by the arms, carried him off to the other prisoners.
+
+Now, indeed, might he call on the mountains to fall on him, and
+the hills to cover him (Hosea x.); and now he might feel, too,
+what a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living
+God (Hebrews x.); for the Jesu wounds, I'm thinking, burned then
+like hell-fire in his heart.
+
+_Summa_, as the wretched man was brought before the
+burgomaster, who sat down upon a bank and wiped his sword in the
+grass, the latter cried out--
+
+"Well, sir knight, you would not heed me; you have worked your
+will. Now, do you understand what retaliation means--'An eye for
+an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+And as the other stood quite silent, he continued--
+
+"Where is your charter for the Jena dues? Perchance it is
+contained in this letter, which I have received to-day from her
+Grace of Wolgast, addressed to you. Hand a lantern here, that the
+knight may read it! If the charter is not therein, then he shall
+be flung into prison this night with his followers, until my lord,
+Duke Barnim, pronounces judgment upon him."
+
+The ferryman advanced and held a light; but Otto had scarcely
+looked over the letter when he began to tremble as if he would
+fall to the ground, and then sighed forth, like the rich man in
+hell--
+
+"Have mercy on me, and give me a drink of water!"
+
+They brought him the water, and then he added--
+
+"Jacob, hast thou, too, had any tidings of our children?"
+
+"Alas!" the other answered; "Ulrich has written all to me."
+
+"Then have mercy on me. Listen how your godless son there in the
+vessel is beating my daughter to death, and how she is shrieking
+for help."
+
+As the burgomaster heard these unexpected tidings, he sent
+messengers to the vessel, with orders to bring the pair
+immediately before him.
+
+Meanwhile the other prisoners besought the burgomaster to let them
+go, for they were feudal vassals of Otto Bork, and must do as he
+commanded them. Besides, he told them that Duke Barnim had given
+him the dues, and therefore they held it their duty to assist him
+in collecting them.
+
+And as Otto confirmed their words, saying that he had indeed
+deceived them, the burgomaster turned to his party, and cried--
+
+"How say you then, worthy burghers and dear friends, shall we let
+the vassals run, and keep the lord? for, if the master lies, are
+the servants to be punished if they believe him? Speak, worthy
+friends."
+
+Then all the burghers cried--
+
+"Let them go, let them go; but keep the knight a prisoner."
+
+Upon which all the retainers took to their heels, not forgetting,
+though, to hoist the cask of wine upon their shoulders, and so
+they fled away into the wood.
+
+Now comes a great crowd from all the vessels, accompanying the
+infamous pair, mocking, and gibing, and laughing at them, so that
+no one can hear a word for the tumult. But the burgomaster bids
+them hold their peace, and let the guilty pair be placed before
+him.
+
+He remained a long while silent, gazing at them both, then sighing
+deeply, addressed his son--
+
+"Oh, thou lost son, hast thou not yet given up thy dissolute
+courses? What is this I hear of thee in Wolgast? Now thou must
+needs humble this noble maiden, and bring dishonour on her
+house--flinging all thy father's admonitions to the wind--"
+
+Here the son interrupted--
+
+"True; but this noble maiden had thrown herself in his way, like a
+common girl, and he was only flesh and blood like other men. Why
+did she follow him so?"
+
+Whereupon the father replied--
+
+"Oh, thou shameless child, who, like the prodigal in Scripture,
+hast destroyed thy substance with harlots and riotous living, in
+place of humbleness and repentance, dost thou impudently tell of
+this poor young maiden's shame before all the world? Oh, son! oh,
+son! even the blind heathen said, '_Ego illum periisse puto, cui
+quidem periit pudor_' [Footnote: Plautus in Bacchid.]--which
+means, 'I esteem him dead in whom shame is dead.' Therefore is thy
+sin doubled, being a Christian, for thou hast boasted of thy shame
+before the people here, and held up the young maiden to their
+contempt, besides having beaten her so on board the vessel that
+many heard her screams, as if she were only a common wench, and
+not a castle and land dowered maiden."
+
+To which Appelmann answered, that she had called him a common
+groom and a base-born burgher churl. But his father commanded him
+to be silent, and bid his men first bind the knight's hands behind
+his back, and then those of his son, and so carry them both to
+prison; but to let the maiden go free.
+
+When the knight heard that he was to be bound, his pride revolted,
+and he offered any ransom, or to give any compensation that could
+be demanded for the injury he had done them. Every one knew his
+wealth, and that he had power to keep his word to the uttermost.
+But the burgomaster made answer, "Eye for eye, and tooth for
+tooth; how say you, sir knight--speak the truth, if you had taken
+me prisoner, as I have taken you, would you have bound my hands or
+not?" To which the knight replied, "Well, Jacob, I will not speak
+a falsehood, for I feel that my end is near;--I would have bound
+your hands."
+
+Hereupon the brave burgomaster answered, "I know it well; however,
+as you have answered me honestly, I will spare you. Burghers, do
+not bind his hands, neither those of my son. Ye have enough to
+suffer yet before ye, and God give you both grace to repent. And
+now to the town! The crew shall declare to-morrow morn, before the
+honourable council, what they have lost by the knight's means; and
+he shall make it all good again to them."
+
+So all the people returned with great uproar and rejoicing back to
+the town, and the bell from St. Mary's and St. John's rung forth
+merry peals, and all the people of the town ran forth to meet
+them; but when they saw the knight a prisoner, and his empty
+scabbard hanging by his side, they clapped their hands and
+huzzaed, shouting, "So fell the Stargardians upon Stramehl." Thus
+with merry laughter, and jests, and mockings, they carried him up
+the street to the tower called the Red Sea, and there locked him
+up, well guarded.
+
+Here again he prayed the burgomaster to accept a ransom, but in
+vain. Whereupon he at last solicited pen, paper, and ink, and a
+light, that he might indite a letter to his Grace, Duke Barnim;
+and this was granted to him.
+
+As for his unworthy son, the burgomaster had him carried to his
+own house, and there placed him in a room, with three stout
+burghers as a guard over him. And Sidonia was placed by herself in
+another little chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Of Otto Bark's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster._
+
+
+During that night there was a strong suspicion upon every one's
+mind that something terrible was going to happen; for a great
+storm arose at midnight, and raged fearfully round the Red Sea
+tower, so that it seemed to rock, and when the night-watch went
+round to examine it, behold three toads crept out, and set
+themselves upright upon the parapet like little manikins, as the
+hares sometimes make themselves into manikins.
+
+What all this denoted was discovered next morning, for when the
+jailer entered Otto's cell in the tower, he saw him lying on the
+floor in a pool of blood, with his own dagger sticking in his
+heart. On the table stood the lamp which he had asked for, still
+burning feebly, and near it a great many written papers.
+
+The man instantly ran for the burgomaster, who followed him with
+all speed to the tower. They felt the corpse, but it was already
+quite cold. So then a messenger was despatched for the chirurgeon,
+to hold a _visum repertum_ over him.
+
+Meantime they examined the papers, and found first my gracious
+Lady of Wolgast's letter to the unfortunate father--the same which
+had made him tremble so the day before--and therein was related
+all the shameful circumstances concerning Sidonia, just as Ulrich
+had stated them in the letter to the burgomaster. Then they came
+upon his last will and testament; but where the seal ought to have
+been, there lay a large drop of blood, with this memorandum
+beneath it: "This is my heart's first blood which I have affixed
+here, in place of a seal, and may he who slights it be accursed
+for evermore, even as my daughter Sidonia."
+
+In this testament he had completely disinherited his daughter
+Sidonia, and made his son Otto sole inheritor of all his property,
+castles, and lands (for his daughter Clara was already dead, and
+had left no children). Nothing should his daughter Sidonia have
+but two farm-houses in Zachow, [Footnote: A small town near
+Stramehl, a mile and a half from Regenwalde.] just to keep her
+from beggary, and to save the ancient, illustrious name of their
+house from falling into further contempt. Yet should his son think
+proper to give her further _alimentum_, he was at liberty so
+to do. Lastly, for the second and third time, he cursed his
+daughter, to whom he owed all his misery, from the affair with the
+apprentice to that concerning the Jena dues, up to this his most
+miserable and wretched death. _Item_, the burgomaster picked
+up another letter, which was addressed to himself, and wherein the
+knight prayed, first, that his body might not be drawn by the
+executioner to burial, as was the custom with suicides, but
+conveyed honourably to Stramehl, and there deposited in the vault
+of his family; secondly, that his daughter Sidonia might be sent
+to Zachow, there to learn how to live humbly as a peasant
+maid--for that she might look to being a Duchess of Pomerania,
+only when she could keep her evil desires still for even a couple
+of days.
+
+Then he cursed her so that it was pitiable to read; and proved
+that, if he had been a more God-fearing father, she might have
+been a different daughter; for as St. Paul says (Galatians vi.),
+"What a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The letter further
+said, that, for the good deed done to his corpse, the burgomaster
+should take all the gold found upon his person, consisting of
+eighty good rose-nobles, and indemnify himself therewith for the
+loss of his spices that day in Stramehl when they were scattered
+before the Jews. He lastly desired his last will and testament to
+be conveyed to his son, along with his corpse; and further, his
+son was to send compensation to the crew for the cask of wine and
+whatever other losses they had sustained, according to his
+knightly word which he had pledged to them.
+
+_Summa_, when the chirurgeon arrived and the body was
+examined, there was found upon the unfortunate knight a purse,
+embroidered with pearls and diamonds, containing eighty
+rose-nobles, which the burgomaster in no wise disdained to
+receive, and then laid the whole matter before the honourable
+council, with the petition of Otto concerning the corpse. The
+honourable council fully justified the burgomaster for all he had
+done, and gave their opinion, that as the good town had no
+jurisdiction over the knight, so they could have none over his
+body, and therefore let it be removed with all honour to Stramehl,
+particularly as he had in all things made amends for the wrong he
+had done them. As regarded Sidonia, two porters should be sent to
+convey her to Zachow.
+
+Meantime Sidonia had heard of her father's horrible death, and lay
+on the ground nearly insensible from grief. Just then the
+burgomaster returned from the council-hall, and commanded that she
+and his profligate son should be brought before him. When they
+arrived, he asked how it happened that they were both found in the
+vessel, for Ulrich, the Grand Chamberlain, had written to inform
+him that Sidonia had been sent away in a coach to Stettin, with
+the executioner on the box.
+
+Here Sidonia sobbed so violently that no word could she utter;
+therefore the son replied that such had been done, but that he
+had been given a horse from the ducal stables, and had followed
+the coach; and when they stopped at Uckermund for the night, he
+had secretly got speech with Sidonia, and advised her to try and
+remove the planks from the bottom of the carriage and escape to
+him, for that he would be quite close at hand. And he did what he
+could that night to loosen the boards himself. So in the morning
+Sidonia got them up easily, and first dropped her baggage out
+through the hole, which he picked up; and then, as they came to a
+soft, sandy tract where the coach had to go very slowly, she let
+herself also down through it, and sinking in the deep sand, let
+the coach go over her without any hurt. Then he came to her, and
+they fled to the next town, where he bought a waggon from some
+peasants, for her and her luggage to proceed into Stargard, for
+she was ashamed to appear before Duke Barnim, and wished to get on
+from Stargard to Stramehl; but when they reached Damm, they heard
+such wild tales of the robbers and partisans who infested the
+roads, that Sidonia grew alarmed, and made him go by water for
+safety. So he left the horse and waggon at the inn, and took ship
+with the merchants who were going to Stargard. These were their
+adventures. The rest his father knew as well as himself.
+
+The burgomaster then asked Sidonia had he spoken truth. So she
+dried her eyes, and nodded her head for "Yes."
+
+Then he admonished her gravely, for that she, a noble maiden,
+could have dishonoured herself with a mere burgher's son, like his
+Johann, in whom even he, his own father, must say, there was
+nothing to tempt any girl. And now she knew the truth of those
+words of St. James: "Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth
+sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
+
+Her sin had, indeed, brought forth her father's death;--would that
+he could say only his _temporal_ death. This her father had
+himself asserted in his testament, which he held now in his hands,
+and for this cause had left all his goods, lands, and castles to
+her brother Otto--only giving her two farm-houses in Zachow to
+save her from the beggar's staff, and their noble name from
+falling into yet greater contempt--and, in addition, he had cursed
+her with terrible curses; but these might be yet turned away, if
+she would incline her heart to God, and lead a pious, honest life
+for the rest of her days. And much more the worthy man preached to
+her; but she interrupted him, having found her tongue at last, and
+exclaimed in wrath, "What! has the good-for-nothing old churl
+written this? Let me see it; it cannot be true."
+
+So the burgomaster reached her the paper, and, as she read, her
+colour changed, and at last she shrieked aloud and fell down
+before the burgomaster, clasping his knees, and praying by the
+Jesu cross not to send such a testament to her brother, for that
+he was still harder than her father, because he was by nature
+avaricious, and would grudge her even salt with her bread. Let him
+remember that his son had promised her marriage, and would he
+destroy his own children?
+
+Then Jacob Appelmann turned to his profligate son, and asked,
+"Does she speak the truth? Have you promised her marriage?"
+
+But the shameless knave answered, "True, I so promised her, when
+we were at Uckermund; but now that she has no money, I wash my
+hands of her."
+
+Such villainy made the old man flame with indignation. "He would
+make him know that he must stand by his word--he would force him
+to it, if he could only think it would be for the advantage of
+this wretched girl. But he would admonish her to give him up; did
+she not see that he was shameless, cruel, and selfish? and how
+could she ever hope to turn to God and lead a new life with such
+an infamous partner? _Item_, his son should be made to work,
+and to feel poverty, so that his evil desires might be stifled;
+and as for her, let her go in God's name to Zachow, and there in
+solitude repent her sins, and strive to win the favour of God."
+
+But that was no water for her mill; so she continued to lament,
+and weep, and pray the burgomaster not to send the will to her
+harsh brother; upon which he answered mildly, "Wert thou to lie at
+my feet till morning, it would not help thee: the testament goes
+this day to Stramehl; but I will do this for thee. Thy father left
+me some rose-nobles, in a purse which he carried about with him,
+as a compensation for my spices, which he strewed before the Jews
+in Stramehl, of which deed thou, too, wert also guilty, as I know;
+therefore I was not ashamed to take the money. But of the purse
+thy father said naught; so I had it in my mind to keep it--for, in
+truth, it is of more worth than the nobles it contained. If I
+mistake not, these are true pearls and diamonds with which it is
+broidered. Look, here it is. What sayest thou?"
+
+Here she sobbed, and answered, "She knew it well; she had
+broidered the purse herself. They were her mother's pearls and
+diamonds, and part of her bridal gear; truly they were worth three
+thousand florins."
+
+"Then," said the brave old man, "I will give thee this purse,
+since it was not named either for me or for thy brother at
+Stramehl. Take it to Zachow; thou wilt make a good penny of it. Be
+pious, and God-fearing, and industrious, remembering what the Holy
+Scripture says (Prov. xxxi.): 'A virtuous woman takes wool and
+flax, and labours diligently with her hands. She stretches out her
+hands to the wheel, and her fingers grasp the spindle.' Hadst thou
+learned this, in place of thy costly broidery, methinks it would
+have been better with thee this day."
+
+As he thus spoke, he put the purse in her hands, and she instantly
+hid it in her pocket. But the profligate Johann now suddenly
+became repentant, for he thought, if I can obtain nothing good
+from my father, I may at least get the purse. So he began to weep
+and lament, and fell down, too, at his father's feet, saying, if
+he would only pardon him this once, he would indeed take this poor
+maiden to wife, as he had promised her, for he alone was guilty of
+her sin; only would his heart's dearest father forgive him? And so
+the hypocrite went on with his lies.
+
+Whereupon his father made answer honourably and mildly--"Such
+promises thou hast often made, but never kept. However, I will try
+thee yet again. If thou wilt spend each day diligently writing in
+the council-office, and return each night to sleep in my chamber,
+and continue this good conduct for a few years, to testify thy
+repentance, as a brave and upright son, and Sidonia meanwhile
+continues to lead a godly and humble life at Zachow, then, in
+God's name, ye shall both marry, and make amends for your sin; but
+not before that."
+
+As he said this, and bid his son stand up, the hypocrite answered,
+yes, he would do the will of his dear father; but then he must
+keep back this testament; so would his children be happy.
+Otherwise, wherefore should they marry?--what could they live on?
+A couple of cabins in Zachow would not be enough.
+
+"Truly," replied the old man, "if I were as great a knave as thou
+art, I would do as thou hast said; yet, though the loss of the
+spices, which her father wickedly destroyed, did me such injury
+that I had to sell my house, to get the means of living and
+keeping thee at the University of Grypswald, I will keep my hands
+pure from the property of another, even if this property belonged
+to my greatest enemy, and the enemy of this good town also.
+_Summa_, this day thou shalt go to the council-office, the
+testament to Stramehl, and Sidonia to Zachow."
+
+So the knave was silent: but Sidonia still resisted; she would not
+go to Zachow--never; but if he would send her to Stettin, she was
+certain the good Duke Barnim would be kind to an unfortunate
+maiden, who had done nothing more than what thousands do in
+secret. And whatever the gracious Prince resolved concerning her,
+she would abide by.
+
+When the burgomaster heard this speech, he saw that no amendment
+was to be expected from her; and as he had no authority to compel
+her to Zachow, he promised, at last, to send her to Stettin on the
+following day, for there were two market waggons going, and she
+could travel in one, and thereby be more secure against all
+danger. And so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to
+wed her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of
+Stettin received her._
+
+
+Sidonia, next morning, got a good soft seat in the waggon, upon
+the sack of a cloth merchant; he was cousin to the burgomaster,
+and promised to take her with him, out of friendship for him. All
+the men in the waggon were armed with spears and muskets, for fear
+of the robbers, who were growing more daring every day.
+
+So they proceeded; but had not got far from the town when a
+horseman galloped furiously after them, and called out that he
+would accompany them; and this was Claude Uckermann, of whom I
+have spoken so much in my former book. He, too, was going to
+Stettin. Now when Sidonia saw him, her eyes glistened like a cat's
+when she sees a mouse, and she rejoiced at the prospect of such
+good company, for since the wedding of her sister, never had this
+handsome youth come across her, though she was constantly looking
+out for him. So as he rode up by the waggon, she greeted him, and
+prayed him to alight and come and sit by her upon the sack, that
+they might talk together of dear old times.
+
+She imagined, no doubt, that he knew nothing of all that had
+happened; but her disgrace was as public at Stargard as if it had
+been pealed from the great bell of St. Mary's. He therefore knew
+her whole story, and answered, that sitting by her was
+disagreeable to him now; and he rode on. This was plain enough,
+one would think; but Sidonia still held by her delusion; for as
+they reached the first inn, and stopped to feed the horses, she
+saw him stepping aside to avoid her, and seating himself at some
+distance on a bank. So she put on her flattering face, and
+advanced to him, saying, "Would not the dear young knight make up
+with her?--what ailed him?--it was impossible he could resent her
+silly fun at her sister's wedding. Oh! if he had come again and
+asked her seriously to be his wife, in place of there in the
+middle of the dancing, as if he had been only jesting, she would
+never have had another husband, for from that till now, never had
+so handsome a knight met her eyes; but she was still free."
+
+Hereupon the young man (as he told me himself) made answer--"Yes,
+she had rightly judged, he was only jesting, and taking his
+pastime with her, as they sat there upon the carpet, for he held
+in unspeakable aversion and disgust a cup from which every one
+sipped."
+
+Still Sidonia would not comprehend him, and began to talk about
+Wolgast. But he looked down straight before him in the grass, and
+never spake a word, but turned on his heel, and entered the inn,
+to see after his horse. So he got rid of her at last.
+
+As the waggon set off again, she began to sing so merrily and
+loudly, that all the wood rang with it. And the young knight was
+not so stupid but that he truly discerned her meaning, which was
+to show him that she cared little for his words, since she could
+go away in such high spirits.
+
+_Summa_, when they reached the inn at Stettin, Sidonia got
+all her baggage carried in from the waggon, and there dressed
+herself with all her finery: silken robes, golden hairnet, and
+golden chains, rings, and jewels, that all the people saluted her
+when she came forth, and went to the castle to ask for his
+Highness the Duke. He was in his workshop, and had just finished
+turning a spinning-wheel; he laughed aloud when she entered, ran
+to her, embraced her, and cried, "What! my treasure!--where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel? How I laughed when Master
+Hansen, whom my old, silly, sour cousin of Wolgast sent with thee,
+came in lately into my workshop, and told me he had brought thee
+hither in a ducal coach! I ran directly to the courtyard; but when
+the knave opened the door, my little thrush had flown. Where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel?"
+
+As his Grace put all these questions, he continued kissing her, so
+that his long white beard got entangled in her golden chains; and
+as she pushed him away, a bunch of hair remained sticking to her
+brooch, so that he screamed for pain, and put his hand to his
+chin. At this, in rushed the court marshal and the treasurer (who
+were writing in the next chamber) as white as corpses, and asked,
+"Who is murdering his Grace?" but his Grace held up his hand over
+his bleeding mouth, and winked to them to go away. So when they
+saw that it was only a maiden combat, they went their way
+laughing.
+
+Hereupon speaks his Grace--"See now, treasure, what thou hast
+done! Thou canst be so kind to a groom, yet thy own gracious
+Prince will treat so harshly!"
+
+But Sidonia began to weep bitterly. "What did he think of her? The
+whole story was an invention by his old sour cousin of Wolgast to
+ruin her because she would not learn her catechism (and then she
+told the same tale as to her father); but would not his Grace take
+pity on a poor forsaken maiden, seeing that Prince Ernest could
+not deny he had promised to make her his bride, and wed her
+privately at Crummyn, on the very next night to that on which her
+Grace had so shamefully outraged her?"
+
+"My sweet treasure!" answered the Duke, "the young Prince was only
+making a fool of you; therefore be content that things are no
+worse. For even if he had wedded you privately, it would have been
+all in vain, seeing that neither the princely widow nor the
+Elector of Brandenburg, his godfather, nor any of the princes of
+the holy Roman Empire, nor lastly, the Pomeranian States, would
+ever have permitted so unequal a marriage. Therefore, what the
+priest joined in Crummyn would have been put asunder next day by
+the tribunals. My poor nephew is a silly enthusiast not to have
+perceived this all along, before he put such absurdities in your
+head. That he talked gallantry to you was very natural, and I
+wished him all success; but that he should ever have talked of
+marriage shows him to be even sillier than I expected from his
+years."
+
+Here Sidonia's tears burst forth anew. "Who would care for her now
+that her father was dead, and had left her penniless? All because
+he believed that old hypocrite of Wolgast more than his own
+daughter. Alas! alas! she was a poor orphan now! and all her
+possessions would be torn from her by her hard-hearted, avaricious
+brother. Yet surely his Grace might at least take pity on her
+innocence."
+
+His Grace wondered much when he heard of Otto's death, for the
+letters brought by the market waggon from the honourable council,
+acquainting him with the matter, had not yet arrived, and he
+scratched behind his ear, and said, "It was an evil deed of that
+proud devil her father, to claim the Jena dues. He had got his
+answer at Wolgast, and ought to have left the dues alone. What
+right had he to break the peace of the land, to gratify his lust
+and greed? It was well that he was dead; but as concerning his
+testament, that must not be interfered with, he had no power over
+the property of individuals. Each one might leave his goods as
+best pleased him; yet he would make his treasurer write a letter
+in her favour to her brother Otto: that was all that he could do."
+
+This threw Sidonia into despair; she fell at his feet, and told
+him, that let what would become of her, she would never go a step
+to Zachow, and her harsh brother would never give her one
+groschen, unless he were forced to it. His Grace ought to remember
+that it was by his advice she had gone to Wolgast, where all her
+misery had commenced; for by the traitorous conduct of the widow,
+there she had been robbed, not only of her good name, but also of
+her fortune. So his Grace comforted her, and said that as long as
+he lived she would want for nothing. He had a pretty house behind
+St. Mary's, and six young maidens lived there, who had nothing to
+do but spin and embroider, or comb out the beautiful herons'
+feathers as the birds moulted; for he had a large stock of herons
+close to the house; and there was a darling little chamber there,
+which she could have immediately for herself. As to clothes, they
+might all get the handsomest they pleased, and their meals were
+supplied from the ducal kitchen.
+
+As his Grace ended, and lifted up Sidonia and kissed her, she wept
+and sighed more than ever. "Could he think this of her? No; she
+would never enter the house which was the talk of all Pomerania.
+If she consented, then, indeed, would the world believe all the
+falsehoods that were told of her--of her, who was as innocent as a
+child!" Hereupon his Grace answered stiff and stern (yet this was
+not his wont, for he was a right tender master), "Then go your
+ways. Into that house or nowhere else." (Alas! let every maiden
+take warning, by this example, to guard against the first false
+step. Amen, chaste Jesus! Amen.)
+
+That evening Sidonia took up her abode in the house. But that same
+evening there was a great _scandalum,_ and tearing of each
+other's hair among the girls. For one of them, named Trina
+Wehlers, was a baker's daughter from Stramehl, and on the occasion
+of Clara's wedding she had headed a procession of young peasants
+to join the bridal party, but Sidonia had haughtily pushed her
+back, and forbid them to approach. This Trina was a fine rosy
+wench, and my Lord Duke took a fancy to her then, so that she
+looked with great jealousy on any one that threatened to rob her
+of his favour. Now when Sidonia entered the house and saw the
+baker's daughter, she commenced again to play the part of the
+great lady, but the other only laughed, and mockingly asked her,
+"Where was the princely spouse, Duke Ernest of Wolgast? Would his
+Highness come to meet her there?"
+
+Then Sidonia raged from shame and despair, that this peasant girl
+should dare to insult her, and she ran weeping to her chamber; but
+when supper was served, the _scandalum_ broke out in earnest.
+For Sidonia had now grown a little comforted, and as there were
+many dainty dishes from the Duke's table sent to them, she began
+to enjoy herself somewhat, when all of a sudden the baker's
+daughter gave her a smart blow over the fingers with a fork.
+Sidonia instantly seized her by the hair; and now there was such
+an uproar of blows, screams, and tongues, that my gracious lord,
+the Duke, was sent for. Whereupon he scolded the baker's daughter
+right seriously for her insolence, and told her that as Sidonia
+was the only noble maiden amongst them, she was to bear rule. And
+if the others did not obey her humbly, as befitted her rank, they
+should all be whipped. His Grace wore a patch of black plaister on
+his chin, and attempted to kiss Sidonia again, but she pushed him
+away, saying that he must have told all that happened at Wolgast
+to these girls, otherwise how could the baker's daughter have
+mocked her about it.
+
+Whereupon my gracious lord consoled her, and said that if she were
+quiet and well-behaved, he would take her with him to the Diet at
+Wollin, for all the young dukes of Pomerania were to attend it,
+and Prince Ernest amongst the number, seeing that he had summoned
+them all there, in order to give up the government of the land
+into their hands, as he was too old now himself to be tormented
+with state affairs.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, hope sprang up within her heart, and she
+resolved to bear her destiny calmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at
+Wollin, and what happened there._
+
+
+With regard to their Serene Highnesses of Wolgast, I have already
+related, _libro primo,_ that the young lord, Ernest
+Ludovicus, was carried out of Sidonia's chamber like one dead,
+when he beheld her abominable wickedness with his own eyes
+and all can easily believe that he lay for a long while sick unto
+death. In vain Dr. Pomius offered his celebrated specific; he
+would take nothing, did nothing day or night but sigh and groan--
+
+"Ah, Sidonia; ah, my beloved heart's bride, Sidonia, can it be
+possible? Adored Sidonia, my heart is breaking. Sidonia, Sidonia,
+can it be possible?"
+
+At last the idea struck Dr. Pomius that there must be magic and
+devil's work in it. So he searched through all his learned books,
+and finally came upon a recipe which was infallible in such cases.
+This was to burn the tooth of a dead man to powder, and let the
+sick bewitched person smoke the ashes. Such was solemnly
+recommended by Petrus Hispanus Ulyxbonensis, who, under the name
+of John XXII., ascended the papal throne. See his _Thesaurus
+Pauperum,_ cap. ult.
+
+But the Prince would neither take anything nor smoke anything, and
+the _delirium amatorium_ grew more violent and alarming day
+by day, so that the whole ducal house was plunged into the deepest
+grief and despair.
+
+Now there was a prisoner in the bastion tower at Wolgast, a carl
+from Katzow, who had been arrested and condemned for practising
+horrible sorceries and magic--namely, having changed the calves of
+his neighbours into young hares, which instinctively started off
+to the woods, and were never seen more, as the whole town
+testified; and other devil's doings he had practised, which I now
+forget; but they were fully proved against him, and so he was
+sentenced to be burned.
+
+This man now sent a message to the authorities, that if they
+pardoned him and allowed him free passage from the town, he would
+tell of something to cure the young lord. This was agreed to; and
+when he was brought to the chamber of the Prince, he laid his ear
+down upon his breast, to listen if it were witchcraft that ailed
+him. Then he spake--
+
+"Yes; the heart beats quite unnaturally, the sound was like the
+whimpering of a fly caught in a spider's web; their lordships
+might listen for themselves."
+
+Whereupon all present, one after the other, laid their ear upon
+the breast of the young Prince, and heard really as he had
+described.
+
+The earl now said that he would give his Highness a potion which
+would make him, from that hour, hate the woman who had bewitched
+him as much as he had adored her. _Item,_ the young lord must
+sleep for three days, and when he woke, his strength would have
+returned to him; to procure this sleep, he must anoint his temples
+with goat's milk, which they must instantly bring him, and during
+his sleep the Lady Duchess must, every two hours, lay fresh
+ox-flesh upon his stomach.
+
+When her Grace heard this, she rejoiced that her dear son would so
+soon hold the harlot in abhorrence who had bewitched him. And the
+earl gave him a red syrup, which he had no sooner swallowed than
+all care for Sidonia seemed to have vanished from his mind. Even
+before the goat's milk came, he exclaimed--
+
+"Now that I think over it, what a great blessing that we have got
+rid of Sidonia."
+
+And no sooner were his temples bathed with the milk than he fell
+into a deep sleep, which lasted for three days, and when he opened
+his eyes, his first words were--
+
+"Where is that Sidonia? Is the wanton still here? Bring her before
+me, that I may tell her how I hate her. Oh, fool that I was, to
+peril my princely honour for a harlot. Where is she? I must have
+my revenge upon the light wanton."
+
+Her Grace could hardly speak for joy when she heard these words;
+and she gave the earl, who had watched all the time by the bedside
+of the young Prince, so much ham and sausages from the ducal
+kitchen, that he finally could not walk, but was obliged to be
+drawn out of the town in a car. Then she asked Dr. Pomius how such
+a miracle could have been effected. At which he laid his finger on
+his nose, after his manner, and replied, such was accomplished
+through the introduction of the natural Life Balsam, which the
+learned called _confermentationem Mumie_, and so the fool
+went on prating, and her Grace devouring his words as if they were
+gospel.
+
+_Summa._--After a few days the young lord was able to leave
+his bed, and as they kept fresh ox-flesh continually applied to
+his stomach, he soon regained his strength, so that, in a couple
+of weeks, he could ride, fish, and hunt, and his cheeks were as
+fresh and rosy as ever. One day he mentioned "the groom's
+mistress," as he called her, and wished he could give her a lesson
+in lute-playing, it would be one to make her tremble. But when the
+letter arrived from Duke Barnim, declaring that, from his great
+age, he proposed resigning the government of Pomerania into the
+hands of her Grace's sons, there was no end to the rejoicings at
+Wolgast, and her Grace declared that she would herself accompany
+them to the Diet at Wollin.
+
+We shall now see what a treat was waiting her at the old castle
+there. It was built wholly of wood, and has long since fallen; but
+at the time I write of, it was standing in all its glory.
+
+Monday, the 15th May 1569, at eleven in the forenoon, his Grace of
+Stettin came with seven coaches and two hundred and fourteen
+horsemen into the courtyard. And there, on the steps of the
+castle, stood my gracious Lady of Wolgast, holding the little
+Casimir by the hand, in waiting to receive his Highness, and all
+her other sons stood round her--namely, the illustrious Bishop of
+Camyn, Johann Frederick, in his bishop's robes, with the staff and
+mitre. _Item,_ Duke Bogislaus, who had presented her Grace
+with a tame sea-gull. _Item,_ Ernest Ludovicus, in a Spanish
+mantle of black velvet, embossed in gold, and upon his head a
+black velvet Spanish hat, looped up with diamonds, from which long
+white plumes descended to his shoulder. _Item,_ Barnim the
+younger, who wore a dress similar to his brother's. _Item,_
+the Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, and with him a great
+crowd of the counsellors and state officers of Wolgast, besides
+all the nobles, prelates, knights, and chief burghers of the
+duchy. Among the nobles stood Otto von Bork, brother to Sidonia;
+and the burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, held his place among the
+citizens.
+
+As Duke Barnim drove up to the castle, the guards fired a salute,
+and the bells rang, and the cannon roared, and all the vessels in
+the harbour hoisted their flags, while the streets, houses, and
+courtyards were decorated with flowers, and all the people of the
+little town trotted round the carriage, shouting, "Vivat! vivat!
+vivat!" so that the like was never seen before in Wollin.
+
+Now, when the coach stopped, her Grace the Duchess advanced to
+meet his Highness; and as old Duke Barnim's head appeared at the
+window, with his long white beard and yellow leather cap, her
+Grace stepped forward, and said--"Welcome, dearest Un------"
+
+But she could get no farther, and stood as stiff as Lot's wife
+when she was turned into a pillar of salt, for there was Sidonia
+seated in the carriage beside the Duke! Old Ulrich, who followed,
+soon spied the cause of her Grace's dismay, and exclaimed--
+
+"Three thousand devils, what does your Highness mean by bringing
+the accursed harlot a third time amongst us?"
+
+But his Highness only laughed, and drew forth his last puppet, it
+was a Satan as he tempted Eve, saying--
+
+"Hold this for me, good Ulrich, till I am out of the coach, and
+then I shall hear all about it."
+
+To which the other answered--
+
+"If you let me catch hold of this other Satan, whom ye bring with
+you, I think it were wiser done!"
+
+Prince Ernest now sprang down the steps, his eye flaming with
+rage, and drawing his sword, cried--
+
+"Hold me, or I will stab the serpent to the heart, who so
+disgraced me and my family honour. I will murder her there in the
+coach before your eyes."
+
+Whereupon old Ulrich flung the little wooden Satan to the ground,
+and seized the young man by the arm, while Sidonia screamed
+violently. But the old Duke stepped deliberately out of the coach.
+Seeing, however, his wooden Satan lying broken on the ground, he
+became very wroth, and called loudly for a turner with his
+glue-pot. Then he ascended the steps, and when all had greeted him
+deferentially, he began--
+
+"Dear niece, worthy cousins, and friends, ye have no doubt heard
+of the misfortune which hath befallen Sidonia von Bork, who sits
+there in the carriage. Her father has died; and, further, she has
+been disinherited. Thereupon she fled to me to seek a refuge. Now
+ye all know well that the Von Borks are an ancient, honourable,
+and illustrious race--none more so; therefore I had compassion
+upon the orphan, and brought her hither to effect a reconciliation
+between her and Otto Bork, her brother. Step forward, Otto Bork,
+where are you hiding? Step forth, and hand your sister from the
+carriage; I saw you amongst the nobles here to-day. Step forth!"
+
+But Otto had disappeared; and as the Duke found he would not
+answer to his summons, he bid Sidonia come forth herself.
+Whereupon the young Prince swore fiercely that, if she but put a
+foot upon the step he would murder her. "What the devil! young
+man," said the Duke, laughing; "first you must needs wed her, and
+now you will slay her dead at our feet! This is somewhat
+inconsistent. Come forth, Sidonia; he will not be so cruel."
+
+But she sat in the coach, and wept like a child who has lost its
+nurse. So my gracious lady stepped forward, and commanded the
+coachman to drive instantly with the maiden to the town inn; and
+so it was done.
+
+Now the old Duke never ceased for the whole forenoon soliciting
+Otto Bork to take the poor orphan home with him, and there to
+treat her as a faithful and kind brother, in compensation for her
+father's harsh and unnatural will; but it was all in vain, as she
+indeed had prophesied. "Not the weight of a feather more should
+she get than the two farmhouses in Zachow; and never let her call
+him brother, for ancient as his race was, never had one of them
+borne the brand of infamy till now."
+
+In the afternoon, all the prelates, nobles, and burghers assembled
+in the grand hall; then entered the ducal family, Barnim the elder
+at their head. He was dressed in a long black robe, such as the
+priests wear now, with white ruffles and Spanish frill, and was
+bareheaded. He took his seat at the top of the table, and thus
+spake--
+
+"Illustrious Princess, dear cousins, nobles, and faithful
+burghers, ye all know that I have ruled this Pomeranian land for
+fifty years, upholding the pure doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther,
+and casting down papacy in all places and at all times. But as I
+am now old, and find it hard sometimes to keep my unruly vassals
+in order, whereof we have had a proof lately, it is my will and
+purpose to resign the government into the hands of my dear
+cousins, the illustrious Princes von Pommern-Wolgast, and retire
+to Oderburg in Old Stettin, there to rest in peace for the
+remainder of my days; but there are four princes (for the fifth,
+Casimir, to-morrow or next day shall get a church endowment) and
+but two duchies. For ye know that, by the Act passed in 1541, the
+Duchy of Pomerania can only be divided into two portions, the
+other princes of the family being entitled but to life-annuities.
+Therefore I have resolved to let it be decided by lot amongst the
+four Pomeranian princes (according to the example set us by the
+holy apostles), which of them shall succeed me in Stettin, which
+is to rule in Wolgast in the room of my loved brother, Philippus
+Primus of blessed memory; and, finally, which is to be content
+only with the life-annuity. And this shall now be ascertained in
+your presence."
+
+Having ended, he commanded the Grand Marshal, Von Flemming, to
+bring the golden lottery-box with the tickets, and beckoned the
+young princes to the table. Then, while they drew the lots, he
+commanded all the nobles, knights, and burghers present to lift up
+their hands and repeat the Lord's Prayer aloud. So every hand was
+elevated, even the Duke and my gracious lady uplifting theirs, and
+the three young princes drew the lots, but not the fourth, and
+this was Bogislaff. So Duke Barnim wondered, and asked the reason.
+Whereupon he answered, "That he would not tempt God in aught. To
+govern a land was a serious thing; and he who had little to rule
+had little to be responsible for before God. He would therefore
+freely withdraw his claims, and be content with the annuity; then
+he could remain with his dear mother, and console her in her
+widowhood. He did not fear that he would ever repent his choice,
+for he had more pleasure in study than in the pomp of the world;
+and if he took the government, then must his beloved library be
+given up for food to the moths and spiders."
+
+All arguments were vain to turn him from his resolve: so the lots
+were drawn, and it was found that Johann Frederick had come by the
+Dukedom of Stettin, and Ernest Ludovicus by that of Wolgast.
+
+But as Barnim the younger went away empty, he was filled with envy
+and mortification, showing quite a different spirit from his meek,
+humble-minded brother, Bogislaff. He swore, and cursed his ill
+luck. "Why did not that fool of a bookworm give over his chance to
+him, if he would not profit by it himself? Why the devil should he
+descend to play the commoner, when he was born to play the
+prince?" and suchlike unamiable and ill-tempered speeches.
+However, he was now silenced by the drums and trumpets, which
+struck up the _Te Deum_, in which all present joined. Then
+Doctor Dannenbaum offered up a prayer, and so that grand ceremony
+concluded. But the feasting and drinking was carried on with such
+spirit all through the evening, and far into the night, that all
+the young lords, except Bogislaff, had well nigh drowned their
+senses in the wine-cup; and Ernest started up about midnight,
+declaring that he would go to the inn and murder Sidonia. Barnim
+was busy quarrelling with Johann Frederick about his annuity. So
+Ernest would certainly have gone to Sidonia, if one of the nobles,
+by name Dinnies Kleist, a man of huge strength, had not detained
+him in a singular manner. For he laid a wager that, just with his
+little finger in the girdle of the young Prince, he would hold him
+fast; and if he (the Prince) moved but one inch from the spot
+where he stood, he was content to lose his wager.
+
+And, in truth, Prince Ernest found that he could not stir one step
+from the spot where Dinnies Kleist held him; so he called a noble
+to assist him, who seized his hand and tried to draw him away, but
+in vain; then he called a second, a third, a fourth, up to a
+dozen, and they all held each other by the hand, and pulled and
+pulled away till their heads nearly touched the floor, but in
+vain; not one inch could they make the Prince to move. So Dinnies
+Kleist won his wager; and the Duke, Johann Frederick, was so
+delighted with this proof of his giant strength, that he took him
+into his service from that hour. So the whole night Dinnies amused
+the guests by performing equally wonderful feats even until day
+dawned.
+
+Now, there was an enormous golden becker which Duke Ratibor I. had
+taken away from the rich town of Konghalla, in Norway land, when
+he fell upon it and plundered it. This becker stood on the table
+filled with wine, and as the Duke handed it to him to pledge him,
+Dinnies said, "Shall I crush this in my hand, like fresh bread,
+for your Grace?" "You may try," said the Duke, laughing; and
+instantly he crushed it together with such force, that the wine
+dashed down all over the table-cover. _Item_, the Duke threw
+down some gold and silver medals--"Could he break them?"
+
+"Ay, truly, if they were given to him; not else."
+
+"Take, then, as many as you can break," said the Duke. So he broke
+them all as easily as altar wafers, and thrust them, laughing,
+into his pocket.
+
+_Item_, there had been large quantities of preserved cherries
+at supper, and the lacqueys had piled up the stones on a dish like
+a high mountain. From this mountain Dinnies took handful after
+handful, and squeezed them together, so that not a single stone
+remained whole in his hand. We shall hear a great deal more of
+this Dinnies Kleist, and his strength, as we proceed; therefore
+shall let him rest for the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann
+Appelmann._
+
+
+It was a good day for Johann Appelmann, when his father went to
+the Diet at Wollin. For as the old burgomaster held strictly by
+his word, and sent him each day to the writing-office, and locked
+him up each night in his little room, the poor young man had found
+life growing very dull. Now he was his mother's pet, and all his
+sins and wickedness were owing to her as much as Sidonia's to her
+father. She had petted and spoiled him from his youth up, and
+stiffened his back against his father. For whenever worthy Jacob
+laid the stick upon the boy's shoulders, she cried and roared, and
+called him nothing but an old tyrant. Then how she was always
+stuffing him up with tit-bits and dainties, whenever his father's
+back was turned; and if there were a glass of wine left in the
+bottle, the boy must have it. Then she let him and his brother
+beat and abuse all the street-boys and send them away bleeding
+like dogs; and some were afraid to complain of them, as they were
+sons of the burgomaster; and if others came to the house to do so,
+she took good care to send them away with a stout blow or bloody
+nose.
+
+And as the lads grew up, how she praised their beauty, and curled
+their hair and beards herself, telling them they were not to think
+of citizen wives, but to look after the richest and highest, for
+the proudest in the land might be glad to get them as husbands. So
+she prated away during her husband's absence, for he was in his
+office all day and most part of the evening. And God knows, bad
+fruit she brought forth with such rearing--not alone in Johann,
+but also in his brother Wittich, who, as I afterwards heard, got
+on no better in Pudgla, where he held the office of magistrate. So
+true it is what the Scripture says, "A wise woman buildeth her
+house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands" (Prov.
+xiv.) Then, another Scripture, "As moths from a garment, so from a
+woman wickedness" (Sirach xlii.)
+
+For what did this fool do now? As soon as her upright and worthy
+husband had left the house, forgetting and despising all his
+admonitions respecting this son Johann, she called together all
+her acquaintance, and kept up a gormandising and drinking day
+after day, all to comfort her heart's dear pet Johann, who had
+been used so harshly by his cross father. Think of her fine,
+handsome son being stuck down all day to a clerk's desk. Ah! was
+there ever such a tyrant as her husband to any one, but especially
+to his own born children?
+
+And so she went on complaining how she had thrown herself away
+upon such a hard-hearted monster, and had refused so many fine
+young carls, all to wed Satan himself at least. She could not make
+out why God had sent such a curse upon her.
+
+When the brave Johann heard all this, he begged money from his
+mother, that he might seek another situation. Now that there was a
+new duke in Stettin, he would assuredly get employment there, but
+then he must treat all the young fellows and pages about the
+court, otherwise they would not put in a good word for him.
+Therefore he would give them a great carouse at the White Horse in
+the Monk's Close, and then assuredly he would be appointed chief
+equerry. So she believed every word he uttered; but as old Jacob
+had carried away all the money that was in the house with him, she
+sold the spices that had just come in, for a miserable sum, also
+her own pearl earrings and fur mantle, that her dear heart's son
+might have a gay carouse, to console him for all his father's hard
+treatment.
+
+_Summa_.--When the rogue had got all he could from her, he
+took his father's best mare from the stable, and rode up to
+Stettin, where he put up at the White Horse Inn, and soon scraped
+acquaintance with all the idle young fellows about the court. So
+they drank and caroused until Johann's last penny was spent, but
+he had got no situation except in good promises. Truly the young
+pages had mentioned him to the Duke, and asked the place of
+equerry for their jovial companion, but his Highness, Duke Johann,
+had heard too much of his doings at Wolgast, and would by no means
+countenance him.
+
+Then Johann bethought himself of Sidonia, for he had heard from
+his boon companions that she was in the Duke's house behind St.
+Mary's. And he remembered that purse embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds which his father had given her, so he went many days
+spying about the house, hoping to get a glimpse of Sidonia; but as
+she never appeared, he resolved to gain admission by playing the
+tailor. Wherefore, he tied on an apron, took a tailor's measure
+and shears, and went straight up to the house, asking boldly, if a
+young maiden named Sidonia did not live there? for he had got
+orders to make her a garment. Now the baker's daughter, Trim
+Wehlers, suspected all was not right, for she had seen my gay
+youth spying about the house before, and staring up at all the
+windows. However, she showed the tailor Sidonia's room, and then
+set herself down to watch. But the wonders of Providence are
+great. Although she could not hear a word they said, yet all that
+passed in Sidonia's room was made evident--it was in this wise.
+Just before the house rose up the church of St. Mary's, with all
+its stately pillars, and as if God's house wished in wrath to
+expose the wickedness of the pair, everything that passed in the
+room was shadowed on these pillars; so when Trina observed this,
+she ran for the other girls, crying, "Come here, come here, and
+see how the two shadows are kissing each other. They can be no
+other than Sidonia and her tailor. This would be fine news for our
+gracious lord!" They would tell him the whole story when his
+Highness came that evening, and so get rid of this proud, haughty
+dragon who played the great lady amongst them, and ruled
+everything her own way. Therefore they all set themselves to watch
+for the tailor when he left Sidonia's room; but the whole day
+passed, and he had not done with his measurement. Whereupon they
+concluded she must have secreted him in her chamber.
+
+Now the Duke had a private key of the house, and was in the habit
+of walking over from Oderburg after dusk almost every evening; but
+as there was no sign of him now, they despatched a messenger,
+bidding him come quick to his house, and his Grace would hear and
+see marvels. How the young girls gathered round him when he
+entered, all telling him together about Sidonia. And when at last
+he made out the story, his Grace fell into an unwonted rage (for
+he was generally mild and good-tempered) that a poacher should get
+into his preserves. So he runs to Sidonia's door and tries to open
+it, but the bolts are drawn. Then he threatened to send for Master
+Hansen if she did not instantly admit him, at which all the girls
+laughed and clapped their hands with joy. Whereupon Sidonia at
+last came to the door with looks of great astonishment, and
+demanded what his Grace could want. It was bed-time, and so, of
+course, she had locked her door to lie down in safety.
+
+_Ille_.-"Where is that tailor churl who had come to her in
+the morning?"
+
+_Illa_.-"She knew nothing about him, except that he had gone
+away long ago."
+
+So the girls all screamed "No, no, that is not true! She and the
+tailor had been kissing each other, as they saw by the shadows on
+the wall, and making love."
+
+Here Sidonia appeared truly horrified at such an accusation, for
+she was a cunning hypocrite; and taking up the coif-block
+[Footnote: A block for head-gears.] with an air of offended
+dignity, said, turning to his Grace, "It was this coif-block,
+methinks, I had at the window with me, and may those be accursed
+who blackened me to your face." So the Duke half believed her, and
+stood silent at the window; but Trina Wehlers cried out, "It is
+false! it is false! a coif-block could not give kisses!" Whereupon
+Sidonia in great wrath snatched up a robe that lay near her on a
+couch, to hit the baker's daughter with it across the face. But
+woe! woe! under the robe lay the tailor's cap, upon which all the
+girls screamed out, "There is the cap! there is the cap! now we'll
+soon find the tailor," pushing Sidonia aside, and beginning to
+search in every nook and corner of the room. Heyday, what an
+uproar there was now, when they caught sight of the tailor himself
+in the chimney and dragged him down; but he dashed them aside with
+his hands, right and left, so that many got bleeding noses, hit
+his Grace, too, a blow as he tried to seize him, and rushed out of
+the house.
+
+Still the Duke had time to recognise the knave of Wolgast, and was
+so angry at his having escaped him, that he almost beat Sidonia.
+"She was at her old villainy. No good would ever come of her. He
+saw that now with his own eyes. Therefore this very night she and
+her baggage should pack off, to the devil if she chose, but he had
+done with her for ever."
+
+When Sidonia found that the affair was taking a bad turn, she
+tried soft words, but in vain. His Highness ordered up her two
+serving wenches to remove her and her luggage. And so, to the
+great joy of the other girls, who laughed and screamed, and
+clapped their hands, she was turned out, and having nowhere to go
+to, put up once more at the White Horse Inn.
+
+Now Johann knew nothing of this until next morning, when, as he
+was toying with one of the maids, he heard a voice from the
+window, "Johann! Johann! I will give thee the diamond." And
+looking up, there was Sidonia. So the knave ran to her, and swore
+he was only jesting with the maid in the court, for that he would
+marry no one but her, as he had promised yesterday, only he must
+first wait till he was made equerry, then he would obtain letters
+of nobility, which could easily be done, as he was the son of a
+_patricius_; but gold, gold was wanting for all this, and to
+keep up with his friends at the court. Perhaps this very day he
+might get the place, if he had only some good claret to entertain
+them with; therefore she had better give him a couple of diamonds
+from the purse. And so he went on with his lies and humbug, until
+at last he got what he wanted.
+
+Sidonia now felt so ashamed of her degradation, that she resolved
+to leave the White Horse, and take a little lodging in the Monk's
+Close until Johann obtained the post of equerry. But in vain she
+hoped and waited. Every day the rogue came, he begged for another
+pearl or diamond, and if she hesitated, then he swore it would be
+the last, for this very day he was certain of the situation. At
+last but two diamonds were left, and beg as he might, these he
+should not have. Then he beat her, and ran off to the White Horse,
+but came back again in less than an hour. Would she forgive him?
+Now they would be happy at last; he had received his appointment
+as chief equerry. His friends had behaved nobly and kept their
+word, therefore he must give them a right merry carouse out of
+gratitude; she might as well hand him those two little diamonds.
+Now they would want for nothing at last, but live like princes at
+the table of his Highness the Duke. Would she not be ready to
+marry him immediately?
+
+Thereupon the unfortunate Sidonia handed over her two last jewels,
+but never laid eyes on the knave for two days after, when he came
+to tell her it was all up with him now, the traitors had deceived
+him, he had got no situation, and unless she gave him more money
+or jewels he never could marry her. She had still golden armlets
+and a gold chain, let her go for them, he must see them, and try
+what he could get for them. But he begged in vain. Then he
+stormed, swore, threatened, beat her, and finally rushed out of
+the house declaring that she might go to the devil, for as to him
+he would never give himself any further trouble about her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and
+Johann Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard._
+
+
+When my gracious lord, Duke Johann Frederick, succeeded to the
+government, he had no idea of hoarding up his money in old pots,
+but lavished it freely upon all kinds of buildings, hounds,
+horses--in short, upon everything that could make his court and
+castle luxurious and magnificent.
+
+Indeed, he was often as prodigal, just to gratify a whim, as when
+he flung the gold coins to Dinnies Kleist, merely to see if he
+could break them. For instance, he was not content with the old
+ducal residence at Stettin, but must pull it down and build
+another in the forest, not far from Stargard, with churches,
+towers, stables, and all kinds of buildings; and this new
+residence he called after his own name, Friedrichswald.
+
+_Item_, my gracious lord had many princely visitors, who
+would come with a train of six hundred horses or more; and his
+princely spouse, the Duchess Erdmuth, was a lady of munificent
+spirit, and flung away gold by handfuls; so that in a short time
+his Highness had run through all his forefathers' savings, and his
+incoming revenue was greatly diminished by the large annuity which
+he had to pay to old Duke Barnim.
+
+Therefore he summoned the states, and requested them to assist him
+with more money; but they gave answer that his Highness wanted
+prudence; he ought to tie his purse tighter. Why did he build that
+new castle of Friedrichswald? Was it ever heard in Pomerania that
+a prince needed two state residences? But his Highness never
+entered the treasury to look after the expenditure of the
+duchy--he did nothing but banquet, hunt, fish, and build. The
+states, therefore, had no gold for such extravagances.
+
+When his Highness had received this same answer two or three times
+from the states, he waxed wroth, and threatened to pronounce the
+_interdictum seculars_ over his poor land, and finally close
+the royal treasury and all the courts of justice, until the states
+would give him money.
+
+Now the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who had quitted Wolgast to
+enter the service of his Grace, was so shocked at these
+proceedings, that he killed himself out of pure grief and shame.
+He was an upright, excellent man, this old Zitsewitz, though
+perchance, like old Duke Barnim, he loved the maidens and a lusty
+Pomeranian draught rather too well. And he foretold all the evil
+that would result from this same interdict; but his Highness
+resisted his entreaties; and when the old man found his warnings
+unheeded and despised, he stabbed himself, as I have said, there
+in the treasury, before his master's eyes, out of grief and shame.
+
+The misery which he prophesied soon fell upon the land; for it was
+just at that time that the great house of Loitz failed in Stettin,
+leaving debts to the amount of twenty tons of gold, it was said;
+by reason of which many thousand men, widows, and orphans, were
+utterly beggared, and great distress brought upon all ranks of the
+people. Such universal grief and lamentation never had been known
+in all Pomerania, as I have heard my father tell, of blessed
+memory; and as the princely treasury was closed, as also all the
+courts of justice, and no redress could be obtained, many
+misguided and ruined men resolved to revenge themselves; and this
+was now a welcome hearing to Johann Appelmann.
+
+For having given up all hope of the post of equerry, he made
+acquaintance with these disaffected persons, amongst whom was a
+miller, one Philip Konneman by name, a notorious knave. With this
+Konneman he sits down one evening in the inn to drink Rostock
+beer, begins to curse and abuse the reigning family, who had
+ruined and beggared the people even more than Hans Loitz. They
+ought to combine together and right themselves. Where was the
+crime? Their cause was good; and where there were no judges in the
+land, complaints would do little good. He would be their captain.
+Let him speak to the others about it, and see would they consent.
+He knew of many churches where there were jewels and other
+valuables still remaining. Also in Stargard, where his dear father
+played the burgomaster, there was much gold.
+
+So they fixed a night when they should all meet at Lastadie,
+[Footnote: A suburb of Stettin.] near the ducal fish-house; and
+Johann then goes to Sidonia to wheedle her out of the gold chain,
+for handsel for the robbers.
+
+"Now," he said, "the good old times were come back in Pomerania,
+when every one trusted to his own good sword, and were not led
+like sheep at the beck of another; for the treasury and all the
+courts of justice were closed. So the glorious times of
+knight-errantry must come again, such as their forefathers had
+seen." His companions had promised to elect him captain; but then
+he must give them handsel for that, and the gold chain would just
+sell for the sum he wanted. What use was it to her? If she gave
+it, then he would take her with him, and the first rich prize they
+got he would marry her certainly, and settle down in Poland
+afterwards, or wherever else she wished. That would be a glorious
+life, and she would never regret the young Duke. And had not all
+the nobles in old time led the same life, and so gained their
+castles and lands?
+
+But Sidonia began to weep. "Let him do what he would, she would
+never give the chain; and if he beat her, she would scream for
+help through the streets, and betray all his plans to the
+authorities. Now she saw plainly how she had been deceived. He had
+talked her out of all her gold, and now wanted to bring her to the
+gallows at last. No, never should he get the chain--it was all she
+had left; and she had determined at last to go and live quietly at
+her farm in Zachow, as soon as she could obtain a vehicle from
+Regenswald to Labes."
+
+When Johann heard this, he was terribly alarmed, and kissed her
+little hands, and coaxed and flattered her--"Why did she weep?
+There were plenty of herons' feathers now in the garden behind St.
+Mary's, for the birds were moulting. She could easily get some of
+them, and they were worth three times as much as the gold chain.
+Did she think it a crime to take a few feathers from that old
+sinner, Duke Barnim, or his girls? And if she really wished to
+leave him, she could sell the feathers even better in Dresden than
+here."
+
+It was all in vain. Sidonia continued weeping--"Let him talk as he
+liked, she would never give the chain. He was a knave through and
+through. Woe to her that she had ever listened to him! He was the
+cause of all her misery!" and so she went on.
+
+But the cunning fox would not give up his prey so easily. He now
+tried the same trick which he had played so successfully at
+Wolgast upon old Ulrich, and at Stargard upon his father; in
+short, he played the penitent, and began to weep and lament over
+his errors, and all the misery he had caused her. "It was, indeed,
+true that he was to blame for all; but if she would only forgive
+him, and say she pardoned him, he would devote his life to her,
+and revenge her upon all her enemies. The moment for doing so was
+nigh at hand; for the young lord, Prince Ernest, who had so
+shamefully abandoned her, was coming here to Stettin with his
+young bride, the Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, to spend the
+honeymoon, and would he not take good care to waylay them on their
+journey to Wolgast, and give them something to think of for the
+rest of their lives?"
+
+When Sidonia heard these tidings, her eyes flashed like a cat's in
+the dark. "Who told him that? She would not believe it, unless
+some one else confirmed the story."
+
+So he answered--"That any one could confirm it, for the whole
+castle was filled with workmen making preparations for their
+reception; the bridal chamber had been hung with new tapestry, and
+painters and carvers were busy all day long painting and carving
+the united arms of Pomerania and Brunswick upon all the furniture
+and glass."
+
+_Illa_.--"Well, she would go into the town to inquire, and if
+his tale were true, and that he swore to marry her, he should have
+the chain."
+
+_Ille_.--"There was a carver going by with his basket and
+tools--let her call him in, and hear what he said on the matter."
+
+So my cunning fellow called out to the workman, who stepped in
+presently with his basket, and assured the lady politely, that in
+fourteen days the young Duke of Wolgast and his princely bride
+were to arrive at the castle, for the Court Marshal had told him
+this himself, and given him orders to have a large number of
+glasses cut with their united arms ready with all diligence.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, and saw the glasses in his basket, she
+handed the golden chain to Johann, and the carver went his way.
+Then the aforesaid rogue fell down on his knees, swearing to marry
+her, and never to leave her more, for she had now given him all;
+and if this, too, were lost, she must beg her way to Zachow.
+
+So the gallows-bird went off with the chain, turned it into money,
+drank and caroused, and with the remainder set off for Lastadie,
+to meet the ringleaders, near the ducal fishhouse, as agreed upon.
+
+But Master Konneman had only been able to gather ten fellows
+together; the others held back, though they had talked so boldly
+at first, thinking, no doubt, that when the courts of justice were
+reopened, they would all be brought to the gallows.
+
+So Johann thought the number too small for his purposes, and
+agreed with the others to send an envoy to the robber-band of the
+Stargard Wood, proposing a league between them, and offering
+himself (Johann Appelmann, a knight of excellent family and
+endowments) as their captain. Should they consent, the said Johann
+would give them right good handsel; and on the appointed day, meet
+them in the forest, with his illustrious and noble bride; and as a
+sign whereby they should know him, he would whistle three times
+loudly when he approached the wood.
+
+Konneman undertook to be the bearer of the message, and returned
+in a few days, declaring that the robbers had received the
+proposal with joy. He found them encamped under a large nut-tree
+in the forest, roasting a sheep upon a spear, at a large fire. So
+they made him sit down and eat with them, and told him it was a
+right jolly life, with no ruler but the great God above them.
+Better to live under the free heaven than die in their squalid
+cabins. The band was strong, besides many who had joined lately,
+since the bankruptcy of Hans Loitz, and there were some gipsies
+too, amongst whom was an old hag who told fortunes, and had lately
+prophesied to the band that a great prize was in store for them;
+they had just returned with some booty from the little town of
+Damm, where they had committed a robbery. One of their party,
+however, had been taken there.
+
+When Johann heard the good result of his message, he summoned all
+his followers to another meeting at the ducal fish-house, gave
+them each money, and swore them to fidelity; then bid them
+disperse, and slip singly to the band, to avoid observation, and
+he would himself meet them in the forest next day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure, at Alten Damm--Item,
+of their reception by the robber-band._
+
+
+Now Johann Appelmann had a grudge against the newly appointed
+equerry to his Highness, for the man had swilled his claret, and
+been foremost in his promises, and yet now had stepped into the
+place himself, and left Johann in the lurch. The knave, therefore,
+determined on revenge; so invented a story, how that his father,
+old Appelmann, had sent for him to give him half of all he was
+worth, and as he must journey to Stargard directly, he prayed his
+friend the equerry to lend him a couple of horses and a waggon out
+of the ducal stables, with harness and all that would be
+necessary, swearing that when he brought them back he would give
+him and his other friends such a carouse at the inn, as they had
+never yet had in their lives.
+
+And when the other asked, would not one horse be sufficient,
+Johann replied no, that he required the waggon for his luggage,
+and two horses would be necessary to draw it. _Summa_, the
+fool gives him two beautiful Andalusian stallions, with harness
+and saddles; _item_, a waggon, whereon my knave mounted next
+morning early, with Sidonia and her luggage, and took the miller,
+Konneman, with him as driver.
+
+But as they passed through Alten Damm, a strange adventure
+happened, whereby the all-merciful God, no doubt, wished to turn
+them from their evil way; but they flung His warnings to the wind.
+
+For the carl was going to be executed who belonged to the
+robber-band, that had committed a burglary there, in the town,
+some days previously. However, the gallows having been blown down
+by a storm, the linen-weavers, according to old usage, came to
+erect another. This angered the millers, who also began to erect
+one of their own, declaring that the weavers had only a right to
+supply the ladder, but they were to erect the gallows. A great
+fight now arose between weavers and millers, while the poor thief
+stood by with his hands tied behind his back, and arrayed in his
+winding-sheet. But the sheriffs, and whatever other honourable
+citizens were by, having in vain endeavoured to appease the
+quarrel, returned to the inn, to take the advice of the honourable
+council.
+
+Just at this moment Johann and Sidonia drove into the middle of
+the crowd, and the former leaped off and laughed heartily, for a
+miller had thrown down a poor lean weaver close behind the
+criminal, and was belabouring him stoutly with his floured fists,
+whilst the poor wretch screamed loudly for succour or assistance
+to the criminal, who answered in his _Platt Deutsch_, "I
+cannot help thee, friend, for, see, my hands are bound." Upon
+this, Johann draws his knife from his girdle, and slipping behind
+the felon, cuts the ropes binding him.
+
+He straightway, finding himself free, jumped upon the miller, and
+turned the flour all red upon his face with his heavy blows. Then
+he ran towards the waggon, but the guardsman caught hold of him by
+the shoulder, so the poor wretch left the winding-sheet in his
+hand, and jumping, naked as he was, on the back of one of the
+horses, set off, at top speed, to the forest, with Sidonia
+screaming and roaring fleeing with him.
+
+Millers and weavers now left off their wrangling, and joined
+together in pursuit, but in vain; the fellow soon distanced them
+all, and was lost to sight in the wood.
+
+When he had driven the waggon a good space, and still hearing the
+roaring of the people in pursuit, he stopped the horses, and
+jumped off, to take to his heels amongst the trees. Whereupon
+Konneman threw him a horse-cloth from the waggon, bidding him
+cover himself with it; so the carl snapped it up, and rolled it
+about his body with all alacrity. Now this horse-cloth was
+embroidered with the Pomeranian arms, and the poor Adam looked so
+absurd running away in such a garment, that Sidonia,
+notwithstanding all her fright, could not help bursting into a
+loud mocking laughter.
+
+Whereupon the crowd came up, cursing, swearing, and cursing, that
+the thief had escaped them; Johann Appelmann, who was amongst
+them, and was just in the act of stepping up to the waggon, when
+Prince Johann Frederick and a company of carbineers galloped up
+along with the chief equerry and a large retinue, all on their way
+to Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke stopped to hear the cause of the tumult, and when they
+told him, he laughingly said, he would soon return with the
+gallows-knaves; then, turning to Appelmann, he asked who he was,
+and what brought him there?
+
+When Johann gave his name, and said he was going to Stargard, his
+Grace exclaimed, with surprise--
+
+"So thou art the knave of whom I have heard so much; and this woman
+here, I suppose, is Sidonia? Pity of her. She is a handsome wench,
+I see."
+
+Then, as Sidonia blushed and looked down, he continued--
+
+"And where did the fellow get these fine horses? Would he sell
+them?"
+
+Now Appelmann had a great mind to tell the truth, and say he got
+them from the equerry, who was already turning white with pure
+fear; but recollecting that he might come in for some of the
+punishment himself, besides hoping to play a second trick upon his
+Highness, he answered, that his father at Stargard had made them a
+present to him.
+
+The Duke, now turning to his equerry, asked him--
+
+"Would not these horses match his Andalusian stallions perfectly?"
+
+And as the other tremblingly answered, "Yes, perfectly," his Grace
+demanded if the knave would sell them.
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh yes; to gratify his Serene Highness the Duke, he
+would sell the horses for 3000 florins."
+
+"Let it be so," said the Duke; "but I must owe thee the money,
+fellow."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then he would not make the bargain, for he wanted
+the money directly to take him to Stargard."
+
+So the Duke frowned that he would not trust his own Prince; and as
+Appelmann attempted to move off with the waggon, his Highness took
+his plumed cap from his head, and cutting off the diamond agrafe
+with his dagger, flung it to him, exclaiming--
+
+"Stay! take these jewels, they are worth 1300 florins, but leave
+me the horses."
+
+Now the chief equerry nearly fell from his horse with shame as the
+knave picked up the agrafe, and shoved it into his pocket, then
+humbly addressing his Highness, prayed for permission just to
+leave the maiden and her luggage in Stargard, and then he would
+return instantly with both horses, and bring them himself to his
+gracious Highness at Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke having consented, the knave sprang up upon the waggon,
+and turning off to another road, drove away as hard as he could
+from the scene of this perilous adventure. After some time he
+whistled, but receiving no response, kept driving through the
+forest until evening, when a loud, shrill whistle at last replied
+to his, and on reaching a cross-road, he found the whole band
+dancing with great merriment round a large sign-board which had
+been stuck up there by the authorities, and on which was painted a
+gipsy lying under the gallows, while the executioner stood over
+him in the act of applying the torture, and beneath ran the
+inscription--
+
+  "Gipsy! from Pomerania flee,
+  Or thus it shall be done to thee."
+
+These words the robber crew had set to some sort of rude melody,
+and now sang it and danced to it round the sign, the fellow with
+the horse-cloth in the midst of them, the merriest of them all.
+
+The moment they got a glimpse of their captain, men, women, and
+children ran off like mad to the waggon, clapping their hands and
+shouting, "Huzzah! huzzah! what a noble captain! Had he brought
+them anything to drink?" And when he said "Yes," and handed out
+three barrels of wine, there was no end to the jubilee of
+cheering. Then he must give them handsel, and after that they
+would make a large fire and swear fealty to him round it, as was
+the manner of the gipsies, for the band was mostly composed of
+gipsies, and numbered about fifty men altogether.
+
+_Summa_.--A great fire was kindled, round which they all took
+the oath of obedience to their captain, and he swore fidelity to
+them in return. Then a couple of deer were roasted; and after they
+had eaten and drunk, the singing and dancing round the great
+sign-board was resumed, until the broad daylight glanced through
+the trees.
+
+People may see from this to what a pitch of lawlessness and
+disorder the land came under the reign of Duke Johann. For,
+methinks, these robbers would never have dared to make such a mock
+of the authorities, only that my Lord Duke had shut up all the
+courts of justice in the kingdom.
+
+During their jollity, our knave Appelmann cast his eyes upon a
+gipsy maiden, called the handsome Sioli; a tall, dark-eyed wench,
+but with scarcely a rag to cover her. Therefore he bade Sidonia
+run to her luggage, and take out one of her own best robes for the
+girl; but Sidonia turned away in great wrath, exclaiming--
+
+"This was the way he kept his promise to her. She had given him
+all, and followed him even hither, and yet he cared more for a
+ragged gipsy girl than for her. But she would go away that very
+night, anywhere her steps might lead her, if only away from her
+present misery. Let him give her the Duke's diamonds, and she
+would leave him all the herons' feathers, and never come near him
+any more."
+
+But my knave only laughed, and bid her come take the diamonds if
+she wanted them, they were in his bosom. Then the gipsy girl and
+her mother, old Ussel, began to mock the fine lady. So Sidonia sat
+there weeping and wringing her hands, while Johann laughed,
+danced, drank, and kissed the gipsy wench, and finally threatened
+to go and take a robe himself out of the luggage, if Sidonia did
+not run for one instantly.
+
+However, she would not stir; so Konnemann, the miller, took pity
+on her, and would have remonstrated, but Johann cut him short,
+saying--
+
+"What the devil did he mean? Was he not the captain? and why
+should Konnemann dare to interfere with him?"
+
+Then he strode over to the waggon to plunder Sidonia's baggage,
+which, when she observed, her heart seemed to break, and she
+kneeled down, lifted up her hands, and prayed thus:--
+
+"Merciful Creator, I know Thee not, for my hard and unnatural
+father never brought me to Thee; therefore on his head be my sins.
+But if Thou hast pity on the young ravens, who likewise know Thee
+not, have pity upon me, and help me to leave this robber den with
+Thy gracious help."
+
+Here such a shout of laughter resounded from all sides, that she
+sprang up, and seizing the best bundle in the waggon, plunged into
+the wood, with loud cries and lamentation; whilst Appelmann only
+said--
+
+"Never heed her, let her do as she pleases; she will be back again
+soon enough, I warrant."
+
+Accordingly, scarcely an hour had elapsed, when the unhappy maiden
+appeared again, to the great amusement of the whole band, who
+mocked her yet more than before. She came back crying and
+lamenting--
+
+"She could go no further, for the wolves followed her, and howled
+round her on all sides. Ah! that she were a stone, and buried
+fathoms deep in the earth! That shameless knave, Appelmann, might
+indeed have pitied her, if he hoped for pity from God; but had he
+not taken her robe to put it on the gipsy beggar? She nearly died
+of shame at the sight. But she would never forgive the beggar's
+brat to the day of judgment for it. All she wanted now was some
+good Christian to guide her out of the wild forest. Would no one
+come with her? that was all she asked."
+
+And so she went on crying, and lamenting in the deepest grief.
+
+_Summa_.--When the knave heard all this, his heart seemed to
+relent; perhaps he dreaded the anger of her relations if she were
+treated too badly, or, mayhap, it was compassion, I cannot say;
+but he sprang up, kissed her, caressed her, and consoled her.
+
+"Why should she leave them? He would remain faithful and constant
+to her, as he had sworn. Why should the gown for the beggar-girl
+anger her? When they get the herons' feathers on the morrow, he
+would buy her ten new gowns for the one he had taken." And so he
+continued in his old deceiving way, till she at last believed him,
+and was comforted.
+
+Here the roll of a carriage was heard, and as many of the band as
+were not quite drunk seized their muskets and pikes, and rushed in
+the direction of the sound. But behold, the waggon and horses,
+with all Sidonia's luggage, was off! For, in truth, the equerry,
+seeing Johann's treachery, had secretly followed him, hiding
+himself in the bushes till it grew dark, but near enough to
+observe all that was going on; then, watching his opportunity, and
+knowing the robbers were all more or less drunk, he sprang upon
+the waggon, and galloped away as hard as he could. Johann gave
+chase for a little, but the equerry had got too good a start to be
+overtaken; and so Johann returned, cursing and raging, to the
+band. Then they all gathered round the fire again, and drank and
+caroused till morning dawned, when each sought out a good
+sleeping-place amongst the bushwood. There they lay till morn,
+when Johann summoned them to prepare for their excursion to the
+Duke's gardens at Zachan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son._
+
+
+After Duke Barnim the elder had resigned the government, he betook
+himself more than ever to field-sports; and amongst others,
+hawking became one of his most favourite pursuits. By this sport,
+he stocked his gardens at Zachan with an enormous number of
+herons, and made a considerable sum annually by the sale of the
+feathers. These gardens at Zachan covered an immense space, and
+were walled round. Within were many thousand herons' nests; and
+all the birds taken by the falcons were brought here, and their
+wings clipped. Then the keepers fed them with fish, frogs, and
+lizards, so that they became quite tame, and when their wings grew
+again, never attempted to leave the gardens, but diligently built
+their nests and reared their young. Now, though it cost a great
+sum to keep these gardens in order, and support all the people
+necessary to look after the birds, yet the Duke thought little of
+the expense, considering the vast sum which the feathers brought
+him at the moulting season.
+
+Accordingly, during the moulting time, he generally took up his
+abode at a castle adjoining the gardens, called "The Stone
+Rampart," to inspect the gathering in of the feathers himself; and
+he was just on his journey thither with his falconers, hunters,
+and other retainers, when the robber-band caught sight of him from
+the wood. His Highness was seated in an open carriage, with Trina
+Wehlers, the baker's daughter, by his side; and Sidonia, who
+recognised her enemy, instantly entreated Johann to revenge her on
+the girl if possible; but, as he hesitated, the old gipsy mother
+stepped forward and whispered Sidonia, "that she would help her to
+a revenge, if she but gave her that little golden smelling-bottle
+which she wore suspended by a gold chain on her neck." Sidonia
+agreed, and the revenge soon followed; for the Duke left the
+carriage, and mounted a horse to follow the chase, the falconer
+having unloosed a couple of hawks and let them fly at a heron.
+Trina remained in the coach; but the coachman, wishing to see the
+sport, tied his horses to a tree, and ran off, too, after the
+others into the wood. The hawk soared high above the heron,
+watching its opportunity to pounce upon the quarry; but the heron,
+just as it swooped down upon it, drove its sharp bill through the
+body of the hawk, and down they both came together covered with
+blood, right between the two carriage horses.
+
+No doubt this was all done through the magic of the gipsy mother;
+for the horses took fright instantly, plunged and reared, and
+dashed off with the carriage, which was over-turned some yards
+from the spot, and the baker's daughter had her leg broken.
+Hearing her screams, the Duke and the whole party ran to the spot;
+and his Highness first scolded the coachman for leaving his
+horses, then the falconer for having let fly his best falcon,
+which now lay there quite dead. The heron, however, was alive, and
+his Grace ordered it to be bound and carried off to Zachan. The
+baker's daughter prayed, but in vain, that the coachman might be
+hung upon the next tree. Then they all set off homeward, but Trina
+screamed so loudly, that his Grace stopped, and ordered a couple
+of stout huntsmen to carry her to the neighbouring convent of
+Marienfliess, where, as I am credibly informed, in a short time
+she gave up the ghost.
+
+Now, the robber-band were watching all these proceedings from the
+wood, but kept as still as mice. Not until his Grace had driven
+off a good space, and the baker's daughter had been carried away,
+did they venture to speak or move; then Sidonia jumped up,
+clapping her hands in ecstasy, and mimicking the groans and
+contortions of the poor girl, to the great amusement of the band,
+who laughed loudly; but Johann recalled them to business, and
+proposed that they should secretly follow his Highness, and hide
+themselves at Elsbruck, near the water-mill of Zachan, until the
+evening closed in. In order also to be quite certain of the place
+where his Grace had laid up all the herons' feathers of that
+season, Johann proposed that the miller, Konnemann, should visit
+his Grace at Zachan, giving out that he was a feather merchant
+from Berlin. Accordingly, when they reached Elsbruck, the miller
+put on my knave's best doublet (for he was almost naked before),
+and proceeded to the Stone Rampart, Sidonia bidding him, over and
+over again, to inquire at the castle when the young Lord of
+Wolgast and his bride were expected at Stettin. The Duke received
+Konnemann very graciously, when he found that he was a wealthy
+feather merchant from Berlin, who, having heard of the number and
+extent of his Grace's gardens at Zachan, had come to purchase all
+the last year's gathering of feathers. Would his Highness allow
+him to see the feathers?
+
+_Summa_.--He had his wish; for his Grace brought him into a
+little room on the ground-floor, where lay two sacks full of the
+most perfect and beautiful feathers; and when the Duke demanded a
+thousand florins for them, the knave replied, "That he would
+willingly have the feathers, but must take the night to think over
+the price." Then he took good note of the room, and the garden,
+and all the passages of the castle, and so came back in the
+twilight to the band with great joy, assuring them that nothing
+would be easier than to rob the old turner's apprentice of his
+feathers.
+
+Such, indeed, was the truth; for at midnight my knave Johann, with
+Konnemann and a few chosen accomplices, carried away those two
+sacks of feathers; and no one knew a word about the robbery until
+the next morning, when the band were far off in the forest, no one
+knew where. But a quarrel had arisen between my knave and Sidonia
+over the feathers: she wanted them for herself, that she might
+turn them into money, and so be enabled to get back to her own
+people; but Johann had no idea of employing his booty in this way.
+"What was she thinking of? If those fine stallions, indeed, had
+not been stolen from him, he might have given her the feathers;
+but now there was nothing else left wherewith to pay the band--she
+must wait for another good prize. Meantime they must settle
+accounts with the young Lord of Wolgast, who, as Konnemann had
+found out, was expected at Stettin in seven days."
+
+Now, the daring robbery at Zachan was the talk of the whole
+country, and as the old burgomaster, Appelmann, had heard at
+Friedrichswald about the horses and waggon, and his son's shameful
+knavery, he could think of nothing else but that the same rascal
+had stolen the Duke's feathers at So he took some faithful
+burghers with him, and set off for the forest, to try and find his
+lost son. At last, after many wanderings, a peasant, who was
+cutting wood, told them that he had seen the robber-band encamped
+in a thick wood near Rehewinkel; [Footnote: Two miles and a half
+from Stargard, and the present dwelling-place of the editor.] and
+when the miserable father and his burghers arrived at the place,
+there indeed was the robber-band stretched upon the long grass,
+and Sidonia seated upon the stump of a tree--for she must play the
+lute, while Johann, his godless son, was plaiting the long black
+hair of the handsome Sioli.
+
+Methinks the knave must have felt somewhat startled when his
+father sprang from behind an oak, a dagger in his hand, exclaiming
+loudly, "Johann, Johann, thou lost, abandoned son! is it thus I
+find thee?"
+
+The knave turned as white as a corpse upon the gallows, and his
+hands seemed to freeze upon the fair Sioli's hair; but the band
+jumped up and seized their arms, shouting, "Seize him! seize him!"
+The old man, however, cared little for their shouts; and still
+gazing on his son, cried out, "Dost thou not answer me, thou
+God-forgetting knave? Thou hast deceived and robbed thy own
+Prince. Answer me--who amongst all these is fitter for the gallows
+than thou art?"
+
+So my knave at last came to his senses, and answered sullenly,
+"What did he want here? He had done nothing for him. He must earn
+his own bread."
+
+_Ille_.--"God forgive thee thy sins; did I not take thee back
+as my son, and strive to correct thee as a true and loving father?
+Why didst thou run away from my house and the writing-office?"
+
+_Hic._--"He was born for something else than to lead the life
+of a dog."
+
+_Ille_.--"He had never made him live any such life; and even
+if he had, better live like a dog than as a robber wolf."
+
+_Hic_.--"He was no robber. Who had belied him so? He and his
+friends were on their way to Poland to join the army."
+
+_Ille_.--"Wherefore, then, had he tricked his Highness of
+Stettin out of the horses?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was only a revenge upon the equerry, to pay him
+back in his own coin, for he was his enemy, and had broken faith
+with him."
+
+_Ille_.--"But he had robbed his Grace Duke Barnim, likewise,
+of the herons' feathers. No one else had done it."
+
+_Hic_.--"Who dared to say so? He was insulted and belied by
+every one." Then he cursed and swore that he knew nothing whatever
+of these herons' feathers which he was making such a fuss about.
+
+Meanwhile the band stood round with cocked muskets, and as the
+burghers now pressed forward, to save their leader, if any
+violence were offered, Konnemann called out, "Give the word,
+master--shall I shoot down the churl?"
+
+Here Johann's conscience was moved a little, and he shouted,
+"Back! back!--he is my father!"
+
+But the old gipsy mother sprang forward with a knife, crying, "Thy
+father, fool?--what care we for thy father? Let me at him, and
+I'll soon settle thy father with my knife."
+
+When the unfortunate son heard and saw this, he seized a heavy
+stick that lay near him, and gave the gipsy such a blow on the
+crown, that she rolled, screaming, on the ground. Whereupon the
+whole band raised a wild yell, and rushed upon the burgomaster.
+
+Then Johann cried, almost with anguish, "Back! back! he is my
+father! Do ye not remember your oaths to me? Spare my father!
+Wait, at least; he has something of importance to tell me."
+
+And at last, though with difficulty, he succeeded in calming these
+children of Belial. Then drawing his father aside, under the shade
+of a great oak, he began--"Dearest father mine, it was fear of
+you, and despair of the future, that drove me to this work; but if
+you will now give me three hundred florins, I will go forth into
+the wide world, and take honourable service, wherever it is to be
+had, during the wars."
+
+_Ille_.--"Had he yet married that unfortunate Sidonia, who he
+observed, to his surprise, was still with him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; he could never marry the harlot now, for she had
+run away from old Duke Barnim, and followed him here to the
+forest."
+
+_Ille_.--"What would become of her, then, when he joined the
+army?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was her look-out. Let her go to her farm at
+Zachow."
+
+Hereupon the old man held his peace, and rested his arm against
+the oak, and his grey head upon his arm, and looked down long upon
+the grass without uttering a word; then he sighed deeply, and
+looking up, thus addressed Johann:--
+
+"My son, I will trust thee yet again; but it shall be the last
+time; therefore take heed to what I say. Between Stargard and
+Pegelow there stands an old thorn upon the highway; there,
+to-morrow evening, by seven of the clock, my servant Caspar, whom
+thou knowest, shall bring thee three hundred florins; but on this
+one condition, that thou dost now swear solemnly to abandon this
+villainous robber-band, and seek an honourable living far away, in
+some other country, where thou must pray daily to God the Lord, to
+turn thee from thy evil ways, and help thee by His grace."
+
+So the knave knelt down before his father, wept, and prayed for
+his father's forgiveness; then swore solemnly to abandon his
+sinful life, and with God's help to perform all that his father
+had enjoined. "And would he not give his last farewell to his
+dear, darling mother?" "Thy mother!--ah, thy mother!" sighed the
+old man; "but rise, now, and let me and mine homewards. God grant
+that my eyes have beheld thee for the last time. Come, I will take
+this Sidonia back with me."
+
+So they forthwith joined the robber crew again, who were still
+making a great uproar, which, however, Johann appeased, and after
+some time obtained a free passage for his father and the burghers;
+but Sidonia would not accompany them. The upright old burgomaster
+admonished first, then he promised to drive her with his own
+horses to her farm at Zachow; but his words were all in vain, for
+the knave privately gave her a look, and whispered something in
+her ear, but no one knew what it was.
+
+Nor did the old man omit to admonish the whole band likewise,
+telling them that if they did not now look up to the high God,
+they would one day look down from the high gallows, for all
+thieves and robbers came to dance in the wind at last: ten hung in
+Stargard, and he had seen twenty at Stettin, and not even the
+smallest town had its gallows empty. Hereat Konnemann cried out,
+"Ho! ho! who will hang us now? We know well the courts of justice
+are closed in all places." And as the old man sighed, and prepared
+to answer him, the whole band set up such a shout of laughter that
+he stood silent a space; then turning round, trod slowly out of
+the thick wood with all his burghers, and was soon lost to view.
+
+The next evening Johann received the three hundred florins at the
+thorn-bush, along with a letter from his father, admonishing him
+yet again, and conjuring him to fulfil his promise speedily of
+abandoning his wicked life. Upon which, my knave gave some of the
+money to a peasant that he met on the highway, and bid him go into
+the town, purchase some wine and all sorts of eatables, and fetch
+them to the band in the wood, that they might have a merry carouse
+that same night. This very peasant had been one of their
+accomplices, and great was his joy when he beheld them all again,
+and, in particular, the gipsy mother. He told her that all her
+prophecy had come out true, for his daughter had been deserted,
+and her lover had taken Stina Krugers to wife; could she not,
+therefore, give him something that would make Stina childless, and
+cause her husband to hate her?
+
+"Ay, if he crossed her hand with silver."
+
+This the peasant did. Whereupon she gave him a padlock, and
+whispered some words in his ear.
+
+When Sidonia heard that the man could be brought to hate his wife
+by some means, her eyes flashed wildly, and she called the
+horrible old gipsy mother aside, and asked her to tell her the
+charm.
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but what would she give her? She had two
+pretty golden rings on her finger; let her give them, and she
+should have the secret."
+
+_Haec_.--"She would give one ring now, and the other if the
+charm succeeded. The peasant had only given her a few groschen."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but she had only given him half the charm."
+
+_Haec_.--"Was it anything to eat or drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; there was no eating or drinking: the charm did
+it all."
+
+_Haec_.--"Then let her teach it to her, and if it succeeded by
+the young Lord of Wolgast, she would have both rings; if not, but
+one."
+
+_Illa_.--"It would succeed without doubt; if his young wife
+had no promise of offspring as yet, she would remain childless for
+ever."
+
+_Summa_.--The old gipsy taught her the charm, the same with
+which she afterward bewitched the whole princely Pomeranian race,
+so that they perished childless from off the face of the earth;
+[Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"O ter quaterque
+detestabilem! Et ego testis adfui tametsi in actis de industria
+hand notatis. (Oh, thrice accursed! And I, too, was present at
+this confession, although I am not mentioned in the protocol.)"]
+and this charm Sidonia confessed upon the rack afterwards, in the
+Great Hall of Oderburg, July 28, A.D. 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue._
+
+
+The young Lord of Wolgast and his young bride, the Princess Sophia
+Hedwig, arrived in due time at the court of Stettin, on a visit to
+their illustrious brother, Duke Johann Frederick. During the ten
+days of their stay, there was no end to the banquetings, huntings,
+fishings, and revellings of all kinds, to do honour to their
+presence.
+
+The young lord has quite recovered from his long and strange
+illness. But the young bride complains a little. Whereupon my Lord
+of Stettin jests with her, and the courtiers make merry, so that
+the young bride blushes and entreats her husband to take her away
+from this impudent court of Stettin, and take her home to his
+illustrious mother at Wolgast.
+
+Prince Ernest consents, but as the wind is contrary, he arranges
+to make the journey with a couple of carriages through the
+Uckermann forest, not waiting for the grand escort of cavaliers
+and citizens which his lady mother had promised to send to
+Stettin, to convey the bride with all becoming honour to her own
+future residence at Wolgast.
+
+His brother reminded him of the great danger from the robber-band
+in the wood, now that the courts of justice were closed, and that
+Sidonia and Johann were hovering in the vicinity, ready for any
+iniquity. Indeed, he trusted the states would soon be brought to
+reason by the dreadful condition of the country, and give him the
+gold he wanted. These robbers would do more for him than he could
+do for himself. And this was not the only band that was to be
+feared; for, since the fatal bankruptcy of the Loitz family,
+robbers, and partisans, and freebooters had sprung up in every
+corner of the land. Then he related the trick concerning his two
+Andalusian stallions. And Duke Barnim the elder told him of his
+loss at Zachan, and that no one else but the knave Appelmann had
+been at the bottom of it. So, at last, Prince Ernest half resolved
+to await the escort from Wolgast. However, the old Duke continued
+jesting with the bride, after his manner, so that the young
+Princess was blushing with shame every moment, and finally
+entreated her husband to set off at once.
+
+When his Grace of Stettin found he could prevail nothing, he bade
+them a kind farewell, promising in eight days to visit them at
+Wolgast, for the wedding festivities; and he sent stout Dinnies
+Kleist, with six companions, to escort them through the most
+dangerous part of the forest, which was a tract extending for
+about seven miles.
+
+Now, when they were half-way through the forest, a terrible storm
+came on of hail, rain, thunder, and lightning; and though the
+Prince and his bride were safe enough in the carriage, yet their
+escort were drenched to the skin, and dripped like rivulets. The
+princely pair therefore entreated them to return to Falkenwald,
+and dry their clothes, for there was no danger to be apprehended
+now, since they were more than half through the wood, and close to
+the village of Mutzelburg.
+
+So Dinnies and his companions took their leave, and rode off.
+Shortly after the galloping of a horse was heard, and this was
+Marcus Bork; for he was on his way to purchase the lands of
+Crienke, previous to his marriage with Clara von Dewitz, and had a
+heavy sack of gold upon his shoulder, and a servant along with
+him. Having heard at Stettin that the Prince and his young bride
+were on the road, he had followed them, as fast as he could, to
+keep them company.
+
+By this time they had reached Barnim's Cross, and the Prince
+halted to point it out to his bride, and tell her the legend
+concerning it; for the sun now shone forth from the clouds, and
+the storm was over. But he first addressed his faithful Marcus,
+and asked, had he heard tidings lately of his cousin Sidonia? But
+he had heard nothing. He would hear soon enough, I'm thinking.
+
+Then seeing that his good vassal Marcus was thoroughly wet, his
+Grace advised him to put on dry clothes; but he had none with him.
+Whereupon his Grace handed him his own portmanteau out of the
+coach window, and bid him take what he wanted.
+
+Marcus then lifted the money-bag from his shoulder, which his
+Grace drew into the coach through the window--and sprang into the
+wood with the portmanteau, to change his clothes. While the Prince
+tarried for him, he related the story of Barnim's Cross to his
+young wife, thus:--
+
+"You must know, dearest, that my ancestor, Barnim, the second of
+the name, was murdered, out of revenge, in this very spot by one
+of his vassals, named Vidante von Muckerwitze. For this aforesaid
+ancestor had sent him into Poland under some pretence, in order
+the better to accomplish his designs upon the beautiful Mirostava
+of Warborg, Vidante's young wife. But the warder of Vogelsang, a
+village about two miles from here, pleasantly situated on the
+river Haff, and close to which lay the said Vidante's castle,
+discovered the amour, and informed the knight how he was
+dishonoured. His wrath was terrible when the news was brought to
+him, but he spoke no word of the matter until St. John's day in
+the year----"
+
+But here his Grace paused in his story, for he had forgotten the
+year; so he drove on the carriage close up to the cross, where he
+could read the date--"St John's day, A.D. MCCXCII."--and there
+stopped, with the blessed cross of our Lord covering and filling
+up the whole of the coach window.
+
+Ah, well it is said--Prov. xx. 24--"Each man's going is of the
+Lord, what man is there who understandeth his way?"
+
+Now when the Princess had read the date for herself, she asked,
+what had happened to the Duke, his ancestor? To which the Prince
+replied--
+
+"Here, in these very bushes, the jealous knight lay concealed,
+while the Duke was hunting. And here, in this spot, the Duke threw
+himself down upon the grass to rest, for he was weary. And he
+whistled for his retinue, who had been separated from him, when
+the knight sprang from his hiding-place and murdered him where he
+lay. His false wife he reserved for a still more cruel death.
+
+"For he brought a coppersmith from Stettin, and had him make a
+copper coffin for the wretched woman, who was obliged to help him
+in the work. Then he bade her put on her bridal dress, and forced
+her to enter the coffin, where he had her soldered up alive, and
+buried. And the story goes, that when any one walks over the spot,
+the coffin clangs in the earth like a mass-bell, to this very
+day." Meanwhile Marcus had retreated behind a large oak, to dress
+himself in the young Duke's clothes; but the wicked robber crew
+were watching him all the time from the wood, and just as he drew
+the dry shirt over his head, before he had time to put on a single
+other garment, they sprang upon him with loud shouts, Sidonia the
+foremost of all, screaming, "Seize the knave! seize the base spy!
+he is my greatest enemy!" So Marcus rushed back to the coach, just
+as he was, and placing the cross as a shield between him and the
+robbers, cried out loudly to his Highness for a sword.
+
+The Prince would have alighted to assist him, but his young bride
+wound her arms so fast around him, shrieking till the whole wood
+re-echoed, that he was forced to remain inside. Up came the
+robber-band now, and attacked the coach furiously; musket after
+musket was fired at it and the horses, but luckily the rain had
+spoiled the powder, so they threw away their muskets, while
+Sidonia screamed, "Seize the false-hearted liar, who broke his
+marriage promise to me! seize his screaming harlot! drag her from
+the coach! Where is she?--let me see her!--we will cram her into
+the old oak-tree; there she can hold her marriage festival with
+the wild-cats. Give her to me!--give her to me! I will teach her
+what marriage is!" And she sprang wildly forward, while the others
+flung their spears at Marcus. But the blessed cross protected him,
+and the spears stuck in the wood or in the body of the carriage,
+while he hewed away right and left, striking down all that
+approached him, till he stood in a pool of blood, and the white
+shirt on him was turned to red.
+
+As Sidonia rushed to the coach, he wounded her in the hand, upon
+which, with loud curses and imprecations, she ran round to the
+other coach window, calling out, "Come hither, come hither,
+Johann! here is booty, here is the false cat! Come hither, and
+drag her out of the coach window for me!" And now Marcus Bork was
+in despair, for the coachman had run away from fear, and though
+his sword did good service, yet their enemies were gathering thick
+round them. So he bade the Princess, in a low voice, to tear open
+his bag of money, for the love of heaven, with all speed, and
+scatter the gold out of the windows with both hands; for help was
+near, he heard the galloping of a horse; could they gain but a few
+moments, they were saved. Thereupon the Princess rained the gold
+pieces from the window, and the stupid mob instantly left all else
+to fling themselves on the ground for the bright coins, fighting
+with each other as to who should have them. In vain Johann roared,
+"Leave the gold, fools, and seize the birds here in this cage; ye
+can have the gold after." But they never heeded him, though he
+cursed and swore, and struck them right and left with his sword.
+
+But Marcus, meanwhile, had nearly come to a sad end; for the old
+gipsy hag swore she would stab him with her knife, and while the
+poor Marcus was defending himself from a robber who had rushed at
+him with a dagger, she crept along upon the ground, and lifted her
+great knife to plunge into his side.
+
+Just then, like a messenger from God, comes the stout Dinnies
+Kleist, galloping up to the rescue; for after he had ridden a good
+piece upon the homeward road, he stopped his horse to empty the
+water out of his large jack-boots, for there it was plumping up
+and down, and he was still far from Falkenwald. While one of his
+men emptied the boots, another wandered through the wood picking
+the wild strawberries, that blushed there as red as scarlet along
+the ground.
+
+While he was so bent down close to the earth, the shrieks of my
+gracious lady reached his ear, upon which he ran to tell his
+master, who listened likewise; and finding they proceeded from the
+very direction where he had left the bridal pair, he suspected
+that some evil had befallen them. So springing into his saddle, he
+bade his fellows mount with ail speed, and dashed back to the spot
+where they had left the carriage.
+
+Marcus was just now fainting from loss of blood, and his weary
+hand could scarcely hold the sword, while his frame swayed back
+and forward, as if he were near falling to the ground. The gipsy
+hag was close beside him, with her arm extended, ready to plunge
+the knife into his side, when the heavy stroke of a sword came
+down on it, and arm and knife fell together to the ground, and
+Dinnies shouting, "Jodute! Jodute!" swung round his sword a second
+time, and the head of the robber carl fell upon the arm of the
+hag. Then he dashed round on his good horse to the other side of
+the carriage, hewed right and left among the stupid fools who were
+scraping up the gold, while his fellows chased them into the wood,
+so that the alarmed band left all this booty, and ran in every
+direction to hide themselves in the forest. In vain Johann roared,
+and shouted, and swore, and opposed himself single-handed to the
+knight's followers. He received a blow that sent him flying, too,
+after his band, and Sidonia along with him, so that none but the
+dead remained around the carriage.
+
+Thus did the brave Dinnies Kleist and Marcus Bork save the Prince
+and his bride, like true knights as they were; but Marcus is
+faint, and leans for support against the carriage, while before
+him lie three robber carls whom he had slain with his own hand,
+although he fought there only in his shirt; but the blessed cross
+had been his shield. And there, too, lay the gipsy's arm with the
+knife still clutched in the hand, but the hag herself had fled
+away; and round the brave Dinnies was a circle of dead men, seven
+in number, whom he and his followers had killed; and the earth all
+round looked like a ripe strawberry field, it was so red with
+blood.
+
+One can imagine what joy filled the hearts of the princely pair,
+when they found that all their peril was past. They alighted from
+the coach, and when the Princess saw Marcus lying there in a dead
+faint, with his garment all covered with blood, she lamented
+loudly, and tore off her own veil to bind up his wounds, and
+brought wine from the carriage, which she poured herself through
+his lips, like a merciful Samaritan; and when he at last opened
+his eyes, and kissed the little hands of the Princess out of
+gratitude, she rejoiced greatly. And the Prince himself ran to the
+wood for the portmanteau, which they found behind the oak, and
+helped to dress the poor knight, who was so weak that he could not
+raise a finger.
+
+Then they lifted him into the coach, while the Prince comforted
+him, saying, he trusted that he would soon be well again, for he
+would pray daily to the Lord Jesus for him, whose blessed cross
+had been their protection, and that he should have all his gold
+again, and the lands of Crienke in addition. So faithful a vassal
+must never be parted from his Prince, for inasmuch as he hated
+Sidonia, so he loved and praised him. They were like the two
+Judases in Scripture, of whom some one had said, "What one gave to
+the devil, the other brought back to God."
+
+And now he saw the wonderful hand of God in all; for if it had not
+rained, the powder of the robber-band would have been dry, and
+then they were all lost. _Item_, the knight would not have
+stopped to empty his boots, and they never would have heard the
+screams of his dear wife. _Item_, if he had himself not
+forgotten the date, he would never have driven up close to the
+cross, which cross had saved them all, but, in particular, saved
+their dear Marcus, after a miraculous manner. "Look how the
+blessed wood is everywhere pierced with spears, and yet we are all
+living! Therefore let us hope in the Lord, for He is our helper
+and defender!"
+
+Then the Duke turned to the stout Dinnies, and prayed him to enter
+his service, but in vain, for he was sworn vassal to his Highness
+of Stettin. So his Grace took off his golden collar, and put it on
+his neck, and the Princess drew off her diamond ring to give him,
+whereupon her spouse laughed heartily, and asked, Did she think
+the good knight had a finger for her little ring? To which she
+replied, But the brave knight may have a dear wife who could wear
+it for her sake, for he must not go without some token of her
+gratitude.
+
+However, the knight put back the ring himself, saying that he had
+no spouse, and would never have one; therefore the ring was
+useless. So the Princess wonders, and asks why he will have no
+spouse; to which he replied, that he feared the fate of Samson,
+for had not love robbed him of his strength? He, too, might meet a
+Delilah, who would cut off his long hair. Then riding up close to
+the carriage, he removed his plumed hat from his head, and down
+fell his long black hair, that was gathered up under it, over his
+shoulders like a veil, even till it swept the flanks of his horse.
+Would not her Grace think it a grief and sorrow if a woman sheared
+those locks? In such pleasant discourse they reached Mutzelburg,
+where, as the good Marcus was so weak, they resolved to put up for
+the night, and send for a chirurgeon instantly to Uckermund. And
+so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother._
+
+
+When their Highnesses entered the inn at Mutzelburg, they found it
+filled with burghers and peasants out of Uckermund, Pasewalk, and
+other adjacent places, on their way to Stettin, to petition his
+Grace the Duke to open the courts of justice, for thieves and
+robbers had so multiplied throughout the land, that no road was
+safe; and all kinds of witchcraft, and imposture, and devil's work
+were so rife, that the poor people were plagued out of their
+lives, and no redress was to be had, seeing his Grace had closed
+all the courts of justice. Forty burghers had been selected to
+present the petition, and great was the joy to meet now with his
+Grace Prince Ernest, for assuredly he would give them a letter to
+his illustrious brother, and strengthen the prayer of their
+petition. The Prince readily promised to do this, particularly as
+his own life and that of his bride had just been in such sore
+peril, all owing to the obstinacy of his Grace of Stettin in not
+opening the courts.
+
+Meanwhile the leech had visited good Marcus Bork, who was much
+easier after his wounds were dressed, and promised to do well, to
+the great joy of their Graces; and Dinnies Kleist went to the
+stable to see after his horse, there being so many there, in
+consequence of this gathering of envoys, that he feared they might
+fight. Now, as he passed through the kitchen, the knight observed
+a man bargaining with the innkeeper; and he had a kettle before
+him, into which he was cramming sausages, bread, ham, and all
+sorts of eatables. But he would have taken no further heed, only
+that the carl had but one tail to his coat, which made the knight
+at once recognise him as the very fellow whose coat-tail he had
+hewed off in the forest. He sprang on him, therefore; and as the
+man drew his knife, Dinnies seized hold of him and plumped him
+down, head foremost, into a hogshead of water, holding him
+straight up by the feet till he had drunk his fill. So the poor
+wretch began to quiver at last in his death agonies; whereupon the
+knight called out, "Wilt thou confess? or hast thou not drunk
+enough yet?"
+
+"He would confess, if the knight promised him life. His name was
+Konnemann; he had lost his mill and all he was worth, by the Loitz
+bankruptcy, therefore had joined the robber-band, who held their
+meeting in an old cave in the forest, where also they kept their
+booty." On further question, he said it was an old, ruined place,
+with the walls all tumbling down. A man named Muckerwitze had
+lived there once, who buried his wife alive in this cave,
+therefore it had been deserted ever since.
+
+Then the knight asked the innkeeper if he knew of such a place in
+the forest; who said, "Yes." Then he asked if he knew this fellow,
+Konnemann; but the host denied all knowledge of him (though he
+knew him well enough, I think). Upon which Konnemann said, "That
+he merely came to buy provisions for the band, who were hungry,
+and had despatched him to see what he could get, while they
+remained hiding in the cave." The knight having laid these facts
+before their Graces and the envoys, it was agreed that they should
+steal a march upon the robbers next morning, and meanwhile keep
+Konnemann safe under lock and key.
+
+Next morning they set off by break of day, taking Konnemann as
+guide, and surrounded the old ruin, which lay upon a hill buried
+in oak-trees; but not a sound was heard inside. They approached
+nearer--listened at the cave--nothing was to be heard. This
+angered Dinnies Kleist, for he thought the miller had played a
+trick on them, who, however, swore he was innocent; and as the
+knight threatened to give him something fresh to drink in the
+castle well, he offered to light a pine torch and descend into the
+cave. Hardly was he down, however, when they heard him
+screaming--"The robbers have murdered the women--they are all
+lying here stone dead, but not a man is to be seen."
+
+The knight then went down with his good sword drawn. True enough,
+there lay the old hag, her daughter, and Sidonia, all stained with
+blood, and stiff and cold, upon the damp ground. And when the
+knight asked, "Which is Sidonia?" the fellow put the pine torch
+close to her face, which was blue and cold. Then the knight took
+up her little hand, and dropped it again, and shook his head, for
+the said little hand was stiff and cold as that of a corpse.
+
+_Summa_.--As there was nothing further to be done here, the
+knight left the corpses to moulder away in the old cellar, and
+returned with the burghers to Mutzelburg, when his Highness
+wondered much over the strange event; but Marcus rejoiced that his
+wicked cousin was now dead, and could bring no further disgrace
+upon his ancient name.
+
+But was the wicked cousin dead? She had heard every word that had
+been said in the cave; for they had all drunk some broth made by
+the gipsy mother, which can make men seem dead, though they hear
+and see everything around them. Such devil's work is used by
+robbers sometimes in extremity, as some toads have the power of
+seeming dead when people attempt to seize them. It will soon be
+seen what a horrible use Sidonia made of this devil's potion.
+
+Wherefore she tried its effect upon herself now, I know not--I
+have my own thoughts upon the subject--but it is certain that the
+innkeeper, who was a secret friend of the robbers (as most
+innkeepers were in those evil times), had sent a messenger by
+night to warn them of their danger. So, while the band saved
+themselves by hiding in the forest, perhaps the old hag
+recommended this plan for the women, as they had got enough of
+cold steel the day before; or perhaps the robbers wished to have a
+proof of the power of this draught, in case they might want to
+save themselves, some time or other, by appearing dead. Still I
+cannot, with any certainty, assert why they should all three
+choose to simulate death.
+
+Further, just to show the daring of these robber-bands, now that
+his Highness had closed the courts, I shall end this chapter by
+relating what happened at Monkbude, a town through which their
+Highnesses passed that same day, and which, although close to the
+Stettin border, belongs to Wolgast.
+
+It was Sunday, and after the priest had said Amen from the pulpit,
+the sexton rung the kale-bell. This bell was a sign throughout all
+Pomerania land, to the women-folk who were left at home in the
+houses, to prepare dinner; for then, in all the churches, the
+closing hymn began--"Give us, Lord, our daily bread." So the maid,
+at the first stroke of the bell, lifted off the kale-pot from the
+fire, and had the kale dished, with the sausages, and whatever
+else was wanting, by the time that the hymn was over, and father
+and mother had come out of church. Then, whatever poor wretch had
+fasted all the week, and never tasted a morsel of blessed bread,
+if he passed on a Sunday through the town, might get his fill; for
+when the hymn is sung, "Give us, Lord, our daily bread," the doors
+lie open, and no stranger or wayfarer is turned away empty.
+
+Just before their Highnesses had entered the town, this kale-bell
+had been rung, and each maid in the houses had laid the kale and
+meat upon the table, ready for the family, when, behold! in rush a
+troop of robbers from the forest, Appelmann at their head--seize
+every dish with the kale and meat that had been laid on the
+tables, stick the loaves into their pockets, and gallop away as
+hard as they can across into the Stettin border.
+
+How the maids screamed and lamented I leave unsaid; but if any one
+of them followed and seized a robber by the hair, he drew his
+knife, so she was glad enough to run back again, while the
+impudent troop laughed and jeered. Thus was it then in dear
+Pomerania land! It seemed as if God had forsaken them; for the
+nobles began their feuds, as of old, and the Jews were tormented
+even to the death--yea, even the pastors were chased away, as if,
+indeed, they had all learned of Otto Bork, these nobles saying,
+"What need of these idle, prating swaddlers, with their prosy
+sermons and whining psalms, teaching, forsooth, that all men are
+equal, and that God makes no difference between lord and peasant?
+Away with them! If the people learn such doctrine, no wonder if
+they grow proud and disobedient--better no priests in the land."
+And such-like ungodly talk was heard everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts._
+
+
+At this time, one David Grosskopf was pastor of Marienfliess. He
+was a learned and pious man, and like other pious priests, was in
+the habit of gathering all the women-folk of the parish in his
+study of a winter's evening, particularly the young maidens, with
+their spinning-wheels. And there they all sat spinning round the
+comfortable fire, while he read out to them from God's Word, and
+questioned them on it, and exhorted them to their duties. Thus was
+it done every evening during the winter, the maidens spinning
+diligently till midnight without even growing weary; or if one of
+them nodded, she was given a cup of cold water to drink, to make
+her fresh again. So there was plenty of fine linen by each New
+Year's day, and their masters were well pleased. No peasant kept
+his daughter at home, but sent her to the priest, where she
+learned her duties, and was kept safe from the young men. Even old
+mothers went there, among whom Trina Bergen always gave the best
+answers, and was much commended by the priest in consequence. This
+pleased her mightily, so that she boasted everywhere of it; but
+withal she was an excellent old woman, only the neighbours looked
+rather jealously on her.
+
+This same priest, with all his goodness and learning, was yet a
+bad logician; for by his careless speaking in one of his sermons,
+much commotion was raised in the village. In this sermon he
+asserted that anything out of the usual course of nature must be
+devil's work, and ought to be held in abhorrence by all good
+Christians: he suffered for this after-wards, as we shall see. On
+the Monday after this discourse, he journeyed into Poland, to
+visit a brother who dwelt in some town there, I know not which.
+
+Then arose a great talking amongst the villagers concerning the
+said Trina Bergen; for the cocks began to sit upon the eggs in
+place of the hens, in her poultry-yard, and all the people came
+together to see the miracle, and as it was against the course of
+nature, it must be devil's work, and Trina Bergen was a witch.
+
+In vain the old mother protested she knew nothing of it, then runs
+to the priest's house, but he is away; from that to the mayor of
+the village, but he is going out to shoot, and bid her and the
+villagers pack off with their silly stories.
+
+So the poor old mother gets no help, and meanwhile the peasants
+storm her house, and search and ransack every corner for proofs of
+her witchcraft, but nothing can be found. Stay! there in the
+cellar sits a woman, who will not tell her name.
+
+They drag her out, bring her up to the parlour, while the old
+mother sits wringing her hands. Who was this woman? and how did
+she come into the cellar?
+
+_Illa_.--"She had hired her to spin, because her daughter was
+out at service till autumn, and she could not do all the work
+herself."
+
+"Why then did she sit in the cellar, as if she shunned the light?"
+
+_Illa_.--"The girl had prayed for leave to sit there, because
+the screaming of the young geese in the yard disturbed her;
+besides, she had been only two days with her."
+
+"But who in the devil's name was the girl? It was easy to see she
+had bewitched the hens, for everything against the course of
+nature must be devil's work."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, yes! this must be the truth. Let them chase the
+devil away. Now she saw why the girl would not sit in the light,
+and had refused to enter the blessed church with her the day
+before."
+
+"What was her name? They should both be sent to the devil, if she
+did not tell the girl's name."
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! she had forgotten it, but ask herself. Her
+story was, that she had been married to a peasant in Usdom, who
+died lately, and his relations then turned her out, that she was
+now going to Daber, where she had a brother, a fisher in the
+service of the Dewitz family, and wanted to earn a travelling
+penny by spinning, to convey her there."
+
+Now as the rumour of witchcraft spread through the village, all
+the people ran together, from every part, to Trina's house. And a
+pale young man pressed forward from amongst the crowd, to look at
+the supposed witch. When he stood before her, the girl cast down
+her eyes gloomily, and he cried out, "It is she! it is the very
+accursed witch who robbed me of my strength by her sorceries, and
+barely escaped from the fagot--seize her--that is Anna Wolde. Now
+he knew what the elder sticks meant, which he found set up as a
+gallows before his door this morning--the witch wanted to steal
+away his manhood from him again--burn her! burn her! Come and see
+the elder sticks, if they did not believe him!"
+
+So the whole village ran to his cottage, where he had just brought
+home a widow, whom he was going to marry, and there indeed stood
+the elder sticks right before his door in the form of a gallows,
+upon which the sheriff was wroth, and commanded the girl to be
+brought before him with her hands bound.
+
+But as she denied everything, Zabel Bucher, the sheriff, ordered
+the hangman to be sent for, to see what the rack might do in
+eliciting the truth. Further, he bade the people make a fire in
+the street, and burn the elder sticks therein.
+
+So the fire is lit, but no one will touch the sticks. Then the
+sheriff called his hound and bade him fetch them; but Fixlein, who
+was acute enough at other times, pretended not to know what his
+master wanted. In vain the sheriff bent down on the ground,
+pointing with his finger, and crying, "Here, Fixlein! fetch,
+Fixlein!" No, Fixlein runs round and round the elder sticks till
+the dust rises up in a cloud, and yelps, and barks, and jumps, and
+stares at his master, but never touches the sticks, only at last
+seizes a stone in his mouth, and runs with it to the sheriff.
+
+Now, indeed, there was a commotion amongst the people. Not even
+the dog would touch the accursed thing. So at last the sheriff
+called for a pair of tongs, to seize the sticks himself and fling
+them into the fire. Whereupon his wife screamed to prevent him;
+but the brave sheriff, strengthening his heart, advanced and
+touched them; whereupon Fixlein, as if he had never known until
+now what his master wanted, made a grab at them, but the sheriff
+gave him a blow on the nose with the tongs which sent him away
+howling, and then, with desperate courage and a stout heart,
+seizing the elder twigs in the tongs, flung them boldly into the
+fire.
+
+Meanwhile Peter Bollerjahn, the hangman, has arrived, and when he
+hears of the devilry he shakes his head, but thinks he could make
+the girl speak, if they only let him try his way a little. But
+they must first get authority from the mayor. Now the mayor had
+not gone to the hunt, for some friends arrived to visit him, whom
+he was obliged to stay at home and entertain, so the whole crowd,
+with the sheriff, Zabel Bucher, at the head, set off to the
+mayoralty, bringing the witch with them, and prayed his lordship
+to make a terrible example of her, for that witchcraft was
+spreading fearfully in the land, and they would have no peace
+else.
+
+Whereupon he came out with his guests to look at the miserable
+criminal, who, conscious of her guilt, stood there silent and
+glowering; but he could do nothing for them--did they not know
+that his Highness had closed all the courts of justice, therefore
+he could not help them, nor be troubled about their affairs? Upon
+which the sheriff cried out, "Then we shall help ourselves; let us
+burn the witch who bewitches our hens, and sticks up elder sticks
+before people's doors. Come, let us right ourselves!" So the mayor
+said they might do as they pleased, he had no power to hinder
+them, only let them remember that when the courts reopened, they
+would be called to a strict account for all this. And he went into
+his house, but the people shouted and dragged away the witch, with
+loud yells, to the hangman, bidding him stretch her on the rack
+before all their eyes.
+
+When the girl saw and heard all this, and remembered how the old
+Lord Chamberlain at Wolgast had stretched her till her hip was
+broken, she cried out, "I will confess all, only spare me the
+torture, for I dread it more than death."
+
+Upon this, the sheriff said, "He would ask her three questions,
+and pronounce judgment accordingly." (Oh! what evil times for dear
+Pomerania land, when the people could thus take the law into their
+own hands, and pronounce judgment, though no judges were there.
+Had the bailiff given her a little twist of the rack, just to get
+at the truth, it would at least have been more in accordance with
+the usages, although I say not he would have been justified in so
+doing; but without using the rack at all, to believe what this
+devil's wretch uttered, and judge her thereupon, was grossly
+improper and absurd.) _Summa_, here are the three
+questions:--
+
+"First, whether she had bewitched the hens; and for what?"
+
+_Respond_.--"Simply to amuse herself; for the time hung heavy
+in the cellar, and she could see them through the chinks in the
+wall." (Let her wait; Master Peter will soon give her something to
+amuse her.)
+
+"Second, why and wherefore had she stuck up the elder twigs?"
+
+_Respond_.-"Because she had been told that Albert was going
+to marry a widow; for he had promised her marriage, as all the
+world knew, and even called her by his name, Wolde Albrechts, and
+therefore she had put a spell upon him of elder twigs, that he
+might turn away the widow and marry her." (Let her wait; Master
+Peter will soon stick up elder twigs for her.)
+
+"Third, whether she had a devil; and how was he named?"
+
+Here she remained silent, then began to deny it, but was reminded
+of the rack, and Master Peter got ready his instruments as if for
+instant use; so she sighed heavily, and answered, "Yes, she had a
+familiar called Jurge, and he appeared always in the form of a
+man."
+
+Upon this confession the sheriff roared, "Burn the witch!" and all
+the people shouted after him, "Burn the witch! the accursed
+witch!" and she was delivered over to Master Peter.
+
+But he made answer that he had never burned a witch; he would,
+however, go over to Massow in the morning, to his brother-in-law,
+who had burned many, and learn the mode from him. Meanwhile the
+peasants might collect ten or twelve clumps of wood upon the
+Koppenberg, and so would they frighten all women from practising
+this devil's magic. Would they not burn Trina Bergen likewise--the
+old hag who had the witch in her cellar? It would be a right
+pleasant spectacle to the whole town.
+
+This, however, the peasants did not wish. Upon which the carl
+asked what he was to be paid for his trouble? Formerly the state
+paid for the criminal, but the courts now would have nothing to do
+with the business. What was he to get? So the peasants consulted
+together, and at last offered him a sack of oats at Michaelmas,
+just that they might have peace in the village. Whereupon he
+consented to burn her; only in addition they must give him a free
+journey to Massow on the morrow.
+
+_Summa_.--When the third morning dawned, all the village came
+together to accompany the witch up the Koppenberg: the
+schoolmaster, with all his school going before, singing, "Now pray
+we to the Holy Ghost;" then came Master Peter with the witch, he
+bearing a pan of lighted coal in his hand. But, lo! when they
+reached the pile on the Koppenberg, behold it was wet wood which
+the stupid peasants had gathered.
+
+Now the hangman fell into a great rage. Who the devil could burn a
+witch with wet wood? She must have bewitched it. This was as bad
+as the hen business.
+
+Some of the people then offered to run for some dry wood and hay;
+but my knave saw that he might turn the matter to profit, so he
+proposed to sack the witch in place of burning her; "for," said
+he, "it will be a far more edifying spectacle and example to your
+children, this sacking in place of burning. There was a lake quite
+close to the town, and, indeed, he had forgotten yesterday to
+propose it to them. The plan was this. They were to tie her up in
+a leathern sack, with a dog, a cock, and a cat. (Ah, what a pity
+he had killed the wild-cat which he had caught some weeks before
+in the fox-trap.) Then they would throw all into the lake, where
+the cat and dog, and cock and witch, would scream and fight, and
+bite and scratch, until they sank; but after a little while up
+would come the sack again, and the screaming, biting, and fighting
+would be renewed until they all sank down again and for ever.
+Sometimes, indeed, they would tear a hole in the sack, which
+filled with water, and so they were all drowned. In any case it
+was a fine improving lesson to their children; let them ask the
+schoolmaster if the sacking was not a far better spectacle for the
+dear children than the burning."
+
+"Ay, 'tis true," cried the schoolmaster; "sacking is better."
+
+Upon which all the people shouted after him, "Ay, sack her! sack
+her!"
+
+When the knave heard this, he continued--
+
+"Now, they heard what the schoolmaster said, but he could not do
+all this for a sack of oats, for, indeed, leather sacks were very
+dear just now; but if each one added a sack of meal and a goose at
+Michaelmas, why, he would try and manage the sacking. The lake was
+broad and deep, and it lay right beneath them, so that all the
+dear children could see the sight from the hill."
+
+However, the peasants would by no means agree to the sack of meal,
+whereupon a great dispute arose around the pile, and a bargaining
+about the price with great tumult and uproar.
+
+Now the robber-band were in the vicinity, and Sidonia, hearing the
+noise, peeped out through the bushes and recognised Anna Wolde;
+then, guessing from the pile what they were going to do to her,
+she begged of Johann to save the poor girl, if possible; for
+Sidonia and the knave were now on the best of terms, since he had
+chased away the gipsy hag and her daughter for robbing him.
+
+So Johann gives the word, and the band, which now numbered one
+hundred strong, burst forth from the wood with wild shouts and
+cries. Ho! how the people fled on all sides, like chaff before the
+wind! The executioner is the first off, throws away his pan of
+coals, and takes to his heels. _Item_, the schoolmaster, with
+all his school, take to their heels; the sheriff, the women,
+peasants, spectators-all, with one accord, take to their heels,
+screaming and roaring.
+
+The witch alone remains, for she is lame and cannot run; but she
+screams, too, and wrings her hands, crying--
+
+"Take me with you; oh, take me with you; for the love of God take
+me with you; I am lame and cannot run!"
+
+_Summa_.--One can easily imagine how it all ended. The
+witch-girl was saved, and, as she now owed her life a second time
+to Sidonia, she swore eternal fidelity and gratitude to the lady,
+promising to give her something in recompense for all the benefits
+she had conferred on her. Alas, that I should have to say to
+Christian men what this was! [Footnote: Namely, the evil spirit
+Chim. See Sidonia's confession upon the rack, vol. iv. Dahnert's
+Pomeranian Library, p. 244.]
+
+And when Sidonia asked how things went on in Daber, great was her
+joy to hear that the whole castle and town were full of company,
+for the nuptials of Clara von Dewitz and Marcus Bork were
+celebrated there. And the old Duchess from Wolgast had arrived,
+along with Duke Johann Frederick, and the Dukes Barnim, Casimir,
+and Bogislaff. _Item_, a grand cavalcade of nobles had ridden
+to the wedding upon four hundred horses, and lords and ladies from
+all the country round thronged the castle.
+
+Now Johann Appelmann would not credit the witch-girl, for he had
+seen none of all this company upon the roads; but she said her
+brother the fisherman told her that their Graces travelled by
+water as far as Wollin, for fear of the robbers, and from thence
+by land to Daber.
+
+When Sidonia heard this she fell upon Johann's neck, exclaiming--
+
+"Revenge me now, Johann! revenge me! Now is the time; they are all
+there. Revenge me in their blood!"
+
+This seemed rather a difficult matter to Johann, but he promised
+to call together the whole band, and see what could be done. So he
+went his way to the band, and then the evil-minded witch-girl
+began again, and told Sidonia, that if she chose to burn the
+castle at Daber, and make an end of all her enemies at once, there
+was some one hard by in the bush who would help her, for he was
+stronger than all the band put together.
+
+_Illa_.--"Who was her friend? Let her go and bring him."
+
+_Haec_.--"She must first cross her hand with gold, and give a
+piece of money for him; [Footnote: According to the witches, every
+evil spirit must be purchased, no matter how small the price, but
+something must be given-a ball of worsted, a kerchief, &c.] then
+he would come and revenge her."
+
+Sidonia's eyes now sparkled wildly, and she put some money in the
+woman's hand, who murmured, "For the evil one;" then stepped
+behind a tree, and returned in a short time with a black cat
+wrapped up in her apron.
+
+"This," she said, "was the strong spirit Chim. [Footnote:
+Joachim.] Let her give him plenty to eat, but show him to no one.
+When she wanted his assistance, strike him three times on the
+head, and he would assume the form of a man. Strike him six times
+to restore him again to this form."
+
+Now Sidonia would scarcely credit this; so, looking round to see
+if they were quite alone, she struck the animal three times on the
+head, who instantly started up in the form of a gay young man,
+with red stockings, a black doublet, and cap with stately heron's
+plumes.
+
+"Yes, yes," he exclaimed, "I know thy enemies, and will revenge
+thee, beautiful child. I will burn the castle of Daber for thee,
+if thou wilt only do my bidding; but now, quick! strike me again
+on the head, that I may reassume my original form, for some one
+may see us; and put me in a basket, so can I travel with thee
+wheresoever thou goest."
+
+And thus did Sidonia with the evil spirit Chim, as she afterwards
+confessed upon the rack, when she was a horrible old hag of
+eighty-four years of age.
+
+And he went with her everywhere, and suggested all the evil to her
+which she did, whereof we shall hear more in another place.
+[Footnote: Dahnert.--This belief in the power of evil spirits to
+assume the form of animals, comes to us from remotest
+antiquity--example, the serpent in Paradise. In all religions, and
+amongst all nations, this belief seems firmly rooted; but even if
+we do not see a visible devil, do we not, alas! know and feel that
+there is one ever with us, ever pre-sent, ever suggesting all
+wickedness to us, as this devil to Sidonia?-even our own evil
+nature. For what else is the Christian life, but a warfare between
+the divine within us and this ever-present Satan?--and through
+God's grace alone can we resist this devil.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night-Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the
+castle._
+
+
+When Johann and Sidonia proposed to the band that they should
+pillage the castle of Daber, they all shouted with delight, and
+swore that life and limb might be perilled, but the castle should
+be theirs that night. Nevertheless my knave Johann thought it a
+dangerous undertaking, for they knew no one inside the walls, and
+Anna Wolde, the witch, could not come with them, seeing that she
+was lame. So at last he thought of sending Konnemann disguised as
+a beggar, to examine the courtyard and all the out
+offices--perchance he might spy out some unguarded door by which
+they could effect an entrance.
+
+Then Sidonia said she would go too, and although Johann tried hard
+to persuade her, yet she begged so earnestly for leave that
+finally he consented. Yes, she must see the very spot where the
+viper was hatched which had stung her to death. Ah, she would brew
+something for her in return; pity only that the wedding was over,
+otherwise the little bride should never have touched a
+wedding-ring, if she could help it; but it was too late now.
+
+So the three Satan's children slipped out upon the highway from
+the wood, and travelled on so near to the castle that the noise,
+and talking, and laughing, and barking of dogs, and neighing of
+horses, were all quite audible to their ears.
+
+Now the castle of Daber is built upon a hill which is entirely
+surrounded by water, so that the castle can be approached only by
+two bridges--one southwards, leading from the town; the other
+eastwards, leading direct through the castle gardens. The castle
+itself was a noble, lofty pile, with strong towers and
+spires--almost as stately a building as my gracious lord's castle
+at Saatzig.
+
+When Johann observed all this, his heart failed him, and as he and
+his two companions peeped out at it from behind a thorn-bush, they
+agreed that it would be hard work to take such a castle,
+garrisoned, as it was now, by four hundred men or more, with their
+mere handful of partisans.
+
+But Satan knows how to help his own, for what happened while they
+were crouching there and arguing? Behold, the old Dewitz, as an
+offering to the church at Daber upon his daughter's marriage, had
+promised twenty good acres of land to be added to the glebe. And
+he comes now up the hill, with a great crowd of men to dig the
+boundary. So the Satan's children behind the thorn-bush feared
+they would be discovered; but it was not so, and the crowd passed
+on unheeding them.
+
+Old Dewitz now called the witnesses, and bid them take note of the
+position of the boundary. There where the hill, the wild
+apple-tree, and the town tower were all in one line, was the
+limit; let them keep this well in their minds. Then calling over
+six lads, he bid them take note likewise of the boundary, that
+when the old people were dead they might stand up as witnesses;
+but as such things were easily forgotten, he, the priest, and the
+churchwarden would write it down for them, so that it never, by
+any chance, could escape their memory.
+
+Upon which the good knight, being lord and patron, took a stout
+stick the first, and cudgelled the young lads well, asking them
+between terms--
+
+"Where is the boundary?"
+
+To which they answered, screaming and roaring--
+
+"Where the hill, the apple-tree, and the town tower are all in one
+line."
+
+Then the knight, laughing, handed over the stick to the priest,
+saying--
+
+"It was still possible they might forget; they better, therefore,
+have another little memorandum from his reverence."
+
+"No! no!" screamed the boys, "we will remember it to eternity."
+
+However, his reverence just gave them a little touch of the stick
+in fun, till they roared out the boundary marks a second time.
+
+But now stepped forth the churchwarden, to take his turn with the
+stick on the boys' backs. This man had been a forester of the old
+Baron Dewitz, and had often taken note of one of the young fellows
+present, how he had poached and stolen the buck-wheat, so he
+gladly seized this opportunity to punish him for all his misdeeds,
+and laying the cudgel on his shoulders, thrashed and belaboured
+him so unmercifully, that the lad ran, shrieking, cursing,
+howling, and roaring, far away in amongst the bushes to hide
+himself, while the churchwarden cried out--
+
+"Well! if all the other lads forget the boundary, I think my fine
+fellow here will bear the memorandum to the day of judgment."
+
+And so they went away laughing from the place, and returned to the
+castle.
+
+But the devil drew his profit from all this, for where should the
+lad run to, but close to the very spot where the robbers were
+hiding, and there he threw himself down upon the grass, writhing
+and howling, and swearing he would be revenged upon the
+churchwarden. This is a fine hearing for my knave in the bush, so
+he steps forward, and asks--
+
+"What vile Josel had dared to ill-treat so brave a youth? He would
+help him to a revenge upon the base knave, for injustice was a
+thing he never could suffer. The tears really were in his eyes to
+think that such wickedness should be in the world;" and here he
+pretended to wipe his eyes. So the lad, being quite overcome by
+such compassionate sympathy, howled and cried ten times more--
+
+"It was the forester Kell, the shameless hound; but he would play
+him a trick for it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. He owed the fellow a drubbing already
+himself, and now he would have a double one, if he could only get
+hold of him."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would run and tell him that a great lord wanted
+to speak to him here in the forest."
+
+_Ille_.-"No, no; that would scarcely answer; but where did
+the fellow live?"
+
+_Hic_.-"In the castle, where his father lived likewise."
+
+_Ille_.-"Who was his father?"
+
+_Hic_.--"His father was the steward."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ah, then, he kept the keys of the castle?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Oh yes, and the key of the back entrance also, which
+led through the gardens. His father kept one key, and the gardener
+the other."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, he would tell him a secret. This very Kell
+had deceived him once, like a knave as he was, and he was watching
+to punish him, but he daren't go up to the castle in the broad
+daylight, particularly now while the wedding was going on. How
+long would it last?"
+
+_Hic_.--"For three days more; it had lasted three days
+already, and the castle was full of company, and great lords from
+all the country round, a great deal grander even than old Dewitz,
+were there."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, it would be quite impossible to go up
+to the castle and flog the churchwarden before all the company--he
+could see that himself. But supposing he let him in at night
+through the garden door, couldn't they get the knave out on some
+pretence, and then drub him to their heart's content?"
+
+So the lad was delighted with the plan, particularly on hearing
+that he was to help in the drubbing; but then if the forester
+recognised him, what was to be done? he would be ruined. To which
+Johann answered--
+
+"Just put on an old cloak, and speak no word; then, neither by
+dress nor voice will he know thee; besides, the night will be
+quite dark, so fear nothing. We'll teach him, I engage, how to
+beat a fine young fellow again, or to rob me of my gold, as he
+did, the base, unworthy knave."
+
+Here the lad laughed outright with joy. "Yes, yes, that would just
+do; and he could put on his father's old mantle, and bring a stout
+crab-stick along with him."
+
+_Hic_.--"All right, young friend; but how was he to get into
+the castle garden? Was there not a drawbridge which was lifted
+every night?"
+
+_Hic._--"Oh yes; but his father very often sent him to draw
+it up, and he could leave it down for tonight; then he would get
+the forester, by some means, into the shrubbery, where it was dark
+as pitch, and they could thrash the dog there without any one
+knowing a word about it."
+
+_Ille._-"Good! Then when the tower-clock struck nine, let him
+come himself and admit him into the garden--time enough after to
+run for the forester, while he was hiding himself in the
+shrubbery, for no one must know a word about his being there."
+Then he gave the lad a knife, and told him if all turned out well
+he should have a piece of gold in addition. "Ah! they would give
+him a warm greeting, this dog of a forester! But after he had
+called him out, the lad must pretend as if he had nothing to do
+with the matter, and go back to the house, or slip down some
+by-path."
+
+So the lad jumped with joy when he got hold of the knife, and
+skipped off to the castle, promising to be at the drawbridge when
+nine o'clock struck from the tower, to admit his good friend into
+the garden.
+
+Meanwhile my gracious Lady of Wolgast was making preparations for
+her departure on the morrow from the castle, for she had been
+attending the wedding festivities with her four sons, and Ulrich,
+the Grand Chamberlain; but previous to taking leave of her dear
+son, Duke Johann Frederick, she wished to make one more attempt to
+induce him to take off the interdict from the country, and allow
+the courts of justice to be re-opened, for thus would the land be
+freed from these wild hordes who haunted every road, and filled
+all hearts with fear.
+
+For this purpose she went up to his own private chamber in the
+castle, bringing old Ulrich along with her; and when they entered,
+old Ulrich, having closed the door, began--"Now, gracious lady,
+speak to your son as befits a mother and your princely Grace to
+do."
+
+Upon which he took his seat at the table, looking around him as
+sour as a vinegar-cruet.
+
+So the Duchess lifted up her voice with many tears, and prayed his
+Highness of Stettin to stem all this violence that raged in the
+land, as a loving Prince and father towards his subjects. He had
+resisted all her entreaties until now, with those of his dear
+brothers and old Ulrich; and had not even his host and the whole
+nobility tried to soften his heart towards his people, who were
+suffering by his hard resolve? But surely he would not refuse her
+now, for she had come to take her leave of him, and had brought
+his old guardian and his brothers to plead along with her;
+besides, who knew what might happen next? For she heard, to her
+astonishment, that Sidonia was not dead at all, as they supposed,
+but roaming through the country with her accursed paramour. Had
+she known this, never would she have permitted this long journey,
+dear even as the bride was to her heart, but would have stayed at
+Wolgast to watch over her heart's dear son, Ernest, and his young
+spouse, who rightly feared to put themselves in danger again,
+after the sore peril they had encountered in the Stettin forest;
+and who knew what might happen to her on the journey homeward? for
+if she encountered Sidonia, what could she expect from her but the
+bitterest death? (weeping.) Ah, this all came upon them because
+the young Duke had despised the admonitions of his blessed father
+upon his death-bed, and thought not of that Scripture which saith,
+"The father's blessing buildeth the children's houses, but the
+curse of the mother pulleth them down." [Footnote: Sirach iii.
+II.] She had never cursed him yet, but that day might come.
+
+Then Duke Johann answered, "He was sad to see his darling mother
+chafe and fret about these same courts of justice, but his
+princely honour was pledged, and he could not retract one word
+until the states came back to their duty, and gave him the gold he
+demanded. For how could he stand before the world as a fool? He
+had begun this castle of Friedrichswald, and had ordered all kinds
+of statues, paintings, &c., from Italy, for which gold must be
+paid. How, then, if he had none?"
+
+"But those were idle follies," his mother answered, "and showed
+how true were the words of Solomon--'When a prince wanteth
+understanding, there is great oppression.'" [Footnote: Prov.
+xxviii. 16.]
+
+Here the Duke grew angry. "It was false; he did not want
+understanding. Well it was that no one had dared to say this to
+him but his mother."
+
+But my gracious lady could not hear him plainly; for his Serene
+Highness, Barnim the younger, who had drunk rather freely at
+dinner, began to snore so loudly, that he snored away a paper
+which lay before old Ulrich, upon which he had been sketching a
+list of _propositions_ for the reconciliation of the Duke and
+the estates of the kingdom.
+
+Hereupon the old chamberlain cursed and swore--"May the seven
+thousand devils take them! One snarls at his mother, and the other
+snores away his paper! Did the Prince think that Pomerania was
+like Saxony, when he began these fine buildings at Friedrichswald?
+His Grace had a house at Stettin; what did he want with a second?
+Was his Grace better than his forefathers? And would not his Grace
+have Oderburg when old Duke Barnim died? and castles and towns all
+round the land?"
+
+But the Duke answered proudly, "That Ulrich should remember his
+guardianship had ended. He knew himself what to do and what to
+leave undone."
+
+Herewith the young Lord Bogislaff broke in--"Yet, dearest brother,
+be advised by us. Bethink you how I resigned my chance of the
+duchy at the Diet of Wollin, and now I am ready to give you up the
+annuity which I then received, if it will help your necessities,
+and that you promise thereupon to release the land from the
+interdict, that all this fearful villainy and lawlessness which is
+devastating the country may have an end."
+
+_Ille_.--"Matters were not so bad as he thought; besides, why
+cannot the people defend themselves, and take care of their own
+skin?"
+
+_Hic_.--"So they do; but this only increased injustice and
+lawlessness." Then he related many examples of how the despairing
+people of the different towns had executed justice, after their
+own manner, upon the robbers who fell into their hands. In
+Stolpschen, for instance, three fellows had been caught plundering
+the corn, and the peasants nailed them up to a tree, and whipped
+them till they dropped down dead. Well might Satan laugh over the
+sin and wickedness that reigned now in poor Pomerania.
+
+_Item_, he related how the peasants in Marienfliess were
+going to burn a witch, without trial or sentence. _Item_, how
+many peasants and villagers had hung up their own bailiffs, or
+strangled them. _Item_, how the priests had been chased away
+from many places, so that they now had to beg their bread upon the
+highway; and in such towns God's service was no more heard, but
+each one lived as it pleased him, and the peasants did as they
+chose. And now he would ask his heart's dear brother, which would
+be more upright and honourable in the sight of the great God--to
+build up this castle of Friedrichswald, or to let it fall, and
+build up the virtue and happiness of his people? He could not
+build the castle without money, and he had none; but he could
+restore his land to peace and happiness by a word. Let him, then,
+open these long-closed courts of justice, for this was his duty as
+a Prince; and let him remember that every prince was ordained of
+God, and must answer to Him for his government.
+
+Hereupon the Stettin Duke made answer--"Pity, good Bogislaff, thou
+wert not a village priest! Hast thou finished thy sermon? Truly
+thou wert never meant for a prince, as we heard from thy own lips,
+the day of the Diet at Wollin. Thou hast no sense of princely
+honour, I see, but I stand by mine; and now, by my princely
+honour, I pledge my princely word, that, until the states give me
+the money, the land shall remain in all things as it is."
+
+Here old Ulrich sprang to his feet (while my gracious lady sobbed
+aloud), clapped the table, and roared--"Seven thousand devils, my
+lord! are we to be robbed and murdered by those vile cut-throats
+that infest the land, and your Grace will fold your hands and do
+nothing, till they drive your Grace yourself out of the land, or
+run a spear through your body, as they would have done to your
+princely brother of Wolgast, only he had faithful vassals to
+defend him? If it is so to be, then must the nobles make their
+petition to the Emperor, and we shall see if his Imperial Majesty
+cannot bring your Grace to reason, though your mother and we all
+have failed to move you."
+
+Here the little Casimir, who was playing with the paper which his
+brother had snored away, ran up to his mother, and pulling her by
+the gown, said, "Gracious lady mamma, what ails my brother, the
+Stettin Duke? Is he drunk, too?"
+
+At which they all laughed, except Duke Johann, who gave a kick to
+his little brother, and then strode out of the room, exclaiming,
+"Sooner my life than my honour; I shall stay here no longer to be
+tutored and lectured, but will take my journey homewards this very
+night." And so he departed, but by a small side-door, for old
+Ulrich had locked the chief door on entering.
+
+Now, indeed, her Grace wept bitterly: ah! she thought the evil had
+left her house, which the fatal business at her wedding had
+wrought on it, when Dr. Martinus dropped the ring; but, alas! it
+was only beginning now; and yet she could not curse him, for he
+was her son, and she had borne him in pain and sorrow.
+
+_Summa_.--If many were displeased at these proceedings of his
+Grace, so also was the Lord God, as was seen clearly by many
+strange signs; for on that same night Duke Barnim the elder died
+at Oderburg, and all the crosses, knobs, and spires throughout the
+whole town turned quite black, though they had only been newly
+gilded a year before, and no rain, lightning, or thunder had been
+observed. [Footnote: The Duke died 29th September 1573, aged 72
+years.--_Micraelius_. 369.]
+
+But this was all clearly to show the anger of God over the sins of
+the young Duke, and by these signs He would admonish him to
+repentance, as a father might gently threaten a refractory child.
+As to what further happened his Grace when he went out by the
+little door, and the danger that befell him there, we shall hear
+more in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann
+by the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner._
+
+
+The castle was now almost quite still, for as the festival had
+already lasted three days, the guests were pretty well tired of
+dancing and drinking, and most of them, like young Prince Barnim,
+had lain down to snore. Yet still there were many drinking in the
+great hall, or dancing in the saloon, for the fiddles fiddled away
+merrily until far in the night.
+
+And it was a beautiful night this one; not too dark, but starry,
+bright, and soft and still, so that Marcus and his young bride
+glided away from the dancing and drinking, to wander in the cool,
+fresh air of the shrubbery, before they retired to their chamber.
+So they passed down the broad path that led from the garden to the
+drawbridge by the water-mill, and seating themselves on a bank
+under the shade of the trees, began to kiss and caress, as may
+well become a young bridal pair to do.
+
+Soon they heard nine o'clock strike from the town, and immediately
+after, stealthy footsteps coming along the shrubbery towards them.
+They held their breath, and remained quite still, thinking it was
+some half-drunken guest from the castle wandering this way; but
+then the drawbridge was lowered, and three persons advanced to a
+youth, as they could see plainly. One said, "Now?" to which
+another answered, "No, when I whistle!" He who had so asked, then
+went back again, but Sidonia and my knave came on with the
+boundary lad over the bridge (for, of course, every one will have
+guessed them) and entered the shrubbery where the young bridal
+pair were seated, but perfectly hidden, by reason of the darkness.
+
+The boundary lad would now have drawn up the bridge, but the knave
+hindered him--"Let him leave it down; how would he escape else, if
+the carl roared, and all came running out of the castle to see
+what was the matter?" Then Sidonia asked the boy, if he thought
+the castle folk would hear him? To which he answered, no. They
+could thrash the hound securely, and he had brought a short cudgel
+with him for the purpose. Upon which my knave murmured to him,
+"Lead on, then; I must get out of this dark place to see what I am
+about. And when we get to the end of it, do you run and bring him
+out here. Then we shall both pay him off bravely."
+
+So they crept on in the darkness towards the castle, but the young
+wedded pair had plenty of time to recognise both Sidonia and
+Appelmann by their voices. Therefore Marcus argued truly that the
+knave and his paramour could be about no good, for the whole land
+rang with their wickedness. And, no doubt, the band was in the
+vicinity, because Appelmann had answered, "No, when I whistle!"
+
+So the good Marcus grew wroth over the villainy of this shameless
+pair, who had evidently resolved on nothing less than the
+destruction of the whole princely race, and even this castle of
+Daber was not to be spared, which belonged to his dear bride's
+father, so that their wicked purposes might be fulfilled. Then he
+whispered, did his dear wife know of any byway that led to the
+castle? as she was born here, perhaps some such little path might
+be known to her, so that she would escape meeting the villain. And
+as she whispered in return, "Yes, there was such a path," he bid
+her run along it quick as thought, have all the bells rung when
+she reached the castle, and even the cannon fired, which was ready
+loaded for the farewell salute to the Lady of Wolgast on the
+morrow; and to gather as many people together, of all stations and
+ages, as could be summoned on the instant, and let them shout
+"Murder! murder!" Meanwhile he would run and draw up the bridge,
+then track the fellow along the shrubbery, and seize him if
+possible.
+
+How Clara trembled and hesitated, as a young girl might; but soon
+collecting herself, she said, although with much agitation, "I
+will trust in God: the Lord is my strength, of whom then should I
+be afraid?" and plunged alone into the darkest part of the
+shrubbery.
+
+Marcus instantly ran down to the garden door, and began to draw up
+the bridge with as little noise as possible. "What are you doing?"
+called out a voice to him from the other side. "I hear steps," he
+answered, "and perchance it is the castellan on his rounds; he
+would discover all." So he draws up the bridge, and then glided
+along the shrubbery after my knave.
+
+Meanwhile Appelmann and Sidonia, with the boundary lad, had
+reached the door of the castle, through which he was determined to
+make good his entrance after the lad by any means.
+
+But at that very instant it opened, and my gracious lord Duke
+Johann Frederick stood before them. For it has been already
+mentioned, that he left the chamber in which the family council
+was held, by a small private door which led down to this portion
+of the castle. Here he was looking about for his court-jester,
+Clas Hinze, to bid him order the carriages to convey him and his
+suite that very night to Freienwald, and by chance opened this
+very door which led out to the shrubbery.
+
+Seeing no one from the darkness, the Duke called out, "Is Clas
+there?" to which Appelmann answered, "Yes, my lord" (for he had
+recognised the Duke by his voice), and at the same time he
+retreated a few steps into the shrubbery, hoping the Duke would
+follow him.
+
+But the Duke called out again, "Where art thou, Clas?" "Here!"
+responded Appelmann, retreating still further. Whereupon the
+boundary lad whispered, "That is not him!" His Grace, however,
+heard the whisper, and called out angrily, while he advanced from
+the door, "What meanest thou, knave? It is I who call! Art thou
+drunk, fool? If so, thou must have a bucket of water on thy head,
+for we ride away this night."
+
+So speaking, his Highness went on still further into the
+shrubbery, upon which my knave makes a spring at his throat and
+hurls him to the ground, while he gives a loud, shrill whistle
+through the fingers of his other hand. Now the boundary lad
+screamed in earnest; but Sidonia threatened him, and bade him hold
+his tongue, and run for the other fellows, and not mind them. But
+she screamed yet louder herself, when a powerful arm seized her
+round the waist, and she found herself in the grasp of Marcus
+Bork.
+
+Appelmann, who had stuffed his kerchief into the Duke's mouth to
+stifle his cries, and placed one knee upon his breast, now sprang
+up in terror at her scream, while at the same instant the bells
+rang, the cannon was fired, and all the court was filled with
+people shouting, "Murder! murder!" So he let go his hold of the
+Duke, and without waiting to release Sidonia, darted down the
+shrubbery, reached the bridge, and finding it raised, plunged into
+the water, and swam to the other side.
+
+And here we see the hand of the all-merciful God; for had the
+bridge been down, the band would have rushed over at their
+captain's whistle, and then, methinks, there would have been a sad
+end to the whole princely race, for, as I have said, half the
+guests were drunk and half were snoring, so that but for Marcus
+this evil and accursed woman would have destroyed them all, as she
+had sworn. True, they were destroyed by her at last, but not until
+God gave them over to destruction, in consequence of their sins,
+no doubt, and of the wickedness of the land.
+
+_Summa_.--When my gracious lord felt himself free, he sprang
+up, crying, "Help! help!" and ran as quick as he could back into
+the castle. Marcus Bork followed with Sidonia, who drew a knife to
+stab him, but he saw the glitter of the blade by the light of the
+lanterns (for one can easily imagine that the bells and the cannon
+had brought all the snorers to their legs), and giving her a blow
+upon the arm that made her drop the knife, dragged her through the
+little door, after the Duke, as fast as he was able.
+
+So the whole princely party stood there, and great and small
+shouted when the upright Marcus appeared, holding Sidonia firmly
+by the back, while she writhed and twisted, and kicked him with
+her heels till the sweat poured down his face.
+
+But when old Ulrich beheld her, he exclaimed, "Seven thousand
+devils!--do my eyes deceive me, or is this Sidonia again?" Her
+Grace, too, turned pale, and all were horrified at seeing the evil
+one, for they knew her wickedness.
+
+Then Marcus must relate the whole story, and how he came to bring
+to nought the counsel of the devil.
+
+And when Duke Johann heard the whole extent of the danger from
+which he had been saved, he fell upon the neck of the loyal
+Marcus, and, pressing him to his heart, exclaimed, "Well-beloved
+Marcus, and dear friend, thou hast saved my brother of Wolgast in
+the Stettin forest, so hast thou saved me this night, therefore
+accept knighthood from my hands; and I make thee governor of my
+fortress of Saatzig."
+
+To which the other answered, "He thanked his Grace heartily for
+the honours; but he had already promised to remain in the service
+of his princely brother of Wolgast; and for that object had made
+purchase of the lands of Crienke."
+
+But his Highness would hear of no refusal. Only let him look at
+Saatzig; it was the finest fortress in the land. What would he do
+in a miserable fishing village? The castle was almost grander than
+his own ducal house at Stettin; and the knights' hall, with its
+stone pillars and carved capitals, was the most stately work of
+architecture in the kingdom. Where would he find such a dwelling
+in his village nest? Old Kleist, the governor, had just died, and
+to whom could he give the castle sooner than to his right worthy
+and loyal Marcus?
+
+When old Dewitz heard this (he was a little, dry old man, with
+long grey hair), he pressed forward to his son-in-law, and bade
+him by no means refuse a Prince's offer; besides, Saatzig was but
+two miles off, and they could see each other every Sunday. Also,
+if they had a hunt, a standard erected on the tower of one castle
+could be seen plainly from the tower of the other, and so they
+could lead a right pleasant, neighbourly life, almost as if they
+all lived together.
+
+Still Marcus will not consent. Upon which his mother-in-law can no
+longer suppress her feelings, and comes forward to entreat him.
+(She was a good, pious matron, and as fat as her husband was
+thin.) So she stroked his cheeks--"And where in the land, as far
+as Usdom, could he find such fine muranes and maranes [Footnote:
+The great marana weighs from ten to twelve pounds, and is a
+species of salmon-trout. The murana is of the same race, but not
+larger than the herring. It must not be confounded with the
+_murana_ of which the Romans were so fond, which was a
+species of eel.]--this fish he loved so much?--and where was such
+fine flax to be had, for his young wife to spin?--no flax in the
+land equalled that of Saatzig!--since ever she was a little girl,
+people talked of the fine Saatzig flax. Let her dear daughter
+Clara come over, and see could she prevail aught with her stern
+husband. Why, they could send pudding hot to each other, the
+castles were so near."
+
+And now the mild young bride approached her husband, and taking
+his hand gently, looked up into his eyes with soft, beseeching
+glances, but spake no word; so that the princely widow of Wolgast
+was moved, and said, "Good Marcus, if you only fear to offend my
+son of Wolgast by taking service at Saatzig, be composed on that
+head, for I myself will make your peace. Great, indeed, would be
+my joy to have you and your young spouse settled at Crienke,
+which, you know, is but half a mile from Pudgla, my dower-castle,
+where I mean to reside; yet these beseeching glances of my little
+Clara fill my heart with compassion, for do I not read in her
+clear eyes that she would love to stay near her dear parents, as
+indeed is natural? Therefore, in God's name accept the offer of
+your Prince. I myself command you."
+
+Hereupon Marcus inclined himself gracefully to the Duchess and
+Duke Johann, and pressed his little wife to his heart. "But what
+need, gracious Prince, of a governor at Saatzig, when all the
+courts are closed and no justice can be done? I shall eat my bread
+in idleness, like a worn-out hound. But, marry, if your Grace
+consents to open the courts, I will accept your offer with thanks,
+and do my duty as governor with all justice and fidelity." Then
+his Grace answered, "What! good Marcus, dost thou begin again on
+that old theme which roused my wrath so lately, and made me fall
+into that peril? But I bethink me of thy bravery, and will say no
+bitter word; only, thou mayest hold thy peace, for I have sworn by
+my princely honour, and from that there is no retreating. However,
+thou hast leave to hold jurisdiction in thy own government, and
+execute justice according to thy own upright judgment."
+
+So Marcus was silent; but the Duchess and the other princes took
+up the subject, and assailed his Highness with earnest
+petitions--"Had he not himself felt and seen the danger of
+permitting these freebooters to get such a head in the land? Had
+not the finger of God warned him this very night, in hopes of
+turning him back to the right path? Let him reflect, for the peace
+of his land was at stake." But all in vain. Even though old Ulrich
+tumbled into the argument with his seven thousand devils, yet
+could they obtain no other answer from his Highness but--"If the
+states give me gold, I shall open the courts; if they give no
+gold, the courts shall remain closed for ever. Were he to be
+brought before the Emperor, or Pontius Pilate himself, it was all
+alike; they might tear him in pieces, but not one nail's breadth
+of his princely word would he retreat from, or break it like a
+woman, for their prayers."
+
+Then he rose, and calling his fool Clas to him, bid him run to the
+old priest, and tell him he would sleep at his quarters that
+night, for he must have peace; but the merry Clas, as he was
+running out, got behind his Highness, and stuck his fool's cap
+upon the head of his Grace, crying out, "Here, keep my cap for
+me."
+
+However, his Highness did not relish the joke, for every one
+laughed; and he ran after the fool, trying to catch him, and
+threatening to have his head cut off; but Clas got behind the
+others, and clapping his hands, cried out, "You can't, for the
+courts are closed. Huzza! the courts are closed!" Whereupon he
+runs out at the door, and my gracious lord after him, with the
+fool's cap upon his head. Nor did he return again to the hall, but
+went to sleep at the priest's quarters, as he had said; and next
+morning, by the first dawn of day, set off on his journey
+homeward.
+
+All this while no one had troubled himself about Sidonia. My
+gracious lady wept, the young lords laughed, old Ulrich swore,
+whilst the good Marcus murmured softly to his young wife, "Be
+happy, Clara; for thy sake I shall consent to go to Saatzig. I
+have decided."
+
+This filled her with such joy that she danced, and smiled, and
+flung herself into her mother's arms; nothing was wanting now to
+her happiness! Just then her eyes rested upon Sidonia, who was
+leaning against the wall, as pale as a corpse. Clara grew quite
+calm in a moment, and asked, compassionately, "What aileth thee,
+poor Sidonia?"
+
+"_I am hungry!_" was the answer. At this the gentle bride was
+so shocked, that the tears filled her eyes, and she exclaimed,
+"Wait, thou shalt partake of my wedding-feast;" and away went she.
+
+The attention of the others was, by this time, also directed to
+Sidonia. And old Ulrich said, "Compose yourself, gracious lady; I
+trust your son, the Prince, will not be so hard and stern as he
+promises; now that the water has touched his own neck, methinks he
+will soon come to reason. But what shall we do now with Sidonia?"
+
+Upon which my Lady of Wolgast turned to her, and asked if she were
+yet wedded to her gallows-bird? "Not yet," was the answer; "but
+she would soon be." Then my gracious lady spat out at her; and,
+addressing Ulrich, asked what he would advise.
+
+So the stout old knight said, "If the matter were left to him, he
+would just send for the executioner, and have her ears and nose
+slit, as a warning and example, for no good could ever come of her
+now, and then pack her off next day to her farm at Zachow; for if
+they let her loose, she would run to her paramour again, and come
+at last to gallows and wheel; but if they just slit her nose, then
+he would hold her in abhorrence, as well as all other men-folk."
+
+During this, Clara had entered, and set fish, and wild boar, and
+meat, and bread, before the girl; and as she heard Ulrich's last
+words, she bent down and whispered, "Fear nothing, Sidonia, I hope
+to be able to protect thee, as I did once before; only eat,
+Sidonia! Ah! hadst thou followed my advice! I always meant well by
+thee; and even now, if I thought thou wouldst repent truly, poor
+Sidonia, I would take thee with me to the castle of Saatzig, and
+never let thee want for aught through life."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she wept, and promised amendment. Only
+let Clara try her, for she could never go to Zachow and play the
+peasant-girl. Upon which Clara turned to her Highness, and prayed
+her Grace to give Sidonia up to her. See how she was weeping;
+misfortune truly had softened her, and she would soon be brought
+back to God. Only let her take her to Saatzig, and treat her as a
+sister. At this, however, old Ulrich shook his head--"Clara,
+Clara," he exclaimed, "knowest thou not that the Moor cannot
+change his skin, nor the leopard his spots? I cannot, then, let
+the serpent go. Think on our mother, girl; it is a bad work
+playing with serpents."
+
+Her Grace, too, became thoughtful, and said at last--
+
+"Could we not send her to the convent at Marienfliess, or
+somewhere else?"
+
+"What the devil would she do in a convent?" exclaimed the old
+knight. "To infect the young maidens with her vices, or plague
+them with her pride? Now, there was nothing else for her but to be
+packed off to Zachow."
+
+Now Clara looked up once again at her husband with her soft,
+tearful eyes, for he had said no word all this time, but remained
+quite mute; and he drew her to him, and said--
+
+"I understand thy wish, dear Clara, but the old knight is right.
+It is a dangerous business, dear Clara! Let Sidonia go."
+
+At this Sidonia crawled forth like a serpent from her corner, and
+howled--
+
+"Clara had pity on her, but he would turn her out to starve--he,
+who bore her own name, and was of her own blood."
+
+Alas! the good knight was ashamed to refuse any longer, and
+finally promised the evil one that she should go with them to
+Saatzig. So her Grace at last consented, but old Ulrich shook his
+grey head ten times more.
+
+"He had lived many years in the world, but never had it come to
+his knowledge that a godless man was tamed by love. Fear was the
+only teacher for them. All their love would be thrown away on this
+harlot; for even if the stout Marcus kept her tight with bit and
+rein, and tried to bring her back by fear, yet the moment his back
+was turned, Clara would spoil all again by love and kindness."
+
+However, nobody minded the good knight, though it all came to pass
+just as he had prophesied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage._
+
+
+Summa.--Sidonia went to the castle of Saatzig, and her worthy
+cousin Marcus gave her a little chamber to herself, in the third
+story, close to the tower. It was the same room in which she
+afterwards sat as a witch, for some days ere she was taken to
+Oderburg. There was a right cheerful view from the windows down
+upon the lake, which was close to the castle, and over the little
+town of Jacobshagen, as far even as the meadows beyond. Here, too,
+was left a Bible for her, and the _Opera Lutheri_ in
+addition, with plenty of materials for spinning and embroidery,
+for she had refused to weave. _Item_, a serving-wench was
+appointed to attend on her, and she had permission to walk where
+she pleased within the castle walls; but if ever seen beyond the
+domain, the keepers had orders to bring her back by force, if she
+would not return willingly.
+
+In fine, the careful knight took every precaution possible to
+render her presence as little baneful as could be, for, truth to
+say, he had no faith whatever in her tears and seeming repentance.
+
+First, he strictly forbade all his secretaries to interchange a
+word with her, or even look at her. They need not know his reason,
+but any one who transgressed his slightest command in this
+particular, should be chased away instantly from the castle.
+
+Secondly, he prayed his dear wife to let Sidonia eat her meals
+alone, in her own little room, and never to see her but in the
+presence of a third person.
+
+Also, never to accept the slightest gift from her hand--fruit,
+flower, or any kind of food whatsoever. These injunctions were the
+more necessary, as the young bride had already given hopes of an
+heir. Sidonia's rage and jealousy at this prospect of complete
+happiness for Clara may be divined from her words to her maid,
+Lene Penkun, a short time after she reached the castle--
+
+"Ha! they are talking of the baptism already, forsooth; but it
+might have been otherwise if I had come across her a little
+sooner!"
+
+This same maid also she sent to Daber for the spirit Chim, which
+had been left behind at the last resting-place of the robbers,
+never telling her it was a spirit, however, only a tame cat, that
+was a great pet of hers. "It must be half dead with hunger now,
+for it was four days since she had left it in the hollow of an old
+oak in the forest, the poor creature! So let the maid take a flask
+of sweet milk and a little saucer to feed it. She could not miss
+her way, for, when she stepped out of the high-road at Daber into
+the forest, there was a thorn-bush to her left hand, and just
+beyond it a large oak where the ravens had their nests; in a
+hollow of this oak, to the north side, lay her dear little cat.
+But she must not tell any one about the matter, or they would
+laugh at her for sending her maid two miles and more to look for a
+cat. Men had no compassion or tenderheartedness nowadays to each
+other, much less to a poor dumb animal. No; just let her say that
+she went to fetch a robe which her mistress had left in the oak.
+Here was an old gown; take this with her, and it would do to wrap
+up the poor little pussy in it after she had fed it and warmed it,
+so that no one might see it, for what a mock would all these
+pitiless men make of her, if they heard the object of her message;
+but she was not cruel like them."
+
+Now, after some time, it happened that the states of the duchy
+assembled at Wollin, to come to some arrangement with his Highness
+respecting the opening of the courts of justice; and Marcus Bork,
+along with all the other nobles, was summoned to attend the Diet.
+So, with great grief, he had to leave his dear wife, but promised,
+if possible, to return before she was taken with her illness. Then
+he bid her be of good courage, and, above all things, to guard
+herself, against Sidonia, and mind strictly all his injunctions
+concerning her.
+
+Alas! she too soon flung them all to the winds! For, behold,
+scarcely had the good knight arrived at Wollin, when Clara was
+delivered of a little son, at which great joy filled the whole
+castle. And one messenger was despatched to Marcus, and another to
+old Dewitz and his wife, with the tidings; but woe, alas! the good
+old mother was going to stand sponsor for a nobleman's child in
+the neighbourhood, and could not hasten then to save her dear
+daughter from a terrible and cruel death. She cooked some broth,
+however, for the young mother, and pouring it into a silver flask,
+bid the messenger ride back with all speed to Saatzig, that it
+might not be too cold. She herself would be over in the morning
+early with her husband, and let her dear little daughter keep
+herself warm and quiet.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia had heard of the birth, and sent her maid to
+wish the young mother joy, and ask her permission just to give one
+little kiss to her new cousin, for they told her he was a
+beautiful infant.
+
+Alas, alas! that Clara's joy should make her forget the judicious
+cautions of her husband! Permission was given to the murderess,
+and down she comes directly to offer her congratulations; even
+affecting to weep for joy as she kissed the infant, and praying to
+be allowed to act as nurse until her mother came from Daber.
+
+"Why, she had no one about her but common serving-women! How could
+she leave her dearest friend to the care of these old hags, when
+she was in the castle, who owed everything to her dear Clara?"
+
+And so she went on till poor Clara, even if she did not quite
+believe her, felt ashamed to doubt so much apparent affection and
+tenderness.
+
+_Summa_.--She permitted her to remain, and we shall soon see
+what murderous deeds Sidonia was planning against the poor young
+mother. But first I must relate what happened at the Diet of
+Wollin, to which Marcus Bork had been summoned.
+
+His Highness Duke Johann had become somewhat more gracious to the
+states since they had come to the Diet at their own cost, which
+was out of the usage; and further, because, as old Ulrich
+prophesied, he himself had felt the inconveniences resulting from
+the present lawless state of the country.
+
+Still he was ill-tempered enough, particularly as he had a fever
+on him; and when the states promised at last that they would let
+him have the money, he said, "So far good; but, till he saw the
+gold, the courts should not be opened. Not that he misdoubted
+them, but then he knew that they were sometimes as tedious in
+handing out money as a peasant in paying his rent. The courts,
+therefore, should not be opened until he had the gold in his pot,
+so it would be to their own profit to use as much diligence as
+possible." At this same Diet his Grace related how he first met
+Clas, his fool, which story I shall set down here for the reader's
+pastime.
+
+This same fool had been nothing but a poor goose-herd; and one day
+as he was on the road to Friedrichswald with his flock, my
+gracious lord rode up, and growing impatient at the geese running
+hither and thither in his path, bid the boy collect them together,
+or he would strike them all dead.
+
+Upon which the knave took up goose after goose by the throat, and
+stuck them by their long necks into his girdle, till a circle of
+geese hung entirely round his body, all dangling by the head from
+his waist.
+
+This merry device pleased my lord so much, that he made the lad
+court-jester from that day, and many a droll trick he had played
+from that to this, particularly when his Highness was gloomy, so
+as to make him laugh again. Once, for instance, when the Duke was
+sore pressed for money, by reason of the opposition of the states,
+he became very sad, and all the doctors were consulted, but could
+do nothing. For unless his Grace could be brought to laugh (they
+said to the Lady Erdmuth), it was all over with him. Then my
+gracious lady had the fool whipped for a stupid jester, who could
+not drive his trade; for if he did not make the Duke laugh, why
+should he stay at all in the castle?
+
+What did my fool? He collected all the princely soldatesca, and
+got leave from their Graces to review them; and surely never were
+seen such strange evolutions as he put them through, for they must
+do everything he bid them. And when his Highness came forth to
+look, he laughed so loud as never had fool made him laugh before;
+and calling the Duchess, bid him repeat his _experimentum_
+many times for her. In fine, the fool got the good town of
+Butterdorf for his fee, which changed its name in honour of him,
+and is called Hinzendorf to this day (for his name was Hinze).
+
+But Clas Hinze had not been able to cure my Lord Duke of his
+fever, which attacked him at the Diet at Wollin, nor all the
+doctors from Stettin, nor even Doctor Pomius, who had been sent
+from Wolgast by the old Duchess, to attend her dear son; and as
+the doctor (as I have said) was a formal, priggish little man, he
+and the fool were always bickering and snarling.
+
+Now, one day at Wollin, the weather being beautiful, his Grace,
+with several of the chief prelates, and many of the nobility, went
+forth to walk by the river's side, and the fool ran along with
+them; _item_, Doctor Pomius, who, if he could not run, at
+least tried to walk majestically; and he munched a piece of sugar
+all the time, for he never could keep his mouth still a moment.
+Seeing his Grace now about to cross the bridge, the doctor started
+forward with as much haste as was consistent with his dignity, and
+seizing his Highness by the tail of the coat, drew him back,
+declaring, "That he must not pass the water; all water would give
+strength to the fever-devil." But his Highness, who was talking
+Latin to the Deacon of Colberg, turned on the doctor with--"Apage
+te asine!" and strode forward, whilst one of the nobles gave a
+free translation aloud for the benefit of the others, saying, "And
+that means: Begone, thou ass!"
+
+When the fool heard this, he clapped the little man on the back,
+shouting, "Well done, ass! and there is thy fee for curing our
+gracious Prince of his fever."
+
+This so nettled the doctor that he spat out the lump of sugar for
+rage, and tried to seize the fool; but the crowd laughed still
+louder when Clas jumped on the back of an old woman, giving her
+the spur with his yellow boots in the side, and shaking his head
+with the cap and bells at the little doctor in mockery, who could
+not get near him for the crowd. So the woman screamed and roared,
+and the people laughed, till at last the Duke stopped in the
+middle of the bridge to see what was the matter. When the fool
+observed this, he sprang off the old woman's back, and calling out
+to the doctor--"See how I cure our gracious lord's fever," ran
+upon the bridge like wind, and, seizing the Duke with all his
+force, jumped with him into the water.
+
+Now the people screamed from horror, as much as before from mirth,
+and thirty or forty burghers, along with Marcus Bork, plunged in
+to rescue his Highness, whilst others tried to seize the fool,
+threatening to tear him in pieces. This was a joyful hearing to
+Doctor Pomius. He drew forth his knife--"Would they not finish the
+knave at once? Here was a knife just ready."
+
+But the fool, who was strong and supple, swung himself up to the
+bridge, and crouched in between the arches, catching hold of the
+beams, so that no one dared to touch him there, and his Highness
+was soon carried to land. He was in a flaming rage as he shook off
+the water.
+
+"Where is that accursed fool? He had only threatened to cut off
+his head at Daber, but now it should be done in earnest."
+
+So the fool shouted from under the bridge--"Ho! ho! the courts are
+all closed! the courts are all closed!" At which the crowd laughed
+so heartily, that my Lord Duke grew still more angry, and
+commanded them to bring the fool to him dead or alive.
+
+Hearing this, the fool crept forward of himself, and whimpered in
+his Low Dutch, "My good Lord Duke, praise be to God that we've
+made the doctor fly. I'll give him a little piece of drink-money
+for his journey, and then I'll be your doctor myself. For if the
+fright has not cured you, marry, let the deacon be your fool, and
+I will be your deacon as long as I live."
+
+However, my gracious lord was in no humour for fun, but bid them
+carry off the fool to prison, and lock him up there; for though,
+indeed, the fever had really quite gone, as his Highness perceived
+to his joy, yet he was resolved to give the fool a right good
+fright in return.
+
+Therefore, on the third day from that, he commanded him to be
+brought out and beheaded on the scaffold at Wollin. He wore a
+white shroud, bordered with black gauze, over his motley jacket,
+and a priest and melancholy music accompanied him all the way; but
+Master Hansen had directions that, when the fool was seated in the
+chair with his eyes bound, he should strike the said fool on the
+neck with a sausage in place of the sword.
+
+However, no one suspected this, and a great crowd followed the
+poor fool up to the scaffold; even Doctor Pomius was there, and
+kept close up to the condemned. As the fool passed the ducal
+house, there was my lord seated at a window looking out, and the
+fool looked up, saying, "My gracious master, is this a fool's jest
+you are playing me, or is it earnest?"
+
+To which the Duke answered, "You see it is earnest."
+
+Then answered the fool, "Well, if I must, I must; yet I crave one
+boon!"
+
+When the promise was granted, the knave, who could not give up his
+jesting even on the death-road, said, "Then make Doctor Pomius
+herewith to be fool in my place, for look how he is learning all
+my tricks from me--sticking himself close up to my side."
+
+Hereat a great shout of laughter pealed from the crowd, and the
+Duke motioned with the hand to proceed to the scaffold.
+
+Still the poor fool kept looking round every moment, thinking his
+Grace would send a message after them to stop the execution, but
+no one appeared. Then his teeth chattered, and he trembled like an
+aspen leaf; for Master Hansen seized hold of him now, and put him
+down upon the chair, and bound his eyes. Still he asked, with his
+eyes bound, "Master, is any one coming?"
+
+"No!" replied the executioner; and throwing back his red cloak,
+drew forth a large sausage in place of a sword, to the great
+amusement of the people. With this he strikes my fool on the neck,
+who thereupon tumbles down from the stool, as stone dead from the
+mere fright as if his head and body had parted company--yea, more
+dead, for never a finger or a muscle did the poor fool move more.
+
+This sad ending moved his Grace even to tears; and he fell into a
+yet greater melancholy than before, crying, "Woe! alas! He gave me
+my life through fright, and through fright I have taken away his
+poor life! Ah, never shall I meet with so good and merry a fool
+again!"
+
+Then he gave command to all the physicians to try and restore him,
+and he himself stood by while they bled him and felt his pulse,
+but all was in vain; even Doctor Pomius tried his skill, but
+nothing would help, so that my lord cried out angrily--
+
+"Marry, the fool was right. The fools should be doctors, for the
+doctors are all fools. Away with ye all, and your gibberish, to
+the devil!"
+
+After this he had the said fool placed in a handsome black coffin,
+and conveyed to his own town of Hinzendorf, there to be buried;
+and over his grave my lord erected a stately monument, on which
+was represented the poor fool, as large as life, with his cap and
+bells, and staff in his hand; and round his waist was a girdle,
+from which many geese dangled, all cut like life, while at his
+side lay his shepherd's bag, and at his feet a beer-can. The
+figure is five feet two inches long, and bears a Latin inscription
+above it, which I forget; but the initials G. H. are carved upon
+each cheek. [Footnote: His original name was Guergen Hinze, not
+Clas. The Latin inscription is nearly effaced, but the beginning
+is still visible, and runs thus: "Caput ecce manus gestus que;"
+from which Oelrichs concludes that the whole was written in
+hexameters. (See his estimable work, "Memoirs of the Pomeranian
+Dukes," p. 41.)]
+
+Shortly after the death of the fool a messenger arrived from
+Saatzig to Marcus Bork, bringing him the joyful tidings that the
+Lord God had granted him the blessing of a little son. So he is
+away to my Lord Duke, to solicit permission to leave the Diet and
+return to his castle. This the Duke readily granted, seeing that
+he himself was going away to attend the funeral of the poor fool
+at Hinzendorf. Then he wished Marcus joy with all his heart, which
+so emboldened the knight that he ventured to make one more effort
+about the opening of the courts, praying his Grace to put faith in
+the word of his faithful states, and open the courts and the
+treasury without further delay.
+
+But his Grace is wroth: "What should he be troubled for? The
+states could give the money when they chose, and then all would be
+right. Let the nobles do their duty. He never saw a penny come out
+of their pockets for their Prince."
+
+"But his Highness knew the poor peasants were all beggared; and
+where could the nobles get the money?"
+
+"Let them go to their saving-pots, then, where the money was
+turning green from age; better for them if they had less avarice.
+Why did not he himself bring him some gold, in place of dressing
+up his wife in silks and jewels, finer than the Princess Erdmuth
+herself, his own princely spouse? Then, indeed, the courts might
+be soon opened," &c. So the sorrowing knight took his leave, and
+each went his different way.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the
+great mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on
+her coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church._
+
+
+I must first state that this horrible wickedness of Sidonia, which
+no eye had seen nor ear heard, neither had it entered into the
+heart of man to conceive (for only in hell could such have been
+imagined), never would have come to light but that she herself
+made confession thereof to Dr. Cramero, thy well-beloved
+godfather, in her last trial. And he, to show how far Satan can
+lead a poor human creature who has once fallen from God, related
+the same to my worthy father-in-law, Master David Reutzio, some
+time superintendent at the criminal court, from whose own lips I
+received the story.
+
+And this was her confession:--That when the messenger returned
+from Daber with the broth, he had ridden so fast that it was
+still, in truth, quite hot, but she (the horrible Sidonia), who
+was standing at the bed of the young mother, along with the other
+women, pretended that it was too cold for a woman in her state,
+and must just get one little heating on the fire.
+
+The poor Clara, indeed, showed unwillingness to permit this, but
+she ran down with it, and secretly, without being seen by any of
+the other women, poured in a philtrum that had been given her by
+the gipsy hag, and then went back again for a moment. This
+philtrum was the one which produced all the appearance of death.
+It had no taste, except, perhaps, that it was a little saltish.
+Therefore Clara perceived nothing wrong, only when she tasted it,
+said, "My heart's dearest mother, in her joy, has put a little too
+much salt into her broth; still, what a heart's dearest mother
+sends, must always taste good!" However, in one hour after that,
+Clara lay as stiff and cold as a corpse, only her breath came a
+little; but even this ceased in a short time, and then a great cry
+and lamentation resounded through the whole castle. No one
+suspected Sidonia, for many said that young women died so often;
+but even the old mother, who arrived a few hours after, and
+hearing the cries from the castle while she was yet far off, began
+to weep likewise; for her mother's heart revealed the cause to her
+ere she had yet descended from the carriage.
+
+But it was a sadder sight next evening, when the husband arrived
+at the castle from Wollin. He could not take his eyes from the
+corpse. One while he kissed the infant, then fixed his eyes again
+upon his dead wife, and sighed and groaned as if he lay upon the
+rack. He alone suspected Sidonia, but when she cried more than
+they all, and wrung her hands, exclaiming, who would have pity on
+her now, for her best friend lay there dead! and flung herself
+upon the seeming corpse, kissing it and bedewing it with her
+tears, and praying to have leave to watch all night beside it, for
+how could she sleep in her sore grief and sorrow? the knight was
+ashamed of his suspicions, and even tried to comfort her himself.
+
+Then came the physicians out of Stargard and other places, who had
+been summoned in all haste, and they gabbled away, saying, "It
+could not have been the broth, but puerperal fever." This at least
+was Dr. Hamster's opinion, who knew all along it would be a bad
+case. Indeed, the last time he was at the castle visiting the
+mower's wife, he was frightened at the look of the poor lady.
+Still, if they had only sent for him in time, this great evil
+could not have happened, for his _pulvis antispasmodicus_ was
+never known to fail; and so he went on chattering, by which one
+can see that doctors have always been the same from that time even
+till now.
+
+_Summa_.--On the third day the poor Clara was laid in her
+coffin, and carried to her grave, with such weeping and
+lamentation of the mourners and bearers as never had been heard
+till then. And all the nobles of the vicinage, with the knights
+and gentlemen, came to attend her funeral at Saatzig Cathedral,
+for she was to be buried in this new church just finished by his
+Grace Duke Johann, and but one corpse had been laid in the vaults
+before her. [Footnote: The beautifully painted escutcheon of Duke
+Johann and his wife, Erdmuth of Brandenburg, is still to be seen
+on the chancel windows of this stately staircase.]
+
+But what does the devil's sorceress do now? She knew that the poor
+Clara would awake the next day (which was Sunday) about noon, and
+if any should hear her cries, her plans would be detected.
+Therefore, about ten of the clock she ran to Marcus, with her hair
+all flowing down her shoulders, saying, that he must let her away
+that very day to Zachow, for what would the world say if she, a
+young unmarried thing, should remain here all alone with him in
+his castle? No; sooner would she swallow the bitter cup her father
+had left her than peril her name. But first, would he allow her to
+go and pray alone in the church? Surely he would not deny her
+this.
+
+Thereupon the simple knight gave her instant leave--"Let her go
+and pray, in God's name. He himself would soon be there to hear
+the Reverend Dr. Wudargensis preach the funeral sermon over his
+heart's dear wife. And after service he would desire a carriage to
+be in readiness to convey her to Zachow."
+
+Then he called to the warder from the window, bidding him let
+Sidonia pass. So she went forth in deep mourning garments, glided
+through the castle gardens, and concealing herself by the trees,
+slipped into the church without any one having perceived her; for
+the sexton had left the door open to admit fresh air, on account
+of the corpse. Then she stepped over to the little grated door
+near the altar, which led down into the vault, and softly lifting
+it, stepped down, drawing the door down again close over her head.
+Clara's coffin was lying beneath, and first she laid her ear on it
+and listened, but all was quite still within. Then removing the
+pall, she sat herself down upon the lid. Time passed, and still no
+sound. The sexton began to ring the bell, and the people were
+assembling in the church above. Soon the hymn commenced, "Now in
+peace the loved one sleepeth," and ere the first verse had ended,
+a knocking was heard in the coffin, then a cry--"Where am I? What
+brought me here? Let me out, for God's sake let me out! I am not
+dead. Where is my child? Where is my good Marcus? Ah! there is
+some one near me. Who is it? Let me out! let me out!" Then (oh!
+horror of horrors!) the devil's harlot on her coffin answered, "It
+is I, Sidonia! this pays thee for acting the spy at Wolgast. Lie
+there and writhe till thou art stifled in thy blood!" Now the
+voice came again from the coffin, praying and beseeching, so that
+many times it went through her stony heart like a sword. And just
+then the first verse of the hymn ended, and the voice of the
+priest was heard asking the lord governor whether they should go
+and sing the remainder over the vault of his dear spouse, for it
+was indeed sung in her honour, seeing she had been ever a mother
+to the orphan, and a holy, pious, and Christian wife; or, since
+the people all knew her worth, and mourned for her with bitter
+mourning, should they sing it here in the nave, that the whole
+congregation might join in chorus? [Footnote: These interruptions
+were by no means unusual at that period.]
+
+To this the governor, in a loud yet mournful voice, gave answer--
+
+"Alas, good friends, do what you will in this sad case; I am
+content."
+
+But Sidonia, this devil's witch, was in a horrible fright, lest
+the priest would come up to the altar to sing the hymn, and so
+hear the knocking within the coffin. However, the devil protects
+his own, for, at that instant, many voices called out--
+
+"Let the hymn be sung here, that we may all join to the honour of
+the blessed soul of the good lady."
+
+And mournfully the second verse was heard pealing through the
+church, from the lips of the whole congregation, so that poor
+Clara's groans were quite smothered. For, when the voice of her
+dear husband reached her ear, she had knocked and cried out with
+all her strength--
+
+"Marcus! Marcus! Alas, dear Lord, will you not come to me!" Then
+again--"Sidonia, by the Jesu cross, I pray thee have pity on me.
+Save me--save me--I am stifling. Oh, run for some one, if thou
+canst not lift the lid thyself!"
+
+But the devil made answer to the poor living corpse--
+
+"Dost thou take me for a silly fool like thyself, that I should
+now undo all I have done?"
+
+And as the voice went on from the coffin, but feebler and
+fainter--
+
+"Think on my husband--on my child, Sidonia!"
+
+She answered--
+
+"Didst thou think of that when, but for thee, I might have been a
+Duchess of Pomerania, and the proud mother of a prince, in place
+of being as I now am."
+
+Then all became still within the coffin, and Sidonia sprang upon
+it and danced, chanting the 109th psalm; [Footnote: Superstition
+has found many sinful usages for this psalm. The Jews, for
+example, took a new vessel, poured a mixture of mustard and water
+therein, and after repeating this psalm over it for three
+consecutive days, poured it out before the door of their enemy, as
+a certain means to ensure his destruction. In the middle ages
+monks and nuns were frequently obliged to repeat it in
+superstitious ceremonies, at the command of some powerful
+revengeful man. And that its efficacy was Considered as something
+miraculously powerful, even by the evangelical Church, is proved
+by this example of Sidonia, who made frequent use of this terrible
+psalm in her sorceries, as any one may see by referring to the
+records of the trial in Daehnert. And other interesting examples
+are found in the treatise of Job. Andreas Schmidii, _Abusus
+Psalmi 109 imprecatorii_; vulgo, _The Death Prayer_,
+Helmstadt, 1708.] and as she came to the words, "Let none show
+mercy to him; let none have pity on his orphans; let his posterity
+be cut off and his name be blotted out," there was a loud knocking
+again within the coffin, and a faint, stifled cry--"I am dying!"
+then followed a gurgling sound, and all became still. At that
+moment the congregation above raised the last verse of the hymn:--
+
+  "In the grave, with bitter weeping,
+    Loving hands have laid her down;
+  There she resteth, calmly sleeping,
+    Till an angel lifts the stone."
+
+But the sermon which now followed she remembered her life long. It
+was on the tears, the soft tears of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. And as her spirit became oppressed by the silence in the
+vault, now that all was still within the coffin, she lifted the
+lid after the exordium, to see if Clara were indeed quite dead.
+
+It was an easy matter to remove the cover, for the screws were not
+fastened; but--O God! what has she beheld? A sight that will never
+more leave her brain! The poor corpse lay all torn and disfigured
+from the writhings in the coffin, and a blood-vessel must have
+burst at last to relieve her from her agony, for the blood lay yet
+warm on the hands as she lifted the cover. But more horrible than
+all were the fixed glassy eyes of the corpse, staring immovably
+upon her, from which clear tears were yet flowing, and blending
+with the blood upon the cheek; and, as if the priest above had
+known what was passing beneath, he exclaimed--
+
+"Oh, let us moisten our couch with tears; let tears be our meat
+day and night. They are noble tears that do not fall to earth, but
+ascend up to God's throne. Yea, the Lord gathers them in His
+vials, like costly wine. They are noble tears, for if they fill
+the eyes of God's chosen in this life, yet, in that other world,
+the Lord Jesus will wipe away tears from off all faces, as the dew
+is dried by the morning sun. Oh, wondrous beauty of those eyes
+which are dried by the Lord Jesus! Oh, blessed eyes! Oh, sun-clear
+eyes! Oh, joyful and ever-smiling eyes!"
+
+She heard no more, but felt the eyes of the corpse were upon her,
+and fell down like one dead beside the coffin; and Clara's eyes
+and the sermon never left her brain from that day, and often have
+they risen before her in dreams.
+
+But the Holy Spirit had yet a greater torment in store for her, if
+that were possible.
+
+For, after the sermon, a consistorium was held in the church upon
+a grievous sinner named Trina Wolken, who, it appeared, had many
+times done penance for her unchaste life, but had in no wise
+amended. And she heard the priest asking, "Who accuseth this
+woman?" To which, after a short silence, a deep, small voice
+responded--
+
+"I accuse her; for I detected her in sin, and though I besought
+her with Christian words to turn from her evil ways, and that I
+would save her from public shame if she would so turn, yet she
+gave herself up wholly to the devil, and out of revenge bewitched
+my best sheep, so that it died the very day after it had brought
+forth a lamb. Alas! what will become of the poor lamb? And it was
+such a beautiful little lamb!"
+
+When Marcus Bork heard this, he began to sob aloud; and each word
+seemed to run like a sharp dagger through Sidonia's heart, so that
+she bitterly repented her evil deeds. And all the congregation
+broke out into loud weeping, and even the priest continued, in a
+broken voice, to ask the sinner what she had to say to this
+terrible accusation.
+
+Upon which a woman's voice was heard swearing that all was a
+malignant lie, for her accuser was a shameless liar and open
+sinner, who wished to ruin her because she had refused his son.
+
+Then the priest commanded the witnesses to be called, not only to
+prove the unchastity, but also the witchcraft. And after this, she
+was asked if she could make good the loss of the sheep? No; she
+had no money. And the people testified also that the harlot had
+nothing but her shame. Thereupon the priest rose up, and said--
+
+"That she had long been notorious in the Christian communion for
+her wicked life, and that all her penance and repentance having
+proved but falsehood and deceit, he was commissioned by the
+honourable consistorium to pronounce upon her the solemn curse and
+sentence of excommunication. For she had this day been convicted
+of strange and terrible crimes, on the testimony of competent
+witnesses. Therefore he called upon the whole Christian
+congregation to stand up and listen to the words of the anathema,
+by which he gave over Trina Wolken to the devil, in the name of
+the Almighty God."
+
+And as he spoke the curse, it fell word by word upon the head of
+Sidonia, as if he were indeed pronouncing it over herself--
+
+"Dear Christian Friends,--Because Trina Wolken hath broken her
+baptismal vows, and given herself over to the devil, to work all
+uncleanness with greediness; and though divers times admonished to
+repentance by the Church, yet hath stiffened her neck in
+corruption, and hardened her heart in unrighteousness, therefore
+we herewith place the said Trina Wolken under the ban of the
+excommunication. Henceforth she is a thing accursed--cast off from
+the communion of the Church, and participation in the holy
+sacraments. Henceforth she is given up to Satan for this life and
+the next, unless the blessed Saviour reach forth His hand to her
+as He did to the sinking Peter, for all things are possible with
+God. And this we do by the power of the keys granted by Christ to
+His Church, to bind and loose on earth as in heaven, in the name
+of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
+
+And now Sidonia heard distinctly the screams of the wretched
+sinner, as she was hunted out of the church, and all the
+congregation followed soon after, and then all was still above.
+
+Now, indeed, terror took such hold of her that she trembled like
+an aspen leaf, and the lid fell many times from her hand with
+great clatter on the ground, as she tried to replace it on the
+coffin. For she had closed her eyes, for fear of meeting the
+ghastly stare of the corpse again. At last she got it up, and the
+corpse was covered; but she would not stay to replace the screws,
+only hastened out of the vault, closing the little grated door
+after her, reached the church door, which had no lock, but only a
+latch, and plunged into the castle gardens to hide herself amongst
+the trees.
+
+Here she remained crouched for some hours, trying to recover her
+self-possession; and when she found that she could weep as well as
+ever when it pleased her, she set off for the castle, and met her
+cousin Marcus with loud weeping and lamentations, entreating him
+to let her go that instant to Zachow. Eat and drink could she not
+from grief, though she had eaten nothing the whole morning. So the
+mournful knight, who had himself risen from the table without
+eating, to hasten to his little motherless lamb, asked her where
+she had passed the morning, for he had not seen her in the church?
+To which she answered, that she had sunk down almost dead on the
+altar-steps; and, as he seemed to doubt her, she repeated part of
+the sermon, and spoke of the curse pronounced upon the girl, and
+told how she had remained behind in the church, to weep and pray
+alone. Upon which he exclaimed joyfully--
+
+"Now, I thank God that my blessed spouse counselled me to take
+thee home with us. Ah! I see that thou hast indeed repented of thy
+sins. Go thy ways, then; and, with God's help, thou shalt never
+want a true and faithful friend while I live."
+
+He bid her also take all his blessed wife's wardrobe with her,
+amongst which was a brocaded damask with citron flowers, which she
+had only got a year before; _item_, her shoes and kerchiefs:
+_summa_, all that she had worn, he wished never to see them
+again. And so she went away in haste from the castle, after having
+given a farewell kiss to the little motherless lamb. For though
+the evil spirit Chim, which she carried under her mantle,
+whispered to her to give the little bastard a squeeze that would
+make him follow his mother, or to let him do so, she would not
+consent, but pinched him for his advice till he squalled, though
+Marcus certainly could not have heard him, for he was attending
+Sidonia to the coach; but then the good knight was so absorbed in
+grief that he had neither ears nor eyes for anything.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night._
+
+
+When Sidonia left Saatzig, the day was far advanced, so that the
+good knight recommended her to stop at Daber that night with his
+blessed wife's mourning parents, and, for this purpose, sent a
+letter by her to them. Also he gave a fine one-year-old foal in
+charge to the coachman, who tied it to the side of the carriage;
+and Marcus bid him deliver it up safely to the pastor of
+Rehewinkel, his good friend, for he had only been keeping the
+young thing at grass for him, and the pastor now wished it
+back--they must therefore go by Rehewinkel. So they drove away;
+but many strange things happened by reason of this same foal; for
+it was so restive and impatient at being tied, that many times
+they had to stop and quiet it, lest the poor beast might get hurt
+by the wheel.
+
+This so delayed their journey, that evening came on before they
+were out of the forest; and as the sun went down, the wolves began
+to appear in every direction. Finally, a pack of ten or twelve
+pursued the carriage; and though the coach-man whipped his horses
+with might and main, still the wolves gained on them, and stared
+up in their faces, licking their jaws with their red tongues. Some
+even were daring enough to spring up behind the carriage, but
+finding nothing but trunks, had to tumble down again.
+
+This so terrified Sidonia that she screamed and shrieked, and,
+drawing forth a knife, cut the cords that bound the foal, which
+instantly galloped away, and the wolves after it. How the carl
+drove now, thinking to get help in time to save the poor foal! but
+not so. The poor beast, in its terror, galloped into the town of
+Rehewinkel; and as the paddock is closed, it springs into the
+churchyard, the wolves after it, and runs into the belfry-tower,
+the door of which is lying open--the wolves rush in too, and there
+they tear the poor animal to pieces, before the pastor could
+collect peasants enough to try and save it.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia has reached the town likewise; and as there is a
+great uproar, some of the peasants crowding into the churchyard,
+others setting off full chase after the wolves, which had taken
+the road to Freienwald, Sidonia did not choose to move on (for she
+must have travelled that very road), but desired the coachman to
+drive up to the inn; and as she entered, lo! there sat my knave,
+with two companions, at a table, drinking. Up he jumps, and seizes
+Sidonia to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Let him not attempt
+to come near her. She had done with such low fellows."
+
+So the knave feigned great sorrow--"Alas! had she quite forgotten
+him--and he treasured her memory so in his heart! Where had she
+come from? He saw a great many trunks and bags on the carriage.
+What had she in them?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! he would, no doubt, like to get hold of them;
+but she would take care and inform the people what sort of robber
+carls they had now in the house. She came from Saatzig, and was
+going to Daber; for as old Dewitz had lost his daughter, he
+intended to adopt her in the place of one. Therefore let him not
+attempt to approach her, for she was now, more than ever, a castle
+and land dowered maiden, and from such a low burgher carl as he
+was, would cross and bless herself."
+
+But my knave knew her well; so he answered--"Woe is me, Sidonia!
+do not grieve me by such words; for know that I have given up my
+old free courses of which you talk; and my father is so pleased
+with my present mode of life, that he has promised to give me my
+heritage, and even this very night I am to receive it at
+Bruchhausen, and am on my way there, as you see. Truly I meant to
+purchase some land in Poland with the money, and then search
+throughout all places for you, that we might be wedded like pious
+Christians. Alas! I thought to have sold your poor cabins at
+Zachow, and brought you home to my castle in Poland; but for all
+my love you only give me this proud answer!"
+
+Now Sidonia scarcely believed the knave; so she called one of his
+comrades aside, and asked him was it true, and where they came
+from. Upon which he confirmed all that Johann had said--"The devil
+had dispersed the whole band, so that only two were left with the
+captain--himself and Konnemann; and they came from Noerenburg,
+where the master had been striking a bargain with Elias von Wedel,
+for a town in Poland. The town was called Lembrowo, and there was
+a stately castle there, as grand almost as the castle of old
+Dewitz at Daber. They were going this very night to Bruchhausen,
+to get gold from the old stiff-neck of Stargard, so that the
+bargain might be concluded next day."
+
+This was a pleasant hearing for Sidonia. She became more friendly,
+and said, "He could not blame her for doubting him, as he had
+deceived her so often; still it was wonderful how her heart clung
+to him through all. Where had he been so long? and what had
+happened since they parted?"
+
+Hereupon he answered, "That he could not speak while the people
+were all going to and fro in the inn; but if she came out with him
+(as the night was fine), they could walk down to the river-side,
+and he would tell her all."
+
+_Summa_.--She went with him, and they sat down upon the green
+grass to discourse, never knowing that the pastor of Rehewinkel
+was hid behind the next tree; for he had gone forth to lament over
+the loss of his poor foal, and sat there weeping bitterly. He had
+got it home to sell, that he might buy a warm coat for the winter,
+which now he cannot do; therefore the old man had gone forth
+mournfully into the clear night, thrown himself down, and wept.
+
+By this chance he heard the whole story from my knave, and related
+it afterwards to the old burgomaster in Stargard. It was as
+follows:--
+
+Some time after his flight from Daber, a friend from Stettin told
+him that Dinnies von Kleist (the same who had spoiled their work
+in the Uckermund forest) had got a great sum of gold in his
+knapsack, and was off to his castle at Dame, [Footnote: A town
+near Polzin, in Lower Pomerania, and an ancient feudal hold of the
+Kleists.] while the rest were feasting at Daber. This sum he had
+won by a wager from the Princes of Saxony, Brandenburg, and
+Mecklenburg. For he had bet, at table, that he would carry five
+casks of Italian wine at once, and without help, up from the
+cellar to the dining-hall, in the castle of Old Stettin. Duke
+Johann refused the bet, knowing his man well, but the others took
+it up; upon which, after grace, the whole noble company stood up
+and accompanied him to the cellar. Here Dinnies took up a cask
+under each arm, another in each hand by the plugs, and a fifth
+between his teeth by the plug also; thus laden, he carried the
+five casks up every step from the cellar to the dining-hall. So
+the money was paid to him, as the lacqueys witnessed, and having
+put the same in his knapsack, he set off for his castle at Dame,
+to give it to his father. And the knave went on--"After I heard
+this news from my good friend, I resolved to set off for Dame and
+revenge myself on this strong ox, burn his castle, and take his
+gold. The band agreed; but woe, alas! there was one traitor
+amongst them. The fellow was called Kaff, and I might well have
+suspected him; for latterly I observed that when we were about any
+business, particularly church-robbing, he tried to be off, and
+asked to be left to keep the watch. Divers nights, too, as I
+passed him, there was the carl praying; and so I ought to have
+dismissed the coward knave at once, or he would have had half the
+band praying likewise before long.
+
+"In short, this arrant villain slips off at night from his post,
+just as we had all set ourselves down before the castle, waiting
+for the darkest hour of midnight to attack the foxes in their den,
+and betrays the whole business to Kleist himself, telling him the
+strength of the band, and how and when we were to attack him, with
+all other particulars. Whereupon a great lamentation was heard in
+the castle, and old Kleist, a little white-headed man, wrung his
+hands, and seemed ready to go mad with fear; for half the
+retainers were at the annual fair, others far away at the
+coal-mines, and finally, they could scarcely muster in all ten
+fighting men. Besides this, the castle fosse was filled with
+rubbish, though the old man had been bidding his sons, for the
+last year, to get it cleared, but they never minded him, the idle
+knaves. All this troubled stout Dinnies mightily; and as he walked
+up and down the hall, his eyes often rested on a painting which
+represented the devil cutting off the head of a gambler, and
+flying with it out of the window.
+
+"Again and again he looked at the picture, then called out for a
+hound, stuck him under his arm, and cut off his head, as if it had
+been only a dove; then he called for a calf from the stall, put it
+under his arm likewise, and cut off the head. Then he asked for
+the mask which represented the devil, and which he had got from
+Stettin to frighten his dissolute brothers, when they caroused too
+late over their cups. The young Johann, indeed, had sometimes
+dropped the wine-flask by reason of it, but Detloff still ran
+after the young maidens as much as ever, though even he had got
+such a fright that there was hope for his poor soul yet. So the
+mask was brought, and all the proper disguise to play the
+devil--namely, a yellow jerkin slashed with black, a red mantle,
+and a large wooden horse's foot.
+
+"When Dinnies beheld all this, and the man who played the devil
+instructed him how to put them on, he rejoiced greatly, and
+declared that now he alone could save the castle. I knew nothing
+of all this at the time," said Johann, "nor of the treason,
+neither did the band. We were all seated under a shed in the wood,
+that had been built for the young deer in the winter time, and had
+stuck a lantern against the wall while we gamed and drank, and our
+provider poured us out large mugs of the best beer, when, just at
+midnight, we heard a report like a clap of thunder outside, so
+that the earth shook under us (it was no thunder-clap, however,
+but an explosion of powder, which the traitor had laid down all
+round the shed, for we found the trace of it next day).
+
+"And as we all sprang up, in strode the devil himself bodily, with
+his horse's foot and cocks' feathers, and a long calf's tail,
+making the most horrible grimaces, and shaking his long hair at
+us. Fire came out of his mouth and nostrils, and roaring like a
+wild boar, he seized the little dwarf (whom you may remember,
+Sidonia), tucked him under his arm like a cock--and just as he was
+uttering a curse over his good game being interrupted--and cut his
+head clean off; then, throwing the head at me, growled forth--
+
+  "'Every day one,
+  Only Sundays none"
+
+and disappeared through the door like a flash of lightning,
+carrying the headless trunk along with him.
+
+"When my comrades heard that the devil was to carry off one of
+them every day but Sunday, they all set up a screaming, like so
+many rooks when a shot is fired in amongst them, and rushed out in
+the night, seizing hold of horses or waggons, or whatever they
+could lay their hands on, and rode away east and west, and west
+and east, or north and south, as it may be.
+
+"_Summa_.--When I came to my senses (for I had sunk down
+insensible from horror, when the head of the dwarf was thrown at
+me), I found that the said head had bit me by the arm, so that I
+had to drag it away by force; then I looked about me, and every
+knave had fled--even my waggon had been carried off, and not a
+soul was left in the place of all these fine fellows, who had
+sworn to be true to me till death.
+
+"This base desertion nearly broke my heart, and I resolved to
+change my course of life and go to some pious priest for
+confession, telling him how the devil had first tempted me to sin,
+and then punished me in this terrible manner (as, indeed, I well
+deserved).
+
+"So next morning I took my way to the town, after observing, to my
+great annoyance, that the castle could have been as easily taken
+as a bird's nest; and seeing a beer-glass painted on a sign-board,
+I guessed that here was the inn. Truth to say, my heart wanted
+strengthening sorely, and I entered. There was a pretty wench
+washing crabs in the kitchen, and as I made up to her, after my
+manner, to have a little pastime, she drew back and said,
+laughing, 'May the devil take you, as he took the others last
+night in the barn!' upon which she laughed again so loud and long,
+that I thought she would have fallen down, and could not utter a
+word more for laughing.
+
+"This seemed a strange thing to me, for I had never heard a
+Christian man, much less a woman, laugh when the talk was of the
+bodily Satan himself. So I asked what there was so pleasant in the
+thought? whereupon she related what the young knight Dinnies
+Kleist had done to save his castle from the robbers. I would not
+believe her, but while I sat myself down on a bench to drink, the
+host comes in and confirmed her story. _Summa_, I let the
+conversion lie over for a time yet, and set about looking for my
+comrades, but not finding one, I fell into despair, and resolved
+to get into Poland, and take service in the army there--especially
+as all my money had vanished."
+
+Here the old parson said that Sidonia cried out, "How now, sir
+knave, you are going to buy castle and lands forsooth, and have no
+money? Truly the base villain is deceiving me yet again."
+
+But my knave answered, "Alas! woe that thou shouldst think so
+hardly of me! Have I not told thee that my father is going to give
+me my heritage? So listen further what I tell thee:--In Poland I
+met with Konnemann and Stephen Pruski, who had one of my waggons
+with them, in which all my gold was hid, and when I threatened to
+complain to the authorities, the cowards let me have my own
+property again, on condition that I would take them into my
+service, when I went to live at my own castle. This I promised;
+therefore they are here with me, as you see. And Konnemann went
+lately to my father at my request, and brought me back the joyful
+intelligence that he would assign me over my portion of his goods
+and property."
+
+So far the Pastor Rehewinkelensis heard. What follows concerning
+the wicked knave was related by his own sorrowing father to my
+worthy father-in-law, along with other pious priests, and from him
+I had the story when I visited him at Marienfliess.
+
+For what was my knave's next act? When he returned to the town,
+and heard from his comrades that the coachman of Saatzig was
+snoring away there in the stable with open mouth, he stuffed in
+some hay to prevent him screaming, and tied him hands and feet,
+then drew his horses out of the stall, yoked them to the carriage,
+and drove it himself a little piece out of the town down into the
+hollow, then went back for Sidonia, telling her that her stupid
+coachman had made some mistake and driven off without her, but he
+had put all her baggage on his own carriage, which was now quite
+ready, if she would walk with him a little way just outside the
+town. Hereupon she paid the reckoning, mine host troubling himself
+little about the affair of the waggon, and they set off on foot.
+
+When they reached the carriage, Sidonia asked if all her baggage
+were really there, for she could not see in the darkness. And when
+she felt, and reckoned all her bundles and trunks, and found all
+right, my knave said, "Now, she saw herself that he meant truly by
+her. Here was even a nice place made in the straw sack for her,
+where he had sat down first himself, that she might have an easy
+seat. _Item_, she now saw his own carriage which he had
+fished up in Poland and kept till now, that he might travel in it
+to Bruchhausen to receive his heritage, and he was going there
+this very night. She saw that he had lied in nothing."
+
+Whereupon Sidonia got into the carriage with him, never
+discovering his knavery on account of the darkness, and about
+midnight they reached the inn at Bruchhausen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby._
+
+
+My knave halted a little way before they reached the inn, for he
+had his suspicions that all was not quite right, and sent on the
+forenamed Pruski to ascertain whether the money was really come
+for him. For there was a bright light in the tap-room, and the
+sound of many voices, which was strange, seeing that it was late
+enough for every one to be in bed. Pruski was back again
+soon--yes, it was all right. There were men in there from
+Stargard, who said they had brought gold for the young
+burgomaster.
+
+Marry! how my knave jumped down from the carriage, and brought
+Sidonia along with him, bidding Pruski to stay and watch the
+things. But, behold, as my knave entered, six men seized him,
+bound him firmly, and bid him sit down quietly on a bench by the
+table, till his father arrived. So he cursed and swore, but this
+was no help to him; and when Sidonia saw that she had been
+deceived again, she tried to slip out and get to the carriage, but
+the men stopped her, saying, unless she wished a pair of handcuffs
+on, she had better sit down quietly on another bench opposite
+Johann. And she asked in vain what all this meant. _Item_, my
+knave asked in vain, but no one answered them.
+
+They had not long been waiting, when a carriage stopped before the
+door, more voices were heard, and, alas! who should enter but the
+old burgomaster himself, with Mag. Vito, Diaconus of St. John's.
+And after them came the executioner, with six assistants bearing a
+black coffin.
+
+My knave now turned as white as a corpse, and trembled like an
+aspen leaf; no word could he utter, but fell with his back against
+the wall. Then a dead silence reigned throughout the chamber, and
+Sidonia looked as white as her paramour.
+
+When the assistants had placed the coffin on the ground, the old
+father advanced to the table, and spake thus--"Oh, thou fallen and
+godless child! thou thrice lost son! how often have I sought to
+turn thee from evil, and trusted in thy promises; but in place of
+better, thou hast grown worse, and wickedness has increased in
+thee day by day, as poison in the young viper. On thy infamous
+hands lie so many robberies, murders, and seductions, that they
+cannot be reckoned. I speak not of past years, for then truly the
+night would not be long enough to count them; I speak only of thy
+last deeds in Poland, as old Elias von Wedel related them to me
+yesterday in Stargard. Deny, if thou darest, here in the face of
+thy death and thy coffin, how thou didst join thyself to the
+Lansquenets in Poland, and then along with two vile fellows got
+entrance into Lembrowo, telling the old castellan, Elias von
+Wedel, that thou wast a labourer, upon which he took thee into his
+service. But at night thou (O wicked son!) didst rise up and beat
+the old Elias almost unto death, demanding all his money, which,
+when he refused, thou and thy robber villains seized his cattle
+and his horses, and drove them away with thee. _Item_, canst
+thou deny that on meeting the same old Elias at Norenberg by the
+hunt in the forest, thou didst mock him, and ask, would he sell
+his castle of Lembrowo in Poland, for thou wouldst buy it of him,
+seeing thy father had promised thee plenty of gold?
+
+"_Item_, canst thou deny having written me a threatening
+letter, declaring that if by this very night a hundred dollars
+were not sent to thee here at Bruchhausen, a red beacon should
+rise up from my sheepfolds and barns, which meant nothing else
+than that thou wouldst burn the whole good town of Stargard, for
+thou knowest well that all the sheepfolds and barns of the
+burghers adjoin one to the other? Canst thou deny this, O thou
+lost son? If so, deny it now."
+
+Here Johann began again with his old knavery. He wept, and threw
+himself on the ground, crawling under the table to get to his
+father's feet, then howled forth, that he repented of his sins,
+and would lead a better life truly for the future, if his hard,
+stern father would only forgive him now.
+
+But Sidonia screamed aloud, and as the burgomaster in his sorrow
+had not observed her before, he turned his eyes now on her, and
+exclaimed, "Woe, alas! thou godless son, hast thou this noble
+maiden with thee yet? I thought she was at Saatzig; or perchance
+thou hast made her thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, no; but he would marry her soon, to make
+amends for the wrong he had done her."
+
+_Hic_.--"This thou hast ten times promised, but in vain, and
+thy sins have increased a hundredfold; because, like all
+profligates, thou hast shunned the holy estate of matrimony, and
+preferred to wallow in the mire of unchastity, with any one who
+fell in the way of thy adulterous and licentious eyes."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas! his heart's dearest father was right; but he
+would amend his evil life; and, in proof of it, let the reverend
+deacon, M. Vitus, here present, wed him now instantly to Sidonia."
+
+_Hic_.--"It is too late. I counsel thee rather to wed thy
+poor soul to the holy Saviour, like the repentant thief on the
+cross. See--here is a priest, and there is a coffin."
+
+Here the executioner broke in upon the old, deeply afflicted
+father, telling him the coffin was too short, as, indeed, his
+worship had told him, but he would not believe the young man was
+so tall. Where could he put the head? It must be stuck between his
+feet, or under his arm, cried out another. So some proposed one
+thing and some another, till a great uproar arose.
+
+Upon which the old mourning father cried out--"Do you want to
+break my heart? Is there not time enough to talk of this after?"
+
+Then he turned again to his profligate son, and asked him--
+
+"Would he not repent, and take the holy body and blood of our Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a passport with him on this long
+journey? If so, let him go into the little room and pray with the
+priest, and repent of his sins; there was yet time."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, he had repented already. What had he ever
+done so wicked that his own bodily father should thirst after his
+blood? The courts were all closed, and law or justice could no man
+have in all Pomerania. What wonder then if club-law and the right
+of the strongest should obtain in all places, as in the olden
+time?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That law and justice had ceased in the land was,
+alas! but too true. However, he was not to answer for this, but
+his princely Grace of Stettin. And because they had ceased in the
+land, was he, as an upright magistrate, called upon to do his duty
+yet more sternly, even though the criminal were his own born son.
+For the Lord, the just Judge, the Almighty and jealous God, called
+to him daily, from His holy Word--'Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is
+God's.' [Footnote: Deut. i. 17.] Woe to the land's Prince who had
+not considered this, but compelled him, the miserable judge, to
+steep his father's hands in the blood of his own son. But
+righteous Abraham conquered through faith, because he was obedient
+unto God, and bound his own innocent son upon the altar, and drew
+forth his knife to slay him. Therefore he, too, would conquer
+through faith, if he bound his _guilty_ son, and drew out the
+sword against him, obedient to the words of the Lord. Therefore
+let him prepare himself for death, and follow the priest into the
+adjoining little chamber."
+
+When Johann found that his father could in no wise be softened, he
+began horribly to curse him and the hour of his birth, so that the
+hair of all who heard him stood on end. And he called the devil to
+help him, and adjured him to come and carry away this fierce and
+unnatural father, who was more bloodthirsty than the wild beasts
+of the forest--for who had ever heard that they murdered their own
+blood?
+
+"Come, devil," he screamed; "come, devil, and tear this
+bloodthirsty monster of a father to pieces before my eyes, so will
+I give myself to thee, body and soul! Hearest thou, Satan! Come
+and destroy my father, and all who have here come out to murder
+me, only leave me a little while longer in this life to do thy
+service, and then I am thine for eternity!"
+
+Now all eyes were turned in fear and horror to the door, but no
+Satan entered, for the just God would not permit it, else,
+methinks, he would have run to catch such a morsel for his supper.
+However, the old man trembled, and seemed dwindling away into
+nothing before the eyes of the bystanders as his son uttered the
+curse. But he soon recovered, and laying his quivering hands upon
+the head of the imprecator, broke forth into loud weeping, while
+he prayed thus--
+
+"O Thou just and Almighty God, who bringest the devices of the
+wicked to nought, close Thine ears against this horrible curse of
+my false son; remember Thine own word--'Into an evil soul wisdom
+cannot enter, nor dwell in a body subject unto sin.' [Footnote:
+Wisdom i. 4.] Thou alone canst make the sinful soul wise, and the
+body of sin a temple of the Holy Ghost. O Lord Jesus Christ, hast
+Thou no drop of living water, no crumb of strengthening manna for
+this sinful and foolish soul? Hast Thou no glance of Thy holy eyes
+for this denying Peter, that he may go forth and weep bitterly?
+Hast Thou no word to strike the heart of this dying thief--of this
+lost son, who, here bound for death, has cursed his own father,
+and given himself up, body and soul, to the enemy of mankind? O
+blessed Spirit, who comest and goest as the wind, enter the
+heavenly temple, which is yet the work of Thy hands, and make it,
+by Thy presence, a temple of the Most High! O Lord God, dwell
+there but one moment, that so in his death-anguish he may feel the
+sweetness of Thy presence, and the heaven-high comfort of Thy
+promise! O Thou Holy Trinity, who hast kept my steps from falling,
+through so much care and trouble, through so much shame and
+disgrace, through so much watching and tears, and even now through
+these terrible curses of my son, come and say Amen to this my last
+blessing, which I, poor father, give him for his curse.
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee in the death hour.
+The Lord shed his grace on thee, and give thee peace in thy last
+agonies!
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee, and give thee
+peace upon earth, and peace above the earth! Amen, amen, amen!"
+
+When the trembling old man had so prayed, many wept aloud, and his
+son trembled likewise, and followed the priest, silently and
+humbly, into the neighbouring chamber.
+
+Then the old man turned to Sidonia, and asked why she had left her
+worthy cousin Marcus of Saatzig?
+
+Upon which she told him, weeping, how his son had deceived her, in
+order to get her once more into his power, in order that he might
+rob her, and all she wanted now was to be let go her way in peace
+to her farm-houses in Zachow.
+
+But this the old man refused.
+
+"No; this must not be yet. She was as evil-minded as his own son,
+and needed an example to warn her from sin. Not a step should she
+move till his head was off."
+
+And, for this purpose, he bid two burghers seize hold of her by
+the hands, and carry her to the scaffold when the execution was
+going to take place. The grave must be nearly ready now, which he
+bade them dig in a corner of the churchyard close by, and he had
+ordered a car-load of sand likewise to be laid down there, for the
+execution should take place in the churchyard.
+
+Meanwhile the poor criminal has come out of the inner chamber with
+M. Vitus, and going up to the bench where the poor father had sunk
+down exhausted by emotion, he flings himself at his feet,
+exclaiming, with the prodigal son in the parable--
+
+"Father, I have sinned before heaven and in thy sight, and am no
+more worthy to be called thy son."
+
+Then he kissed his feet, and bedewed them with his tears.
+
+Now the father thought this was all pretence, as formerly, so he
+gave no answer. Upon which the poor sinner rose up, and reached
+his hand to each one in the chamber, praying their forgiveness for
+all the evil he had done, but which he was now going to expiate in
+his blood. _Item,_ he advanced to Sidonia, sighing--
+
+"Would not she too forgive him, for the love of God? Woe, alas!
+She had more to forgive than any one; but would not she give him
+her pardon, for some comfort on this last journey; and so would he
+bear her remembrance before the throne of God?"
+
+But Sidonia pushed away his hand.
+
+"He should be ashamed of such old-womanish weakness. Did he not
+see that his father was only trying to frighten him? For were he
+in earnest, then were he more cruel even than her own unnatural
+father, who, though he had only left her two cabins in Zachow, out
+of all his great riches, yet had left her, at least, her poor
+life."
+
+Hereupon the poor sinner made answer--
+
+"Not so; I know my father; he is not cruel; what he does is right;
+therefore I willingly die, trusting in my blessed Saviour, whose
+body will sanctify my body in the grave. For had I committed no
+other sin, yet the curse I uttered just now is alone sufficient to
+make me worthy of death, as it is written--'He that curseth father
+or mother shall surely be put to death.'" [Footnote: Exodus xxi.
+17.]
+
+When the old man heard such-like words, he resolved to put his
+son's sincerity to the test, for truly it seemed to him impossible
+that the Almighty God should so suddenly make the crooked
+straight, and the dead to live, and a child of heaven out of a
+child of hell. So he spake--
+
+"Thy repentance seemeth good unto me, my son, what sayest thou?
+will it last, think you, if I now bestow thy life on thee?"
+
+Hereat Sidonia laughed aloud, exclaiming--
+
+"Said I not right? It was all a jest of thy dear father's." But
+the poor sinner would not turn again to his wallowing in the mire.
+He sat down upon a bench, covering his face with his hands, and
+sobbed aloud. At last he answered--
+
+"Alas! father, life is sweet and death is bitter; but since the
+Holy Spirit hath entered into me with the body of our Lord, I say,
+death is sweet and life is bitter. No; off with my head! 'I find a
+law in my members warring against the law of my spirit, and making
+me a prisoner under the law of sin;' [Footnote: Romans vii. 23.]
+for if I see my neighbour rich and I am poor, then the demon of
+covetousness rises in me, and my fingers itch to seize my share.
+Or, if the foaming flask is before me, how can I resist to drain
+it, for the spirit of gluttony is within me? Or, if I see a
+maiden, the blood throbs in my veins, and the demon of lust has
+taken possession of me. 'Oh, wretched man that I am, who will
+deliver me from the body of this death?' You will, dearest father.
+You will release me from this life, as you once gave it to me, for
+it is now a life in death. Ah! show mercy! Come quickly, and
+release me from the body of this death!"
+
+When he ceased, the old man sprung up like a youth, and pressing
+his lost son to his heart, sobbed forth like him of the Gospel--
+
+"O friends, see! 'This my son was dead, but is alive again; he was
+lost, and is found.' Yea, yea, see all that nothing is impossible
+with God. O Thou Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now I
+have nothing more to ask, but that I too may soon be released from
+the body of this death, and go forth to meet my new-found son
+amidst the bright circle of the Holy Angels."
+
+Then the son answered--
+
+"Let me go now, father. See, the morning dawn shines already
+through the window; so hath the loving mercy of my God come to me,
+who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. Farewell, father; let
+me go now. Away with this head in the clear early morning light,
+so that my feet be fixed for evermore upon the path to peace."
+
+And so speaking, he seized M. Vitus by the hand, who was sobbing
+loudly, as well as most of the burghers, and the executioner with
+his assistants bearing the coffin were going to follow, when the
+old man, who had sunk down upon a bench, called back his son,
+though he had already gone out at the door, and prayed the
+executioner to let him stay one little while longer. For he
+remembered that his son had a welt upon his neck, and he must see
+whether it would interfere with the sword. Woe, woe! if he should
+have to strike twice or thrice before the head fell!
+
+So the executioner removed the neck-cloth from the poor sinner
+(who, by the great mercy of God, was stronger than any of them),
+and having felt the welt, said--
+
+"No; the welt was close up to the head, but he would take the neck
+in the middle, as indeed was his usual custom. His worship may
+make his mind quite easy; he would stake his life on it that the
+head would fall with the first blow. This was his one hundred and
+fiftieth, and he never yet had failed."
+
+Then the unhappy criminal tied his cravat on again, took M. Vitus
+by the hand, and said--
+
+"Farewell, my father; once more forgive me for all that I have
+done!"
+
+After which he went out quickly, without waiting to hear a word
+more from his father, and the executioner followed him.
+
+Meanwhile the afflicted father was sore troubled in mind. Three
+times he repeated the text--"Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is
+God's." Then he called upon God to forgive the Prince who, by
+taking away law and justice from the land, had obliged him to be
+the judge and condemner of his son. How the Lord dealt with the
+Prince we shall hear farther on. One while he sent mine host to
+look over the hedge, and tell him if the head were off yet. Then
+he would begin to pray that he might soon follow this poor son,
+who had never given him one moment of joy but through his death,
+and pass quickly after him through the vale of tears.
+
+The son, however, is steadfast unto the end. For when they reached
+the churchyard, he stood still a while gazing on the heap of sand.
+Then he desired to be led to the spot where his grave was dug; and
+near this same grave there being a tombstone, on which was figured
+a man kneeling before a crucifix, he asked--
+
+"Who was to share his grave bed here?"
+
+Whereupon M. Vitus replied--
+
+"He was a _rector scholae_ out of Stargard, a very learned
+man, who had retired from active life, and settled down here at
+Bruchhausen, where he died not long since."
+
+Whereat the poor sinner stood still a while, and then repeated
+this beautiful distich, no doubt by the inspiration of the Holy
+Ghost, to warn all learned sinners against that demon of pride and
+vain-glory which too often takes possession of them.
+
+  "Quid juvat innumeros scire atque evolvere casus
+   Si facieuda fugis et fugienda facis?"
+
+   ["What is the use of knowledge and all our infinite learning,
+    If we fly what is right and do what we ought to fly?"]
+
+Then he looked calmly at his grave, and only prayed the
+executioner not to put his head between his feet; after which he
+returned to the sand-heap and exclaimed--
+
+"Now to God!"
+
+Upon which, M. Vitus blessed him yet again, and spake--
+
+"O God, Father, who hast brought back this lost son, and filled
+this foolish soul with wisdom; ah! Jesus, Saviour, who, in truth,
+hast turned Thy holy eyes on him as on the denying Peter and on
+the dying thief. O Holy Spirit, who hast not scorned to make this
+poor vessel a temple for Thyself to dwell in, that in the
+death-anguish this sinner may find the sweetness of Thy presence
+and the heaven-high comfort of Thy promises! O Thou Holy
+Trinity--to Thee--to Thee--to Thee--to Thy grace, Thy power, Thy
+protection, we resign this dying mortal in his last agonies. Help
+him, Lord God! _Kyrle Eleison!_ Give Thy holy angels command
+to bear this poor soul into Abraham's bosom. O come, Lord Jesus;
+help him, O Lord our God. _Kyrie Eleison!_ Amen."
+
+And hereupon he pronounced a last blessing over him. And when the
+executioner took off his upper garment and bound the kerchief over
+his eyes, M. Vitus again spake--
+
+"Think on the holy martyrs, of whom Basilius Magnus testifies that
+they exclaimed, when undressing for their death--_Non vestes
+exuimus, sed veterem hommem deponimus." [Footnote: "We lay not off
+our clothes, but the old man."--Basil the Great, Archbishop of
+Caesarea, A.D. 379.]
+
+Upon which he answered from under the kerchief something in Latin,
+but the executioner had laid the cloth so thickly even over his
+mouth and chin, that no one could catch the words. Then he kneeled
+down, and while the executioner drew his sword, M. Vitus chanted--
+
+  "When my lips no more can speak,
+     May Thy Spirit in me cry;
+   When my eyes are faint and weak,
+     May my soul see Heaven nigh!
+
+   When my heart is sore dismayed,
+     This dying frame has lost its strength,
+   May my spirit, with Thy aid,
+     Cry--Jesu, take me home at length!"
+
+And all who stood round saw, as it were, a wonderful sign from
+God; for as the executioner let the sword fall, head and sun
+appeared at the same moment--the head upon the earth, the sun
+above the earth; and there was a deep silence. Sidonia alone
+laughed out loud, and cried, "So ends the conversion!" And while
+the psalm was singing, "Now, pray we to the Holy Ghost," the
+executioner acting as clerk, she disappeared, and for thirty
+years, as we shall hear presently, no one could ascertain where
+she went to or how she lived; though sometimes, like a horrible
+ghost, she was seen occasionally here and there.
+
+_Summa_.--The miserable criminal was laid in his coffin, and
+as, in truth, it was too short for the corpse, and the poor sinner
+had requested that his head might not be placed between his feet,
+so it was laid upon his chest, with his hands folded over it, and
+thus he was buried.
+
+The old father rejoiced greatly that his son remained steadfast in
+the truth until the last, and thanked God for it. Then he returned
+to Stargard; and I may just mention, to conclude concerning him,
+that the merciful God heard the prayer of this His faithful
+servant, for he scarcely survived his son a year, but, after a
+short illness, fell asleep in Jesus. [Footnote: For further
+particulars concerning this truly worthy man, who may well be
+called the Pomeranian Manlius, see Friedeborn, "Description of Old
+Stettin," vol. ii. p. 113; and Barthold, "Pomeranian History," pp.
+46, 419.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+_Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the
+young Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and
+of the sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of
+Pomerania._
+
+
+I have said that Sidonia disappeared after the execution at
+Bruchhausen, and that for thirty years no one knew where she lived
+or how she lived. At her farm-house at Zachow she never appeared;
+but the _Acta Criminalia_ set forth that during that period
+she wandered about the towns of Freienwald, Regenwald, Stargard,
+and other places, in company with Peter Konnemann and divers other
+knaves.
+
+However, the ducal prosecutor, although he instituted the
+strictest inquiries at the period of her trial, could ascertain
+nothing beyond this, except that, in consequence of her evil
+habits and licentious tongue, she was held everywhere in fear and
+abhorrence, and was chased away from every place she entered after
+about six or eight o'clock. Further, that some misfortune always
+fell upon every one who had dealings with her, particularly young
+married people. To the said Konnemann, she betrothed herself after
+the death of her first paramour, but afterwards gave him fifty
+florins to get rid of the contract, as she confessed at the
+seventeenth question upon the rack, according to the _Actis
+Lothmanni_. Meantime her brother and cousins were so completely
+turned against her, that her brother even took those two
+farm-houses to himself; and though Sidonia wrote to him, begging
+that an annuity might be settled on her, yet she never received a
+line in answer--and this was the manner in which the whole
+cousinhood treated her in her despair and poverty.
+
+I myself made many inquiries as to her mode of life during those
+thirty years, but in vain. Some said that she went into Poland and
+there kept a little tavern for twenty years; some had seen her
+living at Riigen at the old wall, where in heathen times the
+goddess Hertha was honoured. Some said she went to Riiden, a
+little uninhabited island between Riigen and Usdom, where the wild
+geese and other birds flock in the moulting season and drop their
+feathers. Thence, they said, she gathered the eggs, and killed the
+birds with clubs. At least this was the story of the Usdom
+fishermen, but whether it were Sidonia or some other outcast
+woman, I cannot in strict verity declare. Only in Freienwald did I
+hear for certain that she lived there twelve years with some earl
+whom she called her shield-knight; but one day they quarrelled,
+and beat each other till the blood flowed, after which they both
+ran out of the town, and went different ways.
+
+_Summa._--On the 1st of May 1592, when the witches gather in
+the Brocken to hold their Walpurgis night, and the princely castle
+of Wolgast was well guarded from the evil one by white and black
+crosses placed on every door, an old wrinkled hag was seen about
+eight o'clock of the morning (just the time she had returned from
+the Blocksberg, according to my thinking), walking slowly up and
+down the great corridor of the princely castle. And the providence
+of the great God so willed it that at that moment the young and
+beautiful Princess Elizabeth Magdalena (who had been betrothed to
+the Duke Frederick of Courland) opened her chamber-door and
+slipped forth to pay her morning greetings to her illustrious
+father, Duke Ernest, and his spouse, the Lady Sophia Hedwig of
+Brunswick, who sat together drinking their warm beer, [Footnote:
+Before the introduction of coffee or chocolate, warm beer was in
+general use at breakfast] and had sent for her.
+
+So the hag advanced with much friendliness and cried out, "Hey,
+what a beautiful young damsel! But her lord papa was called 'the
+handsome' in his time, and wasn't she as like him as one egg to
+another. Might she take her ladyship's little hand and kiss it?"
+Now as the hag was bold in her bearing, and the young Princess was
+a timid thing, she feared to refuse; so she reached forth her
+hand, alas! to the witch, who first three times blew on it,
+murmuring some words before she kissed it; then as the young
+Princess asked her who she was and what she wanted, the evil hag
+answered, "I would speak with your gracious father, for I have
+known him well. Ask his princely Grace to come to me, for I have
+somewhat to say to him." Now the Princess, in her simplicity,
+omitted to ask the hag's name, whereby much evil came to pass, for
+had she told her gracious father that SIDONIA wished to speak to
+him, assuredly he never would have come forth, and that fatal and
+malignant glance of the witch would not have fallen upon him.
+
+However, his Serene Grace, having a mild Christian nature, stepped
+out into the corridor at the request of his dear daughter, and
+asked the hag who she was and what she wanted. Upon this, she
+fixed her eyes on him in silence for a long while, so that he
+shuddered, and his blood seemed to turn to ice in his veins.
+[Footnote: This belief in the witchcraft of a glance was very
+general during the witch period. And even the ancients notice it
+(Pliny, Hist. Nat. vii. 2), also Aul. Gell. Noct. Attic, ix. 4;
+and Virgil, Eclog. in. 103. The glance of a woman with double
+pupils was particularly feared.] At last she spake: "It is a
+strange thing, truly, that your Grace should no longer remember
+the maiden to whom you once promised marriage." At this his Grace
+recoiled in horror, and exclaimed, "Ha, Sidonia! but how you are
+changed." "Ah!" she answered, with a scornful laugh, "you may well
+triumph, now that my cheek is hollow, and my beauty gone, and that
+I have come to you for justice against my own brother in Stramehl,
+who denies me even the means of subsistence--you, who brought me
+to this pass."
+
+Upon which his Grace answered that her brother was a subject of
+the Duke of Stettin. Let her go then to Stettin, and demand
+justice there.
+
+_Illa._--"She had been there, but the Duke refused to see
+her, and to her request for a _proebenda_ in the convent of
+Marienfliess had returned no answer. She prayed his Grace,
+therefore, out of old good friendship, to take up her cause, and
+use his influence with the Lord Duke of Stettin to obtain the
+_proebenda_ for her, also to send a good scolding to her
+brother at Stramehl under his own hand."
+
+Now my gracious Prince was so anxious to get rid of her, that he
+promised everything she asked. Whereupon she would kiss his hand,
+but he drew it back shuddering, upon which she went down the great
+castle steps again, murmuring to herself.
+
+But her wickedness soon came to light; for mark--scarcely a few
+days had passed over, when the beautiful young Princess was
+possessed by Satan; she rolls herself upon the ground, twists and
+writhes her hands and feet, speaks with a great coarse voice like
+a common carl, blasphemes God and her parents; and what was more
+wonderful than all, her throat swelled, and when they laid their
+hand on it, something living seemed creeping up and down in it.
+Then it went up to her mouth, and her tongue swelled so, that her
+eyes seemed starting from their sockets, and the gracious young
+lady became fearful to look at.
+
+_Item,_ then she began to speak Latin, though she had never
+learned this tongue, whereupon many, and in particular Mag.
+Michael Aspius, the court chaplain (for Dr. Gerschovius was long
+since dead) pronounced that Satan himself verily must be in the
+maiden. [Footnote: The ancients name three distinguishing marks of
+demoniacal possession:--
+
+1st, When the patient blasphemes God and cannot repeat the leading
+articles of his Christian belief.
+
+2nd, When he foretells events which afterwards come to pass.
+
+3rd, When he speaks in a strange tongue, which it can be proved he
+never learned.
+
+Now the somnambulists of our day fulfil the second and third
+conditions without dispute; and some account for the divining
+power by saying it is the effect of the increased activity of the
+soul. They also assert that the patient speaks in a strange tongue
+only when the magnetiser with whom he is in _en rapport_
+understands the tongue himself, and the patient speaks it because
+all the thoughts, feelings, words, &c., of the operator become
+his--in short, their souls become one. This explanation, however,
+is very improbable, and has not been confirmed by facts; for the
+phenomenon of speaking in a strange tongue often appears before a
+perfect _rapport_ has been obtained between the patient and
+the operator. Indeed, Psellus gives an instance to show that it is
+not even at all necessary. (Psellus lived about the eleventh
+century, and wrote _De Operatione Doemonum,_ also _De
+Mysteriis AEgyptiorum,_ his works are very remarkable, and well
+worth a perusal.) He states that a sick woman all at once began to
+speak in a strange and barbarous tongue no one had ever heard
+before. At last some of the women about her brought an Armenian
+magician to see her, who instantly found that she spoke Armenian,
+though she had never in her life beheld one of that nation.
+Psellus describes him as an old lean wrinkled man. He acted quite
+differently from our modern magnetisers, for he never sought to
+place himself in sympathetic relation with her by passes or
+touches; on the contrary, he drew his sword, and placing himself
+beside the bed, began tittering the most harsh and cruel words he
+could think of in the Armenian tongue _(acriter conviciatus
+est)_. The woman retorted in the Armenian tongue likewise, and
+tried to get out of bed to fight with him. Then the barbarian grew
+as if mad, and endeavoured to stab her, upon which she shrunk back
+terrified and trembling, and soon fell into a deep sleep. Psellus
+seems to have witnessed this, for he says the woman was wife to
+his eldest brother. As further regards demoniacal possession, the
+New Testament is full of examples thereof; and though in the last
+century the reality of the fact was assailed, yet Franz Meyer has
+again defended it with arguments that cannot be overthrown.
+Remarkable examples of possession in modern times we find in the
+_Didiskalia,_ No. 81, of the year 1833, and in Berner's
+"History of Satanic Possession," p. 20.] This was fully proved on
+the following Sunday; for during divine service in the Church of
+St. Peter, the young Princess was carried in on a litter and laid
+down before the altar, whereupon she commenced uttering horrible
+blasphemies, and mocking the holy prayer in a coarse bass voice,
+while she foamed and raged so violently, that eight men could
+scarcely hold her in her bed. Whereat the whole Christian
+congregation were admonished to pray to the Lord for this poor
+maiden, that she might be freed from the devil within her; and
+during the week all priests throughout the land were commanded to
+offer up prayers day and night for her princely Grace. But on
+Sundays all the people were to unite in one common supplication to
+the throne of grace for the like object.
+
+And it seemed, after some weeks, as if God had heard their
+prayers, and commanded Satan to leave the body of the young
+maiden, for she had now rest for fourteen days, and was able to
+pray again. Also her rosy cheeks began to bloom once more, so that
+her parents were filled with joy, and resolved to hold a
+thank-festival throughout the land, and receive the Holy Sacrament
+in St. Peter's Church with their beloved daughter.
+
+But what happened? For as the godly discourse had ended, and their
+Graces stepped to the altar to make a rich offering on the plate
+which lay upon the little desk, free of approach from all sides,
+my knave Satan has again begun his work. Truly, he waited with
+cunning till her Grace had swallowed the Sacrament, that his
+blasphemies might seem more horrible. And this was the way he
+manifested himself.
+
+After the court marshal and the castellan had laid down a black
+velvet carpet, embroidered in gold with the Pomeranian and
+Brandenburg arms, for their Graces to kneel upon, they took
+another black velvet cloth, on which the Holy Supper was
+represented embroidered in silver, to hold before their Graces
+like a serviette, while they received the blessed elements. Then
+advanced the priest with the Sacrament, but scarcely had the
+gracious young Princess swallowed the same, when she uttered a
+loud cry and fell backwards with her head upon the ground, while
+Satan raged so in her that it might have melted the heart of a
+stone.
+
+So M. Aspius bade the organ cease, and then placed the young lady
+upon a seat, after which he called upon their Graces and the whole
+congregation to join him in offering up a prayer. Then he solemnly
+adjured the evil spirit to come out of her; it, however, had grown
+so daring that it only laughed at the priest; and when asked where
+it had been for so long, and in particular where it had lain while
+the Jesu bride was wedded to her Holy Saviour in the Blessed
+Sacrament, it impatiently answered that it had lain under her
+tongue; many knaves might lie under a bridge while an honourable
+seigneur passed overhead, and why should not it do the like? And
+here, to the unspeakable horror of the whole congregation, it
+seemed to move up and down in the chest and throat of the young
+Princess, like some animal.
+
+But the long-suffering of God was now at an end, for while the
+Reverend Dr. Aspius was talking himself weary with adjurations,
+and gaining no good by it, for the evil spirit only mocked and
+jeered him, crying, "Look at the fat parson how he sweats, maybe
+it will help as much as his chattering over the wine," who should
+enter the church (sent no doubt by the all-merciful God) but the
+Reverend Dr. Joel, Professor at Grypswald, for he had heard how
+this lusty Satan had taken possession of the princely maiden. When
+the devil saw him, he began to tremble through all the limbs of
+the young Princess, and exclaimed in Latin, _"Consummatum
+est."_ [Footnote: "It is over."] For this Dr. Joel was a
+powerful man, and learned in all the cunning shifts of the
+arch-enemy, having many times disputed de Magis. [Footnote: Of
+Witchcraft; see Barthold, iv. 2, 412.]
+
+Now when he advanced to the young Princess, and saw how the evil
+spirit ran up and down her poor form, like a mouse in a net, he
+was filled with horror, and removing his hat, exclaimed, without
+taking much heed of his Latin, _"Deus misereatur
+peccatoris."_ Upon which the devil, in a deep bass voice,
+corrected him, crying, _"Die peccatricls, die peccatricls."_
+[Footnote: Peccatoris is masculine, Peccatricis feminine.]
+
+However, Satan himself felt that his hour had come; for when
+Doctor Joel laid his hand upon the maiden, and repeated a powerful
+adjuration from the _Clavilcula Salomonis,_ Satan immediately
+promised to obey if he were allowed to take away the
+oblation-cloth which lay upon the desk.
+
+_Ille._--"What did he want with the oblation-cloth?"
+
+_Satanas._--"There was a coin in it which vexed him."
+
+_Ille._--"What coin could it be, and wherefore did it vex
+him?"
+
+_Satanas._--"He would not say."
+
+_Ille._--(Adjures him again.)
+
+_Satanas._--"Let him have it, or he would tear the young
+maiden to pieces." And here he began to foam and rage so horribly,
+that her eyes turned in her head, and she gnashed with her teeth,
+so that father and mother had to cover their eyes not to see her
+great agony. Whereupon Doctor Joel bent down and wrote with his
+finger upon her breast the Tetragrammaton, crying out-- [Footnote:
+The four letters which compose the name Jehovah ( [Hebrew Text]).
+It was employed by the Theurgists in all their most powerful
+conjurations.]
+
+"Away, thou unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost!"
+
+Upon which the young maiden sank down as quiet as a corpse, and
+the oblation-cloth, which lay upon the desk, whirled round of
+itself in the middle of the church with great noise and clatter,
+as if seized by a storm-wind, and the money therein was all
+scattered about the church, so that the old wives who sat upon the
+benches fell down upon the floor, right and left, to try and catch
+it. Great horror and amazement now filled the whole congregation;
+yet as some had expressed an opinion that the young Princess was
+only afflicted by a sickness, and not possessed at all, Doctor
+Joel thought it needful to admonish them in the following words:--
+
+"Those wise persons who, forsooth, would not credit such a thing
+as Satanic possession, might see now of a truth, by the
+oblation-cloth, that Satan bodily had been amongst them. He knew
+there were many such wise knaves in the church; therefore let them
+hold their tongue for evermore, and remember that such signs had
+been permitted before of God, to testify of the real bodily
+presence of the devil. Example (Matt. viii.), where, on the
+command of Christ, a legion of devils went into the swine of the
+Gergasenes; so that these animals, contrary to their nature, ran
+down into the sea and were drowned. But the wise people of this
+day little heed these divine signs; so he will add two from
+historical records which he happened to remember.
+
+"First, the Jew Josephus relates that, in presence of the
+world-renowned Roman captain Vespasian, of his son Titus, also of
+all the officers and troops of the army, an acquaintance of his,
+by name Eleazer, adjured the devil out of one possessed by means
+of the ring of Solomon, repeating at the same time the powerful
+spell which, no doubt, the great king himself employed to control
+the demons, and which, probably, was the very one he had just now
+exorcised the devil with, out of the _Clavicula Salomonis._
+And to show the bystanders that it was indeed a devil which he had
+exorcised out of the nose of the patient, the said Eleazer bid
+him, as he was passing, to overturn a vessel of water that lay
+there, which indeed was done, to the great wonderment of all
+present. Thus even the blind heathen were convinced, though the
+would-be wise of the present day ignorantly doubted.
+
+"But people might say this happened in old times, and was only
+told by a stupid Jew; therefore he would give a modern example.
+
+"There was a woman named Kronisha (she was still well remembered
+by the old people of Stralsund), who was sorely given to pomp and
+vanity, wherefore a devil was sent into her to punish her; and
+after the preacher at St. Nicholas had exorcised him to the best
+of his power, the wicked spirit said, mockingly, that he would go
+if they gave him a pane of glass out of the window over the tower
+door; and this being granted, one of the panes was instantly
+scattered with a loud clang, and the devil flew away through the
+opening. [Note: See Sastrowen, his family, birth, and adventures.
+Edited by Mohnike, part i. 73.]
+
+"So the Christian congregation might now see what silly fools
+these wise people were who presumed to doubt," &c. Then Doctor
+Joel admonished the Prince himself to keep a diligent eye over
+this Satan, who, day by day, was growing more impudent in the
+land--no doubt because the pure doctrine of Dr. Luther vexed him
+sorely.
+
+And indeed his Highness, to show his gratitude for the recovery of
+his dear daughter, did not cease in his endeavours to banish
+witches from the land, knowing that Sidonia had brought all the
+evil upon the young Princess. Fifteen were seized and burned at
+this time, to the great joy of the country; but, alas! these truly
+princely and Christian measures little helped among the godless
+race, for evil seemed still to strengthen in the land, and many
+wonderful signs appeared, one of which I would not set down here,
+as it was only seen by the court-fool, but that events confirmed
+it.
+
+I mean that strange thing, along with a three-legged hare, which
+appeared eighty years before at the death of Duke Bogislaus the
+Great, and since at the death of each Duke of his house. By a
+strange whim of Satan's, this apparition was only visible to
+fools; until indeed (as we shall hear anon) it appeared to the
+nuns at Marienfliess, who bore witness of it.
+
+_Summa._--On the very day wherein the devil's brides were
+burned at Wolgast, the fool was walking at evening time up and
+down the great corridor, when a little manikin, hardly three hands
+high, started out from behind a beer-barrel, riding on a
+three-legged hare. He was dressed all in black, except little red
+boots which he had on, and he rides up and down the corridor--hop!
+hop! hop!--stares at my fool and makes a face at him; then rides
+off again--hop! hop! hop!--till he vanished behind the barrel.
+
+No one would believe the fool's story; but woe, alas! it soon
+became clear what the little manikin Puck denoted. For my gracious
+Prince, who had grown quite weak ever since this horrible
+witch-work, which had been raging for some weeks--so that
+Pomerania never had seen the like--became daily worse, and not
+even the fine Falernian wine from Italy, which used to cure him,
+helped him now. So he died on the 17th July 1591, aged forty-six
+years, seven months, and fifteen days, leaving his only son,
+Philippus Julius, a child of eight years old, to reign in his
+place. Whereupon the deeply afflicted widow placed the boy under
+the tutelage and guardianship of his uncle, the princely Lord of
+Stettin; but, woe! woe! the guardian must soon follow his dear
+brother! and all through the evil wickedness of Sidonia, as we
+shall hear in the following chapters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of
+Marienfliess--Item, how their Princely and Electoral Graces of
+Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to
+Wolgast, and of the divers pastimes of the journey._
+
+
+After this, Sidonia disappeared again for a couple of years, and
+no man knew whither she had flown or what she did, until one
+morning she appeared at the convent of Marienfliess, driving a
+little one-horse waggon herself, and dressed no better than a
+fish-wife. On driving into the court, she desired to speak with
+the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf; and when she came, Sidonia
+ordered the cell of the deceased nun, Barbara Kleist, to be got
+ready for her reception, as his Highness of Stettin had presented
+her to a _praebenda_ here.
+
+So the pious old abbess believed the story, and forthwith
+conducted her to the cell, No. 11; but Sidonia spat out at it,
+said it was a pig-sty, and began to run clattering through all the
+cells till she reached the refectory, a large chamber where the
+nuns assembled for evening prayer. This, she said, was the only
+spot fit for her to put her nose in, and she would keep it for
+herself. Meanwhile, the whole sisterhood ran together to the
+refectory to see Sidonia; and as most of them were girls under
+twenty, they tittered and laughed, as young women-folk will do
+when they behold a hag. This angered her.
+
+"Ha!" she exclaimed, "the flesh and the devil have not been
+destroyed in them yet, but I will soon give them something else to
+think of than their lovers."
+
+And here, as one of them laughed louder than the rest, Sidonia
+gave her a blow on the mouth.
+
+"Let that teach the peasant-girl more respect for a castle and
+land dowered maiden."
+
+When the good abbess saw and heard all this, she nearly fainted
+with shame, and had to hold by a stool, or she would have fallen
+to the ground. However she gained fresh courage, when, upon asking
+for Sidonia's documents, she found that there were none to show.
+Without more ado, therefore, she bade her leave the convent; and,
+amidst the jeers and laughter of all the sisterhood, Sidonia was
+obliged to mount her one-horse cart again, or the convent porter
+had orders to force her out.
+
+By this all may perceive that, in place of repenting, Sidonia had
+fallen still further in the mire, wherein she wallowed yet for
+many years, as if it were, indeed, her true and natural element,
+like that beetle of which Albertus Magnus speaks, that died if one
+covered it with rose-leaves, but came to life again when laid in
+dung.
+
+Hardly had she left the convent-gate when the old abbess bade a
+carl get ready a carriage, and flew in it to Stettin herself, to
+lay the whole case before my gracious Prince, and entreat him,
+even on her knees, not to send such a notorious creature amongst
+them; for what blessing could the convent hope to obtain if they
+harboured such an infamous sinner? So his Grace wonders much over
+the daring of the harlot; for he had given her no
+_proebenda,_ though she was writing to him constantly
+requesting one. Nor would he ever think of giving her one; for why
+should he send such a hell-besom to sweep the pious convent of
+Marienfliess? The good abbess might rise up, for as long as he
+lived Sidonia should never enter the convent.
+
+And his Grace held by his word, though it cost him his life, as I
+shall just now relate with bitter sighs.
+
+It happened that, A.D. 1600, there was a terribly hard winter, so
+that the fresh Haff [Footnote: The river Haff] was quite frozen
+over, and able to bear heavy beams. Now, as the ice was smooth and
+beautiful as a mirror, my Lord of Stettin proposed to his
+guests--Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg, his
+brother-in-law, and old Duke Ulrich of Mecklenburg, his uncle, to
+go over the Haff in sleighs, and pay a visit to the princely widow
+and her little son.
+
+Their Graces were well pleased at the idea. Whereupon his Highness
+of Stettin gave orders to have such a procession formed as never
+had been seen in Pomerania before for magnificence and beauty, and
+therefore I shall note down some particulars here.
+
+There were a hundred sleighs, some drawn by reindeer caparisoned
+like horses, and all decorated gaily. The three ducal sleighs in
+particular were entirely girded and lined with sable skin; each
+was drawn by four Andalusian horses; and my Lady Erdmuth, who was
+a great lover of show and pomp, had hers hung with little tinkling
+bells and chains of gold, so that no one to look at them could
+imagine how very little of the dear gold her gracious lord and
+husband had in his purse, by reason of the hardness of the times.
+
+The adornments of the other sleighs were less costly. Upon them
+came the ministers, the officials, and others pertaining to the
+retinue of the three princes: _item_, the ladies-in-waiting,
+and divers of the reverend clergy; last of all came the Duke's
+henchman, with a pack of wolf-dogs in leash: _item,_ several
+live hares and foxes; a live bear, which they purposed to let
+slip, for the pleasure and pastime of their Graces. But the young
+men out of the town, fifty head strong, and many of the knights,
+ran along on skates, headed by Dinnies Kleist, that mighty man,
+who bore in one hand the blood-banner of Pomerania, and in the
+other that of Brandenburg. Barthold von Ramin ran by his side with
+the Mecklenburg standard. He was a strong knight too. But ah! my
+God! how my Ramin, with his ox-head, was distanced by the wild men
+of Pomerania, as they ran upon the ice over the Haff! [Footnote:
+The blood-standard was granted by the Emperor Maximilian II. to
+Duke Johann Friedrich of Pomerania because he carried the imperial
+banner during the Turkish war of 1566. It only differed from the
+old banner by having a red ground--from thence its name. Both
+Pomerania and Brandenburg had wild men in their escutcheon, while
+Mecklenburg bore an ox's head.] Two reserve sleighs, drawn by six
+Frisian horses, finished the procession; they were laden with
+axes, planks, ropes, and dry garments, both for men and women.
+
+When their Graces mounted the sleighs amidst the ringing of bells
+and roaring of cannon, great was their astonishment to see their
+own initials stamped into the hard ice by Dinnies Kleist, as thus:
+F. U. J. E. J. F., which, however, afterwards caused much dismay
+to the honest burghers, for one of them--M. Faber, _a
+praeceptor_--mistaking the J. for a G., read plainly upon the
+ice: "Fuge, J. F."--that is, "Fly, Johann Frederick!"
+
+Ah! truly has the gracious Prince flown from thence; but it is to
+a bitter death.
+
+During the journey, Duke Johann had much jesting with his
+brother-in-law, the Elector, who was filled with wonder at the
+strength of Dinnies Kleist, for he kept ahead even of the
+Andalusian stallions, and waved aloft the two banners of Pomerania
+and Brandenburg, while his long hair floated behind him; and
+sometimes he stopped, kissed the banners, and then inclined them
+to their Serene Princely Graces. Whereupon Duke Johann exclaimed,
+"Ay, brother, you might well give me a thousand of your
+wide-mouthed Berliners for this carl; though, methinks, if he had
+his will, he would make their wide mouths still wider." At this,
+his Electoral Grace looked rather vexed, and began to uphold the
+men of Cologne. Upon which his Highness cut him short, saying,
+"Marry, brother, you know the old proverb--
+
+   'The men of Cologne
+   Have no hues of their own,
+   But the men of Stettin
+   Are the true ever-green.'
+
+For where truly could your fellows find the true green in their
+sandy dust-box? Marry, cousin, one Pomerania is worth ten
+Margravates; and I will show your Grace just now that my land in
+winter is more productive than yours even in autumn."
+
+His Grace here alluded to the fisheries; for along the way, for
+twelve or fourteen miles, the fishermen had been ordered to set
+their nets by torchlight the night before, in holes dug through
+the ice, so that on the arrival of the princely party the nets
+might be drawn up, and the draught exhibited to their Graces.
+
+Now, when they entered the fresh Haff, which lay before them like
+a large mirror, six miles long and four broad, his Grace of
+Pomerania called out--
+
+"See here, brother, this is my first storeroom; let us try what it
+will give us to eat."
+
+Upon which he signed to Dinnies Kleist to steer over to the first
+heap of nets, which lay like a black wood in the distance. These
+belonged to the Ziegenort fishermen, as the old schoolmaster,
+Peter Leisticow, himself told me; and as they had taken a great
+draught the day before, many people from the towns of Warp,
+Stepenitz, and Uckermund were assembled there to buy up the fish,
+and then retail it, as was their custom, throughout the country.
+They had made a fire upon a large sheet of iron laid upon the ice,
+while their horses were feeding close by upon hay, which they
+shook out before them. And having taken a merry carouse together,
+they all set to dancing upon the ice with the women to the
+bagpipe, so that the encampment looked right jovial as their
+Graces arrived.
+
+Now when the grand train came up, the peasants roared out--
+
+"Donnerwetter, [Note: A common oath.] look at the ploetz-eaters!
+See the cursed ploetz-eaters! Donnerwetter, what ploetz-eaters!"
+[Note: Ploetz-eaters was a nickname given by the Pomeranians to the
+people of the Margravates. For the ploetz (_Cyprinus
+Exythrophthalmus_) is a very poor tasteless fish, while the
+rivers of Pomerania are stocked with the very finest of all kinds.
+In return, the men of the Marks called the Pomeranians
+"Feather-heads," from the quantity of moor-palms (_Eriophorum
+vaginatum_) which grow in their numerous rich meadows.]
+
+And now they observed, during their shouting, that the water had
+risen up to their knees; and when the ducal procession rushed up,
+the abyss re-echoed with a noise like thunder, so that the foreign
+princes were alarmed, but soon grew accustomed thereto. Then the
+pressure of such a crowd upon the ice caused the water to spout
+out of the holes to the height of a man. So that by the time they
+were two bowshots from the nets, all the folk, the women and
+children especially, were running, screaming, in every direction,
+trying to save themselves on the firm ice, to the great amusement
+of their Graces, while a peasant cried out to the sleigh drivers--
+
+"Stop, stop! or ye'll go into the cellar!"
+
+Hereupon his Grace of Pomerania beckoned over the Ziegenort
+schoolmaster, and asked him what they had taken, to which he
+answered--
+
+"Gracious Prince, we have taken bley; the nets are all loaded;
+we've taken seventy schuemers, [Footnote: A schuemer was a measure
+which contained twelve bushels.] and your Grace ought to take one
+with you for supper."
+
+Now his Highness the Elector wished to see the nets emptied, so
+they rested a space while the peasants shovelled out the fish, and
+pitched them into the aforesaid schuemers. But ah! woe to the
+fish-thieves who had come over from Warp and other places; for the
+water having risen up and become all muddy with fish-slime, they
+never saw the great holes, and tumbled in, to the great amusement
+of the peasants and pastime of their Graces.
+
+How their Highnesses laughed when the poor carls in the water
+tried to get hold of a net or a rope or a firm piece of ice, while
+they floundered about in the water, and the peasants fished them
+up with their long hooks, at the same time giving many of them a
+sharp prod on the shoulder, crying out--
+
+"Ha! will ye steal again? Take that for your pains, you robbers!"
+
+Now when their Graces were tired laughing and looking at the fish
+hauled, they prepared to depart; but the schoolmaster prayed his
+Highness of Stettin yet again to take a schuemer of fish for their
+supper, as their Graces were going to stop for the night in
+Uckermund.
+
+"But what could I do with all the fish?" quoth the Duke.
+
+To which the carl answered in his jargon--
+
+"Eh! gracious master, give them to the plotz-eaters; that will be
+something new for them. Never fear but they'll eat them all up!"
+
+Hereupon his Highness the Elector grew nettled, and cried out--
+
+"Ho! thou damned peasant, thinkest thou we have no bley?"
+
+"Well, ye've none here," replied the man cunningly.
+
+So their Graces laughed, and ordered a couple of bushels of the
+largest to be placed upon the safety sleigh.
+
+Now when they had gone a little farther and found the ice as
+smooth as glass, the henchman let loose the bear and the wolf-dogs
+after it. My stout Bruin first growls and paws the ice, then sets
+himself in earnest for the race, and, on account of his sharp
+claws, ran on straight for Uckermund without ever slipping, while
+the hounds fell down on all sides, or tumbled on their backs,
+howling with rage and disappointment.
+
+Yet more pleasant was the hare-hunt, for hounds and hares both
+tumbled down together, and the hares squeaked and the hounds
+yelped; some hares indeed were killed, but only after infinite
+trouble, while others ran away after the bear.
+
+After the hunt they came to another fishery, and so on till they
+reached Uckermund, passing six fisheries in succession, whereof
+each draught was as large as the first, so that his Grace the
+Elector marvelled much at the abundance, and seeing the nets full
+of zannats at the last halting-place, cried out--
+
+"Marry, brother, your storeroom is well furnished. I might grow
+dainty here myself. Let us take a bushel of these along with us
+for supper, for zannat is the fish for me!"
+
+This greatly rejoiced his Grace of Stettin, who ordered the fish
+to be laid on the sumpter sleigh, and in good time they reached
+the ducal house at Uckermund, Dinnies Kleist still keeping
+foremost, and waving his two banners over his head, while Barthold
+Barnim and the other skaters hung weary and tired upon the backs
+of the sleighs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+_How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably._
+
+
+The next morning early the whole train set off from Uckermund in
+the highest spirits, passing net after net, till the Duke of
+Mecklenburg, as well as the Elector, lifted their hands in
+astonishment. From the Haff they entered the Pene, and from that
+the Achterwasser. [Footnote: A large bay formed by the Pene.] Here
+a great crowd of people stood upon the ice, for the town of
+Quilitz lay quite near; besides, more fish had been taken here
+than had yet been seen upon the journey, so that people from
+Wolgast, Usdom, Lassahn, and all the neighbouring towns had run
+together to bid for it. But what happened?
+
+Alas! that his Grace should have desired to halt, for scarcely had
+his sleigh stopped, when a little old woman, meanly clad, with
+fisher's boots, and a net filled with bley-fish in her hand,
+stepped up to it and said--
+
+"My good Lord, I am Sidonia von Bork; wherefore have you not
+replied to my demand for the _proebenda_ of Barbara von
+Kleist in Marienfliess?"
+
+"How could he answer her? He knew nothing at all of her mode of
+living, or where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"She had bid him lay the answer upon the altar of
+St. Jacob's in Stettin. Why had he not done so?"
+
+"That was no place for such letters, only for the words of the
+Holy Spirit and the Blessed Sacrament of his Saviour; therefore,
+let her say now where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"The richest maiden in Pomerania could ill say where
+the poorest now dwelt," weeping.
+
+"The richest maiden had only herself to blame if she were now the
+poorest; better had she wept before. The _proebenda_ she
+could never have; let her cease to think of it; but here was an
+alms, and she might now go her ways."
+
+_Illa_.--(Refuses to take it, and murmurs.) "Your Grace will
+soon have bitter sorrow for this."
+
+As she so menaced and spat out three times, the thing angered
+Dinnies Kleist (who held her in abhorrence ever since the
+adventure in the Uckermund forest), and as he had lost none of his
+early strength, he hit her a blow with the blood-standard over the
+shoulder, exclaiming, "Pack off to the devil, thou shameless hag!
+What does the witch mean by her spittings? The _proebenda_ of
+my sister Barbara shall thou never have!"
+
+However, the hag stirred not from the spot, answered no word, but
+spat out again; and as the illustrious party drove off she still
+stood there, and spat out after them.
+
+What this devil's sorcery denoted we shall soon see; for as they
+approached Ziemitze, and the ducal house of Wolgast appeared in
+sight, Dinnies Kleist started on before the safety sleigh; and as
+soon as the high towers of the castle rose above the trees, he
+waved the two banners above his head, and brought them together
+till they kissed. Having so held them for a space, he set forward
+again with giant strides, in order to be the first to
+arrive--although, indeed, the town was aware of the advance of the
+princely train, for the bells were ringing, and the blood-standard
+waved from St. Peter's and the three other towers.
+
+But woe, alas! Dinnies, in his impatience, never observed a
+windwake direct in his path, and down he sank, while the sharp ice
+cut his head clean off, as if an executioner had done it; and the
+head, with the long hair, rolled hither and thither, while the
+body remained fast in the hole, only one arm stuck up above the
+ice--it was that which held the Brandenburg standard, but the
+blood-banner of Pomerania had sunk for ever in the abyss.
+[Footnote: A windwake is a hole formed by the wind in the thawing
+season, and which afterwards becomes covered with a thin coating
+of ice by a subsequent frost.]
+
+When his Grace of Stettin beheld this, he was filled with more
+sorrow than even at the death of his fool; and, weeping bitterly,
+commanded seven sleighs to return and seize the evil hag; then
+with all speed, and for a terrible example, to burn her upon the
+Quilitz mountain.
+
+But when many present assured his Grace that such-like accidents
+were very common, and many skaters had perished thus, whereof even
+Duke Ulrich named several instances, so that his Grace of Stettin
+need not impute such natural accidents to witchcraft or the power
+of the hag, he was somewhat calmed. Still he commanded the seven
+sleighs to return and bring the witch bound to Wolgast, that he
+might question her as to wherefore she had spat out.
+
+So the sleighs returned, but the vile sorceress was no longer on
+the ice, neither did any one know whither she had gone; whereupon
+the sleighs hastened back again after the others.
+
+Now it was the Friday before Shrove Tuesday, about mid-day, when
+the princely party arrived at Wolgast; and Prince Bogislaff of
+Barth was there to receive them, with his five sons--namely,
+Philip, Franz, George, Ulrich, and Bogislaff. [Footnote: Marginal
+note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"This is not true; for I had a fever
+at the time, and remained at home."] And there was a great uproar
+in the castle--some of the young lords playing ball in the castle
+court with the young Prince, Philip Julius, others preparing for
+the carnival mummeries, which were to commence next evening by a
+great banquet and dance in the hall. Indeed, that same evening
+their Graces had a brave carouse, to try and make Duke Johann
+forget his grief about his well-beloved Dinnies Kleist: and his
+Grace thus began to discourse concerning him:--
+
+"Truly, brothers, who knows what the devil may have in store for
+us? for it was a strange thing how my blood-standard sunk in the
+abyss, while that of my brother of Brandenburg floated above it.
+Think you that our male line will become extinct, and the heritage
+of fair Pomerania descend to Brandenburg? For, in truth, it is
+strange that, out of five brothers, two of us only have
+heirs--Bogislaff and Ernest Ludovicus, who has left indeed but one
+only son."
+
+Then Duke Bogislaff (whom our Lord God had surely blessed for his
+humility in resigning the government, and also because of his
+dutiful conduct ever towards his mother, even in his youth having
+brought her a tame seagull) made answer, laughingly: "Dear
+brother, I think Herr Bacchus has done more to turn Frau Venus
+against our race than Sidonia or any of her spells, therefore ye
+need not wonder if ye have no heirs. However, if my five young
+Princes listen to my warnings and shun the wine-cup, trust me the
+blood-standard will be lifted up again, and our ancient name never
+want a fitting representative."
+
+Meanwhile, as they so discoursed, and the gracious ladies looked
+down for shame upon the ground, young Lord Philip began a Latin
+argument with the Rev. Dr. Glambecken, court chaplain at Wolgast
+_de monetis;_ and pulled out of his pocket a large bag of old
+coins, which had been presented to him by Doctor Chytraeus,
+professor of theology at Rostock, with whom his Grace interchanged
+Latin epistles. [Foonote: See the Latin letters of the talented
+young Prince in Oelrich's "Contributions to the Literary History
+of the Pomeranian Dukes," vol. i. p. 67. He fell a victim to
+intemperance, though his death was imputed likewise to Sidonia,
+and formed the subject of the sixth torture examination.]
+
+This gave the conversation a new turn, and the ladies particularly
+were much pleased examining the coins; but the devil himself
+surely must have anagrammatised one of them, for over the letters,
+Pomerania, figures were scratched  356412789
+--thus--Pomerania--giving the terrible meaning, _rape omnia_
+(rob all); and many said that this must have been the very coin
+which the devil took that time he rent the oblation-table, at the
+exorcism of the young Princess.
+
+This discovery filled the Pomeranian Duke with strong
+apprehensions, and young Prince Franz handed over the coin to the
+Elector of Brandenburg, saying bitterly, "Yes, rob all! Doctor
+Joel of Grypswald has long since told me that it would all end
+this way--even as Satan himself has scratched down here--but my
+lord father will not credit him, he is so proud of his five sons.
+Doctor Joel, however, is a right learned man, and no one knows the
+mysteries of the black art better; besides, who reads the stars
+more diligently each night than he?"
+
+And behold, while he is speaking, the fool runs into the hall,
+pale, and trembling in every limb.
+
+"Alas! Lord Franz," he exclaimed, "I have seen the manikin again
+on his three-legged hare, which appeared at the death of Duke
+Ernest Ludovicus."
+
+But the young lord boxed him, crying, "Away, thou knave! must thy
+chatter help to make us more melancholy?"
+
+However Duke Bogislaff bid the fool stay, and tell them when and
+where he had seen the imp.
+
+My fool wiped his eyes, and began: "The young Lord Franz had bid
+him put on his best jacket (that which had been given him as a
+Christmas-box) for the carnival mummings on Shrove Tuesday; so he
+went up to the garret to get it himself out of the trunk, but,
+before he had quite reached the trunk, the black dwarf, with his
+little red boots, rode out from behind it on his three-legged
+hare--hop! hop! hop!--made a frightful face at him, and after a
+little while rode back again--hop! hop! hop! behind his old boots,
+which stood in a corner, and disappeared!"
+
+What the malicious Puck denoted we shall soon see--Oh, woe! woe!
+
+Next day all sorts of amusements were set on foot, to chase away
+gloomy thoughts out of the hearts of the illustrious guests--such
+as tilting with lances, dancing upon stilts, wrestling,
+rope-dancing. _Item,_ pickleherring and harlequins. Amongst
+these last the fool showed off to great advantage, for who could
+twist his face into more laughable grimaces? _Item,_ in the
+evening there was a mask of mummers, in which one fellow played
+the angel, and another dressed as Satan, with a large horse's foot
+and cock's plume, spat red fire from his mouth, and roared
+horribly when the angel overcame him (but withal I think the
+gloomy thoughts stayed there yet).
+
+And mark what in truth soon happened! When the drums and trumpets
+struck up the last mask dance in the great Ritter Hall, which
+every one joins in, old and young, his Grace, Duke Johann, went to
+the room of his dear cousin Hedwig, the princely widow, and prayed
+her to tread the dance with him; but she refuses, and sits by the
+fire and weeps.
+
+"Let not my dear cousin fret," said the Duke, "about the chatter
+of the fool."
+
+To which she replied, "Alas! wherefore not? For surely it betokens
+death to my darling little son, Philip Julius."
+
+"No," exclaimed the Duke quickly, "it betokens mine!" and he fell
+flat upon the ground.
+
+One can easily imagine how the gracious lady screamed, so that all
+ran in from the Knight's Hall in their masks and mumming-dresses,
+to see indeed the mumming of the true bodily Satan; and Doctor
+Pomius, who was at the mask likewise, ran in with a
+smelling-bottle, but all was in vain. His Grace lingered for three
+days, and then having received the Holy Sacrament from Doctor
+Glambecken, died in the same chamber in which he was born, having
+lived fifty-seven years, five months, twelve days, and fourteen
+hours. How can I describe the lamentations of the princely
+company--yea, indeed, of the whole town; for every one saw now
+plainly that the anger of God rested upon this ancient and
+illustrious Pomeranian race, and that He had given it over
+helplessly to the power of the evil one.
+
+_Summa._--On the 9th February the princely corse was laid in
+the very sleigh which had brought it a living body, and, followed
+by a grand train of princes, nobles, and knights, along with a
+strong guard of the ducal soldatesca, was conveyed back to
+Stettin; and there, with all due and befitting ceremonies, was
+buried on Palm Sunday in the vault of the castle church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+_How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how
+Sidonia meets him as she is gathering bilberries. Item, of the
+unnatural witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir
+refuses, in consequence, to succeed him._
+
+
+Now Barnim the Tenth succeeded to that very duchy about which he
+had been so wroth the day of the Diet at Wollin, but it brought
+him little good. He was, however, a pious Prince, and much beloved
+at his dower of Ruegenwald, where he spent his time in making a
+little library of all the Lutheran hymn-books which he could
+collect, and these he carried with him in his carriage wherever he
+went; so that his subjects of Ruegenwald shed many tears at losing
+so pious a ruler.
+
+_Item,_ the moment his Grace succeeded to the government, he
+caused all the courts to be reopened, along with the treasury and
+the chancery, which his deceased Grace had kept closed to the
+last; and for this goodness towards his people, the states of the
+kingdom promised to pay all his debts, which was done; and thus
+lawlessness and robbery were crushed in the land.
+
+But woe, alas!--Sidonia can no man crush! She wrote immediately to
+his Grace, soliciting the _proebenda,_ and even presented
+herself at the ducal house of Stettin; but his Grace positively
+refused to lay eyes on her, knowing how fatal a meeting with her
+had proved to each of his brothers, who no sooner met her evil
+glance than they sickened and died.
+
+Therefore his Highness held all old women in abhorrence. Indeed,
+such was his fear of them, that not one was allowed to approach
+the castle; and when he rode or drove out, lacqueys and squires
+went before with great horsewhips, to chase away all the old women
+out of his Grace's path, for truly Sidonia might be amongst them.
+From this, it came to pass that as soon as it was rumoured in the
+town, "His Grace is coming," all the old mothers seized up their
+pattens, and scampered off, helter-skelter, to get out of reach of
+the horsewhips.
+
+But who can provide against all the arts of the devil? for though
+it is true that Sidonia destroyed his two brothers, also his Grace
+himself, along with Philip II., by her breath and glance, yet she
+caused a great number of other unfortunate persons to perish,
+without using these means, as we shall hear further on; whereby
+many imagined that her familiar Chim could not have been so weak a
+spirit as she represented him, on the rack, in order to save her
+life, but a strong and terrible demon. These things, however, will
+come in their proper place.
+
+_Summa._--After Duke Barnim had reigned several years, with
+great blessing to his people, it happened that word came from
+Ruegenwald how that his brother, Duke Casimir, was sick. This was
+the Prince whom, we may remember, Sidonia had whipped with her
+irreverent hands upon his princely _podex,_ when he was a
+little boy.
+
+Now Duke Barnim had quarrelled with the estates because they
+refused funds for the Turkish war; however, he became somewhat
+merrier that evening with the Count Stephen of Naugard, when the
+evil tidings came to him of his beloved brother (yet more bitter
+sorrow is before him, I think). So the next morning the Duke set
+off with a train of six carriages to visit his sick brother, and
+by the third evening they reached the wood which lies close beside
+Ruegenwald. Here there was a large oak, the stem of which had often
+served his Grace for a target, when he amused himself by
+practising firing. So he stopped the carriage, and alighted to see
+if the twenty or thirty balls he had shot into it were still
+there.
+
+But alas! as he reached the oak, that devil's spectre (I mean
+Sidonia) stepped from behind it; she had an old pot in her hand
+filled with bilberries, and asked his Grace, would he not take
+some to refresh himself after his journey.
+
+His Highness, however, recoiled horror-struck, and asked who she
+was.
+
+She was Sidonia von Bork, and prayed his Grace yet once more for
+the _proebenda_ in Marienfliess.
+
+Hereat the Duke was still more horrified, and exclaimed, "Curse
+upon thy _proebenda,_ but thou shalt get something else, I
+warrant thee! Thou art a vile witch, and hast in thy mind to
+destroy our whole noble race with thy detestable sorceries."
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! no one had called her a witch before; how
+could she bewitch them? It was a strange story to tell of her."
+
+_The Duke._--"How did it happen, then, that he had no
+children by his beloved Amrick?" [Footnote: Anna Maria, second
+daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg.]
+
+_Illa_ (laughing).--"He better ask his beloved Amrick
+herself. How could she know?"
+
+But here she began to contort her face horribly, and to spit out,
+whereupon the Duke called out to his retinue--"Come here, and hang
+me this hag upon the oak-tree; she is at her devil's sorceries
+again! And woe! woe! already I feel strange pains all through my
+body!"
+
+Upon this, divers persons sprang forward to seize her, but the
+nimble night-bird darted behind a clump of fir-trees, and
+disappeared. Unluckily they had no bloodhounds along with them,
+otherwise I think the devil would have been easily seized, and
+hung up like an acorn on the oak-tree. But God did not so will it,
+for though they sent a pack of hounds from Ruegenwald, the moment
+they arrived there, yet no trace of the hag could be found in the
+forest.
+
+And now mark the result: the Duke became worse hour by hour, and
+as Duke Casimir had grown much better by the time he arrived, and
+was in a fair way of recovery, his Grace resolved to take leave of
+him and return with all speed to his own house at Stettin; but on
+the second day, while they were still a mile from Stettin, Duke
+Barnim grew so much worse, that they had to stop at Alt-Damm for
+the night. And scarcely had he laid himself down in bed when he
+expired. This was on the 1st of September 1603, when he was
+fifty-four years, six months, sixteen days, and sixteen hours old.
+
+But the old, unclean night-bird would not let his blessed Highness
+go to his grave in peace (probably because he had called her an
+accursed witch). For the 18th of the same month, when all the
+nobles and estates were assembled to witness the ceremonial of
+interment, along with several members of the ducal house, and
+other illustrious personages, such a storm of hail, rain, and
+wind, came on just at a quarter to three, as they had reached the
+middle of the service, that the priest dropped the book from his
+hands, and the church became so suddenly dark, that the sexton had
+to light the candles to enable the preacher to read his text.
+Never, too, was heard such thunder, so that many thought St.
+Jacob's Tower had fallen in, and the princes and nobles rushed out
+of the church to shelter themselves in the houses, while the most
+terrific lightning flashed round them at every step.
+
+Yet truly it must have been all witch-work, for when the funeral
+was over, the weather became as serene and beautiful as possible.
+
+And a great gloom fell upon every one in consequence, for that it
+was no natural storm, a child could have seen. Indeed, Dr. Joel,
+who was wise in these matters, declared to his Highness Duke
+Bogislaff XIII. that without doubt it was a witch-storm, for the
+doctor was present at the funeral, as representative of the
+University of Grypswald. And respecting the clouds, he observed
+particularly that they were formed like dogs' tails, that is, when
+a dog carries his tail in the air so that it forms an arc of a
+circle. And this, indeed, was the truth.
+
+_Summa._--As by the death of Duke Barnim the government
+devolved upon Duke Casimir of Ruegenwald, the estates proceeded
+thither to offer him their homage, but the Prince hesitated, said
+he was sickly, and who could tell whether it would not go as ill
+with him as with his brothers? But the estates, both temporal and
+spiritual, prayed him so earnestly to accept the rule, that he
+promised to meet them on the next morning by ten of the clock, in
+the great Rittersaal (knights' hall), and make them acquainted
+with his decision.
+
+The faithful states considered this a favourable answer, and were
+in waiting next morning, at the appointed hour, in the Rittersaal.
+But what happened? Behold, as the great door was thrown open, in
+walked the Duke, not with any of the insignia of his princely
+station, but in the dress of a fisherman. He wore a linen jacket,
+a blue smock, a large hat, and great, high fisher's boots,
+reaching nearly to his waist. _Item,_ on his back the Duke
+carried a fisherman's basket; six fishermen similarly dressed
+accompanied him, and others in a like garb followed.
+
+All present wondered much at this, and a great murmur arose in the
+hall; but the Duke threw his basket down by his side, and leaned
+his elbow on it, while he thus went on to speak: "Ye see here, my
+good friends, what government I intend to hold in future with
+these honest fishers, who accompanied me up to my dear brother's
+funeral. I shall return this day to Ruegenwald. The devil may rule
+in Pomerania, but I will not; if you kill an ox there is an end of
+it, but here there is no end. Satan treats us worse than the poor
+ox. Choose a duke wheresoever you will; but as for me, I think
+fishing and ruling the rudder is pleasanter work than to rule your
+land."
+
+And when the unambitious Prince had so spoken, he drew forth a
+little flask containing branntwein [Footnote: Whisky] (a new drink
+which some esteemed more excellent than wine, which, however, I
+leave in its old pre-eminence; I tasted the other indeed but once,
+but it seemed to me to set my mouth on fire--such is not for my
+drinking), and drank to the fishers, crying, "What say you,
+children--shall we not go and flounder again upon the Ruegenwald
+strand?" Upon which they all shouted, "Ay! ay!"
+
+His Grace then drank to the states for a farewell, and leaving the
+hall, proceeded with his followers to the vessel, which he
+ascended, singing gaily, and sailed home directly to his new
+fishing-lodge at Neuhausen.
+
+Such humility, however, availed his Grace nothing in preserving
+him from the claws of Satan; for scarcely a year and a half had
+elapsed when he was seized suddenly, even as his brothers, and
+died on the 10th May 1605, at the early age of forty-eight years,
+one month, twenty-one days, and seventeen hours.
+
+But to return to the states. They were dumb with grief and despair
+when his Grace left the hall. The land marshal stood with the
+staff, the court marshal with the sword, and the chancellor with
+the seals, like stone statues there, till a noble at the window
+called out--
+
+"Let us hasten quickly to Prince Bogislaff, before he journeys
+off, too, with his five sons, and we are left without any ruler.
+See, there are the horses just putting to his carriage!"
+
+Upon this, they all ran out to the coach, and the chancellor
+asked, in a lamentable voice, "If his Grace were indeed going to
+leave them, like that other gracious Prince who owned the dukedom
+by right? The states would promise everything he desired--they
+would pay all his debts--only his Grace must not leave them and
+their poor fatherland in their sore need."
+
+Hereat his Grace laughed, and told them, "He was not going to his
+castle of Franzburg, only as far as Oderkrug, with his dear sons,
+to look at the great sheep-pens there, and drink a bowl of ewe's
+milk with the shepherds under the apple-tree. He hoped to arrive
+there before his brother Casimir in his boat, and then they might
+discuss the _casus_ together; indeed, when he showed him the
+sheep-pens, it was not probable that he would refuse a duchy which
+had a fold of twenty thousand sheep, for his brother Casimir was a
+great lover of sheep as well as of fish."
+
+Upon this, the states and privy council declared that they would
+follow him to Oderkrug to learn the result, but meanwhile begged
+of his Grace not to delay setting off, lest Duke Casimir might
+have left Oderkrug before he reached it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired
+_proebenda_--_Item,_ of her arrival at the convent of
+Marienfliess.
+
+
+Now my gracious Lord Bogislaff had scarcely alighted at Oderkrug
+from his carriage, and drunk a bowl of milk under the apple-tree,
+when he spied the yellow sails of his brother's boat above the
+high reeds; upon which he ran down to the shore, and called out
+himself--
+
+"Will you not land, brother, and drink a bowl of ewe's milk with
+us, or take a glance at the great sheep-pen? It is a rare wonder,
+and my lord brother was always a great lover of sheep!"
+
+But Prince Casimir went on, and never slackened sail. Whereupon
+his Highness called out again, "The states and privy councillors
+are coming, brother, and want to have a few words with you."
+
+Hereat Prince Casimir laughed in the boat, and returned for
+answer--"He knew well enough what they wanted; but no--he had no
+desire to be bewitched to death. Just give him the lands of
+Lauenburg and Butow as an addition to his dower, and then his dear
+Bogislaff might take all Pomerania to himself if he pleased."
+
+After which, doffing his hat for an _addio,_ he steered
+bravely through the _Pappenwasser_.
+
+When young Prince Franz heard this, he laughed loud, and said,
+"Truly our uncle is the wisest--he will not be bewitched to death,
+as he says--but what will my lord father do now, for see, here
+come the states already in their carriages over the hill!"
+
+Duke Bogislaff answered, "What else remains for me to do but to
+accept the government?"
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, and be struck dead by witchcraft, like my
+three uncles! Ah, my gracious lord father, before ever you accept
+the rule of the duchy, let the witch be seized and burned. Doctor
+Joel hath told me much about these witches; and believe me, there
+is no wiser man in all Pomerania than this magister. He can do
+something more than eat bread." Then he fell upon his father's
+neck, and caressed him--"Ah, dear father, do not jump at once into
+the government; burn the witch first: we cannot spare our dear
+lord father!"
+
+And the two young Princes George and Ulrich prayed him in like
+manner; but young Philip Secundus spake--"I think, brothers, it
+were better if our dear father gave this long-talked-of
+_proebenda_ to the witch at once; then, whether she bewitches
+or not, we are safe at all events."
+
+Hereupon his Highness answered--"My Philip is right; for in truth
+no one can say whether your uncles died by Sidonia's sorceries or
+by those of the evil man Bacchus. Therefore I warn you, dear
+children, flee from this worst of all sorcerers; not starting at
+appearances, as a horse at a shadow, for appearance is the shadow
+of truth. Be admonished, therefore, by St. Peter, and 'gird up the
+loins of your spirit: be sober, and watch unto prayer.' Then ye
+may laugh all witches to scorn; for God will turn the devices of
+your enemy to folly."
+
+Meanwhile the states have arrived; and having alighted from their
+coaches at the great sheep-pen, they advanced respectfully to the
+Duke, who was seated under the apple-tree--the land marshal first,
+with the staff, then the court marshal with the sword, and lastly
+the chancellor with the seals.
+
+The had seen from the hill how Duke Casimir sailed away without
+waiting to hear them, and prayed and hoped that his Highness would
+accept the insignia which they here respectfully tendered, and not
+abandon his poor fatherland in such dire need. The devil and
+wicked men could do much, but God could do more, as none knew
+better than his Highness.
+
+Herewith his Grace sighed deeply, and taking the insignia, laid
+staff and sword beside him; then, taking up the sword hastily
+again, he held it in his hand while he thus spake:--
+
+"My faithful, true, and honourable states, ye know how that I
+resigned the government, out of free will, at the Diet at Wollin,
+because I thought, and still think, that nothing weighs heavier
+than this sword which I hold in my hand. Therefore I went to my
+dower at Barth, and have founded the beautiful little town of
+Franzburg to keep the Stralsund knaves in submission, and also to
+teach our nobles that there is some nobler work for a man to do in
+life than eating, drinking, and hunting. _Item,_ I have
+encouraged commerce, and especially given my protection to the
+woollen trade; but all my labours will now fall to the ground, and
+the Stralsund knaves be overjoyed; [Footnote: The apprehension was
+justified by the event; for on the departure of Duke Bogislaff,
+Franzburg fell rapidly to a mere village, to the great joy of the
+Stralsunders, who looked with much envy on a new town springing up
+in their vicinity.] however, I must obey God's will, and not kick
+against the pricks. Therefore I take the sword of my father,
+hoping that it will not prove too heavy for me, an old man;
+[Footnote: The Duke was then sixty.] and that He who puts it into
+my hand (even the strong God) will help me to bear it. So let His
+holy will be done. Amen."
+
+Then his Highness delivered back the insignia to the states, who
+reverently kissed his hand, and blessed God for having given so
+good and pious a Prince to reign over them. Then they approached
+the five young lords, and kissed their hands likewise, wishing at
+the same time that many fair olive-branches might yet stand around
+their table. This made the old Duke laugh heartily, and he prayed
+the states to remain a little and drink ewe's milk with them for a
+pleasant pastime; the shepherds would set out the bowls.
+
+Duke Philip alone went away into the town to examine the library,
+and all the vases, pictures, statues, and other costly works of
+art, which his deceased uncle, Duke Johann Frederick, had
+collected; and these he delivered over to the marshal's care, with
+strict injunctions as to their preservation. But a strange thing
+happened next day; for as the Duke and his sons were sitting at
+breakfast, and the wine-can had just been locked up, because each
+young lord had drunk his allotted portion, namely, seven glasses
+(the Duke himself only drank six), a lacquey entered with a note
+from Sidonia, in which she again demanded the _proebenda,_
+and hoped that his Highness would be more merciful that his dead
+brothers, now that he had succeeded to the duchy. Let him
+therefore send an order for her admission to the cloister of
+Marienfliess. The answer was to be laid upon St. Mary's altar.
+
+Here young Lord Francis grew quite pale, and dropped the fork from
+his hands, then spake--"Now truly we see this hag learns of the
+devil, for how else could she have known that our gracious father
+had accepted the government, unless Satan had visited her in her
+den? But let his dearest father be careful. In his opinion, the
+Duke should promise her the _proebenda;_ but as soon as the
+accursed hag showed herself at the cloister (for the devil now
+kept her concealed), let her be seized and burned publicly, for a
+terrible warning and example."
+
+This advice did not please the old Duke. "Franz," he said, "thou
+art a fool, and God forbid that ever thou shouldst reign in the
+land; for know that the word of a Prince is sacred. Yes, Sidonia
+shall have the _proebenda;_ but I will not entrap my enemy
+through deceit to death, but will try to win her over by
+gentleness. The chancellor shall answer her instantly, and write
+another letter to the abbess of Petersdorf; and Sidonia's shall be
+laid upon the altar of St. Mary's this night, as she requested, by
+one of my lacqueys."
+
+Then Duke Philip kissed his pious father's hand, and the tears
+fell from the good youth's eyes as he exclaimed--
+
+"Alas, if she should murder you too!"
+
+And here are the two letters, according to the copies which are
+yet to be seen in the princely chancery. _Sub. Hit. Marienfliess
+K, No. 683._
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, POMERANIA,
+CASSUBEN, AND WENDEN; PRINCE OF RUGEN; COUNT OF CUTZKOW, OF THE
+LANDS OP LAUENBURG AND BUTOW; LORD, &c.
+
+"In consequence of your repeated entreaties for a _proetenda_
+in the cloister of Marienfliess, We, of our great goodness, hereby
+grant the same unto you; hoping that, in future, you will lead an
+humble, quiet life, as beseems a cloistered maiden, and, in
+especial, that you will always show yourself an obedient and
+faithful servant of our princely house. So we commit you to God's
+keeping!
+
+Signatum, Old Stettin, the 2oth October 1603. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The other letter, to the abbess of Petersdorf, was sent by a
+salmon lad to the convent, as we shall hear further on, and ran
+thus:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, &c.
+
+"WORTHY ABBESS, TRUSTY AND WELL-BELOVED FRIEND!
+
+"Hereby we send to you a noble damsel, named Sidonia von Bork, and
+desire a cell for her in your cloisters, even as the other nuns.
+We trust that misery may have softened her heart towards God; but
+if she do not demean herself with Christian sobriety, you have our
+commands to send her, along with the fish peasants and others, to
+our court for judgment.
+
+"God keep you; pray for us! Signatum, &c. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The letter to Sidonia was, in truth, laid that same night upon the
+altar of St. Mary's, by a lacquey, who was further desired to hide
+himself in the church, and see what became of it. Now, the fellow
+had a horrible dread of staying alone in the church by night, so
+he took the cook, Jeremias Bild, along with him; and after they
+had laid the letter down upon the altar, they crept both of them
+into a high pew close by, belonging to the Aulick Counsellor,
+Dieterick Stempel.
+
+Now mark what happened. They had been there about an hour, and the
+moon was pouring down as clear as daylight from the high altar
+window; when, all at once, the letter upon the altar began to move
+about of itself, as if it were alive, then it hopped down upon the
+floor, from that danced down the altar steps, and so on all along
+the nave, though no human being laid hands on it the while, and
+not a breath or stir was heard in the church. [Footnote: Something
+similar is related in the _Seherin of Prevorst_, where a
+glass of water moved of its own accord to another place.]
+
+Our two carls nearly died of the fright, and solemnly attested by
+oath to his Highness the truth of their relation. Thereby young
+Lord Franz was more strengthened in his belief concerning
+Sidonia's witchcraft, and had many arguments with his father in
+consequence.
+
+"His lord father might easily know that a letter could not move of
+itself without devil's magic. Now, this letter had moved of
+itself; _ergo_," &c.
+
+Whereupon his Highness answered--
+
+"When had he ever doubted the power of Satan? Ah, never; but in
+this instance who could tell what the carls in their fright had
+seen or not seen? For, perhaps, Sidonia, when she observed them
+hiding in the pew, had stuck a fish-hook into the letter, and so
+drawn it over to herself. He remembered in his youth a trick that
+had been played on the patron--for this patron always went to
+sleep during the sermon. So the sexton let down a fish-hook
+through the ceiling of the church, which, catching hold of the
+patron's wig, drew it up in the sight of the whole congregation,
+who afterwards swore that they had seen the said wig of their
+patron carried up to the roof of the church by witchcraft, and
+disappear through a hole in the ceiling, as if it had been a bird.
+Some time after, however, the sexton confessed his knavery, and
+the patron's flying wig had been a standing joke in the country
+ever since."
+
+But the young lord still shook his head--
+
+"Ah, they would yet see who was right. He was still of the same
+opinion."
+
+But I shall leave these arguments at once, for the result will
+fully show which party was in the right.
+
+_Summa._--Sidonia, next day, drove in her one-horse cart
+again to the convent gate at Marienfliess, accompanied by another
+old hag as her servant. Now the peasants had just arrived with the
+salmon, which the Duke despatched every fortnight as a present to
+the convent, and the letter of his Grace had arrived also. So,
+many of the nuns were assembled on the great steps looking at the
+fish, and waiting for the abbess to divide it amongst them, as was
+her custom. Others were gathered round the abbess, weeping as she
+told them of the Duke's letter, and the good mother herself nearly
+fainted when she read it.
+
+So Sidonia drove straight into the court, as the gates were lying
+open, and shouted--
+
+"What the devil! Is this a nuns' cloister, where all the gates lie
+open, and the carls come in and out as if it were a dove-cot?
+Shame on ye, for light wantons! Wait; Sidonia will bring you into
+order. Ha! ye turned me out; but now ye must have me, whether ye
+will or no!"
+
+At such blasphemies the nuns were struck dumb. However, the abbess
+seemed as though she heard them not, but advancing, bid Sidonia
+welcome, and said--
+
+"It was not possible to receive her into the cloister, until she
+had command from his Grace so to do, which command she now held in
+her hand."
+
+This softened Sidonia somewhat, and she asked--
+
+"What are the nuns doing there with the fish?"
+
+"Dividing the salmon," was the answer.
+
+Whereupon she jumped out of the cart, and declared that she must
+get her portion also, for salmon was a right good thing for
+supper.
+
+Whereupon the sub-prioress, Dorothea von Stettin, cut her off a
+fine large head-piece, which Sidonia, however, pushed away
+scornfully, crying--
+
+"Fie! what did she mean by that? The devil might eat the
+head-piece, but give her the tail. She had never in her life eaten
+anything but the tail-piece; the tail was fatter."
+
+So the abbess signed to them to give her the tail-end; after
+which, she asked to see her cell, and, on being shown it, cried
+out again--
+
+"Fie on them! was that a cell for a lady of her degree? Why, it
+was a pig-sty. Let the abbess put her young litter of nuns there;
+they would be better in it than running up and down the convent
+court with the fish-carls. She must and will have the refectory."
+
+And when the abbess answered--
+
+"That was the prayer-room, where the sisters met night and morning
+for vespers and matins," she heeded not, but said--
+
+"Let them pray in the chapel--the chapel is large enough."
+
+And so saying, she commanded her maid, who was no other than Wolde
+Albrechts, though not a soul in the convent knew her, to carry all
+her luggage straight into the refectory.
+
+What could the poor abbess do? She had to submit, and not only
+give her up the refectory, but, finding that she had no bed, order
+one in for her. _Item,_ seeing that Sidonia was in rags, she
+desired black serge for a robe to be brought, and a white veil,
+such as the sisterhood wore, and bid the nuns stitch them up for
+her, thinking thus to win her over by kindness. Also she desired
+tables, stools, &c., to be arranged in the refectory, since she so
+ardently desired to possess this room. But what fruit all this
+kindness brought forth we shall see in _liber tertius_.
+
+
+END OF SECOND BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS UP
+TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19th, 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and
+extols her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairywoman,
+and how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Serene Highness will
+surely pardon me if I pass over, in _libra tertio_, many of
+the quarrels, bickerings, strifes, and evil deeds, with which
+Sidonia disturbed the peace of the convent, and brought many a
+goodly person therein to a cruel end; first, because these things
+are already much known and talked of; and secondly, because such
+dire and Satanic wickedness must not be so much as named to gentle
+ears by me.
+
+I shall therefore only set down a few of the principal events of
+her convent life, by which your Grace and others may easily
+conjecture much of what still remains unsaid; for truly wickedness
+advanced and strengthened in her day by day, as decay in a rotting
+tree.
+
+The morning after her arrival in the convent, while it was yet
+quite early, and Wolde Albrechts, her lame maid, was sweeping out
+the refectory, the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, came to pay her
+a visit. She had a piece of salmon, and a fine haddock's liver, on
+a plate, to present to the lady, and was full of joy and gratitude
+that so pious and chaste a maiden should have entered this
+convent. "Ah, yes! it was indeed terrible to see how the convent
+gates lay open, and the men-folk walked in and out, as the lady
+herself had seen yesterday. And would sister Sidonia believe it,
+sometimes the carls came in bare-legged? Not alone old Matthias
+Winterfeld, the convent porter, but others--yea, even in their
+shirt-sleeves sometimes--oh, it was shocking even to think of! She
+had talked about it long enough, but no one heeded her, though
+truly she was sub-prioress, and ought to have authority. However,
+if sister Sidonia would make common cause with her from this time
+forth, modesty and sobriety might yet be brought back to their
+blessed cloister."
+
+Sidonia desired nothing better than to make common cause with the
+good, simple Dorothea--but for her own purposes. Therefore she
+answered, "Ay, truly; this matter of the open gates was a grievous
+sin and shame. What else were these giddy wantons thinking of but
+lovers and matrimony? She really blushed to see them yesterday."
+
+_Illa._--"True, true; that was just it. All about love and
+marriage was the talk for ever amongst them. It made her heart die
+within her to think what the young maidens were nowadays."
+
+_Haec._--"Had she any instances to bring forward; what had
+they done?"
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! instances enough. Why, not long since, a nun
+had married with a clerk, and this last chaplain, David Grosskopf,
+had taken another nun to wife himself."
+
+_Haec._--"Oh, she was ready to faint with horror."
+
+_Illa _ (sobbing, weeping, and falling upon Sidonia's
+neck).--"God be praised that she had found one righteous soul in
+this Sodom and Gomorrah. Now she would swear friendship to her for
+life and death! And had she a little drop of wine, just to pour on
+the haddock's liver? it tasted so much better stewed in wine! but
+she would go for some of her own. The liver must just get one turn
+on the fire, and then the butter and spices have to be added. She
+would teach her how to do it if she did not know, only let the old
+maid make up the fire."
+
+_Haec_.--"What was she talking about? Cooking was child's play
+to her; she had other things to cook than haddocks' livers."
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"Ah! let not her chaste sister be angry;
+she had meant it all in kindness."
+
+_Haec_.--"No doubt--but why did she call the convent a Sodom
+and Gomorrah? Did the nuns ever admit a lover into their cells?"
+
+_Illa_ (screaming with horror).--"No, no, fie! how could the
+chaste sister bring her lips to utter such words?"
+
+_Haec_.--"What did she mean, then, by the Sodom and Gomorrah?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! the whole world was a Sodom and Gomorrah,
+why, then, not the convent, since it lay in the world? For though
+we do not sin in words or works, yet we may sin in thought; and
+this was evidently the case with some of these young things, for
+if the talk in their hearing was of marriage, they laughed and
+tittered, so that it was a scandal and abomination!"
+
+_Haec_.--"But had she anything else to tell her--what had she
+come for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she had forgotten. The abbess sent to say, that
+she must begin to knit the gloves directly for the canons of
+Camyn. Here was the thread."
+
+_Haec_.--"Thousand devils! what did she mean?" _Illa_
+(crossing herself).--"Ah! the pious sister might let the devils
+alone, though (God be good to us) the world was indeed full of
+them!"
+
+_Haec_.--"What did she mean, then, by this knitting--to talk
+to her so--the lady of castles and lands?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the matter was thus. The reverend canons of
+Camyn, who were twelve in number, purchased their beer always from
+the convent--for such had been the usage from the old Catholic
+times--and sent a waggon regularly every half-year to fetch it
+home. In return for this goodness, the nuns knit a pair of thread
+gloves for each canon in spring, and a pair of woollen ones in
+winter."
+
+_Haec_.--"Then the devil may knit them if he chooses, but she
+never will. What! a lady of her rank to knit gloves for these old
+fat paunches! No, no; the abbess must come to her! Send a message
+to bid her come."
+
+And truly, in a little time, the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf,
+came as she was bid; for she had resolved to try and conquer
+Sidonia's pride and insolence by softness and humility.
+
+But what a storm of words fell upon the worthy matron!
+
+"Was this treatment, forsooth, for a noble lady? To be told to
+knit gloves for a set of lazy canons. Marry, she had better send
+the men at once to her room, to have them tried on. No wonder that
+levity and wantonness should reign throughout the convent!"
+
+Here the good mother interposed--
+
+"But could not sister Sidonia moderate her language a little? Such
+violence ill became a spiritual maiden. If she would not hold by
+the old usage, let her say so quietly, and then she herself, the
+abbess, would undertake to knit the gloves, since the work so
+displeased her."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room, but, on opening the door,
+tumbled right against sister Anna Apenborg, who was stuck up close
+to it, with her ear against the crevice, listening to what was
+passing inside. Anna screamed at first, for the good mother's head
+had given her a stout blow, but recovering quickly, as the two
+prioresses passed out, curtsied to Sidonia--
+
+"Her name was Anna Apenborg. Her father, Elias, dwelt in
+Nadrensee, near Old Stettin, and her great-great-grandfather,
+Caspar, had been with Bogislaff X. in the Holy Land. She had come
+to pay her respects to the new sister, for she was cooking in the
+kitchen yesterday when the lady arrived, and never got a sight of
+her, but she heard that this dear new sister was a great lady,
+with castles and lands. Her father's cabin was only a poor thing
+thatched with straw," &c.
+
+All this pleased the proud Sidonia mightily, so she beckoned her
+into the room, where the aforesaid Anna immediately began to stare
+about her, and devour everything with her eyes; but seeing such
+scanty furniture, remarked inquiringly--
+
+"The dear sister's goods are, of course, on the road?"
+
+This spoiled all Sidonia's good-humour in a moment, and she
+snappishly asked--
+
+"What brought her there?"
+
+Hereupon the other excused herself--
+
+"The maid had told her that the dear sister was going to eat her
+salmon for her lunch, with bread and butter, but it was much
+better with kale, and if she had none, her maid might come down
+now and cut some in the garden. This was what she had to say. She
+heard, indeed, that the sub-prioress and Agnes Kleist ate their
+salmon stewed in butter, but that was too rich; for one should be
+very particular about salmon, it was so apt to disagree. However,
+if sister Sidonia would just mind her, she would teach her all the
+different ways of dressing it, and no one was ever the worse for
+eating salmon, if they followed her plan."
+
+But before Sidonia had time to answer, the chatterbox had run to
+the door and lifted the latch--
+
+"There was a strange woman in the courtyard, with something under
+her apron. She must go and see what it was, but would be back
+again instantly with the news."
+
+In a short time she returned, bringing along with her Sheriff
+Sparling's dairy-woman, who carried a large bundle of flax under
+her apron. This she set down before Sidonia--
+
+"And his worship bid her say that she must spin all this for him
+without delay, for he wanted a new set of shirts, and the thread
+must be with the weaver by Christmas."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she fell into a right rage in earnest--
+
+"May the devil wring his ears, the peasant carl! To send such a
+message to a lady of her degree!"
+
+Then she pitched the flax out of the door, and wanted to shove the
+dairy-woman out after it, but she stopped, and said--
+
+"His worship gave all the nuns a bushel of seed for their trouble,
+and sowed it for them; so she had better do as the others did."
+
+Sidonia, however, was not to be appeased--
+
+"May the devil take her and her flax, if she did not trot out of
+that instantly."
+
+So she pushed the poor woman out, and then panting and blowing
+with rage, asked Anna Apenborg to tell her what this boor of a
+sheriff was like?
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a strange man. Ate fish every day, and
+always cooked the one way, namely, in beer. How this was possible
+she could not understand. To-day she heard he was to have pike for
+his dinner."
+
+_Haec_.--"Was she asking the fool what he ate? What did she
+care about his dinners? But what sort of man was he, and did all
+the nuns, in truth, spin for him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, except Barbara Schetzkow; she was dead
+now. But once when he went storming to her cell, she just turned
+him out, and so she had peace ever after. For he roared like a
+bear, but, in truth, was a cowardly rabbit, this same sheriff. And
+she heard, that one time, when he was challenged by a noble, he
+shrank away, and never stood up to his quarrel."
+
+But just then in walked the sheriff himself, with a horse-whip in
+his hand. He was a thick-set, grey-headed fellow, and roared at
+Sidonia--
+
+"What! thou old, lean hag--so thou wilt spin no flax? May the
+devil take thee, but thou shalt obey my commands!"
+
+While he thus scolded, Sidonia quietly caught hold of the broom,
+and grasping it with both hands, gave such a blow with the handle
+on the grey pate of the sheriff, that he tumbled against the door,
+while she screamed out--
+
+"Ha! thou peasant boor, take that for calling me a hag--the lady
+of castle and lands!"
+
+Then she struck him again and again, till the sheriff at last got
+the door open and bolted out, running down the stairs as hard as
+he could, and into the courtyard, where, when he was safely
+landed, he shook the horsewhip up at Sidonia's windows, crying
+out--
+
+"I will make you pay dear for this. Anna Apenborg was witness of
+the assault. I will swear information this very day before his
+Highness, how the hag assaulted me, the sheriff, and
+superintendent of the convent, in the performance of my duty, and
+pray him to deliver an honourable cloister from the presence of
+such a vagabond."
+
+Then he went to the abbess, and begged her and the nuns to sustain
+him in his accusation--
+
+"Such wickedness and arrogance had never yet been seen under the
+sun. Let the good abbess only feel his head; there was a lump as
+big as an egg on it. Truly, he had had a mind to horsewhip her
+black and blue; but that would have been illegal; so he thanked
+God that he had restrained himself."
+
+Then he made the abbess feel his head again; also Anna Apenborg,
+who happened to come in that moment. But the worthy mother knew
+not what to do. She told the sheriff of Sidonia's behaviour as she
+drove into the convent; also how she had possessed herself of the
+refectory by force, refused to knit or spin, and had sent for her,
+the abbess, bidding her come to her, as if she were no better than
+a serving-wench.
+
+At last the sheriff desired all the nuns to be sent for, and in
+their presence drew up a petition to his Highness, praying that
+the honourable convent might be delivered from the presence of
+this dragon, for that no peace could be expected within the walls
+until this vagabond and evil-minded old hag were turned out on the
+road again, or wherever else his Highness pleased. Every one
+present signed this, with the exception of Anna Apenborg and the
+sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin. And many think that in
+consideration of this gentleness, Sidonia afterwards spared their
+lives, and did not bring them to a premature grave, like as she
+did the worthy abbess and others.
+
+For the next time that she caught Anna at her old habit of
+listening, Sidonia said, while boxing her--
+
+"You should get something worse than a box on the ear, only for
+your refusal to sign that lying petition to his Highness."
+
+_Summa_.--After a few days, an answer arrived from his Grace
+the Duke of Stettin, and the abbess, with the sheriff, proceeded
+with it to Sidonia's apartment.
+
+They found her brewing beer, an art in which she excelled; and the
+letter which they handed to her ran thus, according to the copy
+received likewise by the convent:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, &c.
+
+"Having heard from our sheriff and the pious sisterhood of
+Marienfliess, of thy unseemly behaviour, in causing uproars and
+tumults in the convent; further, of thy having struck our worthy
+sheriff on the head with a broom-stick--We hereby declare, desire,
+and command, that, unless thou givest due obedience to the
+authorities, lay and spiritual, doing this well, with humility and
+meekness, even as the other sisters, the said authorities shall
+have full power to turn thee out of the convent, by means of their
+bailiffs or otherwise, as they please, giving thee back again to
+that perdition from which thou wast rescued. Further, thou art
+herewith to deliver up the refectory to the abbess, of which We
+hear thou hast shamefully possessed thyself.
+
+"Old Stettin, 10th November, 1603.
+
+"BOGISLAFF."
+
+Sidonia scarcely looked at the letter, but thrust it under the pot
+on the fire, where it soon blazed away to help the brewing, and
+exclaimed--
+
+"They had forged it between them; the Prince never wrote a line of
+it. Nor would he have sent it to her by the hands of her enemies.
+Let it burn there. Little trouble would she take to read their
+villainy. But never fear, they should have something in return for
+their pains."
+
+Hereupon she blew on them both, and they had scarcely reached the
+court, after leaving her apartment, when both were seized with
+excruciating pains in their limbs; both the sheriff and the abbess
+were affected in precisely the same way--a violent pain first in
+the little finger, then on through the hand, up the arm, finally,
+throughout the whole frame, as if the members were tearing
+asunder, till they both screamed aloud for very agony. Doctor
+Schwalenberg is sent for from Stargard, but his salve does no
+good; they grow worse rather, and their cries are dreadful to
+listen to, for the pain has become intolerable.
+
+So my brave sheriff turns from a roaring ox into a poor cowardly
+hare, and sends off the dairy-woman with a fine haunch of venison
+and a sweetbread to Sidonia: "His worship's compliments to the
+illustrious lady with these, and begged to know if she could send
+him anything good for the rheumatism, which had attacked him quite
+suddenly. The Stargard doctor was not worth the air he breathed,
+and his salve had only made him worse in place of better. He would
+send the illustrious lady also some pounds of wax-lights; she
+might like them through the winter, but they were not made yet."
+
+When Sidonia heard this she laughed loudly, danced about, and
+repeated the verse which was then heard for the first time from
+her lips; but afterwards she made use of it, when about any evil
+deed:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+  Meine Hunde und meine Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    My dogs and my cats."]
+
+The dairy-woman stood by in silent wonder, first looking at
+Sidonia, then at Wolde, who began to dance likewise, and
+chanted:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+   Unsre Hunde und unsre Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    Our dogs and our cats."]
+
+At last Sidonia answered, "This time I will help him; but if he
+ever bring the roaring ox out of the stall again, assuredly he
+will repent it."
+
+Hereon the dairy-mother turned to depart, but suddenly stood quite
+still, staring at Anne Wolde; at length said, "Did I not see thee
+years ago spinning flax in my mother's cellar, when the folk
+wanted to bring thee to an ill end?"
+
+But the hag denied it all--"The devil may have been in her
+mother's cellar, but she had never seen Marienfliess in her life
+before, till she came hither with this illustrious lady."
+
+So the other seemed to believe her, and went out; and by the time
+she reached her master's door, his pains had all vanished, so that
+he rode that same day at noon to the hunt.
+
+The poor abbess heard of all this through Anna Apenborg, and
+thereupon bethought herself of a little embassy likewise.
+
+So she bid Anna take all sorts of good pastry, and a new kettle,
+and greet the Lady Sidonia from her--"Could the dear sister give
+her anything for the rheumatism?" She heard the sheriff was quite
+cured, and all the doctor's salves and plasters were only making
+her worse. She sent the dear sister a few dainties--_item_, a
+new kettle, as her own kettle had not yet arrived. _Item_,
+she begged her acceptance of all the furniture, &c., which she had
+lent her for her apartment.
+
+At this second message, the horrible witch laughed and danced as
+before, repeating the same couplet; and the old hag, Wolde, danced
+behind her like her shadow.
+
+Now Anna Apenborg's curiosity was excited in the highest degree at
+all this, and her feet began to beat up and down on the floor as
+if she were dying to dance likewise; at last she exclaimed, "Ah,
+dear lady! what is the meaning of that? Could you not teach it to
+me, if it cures the rheumatism? that is, if there be no devil's
+work in it (from which God keep us). I have twelve pounds of wool
+lying by me; will you take it, dear lady, for teaching me the
+secret?"
+
+But Sidonia answered, "Keep your wool, good Anna, and I will keep
+my secret, seeing that it is impossible for me to teach it to you;
+for know, that a woman can only learn it of a man, and a man of a
+woman; and this we call the doctrine of sympathies. However, go
+your ways now, and tell the abbess that, if she does my will, I
+will visit her and see what I can do to help her; but, remember,
+my will she must do."
+
+Hereupon sister Anna was all eagerness to know what her will was,
+but Sidonia bade her hold her tongue, and then locked up the
+viands in the press, while Wolde went into the kitchen with the
+kettle, where Anna Apenborg followed her slowly, to try and pick
+something out of the old hag, but without any success, as one may
+easily imagine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent._
+
+
+When Sidonia went to visit the abbess, as she had promised, she
+found her lying in bed and moaning, so that it might have melted
+the heart of a stone; but the old witch seemed quite
+surprised--"What could be the matter with the dear, good mother?
+but by God's help she would try and cure her. Only, concerning
+this little matter of the refectory, it might as well be settled
+first, for Anna Apenborg told her the room was to be taken from
+her; but would not the good mother permit her to keep it?"
+
+And when the tortured matron answered, "Oh yes; keep it, keep it,"
+Sidonia went on--
+
+"There was just another little favour she expected for curing her
+dear mother (for, by God's help, she expected to cure her). This
+was, to make her sub-prioress in place of Dorothea Stettin; for,
+in the first place, the situation was due to her rank, she being
+the most illustrious lady in the convent, dowered with castles and
+lands; secondly, because her illustrious forefathers had helped to
+found this convent; and thirdly, it was due to her age, for she
+was the natural mother of all these young doves, and much more
+fitted to keep them in order and strict behaviour than Dorothea
+Stettin."
+
+Here the abbess answered, "How could she make her sub-prioress
+while the other lived? This was not to be done? Truly sister
+Dorothea was somewhat prudish and whining, this she could not
+deny, for she had suffered many crosses in her path; but, withal,
+she was an upright, honest creature, with the best and simplest
+heart in the world; and so little selfishness, that verily she
+would lay down her life for the sisterhood, if it were necessary."
+
+_Illa_.--"A good heart was all very well, but what could it
+do without respect? and how could a poor fool be respected who
+fell into fits if she saw a bride, particularly here, where the
+young sisters thought of nothing but marriage from morning till
+night."
+
+_Haec_.--"Yet she was held in great respect and honour by all
+the sisterhood, as she herself could testify."
+
+_Illa_.--"Stuff! she must be sub-prioress, and there was an
+end of it, or the abbess might lie groaning there till she was as
+stiff as a pole."
+
+"Alas! Sidonia," answered the abbess, "I would rather lie here as
+stiff as a pole--or, in other words, lie here a corpse, for I
+understand thy meaning--than do aught that was unjust."
+
+_Illa_.--"What was unjust? The old goose need not be turned
+out of her office by force, but persuaded out of it--that would be
+an easy matter, if she were so humble and excellent a creature."
+
+_Haec_.--"But then deceit must be practised, and that she
+could never bring herself to."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yet you could all practise deceit against me, and
+send off that complaint to his Highness the Prince."
+
+_Haec_.--"There was no falsehood there nor deceit, but the
+openly expressed wish of the whole convent, and of his worship the
+sheriff."
+
+_Illa_.--"Then let the whole convent and his worship the
+sheriff make her well again; she would not trouble herself about
+the matter."
+
+Whereupon she rose to depart, but the suffering abbess stretched
+out her hands, and begged, for the sake of Jesus, that she would
+release her from this torture! "Take everything--everything thou
+wishest, Sidonia--only leave me my good conscience. Thy dying hour
+must one day come too; oh! think on that."
+
+_Illa_.--"The dying hour is a long way off yet" (and she
+moved to the door).
+
+_Haec _(murmuring):--
+
+  "Why should health from God estrange thee?
+  Morning cometh and may change thee;
+  Life, to-day, its hues may borrow
+  Where the grave-worm feeds to-morrow."
+
+_Illa_.--"Look to yourself then. Speak! Make me sub-prioress,
+and be Cured on the instant."
+
+_Haec _ (turning herself back upon the pillow).--"No, no,
+temptress; begone:--
+
+  "'Softest pillow for the dying,
+  Is a conscience void of dread.'
+
+Go, leave me; my life is in the hand of God. 'For if we live, we
+live unto the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord. Living,
+therefore, or dying, we are the Lord's.'"
+
+So saying, the pious mother turned her face to the wall, and
+Sidonia went out of the chamber.
+
+In a little while, however, she returned--"Would the good mother
+promise, at least, to offer no opposition, if Dorothea Stettin
+proposed, of her own free will, to resign the office of
+sub-prioress? If so, let her reach forth her hand; she would soon
+find the pains leave her."
+
+The poor abbess assented to this, and oh, wonder! as it came, so
+it went; first out of the little finger, and then by degrees out
+of the whole body, so that the old mother wept for joy, and
+thanked her murderess.
+
+Just then the door opened, and David Ludeck, the chaplain, whom
+the abbess had sent for, entered in his surplice. He was a fine
+tall man, of about thirty-five years, with bright red lips and
+jet-black beard.
+
+He wondered much on hearing how the abbess had been cured by what
+Sidonia called "sympathies," and smelled devil's work in it, but
+said nothing--for he was afraid; spoke kindly to the witch-hag
+even, and extolled her learning and the nobility of her race;
+declaring that he knew well that the Von Borks had helped mainly
+to found this cloister.
+
+This mightily pleased the sorceress, and she grew quite friendly,
+asking him at last, "What news he had of his wife and children?"
+And when he answered, "He had no wife nor children," her eyes lit
+up again like old cinders, and she began to jest with him about
+his going about so freely in a cloister, as she observed he did.
+But when she saw that the priest looked grave at the jestings, she
+changed her tone, and demurely asked him, "If he would be ready
+after sermon on Sunday to assist at her assuming the nun's dress;
+for though many had given up this old usage, yet she would hold by
+it, for love of Jesu." This pleased the priest, and he promised to
+be prepared. Then Sidonia took her leave; but scarcely had she
+reached her own apartment when she sent for Anna Apenborg. "What
+sort of man was this chaplain? she saw that he went about the
+convent at his pleasure. This was strange when he was unmarried."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a right friendly and well-behaved gentleman.
+Nothing unseemly in word or deed had ever been heard of him."
+
+_Haec_.--"Then he must have some private love-affair."
+
+_Illa_.--"Some said he was paying court to Bamberg's sister
+there in Jacobshagen."
+
+_Haec_.--"Ha! very probable. But was it true? for otherwise he
+should never go about amongst the nuns the way he did. It was
+quite abominable: an unmarried man; Dorothea Stettin was right.
+But how could they ascertain the fact?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was easily done. She was going next morning to
+Jacobshagen, and would make out the whole story for her. Indeed,
+she herself, too, was curious about it."
+
+_Haec_.--"All right. This must be done for the honour of the
+cloister. For according to the rules of 1569, the court chaplain
+was to be an old man, who should teach the sisters to read and
+write. Whereas, here was a fine carl with red lips and a black
+beard--unmarried too. Did he perchance ever teach any of them to
+read or write?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; for they all knew how already."
+
+_Haec_.--"Still there was something wrong in it. No, no, in
+such matters youth has no truth; Dorothea Stettin was quite right.
+Ah, what a wonderful creature, that excellent Dorothea! Such
+modesty and purity she had never met with before. Would that all
+young maidens were like her, and then this wicked world would be
+something better."
+
+_Illa_ (sighing).--"Ah, yes; but then sister Dorothea went
+rather far in her notions."
+
+_Haec_.--"How so? In these matters one could never go too
+far."
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, when a couple were called in church, or a
+woman was churched, Dorothea nearly fainted. Then, there was a
+niche in the chancel for which old Duke Barnim had given them an
+Adam and Eve, which he turned and carved himself. But Dorothea was
+quite shocked at the Adam, and made a little apron to hang before
+him, though the abbess and the whole convent said that it was not
+necessary. But she told them, that unless Adam wore his apron,
+never would she set foot in the chapel. Now, truly this was going
+rather far. _Item_, she has been heard to wonder how the Lord
+God could send all the animals naked into the world; as cats,
+dogs, horses, and the like. Indeed, she one day disputed sharply
+on the matter with the chaplain; but he only laughed at her,
+whereupon Dorothea went away in a sulk."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed outright too; but soon said with grave
+decorum, "Quite right. The excellent Dorothea was a treasure above
+all treasures for the convent. Ah, such chastity and virtue were
+rarely to be met with in this wicked world."
+
+Now Anna Apenborg had hardly turned her back, to go and chatter
+all this back again to the sub-prioress, when Sidonia proceeded to
+tap some of her beer, and called the convent porter to her,
+Matthias Winterfeld, bidding him carry it with her greetings to
+the chaplain, David Ludeck. (For her own maid, Wolde, was lame,
+ever since the racking she got at Wolgast. So Sidonia was in the
+habit of sending the porter all her messages, much to his
+annoyance.) When he came now he was in his shirt-sleeves, at which
+Sidonia was wroth--"What did he mean by going about the convent in
+shirt-sleeves? Never let him appear before her eyes in such
+unseemly trim. And was this a time even for shirt-sleeves, when
+they were in the month of November? But winter or summer, he must
+never appear so,"
+
+Hereupon the fellow excused himself. He was killing geese for some
+of the nuns, and had just put off his coat, not to have it spoiled
+by the down; but she is nothing mollified--scolds him still, so
+the fellow makes off without another word, fearing he might get a
+touch of the rheumatism, like the abbess and his worship the
+sheriff, and carries the beer-can to the reverend chaplain; from
+whom he soon brings back "his grateful acknowledgments to the Lady
+Sidonia."
+
+Two days now passed over, but on the third morning Anna Apenborg
+trotted into the refectory full of news. She was quite tired from
+her journey yesterday; for the snow was deep on the roads, but to
+pleasure sister Sidonia (and besides, as it was a matter that
+concerned the honour of the convent) she had set off to
+Jacobshagen, though indeed the snow lay ankle-deep. However, she
+was well repaid, and had heard all she wanted; oh, there was great
+news!
+
+_Illa_.--"Quick! what? how? why? Remember it is for the
+honour and reputation of the entire convent."
+
+_Haec_.--"She had first gone to one person, who pretended not
+to know anything at all of the matter; but then another person had
+told her the whole story--under the seal of the strictest secrecy,
+however."
+
+_Illa_.--"What is it? what is it? How she went on chattering
+of nothing."
+
+_Haec_.--"But will the dear sister promise not to breathe it
+to mortal? She would be ruined with her best friend otherwise."
+
+_Illa_.--"Nonsense, girl; who could I repeat it to? Come, out
+with it!"
+
+So Anna began, in a very long-winded manner, to explain how the
+burgomaster's wife in Jacobshagen said that her maid said that
+Provost Bamberg's maid said, that while she was sweeping his study
+the other morning, she heard the provost's sister say to her
+brother in the adjoining room, that she could not bear the
+chaplain, David Ludeck, for he had been visiting there off and on
+for ever so long, and yet never had asked her the question. He was
+a faint-hearted coward evidently, and she hated faint-hearted men.
+
+Sidonia grew as red as a lire-beacon when she heard this, and
+walked up and down the apartment as if much perturbed, so that
+Anna asked if the dear sister were ill? "No," was the answer. "She
+was only thinking how best to get rid of this priest, and prevent
+him running in and out of the convent whenever he pleased. She
+must try and have an order issued, that he was only to visit the
+nuns when they were sick. This very day she would see about it.
+Could the good Anna tell her what the sheriff had for lunch
+to-day?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, could she; for the milk-girl, who had
+brought her some fresh milk, told her that he had got plenty of
+wild fowl, which the keeper had snared in the net; and there was
+to be a sweetbread besides. But what was the dear sister herself
+to eat?"
+
+_Haec_.--"No matter--but did she not hear a great ringing of
+bells? What could the ringing be for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was a strange thing, truly. And there was no
+one dead, nor any child to be christened, that she had heard of.
+She would just run out and see, and bring the dear sister word."
+
+_Illa_.-"Well then, wait till evening, for it is near noon
+now, and I expect a guest to lunch."
+
+_Haec_.--"Eh? a guest!--and who could it be?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the chaplain himself. I want to arrange about
+his dismissal."
+
+So, hardly had she got rid of the chatterbox, when Sidonia called
+the porter, Matthias, and bid him greet the reverend chaplain from
+her, and say, that as she had somewhat to ask him concerning the
+investiture on Sunday, would he be her guest that day at dinner?
+She hoped to have some game with a sweetbread, and excellent beer
+to set before him.
+
+When the porter returned with the answer from his reverence,
+accepting the invitation, she sent him straight to the sheriff
+with a couple of covered dishes, and a message, begging his
+worship to send her half-a-dozen brace or so of game, for she
+heard that a great many had been taken in his nets; and a
+sweetbread, if he had it, for she had a guest to-day at dinner.
+
+So the dishes came back full--everything just ready to be served;
+for the cunning hag knew well that he dare not refuse her; and
+immediately afterwards the priest arrived to dinner. He was very
+friendly, but Sidonia caught him looking very suspiciously at a
+couple of brooms which she had laid crosswise under the table. So
+she observed, "I lay these brooms there, to preserve our dear
+mother and the sheriff from falling again into this sickness. It
+is part of the doctrine of sympathies, and I learned it out of my
+Herbal, as I can show you." Upon which she went to her trunk and
+got the book for the priest, whose fears diminished when he saw
+that it was _printed_; but he could not prevail on her to
+lend it to him.
+
+_Summa_.--The priest grew still more friendly over the good
+eating and drinking; and she, the old hypocrite, discoursed him
+the while about her heavenly bridegroom, and threw up her eyes and
+sighed, at the same time pressing his hand fervently. But the
+priest never minded it, for she was old enough to be his mother,
+and besides, he remembered the Scripture--"No man can call Jesus
+Lord, except through the Holy Ghost." So as her every third word
+was "Jesus," he looked upon her as a most discreet and pious
+Christian, and went away much satisfied by her and the good
+dinner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails
+through a mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she
+bewitched the whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the
+grievous sorrow of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto
+this day._ [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"Ay, and
+will to the last day, _vaeh mihi_."]
+
+
+As soon as the pious abbess was able to leave her bed, she sent
+for the priest, for she had strange suspicions about Sidonia, and
+asked the reverend clerk, if indeed her cure could have been
+effected by sympathy? and were it not rather some work of the
+bodily Satan himself? But my priest assured her concerning
+Sidonia's Christian faith; _item_, told, to the great
+wonderment of the abbess, that she no longer cared for the
+sub-prioret (we know why--she would sooner have the priest than
+the prioret), but was content to let Dorothea Stettin keep it or
+resign it, just as she pleased.
+
+After this, the investiture of Sidonia took place, and the priest
+blessed her at the altar, and admonished her to take as her model
+the wise virgins mentioned Matt. xxv. (but God knows, she had
+followed the foolish virgins up to that period, and never ceased
+doing so to the end of her days).
+
+Even on that very night, we shall see her conduct; for she bid her
+maid, Wolde, run and call up the convent porter, and despatch him
+instantly for the priest, saying that she was very ill, and he
+must come and pray with her. This excited no suspicion, since she
+herself had forbade the priest entering the convent, unless any of
+the sisters were sick. But Anna Apenborg slipped out of bed when
+she heard the noise, and watched from the windows for the porter's
+return. Then she tossed up the window, though the snow blew in all
+over her bed, and called out, "Well, what says he? will he come?
+will he come?"
+
+And when the fellow grunted in answer, "Yes, he's coming," she
+wrapped a garment round her, and set herself to watch, though her
+teeth were chattering from cold all the time. In due time the
+priest came, whereupon the curious virgin crept out of her garret,
+and down the stairs to a little window in the passage which looked
+in upon the refectory, and through which, in former times,
+provisions were sometimes handed in. There she could hear
+everything that passed.
+
+When the priest entered, Sidonia stretched out her meagre arms
+towards him, and thanked him for coming; would he sit down here on
+the bed, for there was no other seat in the room? she had much to
+tell him that was truly wonderful. But the priest remained
+standing: let her speak on.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! it concerned himself. She had dreamt a strange
+dream (God be thanked that it was not a reality), but it left her
+no peace. Three times she awoke, and three fell asleep and dreamt
+it again. At last she sent for him, for there might be danger in
+store for him, and she would turn it away if possible."
+
+_Hic_.--"It was strange, truly. What, then, had she dreamed?"
+
+_Illa_.--"It seemed to her that murderers had got up into his
+room through the window, and just as they were on the point of
+strangling him, she had appeared and put them to flight,
+whereupon--" (here she paused and sighed).
+
+_Hic _(in great agitation).--"Go on, for God's sake go
+on--what further?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Whereupon--ah! she must tell him now, since he
+forced her to do it. Whereupon, out of gratitude, he took her to
+be his wife, and they were married" (sighing, and holding both
+hands before her eyes).
+
+_Hic_ (clasping his hands).--"Merciful Heaven! how strange! I
+dreamt all that precisely myself." [Footnote: The power of
+producing particular dreams by volition, was recognised by the
+ancients and philosophers of the Middle Ages. _Ex._ Albertus
+Magnus relates (_De Mirabilibus Mundi_ 205) that horrible
+dreams can be produced by placing an ape's skin under the pillow.
+He also gives a receipt for making women tell their secrets in
+sleep (but this I shall keep to myself). Such phenomena are
+neither physiologically nor psychologically impossible, but our
+modern physiologists are content to take the mere poor form of
+nature, dissect it, anatomise it, and then bury it beneath the
+sand of their hypotheses. Thus, indeed, "the dead bury their
+dead," while all the strange, mysterious, inner powers of nature,
+which the philosophers of the Middle Ages, as Psellus, Albertus
+Magnus, Trithemius, Cardanus, Theophastus, &c., did so much to
+elucidate, are at once flippantly and ignorantly placed in the
+category of "Superstitions," "Absurdities," and "Artful
+Deceptions."]
+
+Upon which Sidonia cried out, "How can it be possible? Oh, it is
+the will of God, David--it is the will of God" (and she seized him
+by both hands).
+
+But the priest remained as cold as the snow outside, drew back his
+head, and said, "Ah! no doubt these absurdities about marriage
+came into my head because I had been thinking so much over our
+young Lord Philip of Wolgast, who was wedded to-day at Berlin."
+
+Sidonia started up at this, and screamed in rage and anger--"What!
+Duke Philip married to-day in Berlin? The accursed prioress told
+me the wedding was not to be for eight days after the next new
+moon."
+
+The priest now was more astonished at her manner than even at the
+coincidence of the dreams, and he started back from the bed.
+Whereupon, perceiving the mistake she had made, the horrible witch
+threw herself down again, and letting her head fall upon the
+pillow, murmured, "Oh! my head! my head! She must have locked up
+the moon in the cellar. How will the poor people see now by
+night?--why did the prioress lock up the moon? Oh! my head! my
+head!" Then she thanked the priest for coming--it was so good of
+him; but she was worse--much worse. "Ah! her head! her head!
+Better go now--but let him come again in the morning to see her."
+So the good priest believed in truth that the detestable hag was
+very ill, and evidently suffering from fever; so he went his way
+pitying her much, and without the least suspicion of her wicked
+purposes.
+
+Scarcely, however, had he closed the door, when Sidonia sprang
+like a cat from her bed, and called out, "Wolde, Wolde!" And as
+the old witch hobbled in with her lame leg, Sidonia raged and
+stamped, crying out, "The accursed abbess has lied to me. Ernest
+Ludovicus' brat was married to-day at Berlin. Oh! if I am too late
+now, as on his father's marriage, I shall hang myself in the
+laundry. Where is Chim--the good-for-nothing spirit?--he should
+have seen to this." And she dragged him out and beat him, while he
+quaked like a hare.
+
+Whereupon Wolde called out, "Bring the padlock from the trunk."
+The other answered, "What use now?--the bridal pair are long since
+wedded and asleep." To which the old witch replied, "No; it is
+twelve o'clock here, but in Berlin it wants a quarter to it yet.
+There is time. The Berlin brides never retire to their apartment
+till the clock strikes twelve. There is time still."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Sidonia, "since the devil cannot tell me on what
+day they hold bridal, I will make an end now of the whole accursed
+griffin brood, in all its relationships, branch and root, now and
+for evermore, in Wolgast as in Stettin; be they destroyed and
+rooted out for ever and for ever." Then she took the padlock, and
+murmured some words over it, of which Anna Apenborg could only
+catch the names, Philip, Francis, George, Ulrich, Bogislaff, who
+were all sons to Duke Bogislaff XIII., and, in truth, died each
+one without leaving an heir. And, during the incantation, the
+light trembled and burned dim upon the table, and the thing which
+she had beaten seemed to speak with a human voice, and the bells
+on the turret swung in the wind with a low sound, so that Anna
+fell on her knees from horror, and scarcely dared to breathe. Then
+the accursed sorceress gave the padlock and key to Wolde, bidding
+her go forth by night and fling it into the sea, repeating the
+words:--
+
+   "Hid deep in the sea
+   Let my dark spell be,
+   For ever, for ever!
+   To rise up never!"
+
+Then Wolde asked, "Had she forgotten Duke Casimir?" Whereat
+Sidonia laughed and said, "The spell had long been on him." And
+immediately after, Anna Apenborg beheld _three_ shadows, in
+place of two, thrown upon the white wall opposite the little
+window. So she strengthened her heart to look in, and truly there
+was _another_ form present now. And the three danced
+together, and chanted strange rhymes, while the shadows on the
+wall danced up and down likewise. Then a deep bass voice called
+out, "Ha! there is Christian flesh here! Ha! there is Christian
+flesh!" Whereupon Anna, though nearly dead with fright, crept up
+to her garret on her knees, while loud laughter resounded behind
+her; and it seemed as if old pots were flung up the stairs after
+her. [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Incredibile sane, et
+tamen verum. Cur, mi Deus?--(It seems impossible, and yet how
+true. Wherefore, my God?)
+
+The spell by knotting the girdle is noticed by Virgil, 8th
+eclogue:
+
+  "Necte tribus nodis ternos Amarylli colores;
+  Necte Amarylli modo, et Veneris die vincula necto."
+
+  [In three knots Amaryllis weaves three different colours;
+  Amaryllis knots and says: I knot the girdle of Venus.]
+
+The use of the padlock is not mentioned until the Middle Ages,
+when it seems to have been so much employed that severe ordinances
+were directed against its use.] For the rest of that night she
+could not close her eyes.
+
+Next morning, one can easily imagine with what eagerness she
+hurried to the abbess, to relate the past night's horrible tale.
+Sidonia likewise is astir early, for by daybreak she despatched
+her old lame Wolde to the chaplain (the porter was not up yet)
+with a can of beer for his great trouble the night before, and
+trusted it would strengthen his heart. In this beer she had poured
+her detestable love-philtrum, to awaken a passion for herself in
+the breast of the reverend David, but it turned out quite
+otherwise, and ended after the most ludicrous fashion, no doubt
+all owing to the malice of the spirit Chim, in revenge for the
+blows she had given him the night previous; for, behold, as soon
+as the priest had swallowed a right good draught of beer, he began
+to stare at the old hag and murmur; then he passed his hand over
+his eyes, and motioned her to remain. Again he looked at
+her--twice, thrice--put some silver into her hand, and at last
+spake--"Ah! Wolde, what a beautiful creature you are! Where have
+my eyes been, that I never discovered this before?"
+
+The cunning hag saw now plainly what the drink had done, and which
+way the wind blew. So she sat herself down simpering, by the
+stove, and my priest crept up close beside her; he took her
+hand--"Ah! how fat and plump it was--such a beautiful hand."
+
+But the old hag drew it back, saying, "Let me go, Mr. David!" To
+which he answered, "Yes, go, my treasure! I love to see you walk!
+What an exquisite limp! How stupid are men nowadays not to see all
+the beauty of a limp! Ah! Venus knew it well, and therefore chose
+Vulcan, for he, too, limped like my Wolde. Give me a kiss then,
+loveliest of women! Ah! what enchanting snow-white hair, like the
+purest silver, has my treasure on her head."
+
+No wonder the old lame hag was tickled with the commendations,
+for, in all the sixty years of her life, she never had heard the
+like before. But she played the prude, and pushed away the priest
+with her hand, just as, by good fortune, a messenger from the
+abbess knocked at the door, with a request that the chaplain would
+come to the good mother without delay. So the old hag went away
+with the maid of the abbess, and the priest stopped to dress
+himself more decently.
+
+But in some time the abbess, who was on the watch, saw him
+striding past her door; so she opened the window and called out to
+know "Where was he going? Had he forgotten that she lived there?"
+To which he answered, "He must first visit Sidonia." At this the
+worthy matron stared at him in horror; but my priest went on; and
+as he cared more for the maid than the mistress now, ran at once
+into the kitchen, without waiting to see Sidonia in the refectory;
+and seizing hold of Wolde, whispered, "That she must give him the
+kiss now--she need not be such a prude, for he had no wife. And
+what beautiful hair! Never in his life had he seen such beautiful
+white hair!" But the old hag still resisted; and in the struggle a
+stool, on which lay a pot, was thrown down.
+
+Sidonia rushed in at the noise; and behold! there was my priest
+holding Wolde by the hand. She nearly fainted at the sight. What
+was he doing with her maid? Then seizing a heavy log of wood, she
+began to lay it on Wolde's shoulders, who screamed and roared,
+while my priest slunk away ashamed, without a word; and as he ran
+down the steps, heard the blows and the screams still resounding
+from the kitchen.
+
+As he passed the door of the abbess's room, again she called him
+in; but as he entered, she exclaimed in terror, "My God, what ails
+your reverence? You look as black and red in the face as if you
+had had a fit, and had grown ten years older in one night!"
+
+"Nothing ails me," he answered; then sighed, and walked up and
+down the room, murmuring, "What is the world to me? Why should I
+care what the world thinks?" Then falls flat on the ground as if
+he were dead, while the good abbess screams and calls for help. In
+runs Anna Apenborg--_item_, several other sisters with their
+maids, and they stretch the priest out upon a bench near the
+stove, where he soon begins to foam at the mouth, and throw up all
+the beer, with the love-philtrum therein, which he had drunk
+(Sidonia's power effected this, no doubt, since she saw how
+matters stood).
+
+Then he heaved a deep sigh, opened his eyes, and asked, "Where am
+I?" Whereupon, finding that his reason and clear understanding had
+been restored to him, he requested the sisterhood to depart (for
+they had all rushed in to hear what was going on) and leave him
+alone with the abbess, as he had matter of grave import to discuss
+with her. Whereupon they all went out, except Anna Apenborg, who
+said that she, too, had matter of grave import to relate. So
+finding she would not stir, the priest took her by the hand, and
+put her out at the door along with the others.
+
+Now when they were both left alone, we can easily imagine the
+subject of their conversation. The poor priest made his
+confession, concealing nothing, only lamenting bitterly how he had
+disgraced his holy calling; but he had felt like one in a dream,
+or under some influence which he could not shake off. In return,
+the abbess told him of the horrible scene witnessed by Anna
+Apenborg the night before; upon which they both agreed that no
+more accursed witch and sorceress was in the world than their poor
+cloister held at that moment. Finally, putting all the
+circumstances together, the reverend David began to perceive what
+designs Sidonia had upon him, particularly when he heard of Anna
+Apenborg's visit to Jacobshagen, and the news which she had
+brought back from thence. So to destroy all hope at once in the
+accursed sorceress, and save himself from further importunity and
+persecution on her part, he resolved to offer his hand the very
+next day to Barbara Bamberg, for, in truth, he had long had an eye
+of Christian love upon the maiden, who was pious and discreet, and
+just suited to be a pastor's wife.
+
+Then they agreed to send for the sheriff, and impart the whole
+matter to him, he being cloister superintendent; but his answer
+was, "Let them go to him, if they wanted to speak to him; for, as
+to him, he would never enter the convent again--his poor body had
+suffered too much there the last time."
+
+Whereupon they went to him; but he could give no counsel, only to
+leave the matter in the hands of God the Lord; for if they
+appealed to the Prince, the sorceress would surely bewitch them
+again, and they would be screaming day and night, or maybe die at
+once, and then what help for them, &c.
+
+Sidonia meanwhile was not idle; for she sent messages throughout
+the whole convent that she lay in her bed sick unto death, and
+they must needs come and pray with her, along with the priest,
+before they assembled in the chapel for service. At this open
+blasphemy and hypocrisy, a great fear and horror fell upon the
+abbess, likewise upon the priest, since the witch had specially
+named him, and desired that he would come _before_ service to
+pray with her. For a long while he hesitated, at last promised to
+visit her _after_ service; but again bethought himself that
+it would be more advisable to visit her before, for he might
+possibly succeed in unveiling all her iniquities, or if not, he
+could pray afterwards in the church, "that if indeed Sidonia were
+really sick, and a child of God, the just and merciful Father
+would raise her up and strengthen her in her weakness; but if she
+were practising deceit, and were no child of God, but an accursed
+limb of Satan, then he would give her up into the hands of God for
+punishment, for had He not said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
+repay, saith the Lord'? (Romans xii. 19.)"
+
+This pleased the abbess, and forthwith the reverend David
+proceeded to the refectory.
+
+Now Sidonia had not expected him so early, and she was up and
+dressed, busily brewing another hellish drink to have ready for
+him by the time he arrived; but when his step sounded in the
+passage, she whipped into bed and covered herself up with the
+clothes, not so entirely, however, but that a long tail of her
+black robe fell outside from under the white sheet--this,
+unluckily for herself, she knew nothing of. The priest, however,
+saw it plainly, and had, moreover, heard the jump she gave into
+bed just as he opened the door; but he made no remark, only
+greeted her as usual, and asked what she wanted with him.
+
+_Illa.--"Ah! she was sick, sick unto death--would he not pray
+for her? for the night before she was too ill to pray, and no
+doubt the Lord was angry with her, by reason of the omission. This
+morning, indeed, she had crept out of bed, just to scold her
+awkward maid for breaking all the pots and pans, as he himself
+saw, but had to go to bed again, and was growing weaker and weaker
+every quarter of an hour. But the good priest must taste her beer;
+let him drink a can of it first to strengthen his heart. It was
+the best beer she had made yet, and her maid had just tapped a
+fresh barrel."
+
+Here the reverend David made answer--"He thanked her for her beer,
+but would drink none. He could not believe, either, that she was
+as ill as she said, and had been lying in bed all the morning."
+
+But she persisted so vehemently in her falsehoods that the very
+boards under her must have felt ashamed, if they had possessed any
+consciousness. Whereupon the priest shuddered in horror and
+disgust, bent down silently, and lifted up the piece of her robe
+which lay outside.
+
+"What did this mean? did she wear her nun's dress in bed? or was
+she not rather making a mock of him, and the whole convent, by her
+pretended sickness?"
+
+Here Sidonia grew red with shame and wrath; but, ere she could
+utter a word, the priest continued with a holy and righteous
+anger--
+
+"Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou art a byword amongst the people.
+Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou hast passed thy youth in wantonness
+and thy old age in sin. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thy hellish arts
+brought thy mother the abbess, and thy father the superintendent,
+nearly to their graves. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for this past night
+thou hast taken a horrible revenge upon the whole princely race,
+and cursed them by the power which the devil gives thee. Woe to
+thee, Sidonia! for by thy hellish drink thou didst seek to destroy
+me, the servant of the living God, to thy horrible maid still more
+horribly attracting me. Woe to thee, Sidonia! accursed witch and
+sorceress, blasphemer of God and man! Behold, thy God liveth, and
+thy Prince liveth, and they will rain fire and brimstone upon thy
+infamous head. Woe to thee! woe to thee! woe to thee! thou false
+serpent--thou accursed above all the generations of vipers--how
+wilt thou escape eternal damnation?"
+
+When the righteous priest of God had ended his fearful
+malediction, he started at himself, for he knew not how the words
+had come into his mouth; then turned from the bed and went out,
+while a peal of laughter followed him from the room. But no evil
+happened to him at that time, as he had fully expected, from
+Sidonia (probably she feared to exasperate the convent and the
+Prince against her too much); but she treasured up her vengeance
+to another opportunity, as we shall hear further on.
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Sidonia The Sorceress V1, by William Mienhold
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sidonia The Sorceress V1, by William Mienhold
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+Title: Sidonia The Sorceress V1
+
+Author: William Mienhold
+
+Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6700]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIDONIA THE SORCERESS V1 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steve Schulze, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+This file was produced from images generously made available
+by the CWRU Preservation Department Digital Library
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+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+THE SUPPOSED DESTROYER OF THE WHOLE REIGNING DUCAL HOUSE OF
+POMERANIA
+
+TRANSLATED BY LADY WILDE
+
+MARY SCHWEIDLER
+
+
+THE AMBER WITCH
+
+BY
+
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I.
+
+1894
+
+
+
+DEDICATION OF THE GERMAN EDITION.
+
+TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
+
+_LADY LUCY DUFF GORDON,_
+
+THE
+
+YOUNG AND GIFTED TRANSLATOR
+
+OF
+
+_"THE AMBER WITCH,"_
+
+THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Amongst all the trials for witchcraft with which we are
+acquainted, few have attained so great a celebrity as that of the
+Lady Canoness of Pomerania, Sidonia von Bork. She was accused of
+having by her sorceries caused sterility in many families,
+particularly in that of the ancient reigning house of Pomerania,
+and also of having destroyed the noblest scions of that house by
+an early and premature death. Notwithstanding the intercessions
+and entreaties of the Prince of Brandenburg and Saxony, and of the
+resident Pomeranian nobility, she was publicly executed for these
+crimes on the 19th of August 1620, on the public scaffold, at
+Stettin; the only favour granted being, that she was allowed to be
+beheaded first and then burned.
+
+This terrible example caused such a panic of horror, that
+contemporary authors scarcely dare to mention her name, and, even
+then, merely by giving the initials. This forbearance arose partly
+from respect towards the ancient family of the Von Borks, who
+then, as now, were amongst the most illustrious and wealthy in the
+land, and also from the fear of offending the reigning ducal
+family, as the Sorceress, in her youth, had stood in a very near
+and tender relation to the young Duke Ernest Louis von
+Pommern-Wolgast.
+
+These reasons will be sufficiently comprehensible to all who are
+familiar with the disgust and aversion in which the paramours of
+the evil one were held in that age, so that even upon the rack
+these subjects were scarcely touched upon.
+
+The first public, judicial, yet disconnected account of Sidonia's
+trial, we find in the Pomeranian Library of Dähnert, fourth
+volume, article 7, July number of the year 1755.
+
+Dähnert here acknowledges, page 241, that the numbers from 302 to
+1080, containing the depositions of the witnesses, were not
+forthcoming up to his time, but that a priest in Pansin, near
+Stargard, by name Justus Sagebaum, pretended to have them in his
+hands, and accordingly, in the fifth volume of the above-named
+journal (article 4, of April 1756), some very important extracts
+appear from them.
+
+The records, however, again disappeared for nearly a century,
+until Barthold announced, some short time since, [Footnote:
+"History of Rugen and Pomerania," vol. iv. p. 486.] that he had at
+length discovered them in the Berlin Library; but he does not say
+which, for, according to Schwalenberg, who quotes Dähnert, there
+existed two or three different copies, namely, the _Protocollum
+Jodoci Neumarks,_ the so-called _Acta Lothmanni,_ and that
+of _Adami Moesters,_ contradicting each other in the most
+important matters. Whether I have drawn the history of my Sidonia
+from one or other of the above-named sources, or from some
+entirely new, or, finally, from that alone which is longest known,
+I shall leave undecided.
+
+Every one who has heard of the animadversions which "The Amber
+Witch" excited, many asserting that it was only dressed-up
+history, though I repeatedly assured them it was simple fiction,
+will pardon me if I do not here distinctly declare whether Sidonia
+be history or fiction.
+
+The truth of the material, as well as of the formal contents, can
+be tested by any one by referring to the authorities I have named;
+and in connection with these, I must just remark, that in order to
+spare the reader any difficulties which might present themselves
+to eye and ear, in consequence of the old-fashioned mode of
+writing, I have modernised the orthography, and amended the
+grammar and structure of the phrases. And lastly, I trust that all
+just thinkers of every party will pardon me for having here and
+there introduced my supernatural views of Christianity. A man's
+principles, as put forward in his philosophical writings, are in
+general only read by his own party, and not by that of his
+adversaries. A Rationalist will fly from a book by a
+Supernaturalist as rapidly as this latter from one by a Friend of
+Light. But by introducing my views in the manner I have adopted,
+in place of publishing them in a distinct volume, I trust that all
+parties will be induced to peruse them, and that many will find,
+not only what is worthy their particular attention, but matter for
+deep and serious reflection.
+
+I must now give an account of those portraits of Sidonia which are
+extant.
+
+As far as I know, three of these (besides innumerable sketches)
+exist, one in Stettin, the other in the lower Pomeranian town
+Plathe, and a third at Stargard, near Regenwalde, in the castle of
+the Count von Bork. I am acquainted only with the last-named
+picture, and agree with many in thinking that it is the only
+original.
+
+Sidonia is here represented in the prime of mature beauty--a gold
+net is drawn over her almost golden yellow hair, and her neck,
+arms, and hands are profusely covered with jewels. Her bodice of
+bright purple is trimmed with costly fur, and the robe is of azure
+velvet. In her hand she carries a sort of pompadour of brown
+leather, of the most elegant form and finish. Her eyes and mouth
+are not pleasing, notwithstanding their great beauty--in the
+mouth, particularly, one can discover an expression of cold
+malignity.
+
+The painting is beautifully executed, and is evidently of the
+school of Louis Kranach.
+
+Immediately behind this form there is another looking over the
+shoulder of Sidonia, like a terrible spectre (a highly poetical
+idea), for this spectre is Sidonia herself painted as a Sorceress.
+It must have been added, after a lapse of many years, to the
+youthful portrait, which belongs, as I have said, to the school of
+Kranach, whereas the second figure portrays unmistakably the
+school of Rubens. It is a fearfully characteristic painting, and
+no imagination could conceive a contrast more shudderingly awful.
+The Sorceress is arrayed in her death garments--white with black
+stripes; and round her thin white locks is bound a narrow band of
+black velvet spotted with gold. In her hand is a kind of a
+work-basket, but of the simplest workmanship and form.
+
+Of the other portraits I cannot speak from my own personal
+inspection; but to judge by the drawings taken from them to which
+I have had access, they appear to differ completely, not only in
+costume, but in the character of the countenance, from the one I
+have described, which there is no doubt must be the original, not
+only because it bears all the characteristics of that school of
+painting which approached nearest to the age in which Sidonia
+lived--namely, from 1540 to 1620--but also by the fact that a
+sheet of paper bearing an inscription was found behind the
+painting, betraying evident marks of age in its blackened colour,
+the form of the letters, and the expressions employed. The
+inscription is as follows:--
+
+"This Sidonia von Bork was in her youth the most beautiful and the
+richest of the maidens of Pomerania. She inherited many estates
+from her parents, and thus was in her own right a possessor almost
+of a county. So her pride increased, and many noble gentlemen who
+sought her in marriage were rejected with disdain, as she
+considered that a count or prince alone could be worthy of her
+hand. For these reasons she attended the Duke's court frequently,
+in the hopes of winning over one of the seven young princes to her
+love. At length she was successful; Duke Ernest Louis von Wolgast,
+aged about twenty, and the handsomest youth in Pomerania, became
+her lover, and even promised her his hand in marriage. This
+promise he would faithfully have kept if the Stettin princes, who
+were displeased at the prospect of this unequal alliance, had not
+induced him to abandon Sidonia, by means of the portrait of the
+Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, the most beautiful princess in all
+Germany. Sidonia thereupon fell into such despair, that she
+resolved to renounce marriage for ever, and bury the remainder of
+her life in the convent of Marienfliess, and thus she did. But the
+wrong done to her by the Stettin princes lay heavy upon her heart,
+and the desire for revenge increased with years; besides, in place
+of reading the Bible, her private hours were passed studying the
+_Amadis_, wherein she found many examples of how forsaken
+maidens have avenged themselves upon their false lovers by means
+of magic. So she at last yielded to the temptations of Satan, and
+after some years learned the secrets of witchcraft from an old
+woman. By means of this unholy knowledge, along with several other
+evil deeds, she so bewitched the whole princely race that the six
+young princes, who were each wedded to a young wife, remained
+childless; but no public notice was taken until Duke Francis
+succeeded to the duchy in 1618. He was a ruthless enemy to
+witches; all in the land were sought out with great diligence and
+burned, and as they unanimously named the Abbess of Marienfliess
+[Footnote: Sidonia never attained this dignity, though Micraelius
+and others gave her the title.] upon the rack, she was brought to
+Stettin by command of the Duke, where she freely confessed all the
+evil wrought by her sorceries upon the princely race.
+
+"The Duke promised her life and pardon if she would free the other
+princes from the ban; but her answer was that she had enclosed the
+spell in a padlock, and flung it into the sea, and having asked
+the devil if he could restore the padlock again to her, he
+replied, 'No; that was forbidden to him;' by which every one can
+perceive that the destiny of God was in the matter.
+
+"And so it was that, notwithstanding the intercession of all the
+neighbouring courts, Sidonia was brought to the scaffold at
+Stettin, there beheaded, and afterwards burned.
+
+"Before her death the Prince ordered her portrait to be painted,
+in her old age and prison garb, behind that which represented her
+in the prime of youth. After his death, Bogislaff XIV., the last
+Duke, gave this picture to my grandmother, whose husband had also
+been killed by the Sorceress. My father received it from her, and
+I from him, along with the story which is here written down.
+
+"HENRY GUSTAVUS SCHWALENBERG."
+
+[Footnote: The style of this "Inscription" proves it to have been
+written in the beginning of the preceding century, but it is first
+noticed by Dähnert. I have had his version compared with the
+original in Stargord--through the kindness of a friend, who
+assures me that the transcription is perfectly correct, and yet
+can he be mistaken? for Horst (Magic Library, vol. ii. p. 246),
+gives the conclusion thus: "From whom my father received it, and I
+from him, along with the story precisely as given here by H. G.
+Schwalenberg." By this reading, which must have escaped my friend,
+a different sense is given to the passage; by the last reading it
+would appear that the "I" was a Bork, who had taken the tale from
+Schwalenberg's history of the Pomeranian Dukes, a work which
+exists only in manuscript, and to which I have had no access; but
+if we admit the first reading, then the writer must be a
+Schwalenberg. Even the "grandmother" will not clear up the matter,
+for Sidonia, when put to the torture, confessed, at the seventh
+question, that she had caused the death of Doctor Schwalenberg (he
+was counsellor in Stettin then), and at the eleventh question,
+that her brother's son, Otto Bork, had died also by her means. Who
+then is this "I"? Even Sidonia's picture, we see, utters
+mysteries.
+
+In my opinion the writer was Schwalenberg, and Horst seems to have
+taken his version from Paulis's "General History of Pomerania,"
+vol. iv. p. 396, and not from the original of Dähnert.
+
+For the picture at that early period was not in the possession of
+a Bork, but belonged to the Count von Mellin in Schillersdorf, as
+passages from many authors can testify. This is confirmed by
+another paper found along with that containing the tradition, but
+of much more modern appearance, which states that the picture was
+removed by successive inheritors, first from Schillersdorf to
+Stargord, from thence to Heinrichsberg (there are three towns in
+Pomerania of this name), and finally from Heinrichsberg, in the
+year 1834, was a second time removed to Stargord by the last
+inheritor.
+
+This Schillersdorf lies between Gartz and Stettin on the Oder.
+WILLIAM MEINHOLD.]
+
+
+LETTER OF DR. THEODORE PLÖNNIES
+
+TO BOGISLAFF THE FOURTEENTH, THE LAST DUKE OF POMERANIA.
+
+MOST EMINENT PRINCE AND GRACIOUS LORD,--Serene Prince, your
+Highness gave me a commission in past years to travel through all
+Pomerania, and if I met with any persons who could give me certain
+"information" respecting the notorious and accursed witch Sidonia
+von Bork, to set down carefully all they stated, and bring it
+afterwards into _connexum_ for your Highness. It is well
+known that Duke Francis, of blessed memory, never would permit the
+accursed deeds of this woman to be made public, or her confession
+upon the rack, fearing to bring scandal upon the princely house.
+But your Serene Highness viewed the subject differently, and said
+that it was good for every one, but especially princes, to look
+into the clear mirror of history, and behold there the faults and
+follies of their race. For this reason may no truth be omitted
+here.
+
+To such princely commands I have proved myself obedient,
+collecting all information, whether good or evil, and concealing
+nothing. But the greater number who related these things to me
+could scarcely speak for tears, for wherever I travelled
+throughout Pomerania, as the faithful servant of your Highness,
+nothing was heard but lamentations from old and young, rich and
+poor, that this execrable Sorceress, out of Satanic wickedness,
+had destroyed this illustrious race, who had held their lands from
+no emperor, in feudal tenure, like other German princes, but in
+their own right, as absolute lords, since five hundred years, and
+though for twenty years it seemed to rest upon five goodly
+princes, yet by permission of the incomprehensible God, it has now
+melted away until your Highness stands the last of his race, and
+no prospect is before us that it will ever be restored, but with
+your Highness (God have mercy upon us!) will be utterly
+extinguished, and for ever. "Woe to us, how have we sinned!"
+(Lament, v. 16). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff
+XIV.-"In tuas manus commendo spiritum meum, quia tu me redemisti
+fide deus,"]
+
+I pray therefore the all-merciful God, that He will remove me
+before your Highness from this vale of tears, that I may not
+behold the last hour of your Highness or of my poor fatherland.
+Rather than witness these things, I would a thousand times sooner
+lie quiet in my grave.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS.
+
+BOOK I.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UNTIL HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM._
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the education of Sidonia.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that befell
+there.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law, Vidante
+von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor Gerschovius
+comforts him out of God's Word.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how Clara
+von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How Sidonia wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how she
+whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness was
+celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back to
+Wolgast.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia resolved
+on there.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and how
+in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+_FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST
+UP TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians, and
+how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and locks
+him up in the Red Sea.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Of Otto Bork's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to wed
+her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of Stettin
+received her.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at Wollin,
+and what happened there.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann Appelmann.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure at Alten Damm--Item, of
+their reception by the robber-band.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night--Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the castle.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann by
+the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the great
+mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on her
+coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon, and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the young
+Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and of the
+sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of Pomerania.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of Marienfliess--Item,
+how their Princely and Electoral Graces of Pomerania, Brandenburg,
+and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to Wolgast, and of the divers
+pastimes of the journey.
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably.
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how Sidonia
+meets him as she is gathering bilberries--Item, of the unnatural
+witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir refuses,
+in consequence, to succeed him.
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired præbenda--Item, of her
+arrival at the convent of Marienfliess.
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+_FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS
+UP TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19TH, 1620._
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and extols
+her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairy-woman, and
+how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails through a
+mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she bewitched the
+whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the grievous sorrow
+of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto this day.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I.
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA AT THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UNTIL
+HER BANISHMENT THEREFROM.
+
+
+SIDONIA THE SORCERESS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the education of Sidonia._
+
+
+The illustrious and high-born prince and lord, Bogislaff,
+fourteenth Duke of Pomerania, Prince of Cassuben, Wenden, and
+Rugen, Count of Güzkow, Lord of the lands of Lauenburg and Butow,
+and my gracious feudal seigneur, having commanded me, Dr. Theodore
+Plönnies, formerly bailiff at the ducal court, to make search
+throughout all the land for information respecting the world-famed
+sorceress, Sidonia von Bork, and write down the same in a book, I
+set out for Stargard, accompanied by a servant, early one Friday
+after the _Visitationis Mariæ_, 1629; for, in my opinion, in
+order to form a just judgment respecting the character of any one,
+it is necessary to make one's self acquainted with the
+circumstances of their early life; the future man lies enshrined
+in the child, and the peculiar development of each individual
+nature is the result entirely of education. Sidonia's history is a
+remarkable proof of this. I visited first, therefore, the scenes
+of her early years; but almost all who had known her were long
+since in their graves, seeing that ninety years had passed since
+the time of her birth. However, the old inn-keeper at Stargard,
+Zabel Wiese, himself very far advanced in years (whom I can
+recommend to all travellers--he lives in the Pelzerstrasse), told
+me that the old bachelor, Claude Uckermann of Dalow, an aged man
+of ninety-two years old, was the only person who could give me the
+information I desired, as in his youth he had been one of the many
+followers of Sidonia. His memory was certainly well nigh gone from
+age, still all that had happened in the early period of his life
+lay as fresh as the Lord's Prayer upon his tongue. Mine host also
+related some important circumstances to me myself, which shall
+appear in their proper place.
+
+I accordingly proceeded to Dalow, a little town half a mile from
+Stargard, and visited Claude Uckermann. I found him seated by the
+chimney corner, his hair as white as snow. "What did I want? He
+was too old to receive strangers; I must go on to his son Wedig's
+house, and leave him in quiet," &c. &c. But when I said that I
+brought him a greeting from his Highness, his manner changed, and
+he pushed the seat over for me beside the fire, and began to chat
+first about the fine pine-trees, from which he cut his
+firewood--they were so full of resin; and how his son, a year
+before, had found an iron pot in the turf moor under a tree, full
+of bracelets and earrings, which his little grand-daughter now
+wore.
+
+When he had tired himself out, I communicated what his Highness
+had so nobly commanded to be done, and prayed him to relate all he
+knew and could remember of this detestable sorceress, Sidonia von
+Bork. He sighed deeply, and then went on talking for about two
+hours, giving me all his recollections just as they started to his
+memory. I have arranged what he then related, in proper order. It
+was to the following effect:--
+
+Whenever his father, Philip Uckermann, attended the fair at
+Stramehl, a town belonging to the Bork family, he was in the habit
+of visiting Otto von Bork at his castle, who, being very rich,
+gave free quarters to all the young noblemen of the vicinity, so
+that from thirty to forty of them were generally assembled at his
+castle while the fair lasted; but after some time his father
+discontinued these visits, his conscience not permitting him
+further intercourse. The reason was this. Otto von Bork, during
+his residence in Poland, had joined the sect of the enthusiasts,
+[Footnote: Probably the sect afterwards named Socinians; for we
+find that Laelius Socinus taught in Poland, even before
+Melancthon's death (1560).] and had lost his faith there, as a
+young maiden might her honour. He made no secret of his new
+opinions, but openly at Martinmas fair, 1560, told the young
+nobles at dinner that Christ was but a man like other people, and
+ignorance alone had elevated Him to a God; which notion had been
+encouraged by the greed and avarice of the clergy. They should
+therefore not credit what the hypocritical priests chattered to
+them every Sunday, but believe only what reason and their five
+senses told them was truth, and that, in fine, if he had his will,
+he would send every priest to the devil.
+
+All the young nobles remained silent but Claude Zastrow, a feudal
+retainer of the Borks, who rose up (it was an evil moment to him)
+and made answer: "Most powerful feudal lord, were the holy
+apostles then filled with greed and covetousness, who were the
+first to proclaim that Christ was God, and who left all for His
+sake? Or the early Christians who, with one accord, sold their
+possessions, and gave the price to the poor?" Claude had before
+this displeased the knight, who now grew red with anger at the
+insolence of his vassal in thus answering him, and replied: "If
+they were not preachers for gain, they were at least stupid
+fellows." Hereupon a great murmur arose in the hall, but the
+aforesaid Zastrow is not silenced, and answered: "It is
+surprising, then, that the twelve stupid apostles performed more
+than twelve times twelve Greek or Roman philosophers. The knight
+might rage until he was black in the face, and strike the table.
+But he had better hold his tongue and use his understanding;
+though, after all, the intellect of a man who believed nothing but
+what he received through his five senses was not worth much; for
+the brute beasts were his equals, inasmuch as they received no
+evidence either but from the senses."
+
+Then Otto sprang up raging, and asked him what he meant; to which
+the other answered: "Nothing more than to express his opinion that
+man differed from the brute, not through his understanding, but by
+his faith, for that animals had evidently understanding, but no
+trace of faith had ever yet been discovered in them." [Footnote:
+This axiom is certainly opposed to modern ontology, which denies
+all ideas to the brute creation, and explains each proof of their
+intellectual activity by the unintelligible word "instinct." The
+ancients held very different opinions, particularly the new
+Platonists, one of whom (Porphyry, liber ii. _De
+abstinentia_) treats largely of the intellect and language of
+animals. Since Cartesius, however, who denied not only
+understanding, but even feeling, to animals, and represented them
+as mere animated machines (_De passionib. Pars i. Artic. iv. et
+de Methodo,_ No. 5, page 29, &c.), these views upon the
+psychology of animals produced the most mischievous results; for
+they were carried out until if not feeling, at least intellect,
+was denied to all animals more or less; and modern philosophy at
+length arrived at denying intelligence even to God, in whom and by
+whom, as formerly, man no longer attains to consciousness, but it
+is by man and through man that God arrives to a conscious
+intelligent existence. Some philosophers of our time, indeed, are
+condescending enough to ascribe _Understanding_ to animals
+and _Reason_ to man as the generic difference between the
+two. But I cannot comprehend these new-fashioned distinctions; for
+it seems to me absurd to split into the two portions of reason and
+understanding one and the same spiritual power, according as the
+object on which it acts is higher or lower; just as if we adopted
+two names for the same hand that digs up the earth and directs the
+telescope to heaven, or maintained that the latter was quite a
+different hand from the former. No. There is but one understanding
+for man and beasts, as but one common substance for their material
+forms. The more perfect the form, so much the more perfect is the
+intellect; and human and animal intellects are only dynamically
+different in human and animal bodies.
+
+And even if, among animals of the more perfect form, understanding
+has been discovered, yet in man alone has been found the innate
+feeling of connection with the supernatural, or _Faith_. If
+this, as the generic sign of difference, be called _Reason_,
+I have nothing to object, except that the word generally conveys a
+different meaning. But _Faith_ is, in fact, the pure Reason,
+and is found in all men, existing alike in the lowest
+superstitions as well as in the highest natures.]
+
+Otto's rage now knew no bounds, and he drew his dagger, roaring,
+"What! thou insolent knave, dost thou dare to compare thy feudal
+lord to a brute?" And before the other had time to draw his
+poignard to defend himself, or the guests could in any way
+interfere to prevent him, Otto stabbed him to the heart as he sat
+there by the table. (It was a blessed death, I think, to die for
+his Lord Christ.) And so he fell down upon the floor with
+contorted features, and hands and feet quivering with agony. Every
+one was struck dumb with horror at such a death; but the knight
+laughed loudly, and cried, "Ha! thou base-born serf, I shall teach
+thee how to liken thy feudal lord to a brute," and striding over
+his quivering limbs, he spat upon his face.
+
+Then the murmuring and whispering increased in the hall, and those
+nearest the door rushed out and sprang upon their horses; and
+finally all the guests, even old Uckermann, fled away, no one
+venturing to take up the quarrel with Otto Bork. After that, he
+fell into disrepute with the old nobility, for which he cared
+little, seeing that his riches and magnificence always secured him
+companions enough, who were willing to listen to his wisdom, and
+were consoled by his wine.
+
+And when I, Dr. Theodore Plönnies, inquired from the old bachelor
+if his Serene Highness had not punished the noble for his shameful
+crime, he replied that his wealth and powerful influence protected
+him. At least it was whispered that justice had been blinded with
+gold; and the matter was probably related to the prince in quite a
+different manner from the truth; for I have heard that a few years
+after, his Highness even visited this godless knight at his castle
+in Stramehl.
+
+As to Otto, no one observed any sign of repentance in him. On the
+contrary, he seemed to glory in his crime, and the neighbouring
+nobles related that he frequently brought in his little daughter
+Sidonia, whom he adored for her beauty, to the assembled guests,
+magnificently attired; and when she was bowing to the company, he
+would say, "Who art thou, my little daughter?" Then she would
+cease the salutations which she had learned from her mother, and
+drawing herself up, proudly exclaim, "I am a noble maiden, dowered
+with towns and castles!" Then he would ask, if the conversation
+turned upon his enemies--and half the nobles were so--"Sidonia,
+how does thy father treat his enemies?" Upon which the child would
+straighten her finger, and running at her father, strike it into
+his heart, saying, "_Thus_ he treats them." At which Otto
+would laugh loudly, and tell her to show him how the knave looked
+when he was dying. Then Sidonia would fall down, twist her face,
+and writhe her little hands and feet in horrible contortions. Upon
+which Otto would lift her up, and kiss her upon the mouth. But it
+will be seen how the just God punished him for all this, and how
+the words of the Scriptures were fulfilled: "Err not, God is not
+mocked; for what a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
+
+The parson of Stramehl, David Dilavius, related also to old
+Uckermann another fact, which, though it hardly seems credible,
+the bachelor reported thus to me:--
+
+This Dilavius was a learned man whom Otto had selected as
+instructor to his young daughter; "but only teach her," he said,
+"to read and write, and the first article of the Ten Commandments.
+The other Christian doctrines I can teach her myself; besides, I
+do not wish the child to learn so many dogmas."
+
+Dilavius, who was a worthy, matter-of-fact, good, simple
+character, did as he was ordered, and gave himself no further
+trouble until he came to ask the child to recite the first article
+of the creed out of the catechism for him. There was nothing wrong
+in that; but when he came to the second article, he crossed
+himself, not because it concerned the Lord Christ, but her own
+father, Otto von Bork, and ran somewhat thus:--
+
+"And I believe in my earthly father, Otto von Bork, a
+distinguished son of God, born of Anna von Kleist, who sitteth in
+his castle at Stramehl, from whence he will come to help his
+children and friends, but to slay his enemies and tread them in
+the dust."
+
+The third article was much in the same style, but he had partly
+forgotten it, neither could he remember if Dilavius had called the
+father to any account for his profanity, or taught the daughter
+some better Christian doctrine. In fine, this was all the old
+bachelor could tell me of Sidonia's education. Yes--he remembered
+one anecdote more. Her father had asked her one day, when she was
+about ten or twelve years old, "What kind of a husband she would
+like?" and she replied, "One of equal birth." _Ille:_
+[Footnote: In dialogue the author makes use of the Latin pronouns,
+_Ille_, he; _Illa_, she, to denote the different
+characters taking part in it; and sometimes _Hic_ and
+_Hæc_, for the same purposes. _Summa_ he employs in the
+sense of "to sum up," or "in short."] "Who is her equal in the
+whole of Pomerania?" _Illa:_ "Only the Duke of Pomerania, or
+the Count von Ebersburg." _Ille:_ "Right! therefore she must
+never marry any other but one of these."
+
+It happened soon after, old Philip Uckermann, his father, riding
+one day through the fields near Stramehl, saw a country girl
+seated by the roadside, weeping bitterly. "Why do you weep?" he
+asked. "Has any one injured you?" "Sidonia has injured me," she
+replied. "What could she have done? Come dry your tears, and tell
+me." Whereupon the little girl related that Sidonia, who was then
+about fourteen, had besought her to tell her what marriage was,
+because her father was always talking to her about it. The girl
+had told her to the best of her ability; but the young lady beat
+her, and said it was not so, that long Dorothy had told her quite
+differently about marriage, and there she went on tormenting her
+for several days; but upon this evening Sidonia, with long
+Dorothy, and some of the milkmaids of the neighbourhood, had taken
+away one of the fine geese which the peasants had given her in
+payment of her labour. They picked it alive, all except the head
+and neck, then built up a large fire in a circle, and put the
+goose and a vessel of water in the centre. So the fat dripped down
+from the poor creature alive, and was fried in a pan as it fell,
+just as the girls eat it on their bread for supper. And the goose,
+having no means of escape, still went on drinking the water as the
+fat dripped down, whilst they kept cooling its head and heart with
+a sponge dipped in cold water, fastened to a stick, until at last
+the goose fell down when quite roasted, though it still screamed,
+and then Sidonia and her companions cut it up for their amusement,
+living as it was, and ate it for their supper, in proof of which,
+the girl showed him the bones and the remains of the fire, and the
+drops of fat still lying on the grass.
+
+Then she wept afresh, for Sidonia had promised to take away a
+goose every day, and destroy it as she had done the first. So my
+father consoled her by giving her a piece of gold, and said, "If
+she does so again, run by night and cloud, and come to Dalow by
+Stargard, where I will make thee keeper of my geese." But she
+never came to him, and he never heard more of the maiden and her
+geese.
+
+So far old Uckermann related to me the first evening, promising to
+tell me of many more strange doings upon the following morning,
+which he would try to think over during the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_Of the bear-hunt at Stramehl, and the strange things that
+befell there._
+
+
+The following morning, by seven o'clock, the old man summoned me
+to him, and on entering I found him seated at breakfast by the
+fire. He invited me to join him, and pushed a seat over for me
+with his crutch, for walking was now difficult to him. He was very
+friendly, and the eyes of the old man burned as clear as those of
+a white dove. He had slept little during the night, for Sidonia's
+form kept floating before his eyes, just as she had looked in the
+days when he paid court to her. Alas! he had once loved her
+deeply, like all the other young nobles who approached her, from
+the time she was of an age to marry. In her youth she had been
+beautiful; and old and young declared that for figure, eyes,
+bosom, walk, and enchanting smile, there never had been seen her
+equal in all Pomerania.
+
+"Nothing shall be concealed from you," he said, "of all that
+concerns my foolish infatuation, that you and your children may
+learn how the all-wise God deals best with His servants when He
+uses the rod and denies that for which they clamour as silly
+children for a glittering knife." Here he folded his withered
+hands, murmured a short prayer, and proceeded with his story.
+
+"You must know that I was once a proud and stately youth, upon
+whom a maiden's glance in no wise rested indifferently, trained in
+all knightly exercise, and only two years older than Sidonia. It
+happened in the September of 1566, that I was invited by Caspar
+Roden to see his eel-nets, as my father intended laying down some
+also at Krampehl [Footnote: A little river near Dalow] and along
+the coast. When we returned home weary enough in the evening, a
+letter arrived from Otto von Bork, inviting him the following day
+to a bear-hunt; as he intended, in honour of the nuptials of his
+eldest daughter Clara, to lay bears' heads and bears' paws before
+his guests, which even in Pomerania would have been a rarity, and
+desiring him to bring as many good huntsmen with him as he
+pleased. So I accompanied Caspar Roden, who told me on the way
+that Count Otto had at first looked very high for his daughter
+Clara, and scorned many a good suitor, but that she was now
+getting rather old, and ready, like a ripe burr, to hang on the
+first that came by. Her bridegroom was Vidante von Meseritz, a
+feudal vassal of her father's, upon whom, ten years before, she
+would not have looked at from a window. Not that she was as proud
+as her young sister Sidonia. However, their mother was to blame
+for much of this; but she was dead now, poor lady, let her rest in
+peace.
+
+So in good time we reached the castle of Stramehl, where thirty
+huntsmen were already assembled, all noblemen, and we joined them
+in the grand state hall, where the morning meal was laid out.
+Count Otto sat at the head of the table, like a prince of
+Pomerania, upon a throne whereon his family arms were both carved
+and embroidered. He wore a doublet of elk-skin, and a cap with a
+heron's plume upon his head. He did not rise as we entered, but
+called to us to be seated and join the feast, as the party must
+move off soon. Costly wines were sent round; and I observed that
+on each of the glasses the family arms were cut. They were also
+painted upon the window of the great hall, and along the walls,
+under the horns of all the different wild animals killed by Otto
+in the chase--bucks, deers, harts, roes, stags, and elks--which
+were arranged in fantastical groups.
+
+After a little while his two daughters, Clara and Sidonia,
+entered. They wore green hunting-dresses, trimmed with
+beaver-skin, and each had a gold net thrown over her hair. They
+bowed, and bid the knights welcome. But we all remained breathless
+gazing upon Sidonia, as she lifted her beautiful eyes first on
+one, and then on another, inviting us to eat and drink; and she
+even filled a small wine-glass herself, and prayed us to pledge
+her. As for me, unfortunate youth, from the moment I beheld her I
+breathed no more through my lungs, but through my eyes alone, and,
+springing up, gave her health publicly. A storm of loud, animated,
+passionate voices soon responded to my words with loud vivas. The
+guests then rose, for the ladies were impatient for the hunt, and
+found the time hang heavily.
+
+So we set off with all our implements and our dogs, and a hundred
+beaters went before us. It happened that my host, Caspar Roden,
+and I found an excellent sheltered position for a shot near a
+quarry, and we had not long been there (the beaters had not even
+yet begun their work) when I spied a large bear coming down to
+drink at a small stream not twenty paces from me. I fired; but she
+retired quickly behind an oak, and, growling fiercely, disappeared
+amongst the bushes. Not long after, I heard the cries of women
+almost close to us; and running as fast as possible in the
+direction from whence they came, I perceived an old bear trying to
+climb up to the platform where Clara and Sidonia stood. There was
+a ruined chapel here--which, in the time of papacy, had contained
+a holy image--and a scaffolding had been erected round it, adorned
+with wreaths of evergreen and flowers, from which the ladies could
+obtain an excellent view of the hunt, as it commanded a prospect
+of almost the entire wood, and even part of the sea. Attached to
+this scaffolding was a ladder, up which Bruin was anxiously trying
+to ascend, in order to visit the young ladies, who were now
+assailed by two dangers--the bear from below, and a swarm of bees
+above, for myriads of these insects were tormenting them, trying
+to settle upon their golden hair-nets; and the young ladies,
+screaming as if the last day had come, were vainly trying to beat
+them off with their girdles, or trample them under their feet. A
+huntsman who stood near fired, indeed, at Bruin, but without
+effect, and the bees assailing his hands and face at the same
+time, he took to flight and hid himself, groaning, in the quarry.
+
+In the meantime I had reached the chapel, and Sidonia stretched
+forth her beautiful little hands, crying, along with her sister,
+"Help! help! He will eat us. Will you not kill him?" But the bear,
+as if already aware of my intention, began now to descend the
+ladder. However, I stepped before him, and as he descended, I
+ascended. Luckily for me, the interval between each step was very
+small, to accommodate the ladies' little feet, so that when Bruin
+tried to thrust his snout between them to get at me, he found it
+rather difficult work to make it pass. I had my dagger ready; and
+though the bees which he brought with him in his fur flew on my
+hands, I heeded them not, but watching my opportunity, plunged it
+deep into his side, so that he tumbled right down off the ladder;
+and though he raised himself up once and growled horribly, yet in
+a few seconds he lay dead before our eyes. How the ladies now
+tripped down the ladder, not two or three, but four or five steps
+at a time! and what thanks poured forth from their lips! I rushed
+first to Sidonia, who laid her little head upon my breast, while I
+endeavoured to remove the bees which had got entangled in her
+hair-net. The other lady went to call the huntsman, who was hiding
+in the quarry, and we were left alone. Heavens! how my heart
+burned, more than my inflamed hands all stung by the bees, as she
+asked, how could she repay my service. I prayed her for one kiss,
+which she granted. She had escaped with but one sting from the
+bees, who could not manage to get through her long, thick,
+beautiful hair, and she advanced joyfully to meet her father and
+the hunting-train, who had heard the cries of the ladies. When
+Count Otto heard what had happened, and saw the dead bear, he
+thanked me heartily, praying me to attend his daughter Clara's
+wedding, which was to be celebrated next week at the castle, and
+to remain as his guest until then. There was nothing in the world
+I could have desired beyond this, and I gratefully accepted his
+offer. Alas! I suffered for it after, as the cat from poisoned
+dainties.
+
+But to return to our hunt. No other bear was killed that day, but
+plenty of other game, as harts, stags, roes, boars--more than
+enough. And now we discovered what an old hunter had conjectured,
+that the dead bear was the father, who had been alarmed by the
+growls of his partner, at whom I had fired whilst he was
+endeavouring to carry off the honey from a nest of wild bees in a
+neighbouring tree. For looking around us, we saw, at the distance
+of about twenty paces, a tall oak-tree, about which clouds of bees
+were still flying, in which he had been following his occupation.
+No one dared to approach it, to bring away the honeycombs which
+still lay beneath, by reason of the bees, and, moreover, swarms of
+ants, by which they were covered. At length Otto Bork ordered the
+huntsman to sound the return; and after supper I obtained another
+little kiss from Sidonia, which burned so like fire through my
+veins that I could not sleep the whole night. I resolved to ask
+her hand in marriage from her father.
+
+Stupid youth as I was, I then believed that she looked upon me
+with equal love; and although I knew all about the mode in which
+she had been brought up, and many other things beside, which have
+now slipped from my memory, yet I looked on them but as idle
+stories, and was fully persuaded that Sidonia was sister to the
+angels in beauty, goodness, and perfection. In a few days,
+however, I had reason to change my opinion.
+
+Next day the two young ladies were in the kitchen, overseeing the
+cooking of the bear's head, and, as I passed by and looked in,
+they began to titter, which I took for a good omen, and asked,
+might I not be allowed to enter. They said, "Yes, I might come in,
+and help them to cleave the head." So I entered, and they both
+began to give me instructions, with much laughter and merry
+jesting. First, the bear's head had to be burned with hot irons;
+and when I said to Sidonia that thus she burned my heart, she
+nearly died of laughter. Then I cut some flesh off the mouth,
+broke the nose, and handed it all over to the maidens, who set it
+on the fire with water, wine, and vinegar. As I now played the
+part of kitchen-boy, they sent me to the castle garden for thyme,
+sage, and rosemary, which I brought, and begged them for a taste
+of the head; but they said it was not fit to eat yet--must be
+cooled in brine first; so in place of it I asked one little kiss
+from each of the maidens, which Sidonia granted, but her sister
+refused. However, I was not in the least displeased at her
+refusal, seeing it was only the little sister I cared for.
+
+But judge of my rage and jealousy, that same day a cousin arrived
+at the castle, and I observed that Sidonia allowed him to kiss her
+every moment. She never even appeared to offer any resistance, but
+looked over at me languishingly every time to see what I would
+say. What could I say? I became pale with jealousy, but said
+nothing. At last I rushed from the hall, mute with despair, when I
+observed him finally draw her on his knee. I only heard the peal
+of laughter that followed my exit, and I was just near leaving the
+whole wedding-feast, and Stramehl for ever, when Sidonia called
+after me from the castle gates to return. This so melted my heart,
+that the tears came into my eyes, thinking that now indeed I had a
+proof of her love. Then she took my hand, and said, "I ought not
+to be so unkind. That was her manner with all the young nobles.
+Why should she refuse a kiss when she was asked? Her little mouth
+would grow neither larger nor smaller for it." But I stood still
+and wept, and looked on the ground. "Why should I weep?" she
+asked. Her cousin Clas had a bride of his own already, and only
+took a little pastime with her, and so she must cure me now with
+another little kiss.
+
+I was now again a happy man, thinking she loved me; and the
+heavens seemed so propitious, that I determined to ask her hand.
+But I had not sufficient courage as yet, and resolved to wait
+until after her sister's marriage, which was to take place next
+day. What preparations were made for this event it would be
+impossible adequately to describe. All the country round the
+castle seemed like a royal camp. Six hundred horses were led into
+the stables next day to be fed, for the Duke himself arrived with
+a princely retinue. Then came all the feudal vassals to offer
+homage for their fiefs to Lord Otto. But as the description is
+well worth hearing, I shall defer it for another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_How Otto von Bork received the homage of his son-in-law,
+Vidante von Meseritz--And how the bride and bridegroom proceeded
+afterwards to the chapel--Item, what strange things happened at
+the wedding-feast._
+
+
+Next morning the stir began in the castle before break of day, and
+by ten o'clock all the nobles, with their wives and daughters, had
+assembled in the great hall. Then the bride entered, wearing her
+myrtle wreath, and Sidonia followed, glittering with diamonds and
+other costly jewels. She wore a robe of crimson silk with a cape
+of ermine, falling from her shoulders, and looked so beautiful
+that I could have died for love, as she passed and greeted me with
+her graceful laugh. But Otto Bork, the lord of the castle, was
+sore displeased because his Serene Highness the Prince was late
+coming, and the company had been waiting an hour for his presence.
+A platform had been erected at the upper end of the hall covered
+with bearskin; on this was placed a throne, beneath a canopy of
+yellow velvet, and here Otto was seated dressed in a crimson
+doublet, and wearing a hat half red and half black, from which
+depended plumes of red and black feathers that hung down nearly to
+his beard, which was as venerable as a Jew's. Every instant he
+despatched messengers to the tower to see if the prince were at
+hand, and as the time hung heavy, he began to discourse his
+guests. "See how this turner's apprentice [Footnote: So this
+prince was called from his love of turning and carving dolls.]
+must have stopped on the road to carve a puppet. God keep us from
+such dukes!" For the prince passed all his leisure hours in
+turning and carving, particularly while travelling, and when the
+carriage came to bad ground, where the horses had to move slowly,
+he was delighted, and went on merrily with his work; but when the
+horses galloped, he grew ill-tempered and threw down his tools.
+
+At length the warder announced from the tower that the duke's six
+carriages were in sight, and the knight spoke from his throne: "I
+shall remain here, as befits me, but Clara and Sidonia, go ye
+forth and receive his Highness; and when he has entered, the
+kinsman [Footnote: This was the feudal term for the next relation
+of a deceased vassal, upon whom it devolved to do homage for the
+lands to the feudal lord.] in full armour shall ride into the hall
+upon his war-horse, bearing the banner of his house in his hand,
+and all my retainers shall follow on horses, each bearing his
+banner also, and shall range themselves by the great window of the
+hall; and let the windows be open, that the wind may play through
+the banners and make the spectacle yet grander."
+
+Then all rushed out to meet the Duke, and I, too, went, for truly
+the courtyard presented a gorgeous sight--all decorated as it was,
+and the pride and magnificence of Lord Otto were here fully
+displayed; for from the upper storey of the castle floated the
+banner of the Emperor, and just beneath it that of Lord Otto (two
+crowned wolves with golden collars on a field or for the shield),
+and the crest, a crowned red-deer springing. Beneath this banner,
+but much inferior to it in size and execution, waved that of the
+Dukes of Pomerania; and lowest of all, hung the banner of Otto's
+feudal vassals--but they themselves were not visible. Neither did
+the kinsman appear to receive and greet his Highness. Otto knew
+well, it seems, that he could defy the Duke (however, I think if
+my gracious Lord of Wolgast had been there, he would not have
+suffered such insults, but would have taken Otto's banner and
+flung it in the mud). [Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff,
+"And so would I."] Be this as it may, Duke Barnim never appeared
+to notice anything except Otto's two daughters. He was a little
+man with a long grey beard, and as he stepped slowly out of the
+carriage held a little puppet by the arm, which he had been
+carving to represent Adam. It was intended for a present to the
+convent at Kobatz. His _superintendens generalis_, Fabianus
+Timæus (a dignified-looking personage), accompanied him in the
+carriage, for his Highness was going on the same day to attend the
+diet at Treptow, and only meant to pay a passing visit here. But
+Lord Otto concealed this fact, as it hurt his pride. The other
+carriages contained the equerries and pages of his Highness, and
+then followed the heavy waggons with the cooks, valets, and
+stewards.
+
+When the Prince entered the state hall, Lord Otto rose from his
+throne and said: "Your Highness is welcome, and I trust will
+pardon me for not having gone forth with my greetings; but those
+of a couple of young damsels were probably more agreeable than the
+compliments of an old knight like myself, who besides, as your
+Grace perceives, is engaged here in the exercise of his duty. And
+now, I pray your Highness to take this seat at my right hand."
+Whereupon he pointed to a plain chair, not in the least raised
+from the ground, and altogether as common a seat as there was to
+be found in the hall; but his Highness sat down quietly (at which
+every one wondered in silence) and took the little puppet in his
+lap, only exclaiming in low German, "What the devil, Otto! you
+make more of yourself, man, than I do;" to which the knight
+replied, "Not more than is necessary."
+
+"And now," continued the old man, "the ceremony of offering homage
+commenced, which is as fresh in my memory as if all had happened
+but yesterday, and so I shall describe it that you may know what
+were the usages of our fathers, for the customs of chivalry are,
+alas! fast passing away from amongst us.
+
+When Otto Bork gave the sign with his hand, six trumpets sounded
+without, whereupon the doors of the hall were thrown wide open as
+far as they could go, and the kinsman Vidante von Meseritz entered
+on a black charger, and dressed in complete armour, but without
+his sword. He carried the banner of his house (a pale gules with
+two foxes running), and riding straight up to Lord Otto, lowered
+it before him. Otto then demanded, "Who art thou, and what is thy
+request?" to which he answered, "Mighty feudal Lord, I am kinsman
+of Dinnies von Meseritz, and pray you for the fief." "And who are
+these on horseback who follow thee?" "They are the feudal vassals
+of my Lord, even as my father was." And Otto said, "Ride up, my
+men, and do as your fathers have done." Then Frederick Ubeske rode
+up, lowered his banner (charged with a sun and peacock's tail)
+before the knight, then passed on up to the great windows of the
+hall, where he took his place and drew his sword, while the wind
+played through the folds of his standard.
+
+Next came Walter von Locksted--lowered his banner (bearing a
+springing unicorn), rode up to the window, and drew his sword.
+After him, Claud Drosedow, waving his black eagle upon a white and
+red shield, rode up to the window and drew his sword; then Jacob
+Pretz, on his white charger, bearing two spears transverse through
+a fallen tree on his flag; and Dieterich Mallin, whose banner fell
+in folds over his hand, so that the device was not visible; and
+Lorenz Prechel, carrying a leopard gules upon a silver shield; and
+Jacob Knut, with a golden becker upon an azure field, and three
+plumes on the crest; and Tesmar von Kettler, whose spurs caught in
+the robe of a young maiden as he passed, and merry laughter
+resounded through the hall, many saying it was a good omen, which,
+indeed, was the truth, for that evening they were betrothed; and
+finally came Johann Zastrow, bearing two buffaloes' horns on his
+banner, and a green five-leaved bush, rode up to the window after
+the others, and drew his sword.
+
+There stood the nine, like the muses at the nuptials of Peleus,
+[Footnote: The nine muses were present at the marriage of Peleus
+and Thetis.--_See Pindar, pyth._. 3, 160] and the wind played
+through their banners. Then Lord Otto spoke--
+
+"True, these are my leal vassals. And now, kinsman of Meseritz,
+dismount and pay homage, as did thy father, ere thou canst ride up
+and join them." So the young man dismounted, threw the reins of
+his horse to a squire, and ascended the platform. Then Otto,
+holding up a sword, spoke again--
+
+"Behold, kinsman, this is the sword of thy father; touch it with
+me, and pronounce the feudal oath." Here all the vassals rode up
+from the window, and held their swords crosswise over the
+kinsman's head, while he spake thus--
+
+"I, Vidante von Meseritz, declare, vow, and swear to the most
+powerful, noble, and brave Otto von Bork, lord of the lands and
+castles of Labes, Pansin, Stramehl, Regenwalde, and others, and my
+most powerful feudal lord, and to his lawful heirs, a right loyal
+fealty, to serve him with all duty and obedience, to warn him of
+all evil, and defend him from all injury, to the best of my
+ability and power."
+
+Then he kissed the knight's hand, who girded his father's sword on
+him, and said--
+
+"Thus I acknowledge thee for my vassal, as my father did thy
+father."
+
+Then turning to his attendants he cried, "Bring hither the camp
+furniture." Hereupon the circle of spectators parted in two, and
+the pages led up, first, Vidante's horse, upon which he sprung;
+then others followed, bearing rich garments and his father's
+signet, and laid them down before him, saying, "Kinsman, the
+garments and the seal of thy father." A third and a fourth bore a
+large couch with a white coverlet, set it down before him, and
+said, "Kinsman, a couch for thee and thy wife." Then came a great
+crowd, bearing plates and dishes, and napkins, and table-covers,
+besides eleven tin cans, a fish-kettle, and a pair of iron
+pot-hooks; in short, a complete camp furniture; all of which they
+set down before the young man, and then disappeared.
+
+During this entire time no one noticed his Highness the Duke,
+though he was indeed the feudal head of all. Even when the
+trumpets sounded again, and the vassals passed out in procession,
+they lowered their standards only before Otto, as if no princely
+personage were present. But I think this proud Lord Otto must have
+commanded them so to do, for such an omission or breach of respect
+was never before seen in Pomerania. Even his Highness seemed, at
+last, to feel displeasure, for he drew forth his knife, and began
+to cut away at the little wooden Adam, without taking further
+notice of the ceremony.
+
+At length when the vassals had departed, and many of the guests
+also, who wished to follow them, had left the hall, the Duke
+looked up with his little glittering eyes, scratched the back of
+his head with the knife, and asked his Chancellor, Jacob Kleist,
+who had evidently been long raging with anger, "Jacob, what dost
+thou think of this _spectaculo?_" who replied, "Gracious
+lord, I esteem it a silly thing for an inferior to play the part
+of a prince, or for a prince to be compelled to play the part of
+an inferior." Such a speech offended Otto mightily, who drew
+himself up and retorted scornfully, "Particularly a poor inferior
+who, as you see, is obliged to draw the plough by turns with his
+serfs." Hereupon the Chancellor would have flung back the scorn,
+but his Highness motioned with the hand that he should keep
+silence, saying, "Remember, good Jacob, that we are here as
+guests; however, order the carriages, for I think it is time that
+we proceed on our journey."
+
+When Otto heard this, he was confounded, and, descending from his
+throne, uttered so many flattering things, that his Highness at
+length was prevailed upon to remain (I would not have consented,
+to save my soul, had I been the Prince--no, not even if I had to
+pass the night with the bears and wolves in the forest before I
+could reach Treptow); so the good old Prince followed him into
+another hall, where breakfast was prepared, and all the lords and
+ladies stood there in glittering groups round the table,
+particularly admiring the bear's head, which seemed to please his
+Highness mightily also. Then each one drained a large goblet of
+wine, and even the ladies sipped from their little wine-glasses,
+to drink themselves into good spirits for the dance.
+
+Otto now related all about the hunt, and presented me to his
+Grace, who gave me his hand to kiss, saying, "Well done, young
+man--I like this bravery. Were it not for you, in place of a
+wedding, and a bear's head in the dish, Lord Otto might have had a
+funeral and two human heads in a coffin." His Grace then pledged
+me in a silver becker of wine; and afterwards the bride and
+bridegroom, who had sat till then kissing and making love in a
+corner; but they now came forward and kissed the hand of the Duke
+with much respect. The bridegroom had on a crimson doublet, which
+became him well; but his father's jack-boots, which he wore
+according to custom, were much too wide, and shook about his legs.
+The bride was arrayed in a scarlet velvet robe, and bodice furred
+with ermine. Sidonia carried a little balsam flask, depending from
+a gold chain which she wore round her neck. (She soon needed the
+balsam, for that day she suffered a foretaste of the fate which
+was to be the punishment for her after evil deeds.) And now, as we
+set forward to the church, a group of noble maidens distributed
+wreaths to the guests; but the bride presented one to the Duke,
+and Sidonia (that her hand might have been withered) handed one to
+me, poor love-stricken youth.
+
+It was the custom then, as now, in Pomerania, for all the
+bride-maidens, crowned with beautiful wreaths, to precede the
+bride and bridegroom to church. The crowd of lords, and ladies,
+and young knights pouring out of the castle gates, in order to see
+them, separated Sidonia from this group, and she was left alone
+weeping. Now the whole population of the little town were running
+from every street leading to the church; and it happened that a
+courser [Footnote: A man who courses greyhounds.] of Otto Bork's
+came right against Sidonia with such violence, that, with a blow
+of his head, he knocked her down into the puddle (she was to lie
+there really in after-life). Her little balsam-flask was of no use
+here. She had to go back, dripping, to the castle, and appeared no
+more at her sister's nuptials, but consoled herself, however, by
+listening to the bellowing of the huntsman, whom they were beating
+black and blue by her orders beneath her window.
+
+I would willingly have returned with her, but was ashamed so to
+do, and therefore followed the others to church. All the common
+people that crowded the streets were allowed to enter. Then the
+bridegroom and his party, of whom the Duke was chief, advanced up
+to the right of the altar, and the bride and her party, of which
+Fabianus Timæus was the most distinguished, arrayed themselves on
+the left.
+
+I had now an opportunity of hearing the learned and excellent
+parson Dilavius myself; for he represented his patron (who was not
+present at the feast, but apologised for his absence by alleging
+that he must remain at the castle to look after the preparations)
+almost as an angel, and the young ladies, especially the bride,
+came in for even a larger share of his flattery; but he was so
+modest before these illustrious personages, that I observed,
+whenever he looked up from the book, he had one eye upon the Duke
+and another on Fabianus.
+
+When we returned to the castle, Sidonia met the bridemaidens again
+with joyous smiles. She now wore a white silk robe, laced with
+gold, and dancing-slippers with white silk hose. The diamonds
+still remained on her head, neck, and arms. She looked beautiful
+thus; and I could not withdraw my eyes from her. We all now
+entered the bridechamber, as the custom is, and there stood an
+immense bridal couch, with coverlet and draperies as white as
+snow; and all the bridemaids and the guests threw their wreaths
+upon it. Then the Prince, taking the bridegroom by the hand, led
+him up to it, and repeated an old German rhyme concerning the
+duties of the holy state upon which he had entered.
+
+When his Highness ceased, Fabianus took the bride by the hand, who
+blushed as red as a rose, and led her up in the same manner to the
+nuptial couch, where he uttered a long admonition on her duties to
+her husband, at which all wept, but particularly the
+bride-maidens. After this we proceeded to the state hall, where
+Otto was seated on his throne waiting to receive them, and when
+his children had kissed his hand the dancing commenced. Otto
+invited the Prince to sit near him, and all the young knights and
+maidens who intended to dance ranged themselves on costly carpets
+that were laid upon the floor all round by the walls. The trumpets
+and violins now struck up, and a band was stationed at each end of
+the hall, so that while the dancers were at the top one played,
+and when at the lower end the other.
+
+I hastened to Sidonia, as she reclined upon the carpet, and
+bending low before her, said, "Beautiful maiden! will you not
+dance?" [Footnote: It will interest my fair readers to know that
+this was, word for word, the established form employed in those
+days for an invitation to dance.] Upon which she smilingly gave me
+her little hand, and I raised her up, and led her away.
+
+I have said that I was a proficient in all knightly exercises, so
+that every one approached to see us dance. When Sidonia was tired
+I led her back, and threw myself beside her on the carpet. But in
+a little while three other young nobles came and seated themselves
+around her, and began to jest, and toy, and pay court to her. One
+played with her left hand and her rings, another with the gold net
+of her hair, while I held her right hand and pressed it. She
+coquettishly repelled them all--sometimes with her feet, sometimes
+with her hands. And when Hans von Damitz extolled her hair, she
+gave him such a blow on the nose with her head that it began to
+bleed, and he was obliged to withdraw. Still one could see that
+all these blows, right and left, were not meant in earnest. This
+continued for some time until an Italian dance began, which she
+declined to join, and as I was left alone with her upon the
+carpet, "Now," thought I, "there can be no better time to decide
+my fate;" for she had pressed my hand frequently, both in the
+dance and since I had lain reclining beside her.
+
+"Beautiful Sidonia!" I said, "you know not how you have wounded my
+heart. I can neither eat nor sleep since I beheld you, and those
+five little kisses which you gave me burn through my frame like
+arrows."
+
+To which she answered, laughing, "It was your pastime, youth. It
+was your own wish to take those little kisses."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I said, "it was my will; but give me more now and make
+me well."
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, "you desire more kisses? Then will your
+pain become greater, if, as you say, with every kiss an arrow
+enters your heart, so at last they would cause your death."
+
+"Ah, yes!" I answered, "unless you take pity on me, and promise to
+become my wife, they will indeed cause my death." As I said this,
+she sprang up, tore her hand away from me, and cried with mocking
+laughter, "What does the knave mean? Ha! ha! the poor, miserable
+varlet!"
+
+I remained some moments stupefied with rage, then sprung to my
+feet without another word, left the hall, took my steed from the
+stable, and turned my back on the castle for ever. You may imagine
+how her ingratitude added to the bitterness of my feelings, when I
+considered that it was to me she owed her life. She afterwards
+offered herself to me for a wife, but she was then dishonoured,
+and I spat out at her in disgust. I never beheld her again till
+she was carried past my door to the scaffold.
+
+All this the old man related with many sighs; but his
+after-meeting with her shall be related more _in extenso_ in
+its proper place. I shall now set down what further he
+communicated about the wedding-feast.
+
+You may imagine, he said, that I was curious to know all that
+happened after I left the castle, and my friend, Bogislaff von
+Suckow of Pegelow, told me as follows.
+
+After my departure, the young lords grew still more free and
+daring in their manner to Sidonia, so that when not dancing she
+had sufficient exercise in keeping them off with her hands and
+feet, until my friend Bogislaff attracted her whole attention by
+telling her that he had just returned from Wolgast, where the
+ducal widow was much comforted by the presence of her son, Prince
+Ernest Ludovick, whom she had not seen since he went to the
+university. He was the handsomest youth in all Pomerania, and
+played the lute so divinely that at court he was compared to the
+god Apollo.
+
+Sidonia upon this fell into deep thought. In the meanwhile, it was
+evident that his Highness old Duke Barnim was greatly struck by
+her beauty, and wished to get near her upon the carpet; for his
+Grace was well known to be a great follower of the sex, and many
+stories are whispered about a harem of young girls he kept at St.
+Mary's--but these things are allowable in persons of his rank.
+
+However, Fabianus Timæus, who sat by him, wished to prevent him
+approaching Sidonia, and made signs, and nudged him with his
+elbow; and finally they put their heads together and had a long
+argument.
+
+At last the Prince started up, and stepping to Otto, asked him,
+Would he not dance? "Yes," he replied, "if your Grace will dance
+likewise." "Good," said the Prince, "that can be soon arranged,"
+and therewith he solicited Sidonia's hand. At this Fabianus was so
+scandalised that he left the hall, and appeared no more until
+supper. After the dance, his Highness advanced to Otto, who was
+reseated on his throne, and said, "Why, Otto, you have a beautiful
+daughter in Sidonia. She must come to my court, and when she
+appears amongst the other ladies, I swear she will make a better
+fortune than by staying shut up here in your old castle."
+
+On which Otto replied, sarcastically smiling, "Ay, my gracious
+Prince, she would be a dainty morsel for your Highness, no doubt;
+but there is no lack of noble visitors at my castle, I am proud to
+say." Jacob Kleist, the Chancellor, was now so humbled at the
+Duke's behaviour that he, too, left the hall and followed
+Fabianus. Even the Duke changed colour; but before he had time to
+speak, Sidonia sprang forward, and having heard the whole
+conversation, entreated her father to accept the Duke's offer, and
+allow her either to visit the court at Wolgast or at Old Stettin.
+What was she to do here? When the wedding-feast was over, no one
+would come to the castle but huntsmen and such like.
+
+So Otto at last consented that she might visit Wolgast, but on no
+account the court at Stettin.
+
+Then the young Sidonia began to coax and caress the old Duke,
+stroking his long beard, which reached to his girdle, with her
+little white hands, and prayed that he would place her with the
+princely Lady of Wolgast, for she longed to go there. People said
+that it was such a beautiful place, and the sea was not far off,
+which she had never been at in all her life. And so the Duke was
+pleased with her caresses, and promised that he would request his
+dear cousin, the ducal widow of Wolgast, to receive her as one of
+her maids of honour. Sidonia then further entreated that there
+might be no delay, and he answered that he would send a note to
+his cousin from the Diet at Treptow, by the Grand Chamberlain of
+Wolgast, Ulrich von Schwerin, and that she would not have to wait
+long. But she must go by Old Stettin, and stop at his palace for a
+while, and then he would bring her on himself to Wolgast, if he
+had time to spare.
+
+While Sidonia clapped her hands and danced about for joy, Otto
+looked grave, and said, "But, gracious Lord, the nearest way to
+Wolgast is by Cammin. Sidonia must make a circuit if she goes by
+Old Stettin."
+
+The conversation was now interrupted by the lacqueys, who came to
+announce that dinner was served.
+
+Otto requested the Duke to take a place beside him at table, and
+treated him with somewhat more distinction than he had done in the
+morning; but a hot dispute soon arose, and this was the cause. As
+Otto drank deep in the wine-cup, he grew more reckless and daring,
+and began to display his heretical doctrines as openly as he had
+hitherto exhibited his pomp and magnificence, so that every one
+might learn that pride and ungodliness are twin brothers. May God
+keep us from both!
+
+And one of the guests having said, in confirmation of some fact,
+"The Lord Jesus knows I speak the truth!" the godless knight
+laughed scornfully, exclaiming, "The Lord Jesus knows as little
+about the matter as my old grandfather, lying there in his vault,
+of our wedding-feast to-day."
+
+There was a dead silence instantly, and the Prince, who had just
+lifted up some of the bear's paw to his lips, with mustard sauce
+and pastry all round it, dropped it again upon his plate, and
+opened his eyes as wide as they could go; then, hastily wiping his
+mouth with the salvet, exclaimed in low German, "What the devil,
+Otto! art thou a freethinker?" who replied, "A true nobleman may,
+in all things, be a freethinker, and neither do all that a prince
+commands nor believe all that a pope teaches." To which the Duke
+answered, "What concerns me I pardon, for I do not believe that
+you will ever forget your duty to your Prince. The times are gone
+by when a noble would openly offer violence to his sovereign; but
+for what concerns the honour of our Lord Christ, I must leave you
+in the hands of Fabianus to receive proper chastisement."
+
+Now Fabianus, seeing that all eyes were fixed on him, grew red and
+cleared his throat, and set himself in a position to argue the
+point with Lord Otto, beginning--"So you believe that Christ the
+Lord remained in the grave, and is not living and reigning for all
+eternity?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; that is my opinion."
+
+_Hic_.--"What do you believe, then? or do you believe in
+anything?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; I believe firmly in an all-powerful and
+omniscient God."
+
+_Hic_.--"How do you know He exists?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Because my reason tells me so."
+
+_Hic_.--"Your reason does not tell you so, good sir. It
+merely tells you that something supermundane exists, but cannot
+tell you whether it be one God or two Gods, or a hundred Gods, or
+of what nature are these Gods--whether spirits, or stars, or
+trees, or animals, or, in fine, any object you can name, for
+paganism has imagined a Deity in everything, which proves what I
+assert. You only believe in _one_ God, because you sucked in
+the doctrine with your mother's milk." [Footnote: The history of
+all philosophy shows that this is psychologically true. Even
+Lucian satirises the philosophers of his age who see God or Gods
+in numbers, dogs, geese, trees, and other things. But monotheistic
+Christianity has preserved us for nearly 2000 years from these
+aberrations of philosophy. However, as the authority of
+Christianity declined, the pagan tendency again became visible;
+until at length, in the Hegelian school, we have fallen back
+helplessly into the same pantheism which we left 2000 years ago.
+In short, what Kant asserts is perfectly true: that the existence
+of God cannot be proved from reason. For the highest objects of
+all cognition--God, Freedom, and Immortality--can as little be
+evolved from the new philosophy as beauty from the disgusting
+process of decomposition. And yet more impossible is it to imagine
+that this feeble Hegelian pantheism should ever become the crown
+and summit of all human thought, and final resting-place for all
+human minds. Reason, whether from an indwelling instinct, or from
+an innate causality-law, may assert that something supermundane
+exists, but can know nothing more and nothing further. So we see
+the absurdity of chattering in our journals and periodicals of the
+progress of reason. The advance has been only _formal_, not
+_essential_. The formal advance has been in printing,
+railroads, and such like, in which direction we may easily suppose
+progression will yet further continue. But there has been no
+essential advance whatever. We know as little now of our own
+being, of the being of God, or even of that of the smallest
+infusoria, as in the days of Thales and Anaximander. In short,
+when life begins, begins also our feebleness; "Therefore," says
+Paul, "we walk by faith, not by sight." Yet these would-be
+philosophers of our day will only walk by sight, not by faith,
+although they cannot see into anything--not even into themselves.]
+
+_Ille_.--"How did it happen, then, that Abraham arrived at
+the knowledge of the _one_ God, and called on the name of the
+Lord?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Do you compare yourself with Abraham? Have you ever
+studied Hebrew?"
+
+_Ille_.--"A little. In my youth I read through the book of
+Genesis."
+
+_Hic_.--"Good! then you know that the Hebrew word for
+_name_ is _Shem_?"
+
+_Ille_.-"Yes; I know that."
+
+_Hic_.--"Then you know that from the time of Enos the
+_name_ [Footnote: In order to understand the argument, the
+reader must remember that the _name_ here is taken in the
+sense of the Greek logos, and is considered as referring
+especially to Christ.] was preached (Genesis iv. 26), showing that
+the pure doctrine was known from the beginning. This doctrine was
+darkened and obscured by wise people like you, so that it was
+almost lost at the time of Abraham, who again preached the
+_name_ of the Lord to unbelievers."
+
+_Ille_.--"What did this primitive doctrine contain?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Undoubtedly not only a testimony of the one living
+God of heaven and earth, but also clearly of Christ the Messiah,
+as He who was promised to our fallen parents in paradise (Genesis
+iii. 15)."
+
+_Ille_.--"Can you prove that Abraham had the witness of
+Christ?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Yes; from Christ's own words (John viii.
+56):--'Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw
+it, and was glad.' Item: Moses and all the Prophets have witnessed
+of Him, of whom you say that He lies dead in the grave."
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh, that is just what the priests say."
+
+_Hic_.--"And Christ Himself, Luke xxvi. 25 and 27. Do you not
+see, young man, that you mock the Prince of Life, whom God, that
+cannot lie, promised before the world began--Titus i. 2--ay, even
+more than you mocked your temporal Prince this day? Poor sinner,
+what does it help you to believe in one God?"
+
+"Even the devils believe and tremble," added Jacob Kleist the
+Chancellor. "No, there is no other name given under heaven by
+which you can be saved; and will you be more wise than Abraham,
+and the Prophets, and the Apostles, and all holy Christian
+Churches up to this day? Shame on you, and remember what St. Paul
+says: 'Thinking themselves wise, they became fools.' And in 1st
+Cor. xv. 17: 'If Christ be not risen, than is your faith vain, and
+our preaching also vain. Ye are yet in your sins, and they who
+sleep in Christ are lost.'" [Footnote: This proof of Christ's
+divinity from the Old Testament was considered of the highest
+importance in the time of the Apostles; but Schleiermacher, in his
+strange system, which may be called a mystic Rationalism,
+endeavours to shake the authority of the Old Testament in a most
+unpardonable and incomprehensible manner. This appears to me as if
+a man were to tear down a building from the sure foundation on
+which it had rested for 1000 years, and imagine it could rest in
+true stability only on the mere breath of his words.]
+
+So Otto was silenced and coughed, for he had nothing to answer,
+and all the guests laughed; but, fortunately, just then the
+offering-plate was handed round, and the Duke laid down two
+ducats, at which Otto smiled scornfully, and flung in seven
+rix-dollars, but laughed outright when Fabianus put down only four
+groschen.
+
+This seemed to affront his Highness, for he whispered to his
+Chancellor to order the carriages, and rose up from table with his
+attendants. Then, offering his hand to Otto, said, "Take care,
+Otto, or the devil will have you one day in hell, like the rich
+man in Scripture." To which Otto replied, bowing low, "Gracious
+Lord, I hope at least to meet good company there. Farewell, and
+pardon me for not attending you to the castle gates, but I may not
+leave my guests."
+
+Then all the nobles rose up, and the young knights accompanied his
+Highness, as did also Sidonia, who now further entreated his Grace
+to remove her from her father's castle, since he saw himself how
+lightly God's Word was held there. Fabianus was infinitely pleased
+to hear her speak in this manner, and promised to use all his
+influence towards having her removed from this Egypt.
+
+Here ended all that old Uckermann could relate of Sidonia's youth;
+so I determined to ride on to Stramehl, and learn there further
+particulars if possible.
+
+Accordingly, next day I took leave of the good old man, praying
+God to give him a peaceful death, and arrived at Stramehl with my
+servant. Here, however, I could obtain no information; for even
+the Bork family pretended to know nothing, just as if they never
+had heard of Sidonia (they were ashamed, I think, to acknowledge
+her), and the townspeople who had known her were all dead. The
+girl, indeed, was still living whose goose Sidonia had killed, but
+she was now an old woman in second childhood, and fancied that I
+was myself Sidonia, who had come to take away another goose from
+her. So I rode on to Freienwald, where I heard much that shall
+appear in its proper place; then to Old Stettin; and, after
+waiting three days for a fair wind, set sail for Wolgast,
+expecting to obtain much information there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia came to the court at Wolgast, and of what further
+happened to her there._
+
+
+In Wolgast I met with many persons whose fathers had known
+Sidonia, and what they related to me concerning her I have summed
+up into connection for your Highness as follows.
+
+When Duke Barnim reached the Diet at Treptow, he immediately made
+known Sidonia's request to the Grand Chamberlain of Wolgast,
+Ulrich von Schwerin, who was also guardian to the five young
+princes. But he grumbled, and said--"The ducal widow had maids of
+honour enough to dam up the river with if she chose; and he wished
+for no more pet doves to be brought to court, particularly not
+Sidonia; for he knew her father was ambitious, and longed to be
+called 'your Grace.'"
+
+Even Fabianus could not prevail in Sidonia's favour. So the Duke
+and he returned home to Stettin; but scarcely had they arrived
+there, when a letter came from the ducal widow of Wolgast, saying,
+that on no account would she receive Sidonia at her court. The
+Duke might therefore keep her at his own if he chose.
+
+So the Duke took no further trouble. But Sidonia was not so easily
+satisfied; and taking the matter in her own hands she left her
+father's castle without waiting his permission, and set off for
+Stettin.
+
+On arriving, she prayed the Duke to bring her to Wolgast without
+delay, as she knew there was an honourable, noble lady there who
+would watch over her, as indeed she felt would be necessary at a
+court. And Fabianus supported her petition; for he was much
+edified with her expressed desire to crucify the flesh, with the
+affections and lusts.
+
+Ah! could he have known her!
+
+So the kind-hearted Duke embarked with her immediately, without
+telling any one; and having a fair wind, sailed up directly to the
+little water-gate, and anchored close beneath the Castle of
+Wolgast.
+
+Here they landed; the Duke having Sidonia under one arm, and a
+little wooden puppet under the other. It was an Eve, for whom
+Sidonia had served as the model; and truly she was an Eve in sin,
+and brought as much evil upon the land of Pomerania as our first
+mother upon the whole world. Sidonia was enveloped in a black
+mantle, and wore a hood lined with fur covering her face. The Duke
+also had on a large wrapping cloak, and a cap of yellow leather
+upon his head.
+
+So they entered the private gate, and on through the first and
+second courts of the castle, without her Grace hearing a word of
+their arrival. And they proceeded on through the gallery, until
+they reached the private apartments of the princess, from whence
+resounded a psalm which her Grace was singing with her ladies
+while they spun, and which psalm was played by a little musical
+box placed within the Duchess's own spinning-wheel. Duke Barnim
+had made it himself for her Grace, and it was right pleasant to
+hear.
+
+After listening some time, the Duke knocked, and a maid of honour
+opened the door. When they entered, her Grace was so confounded
+that she dropped her thread and exclaimed, "Dear uncle! is this
+maiden, then, Sidonia?" examining her from head to foot while she
+spoke. The Duke excused himself by saying that he had promised her
+father to bring her here; but her Grace cut short his apologies
+with "Dear uncle, Dr. Martin Luther told me on my wedding-day that
+he never allowed himself to be interrupted at his prayers, because
+it betokened the presence of something evil. And you have now
+broken in on our devotions; therefore sit down with the maiden and
+join our psalm, if you know it." Then her Grace took up the reel
+again, and having set the clock-work going with her foot, struck
+up the psalm once more, in a clear, loud voice, joined by all her
+ladies. But Sidonia sat still, and kept her eyes upon the ground.
+
+When they had ended, her Grace, having first crossed herself,
+advanced to Sidonia, and said, "Since you arrived at my court, you
+may remain; but take care that you never lift your eyes upon the
+young men. Such wantons are hateful to my sight; for, as the
+Scripture says, 'A fair woman without discretion is like a circlet
+of gold upon a swine's head.'"
+
+Sidonia changed colour at this; but the Duke, who held quite a
+different opinion about such women, entreated her Grace not to be
+always so gloomy and melancholy--that it was time now for her to
+forget her late spouse, and think of gayer subjects. To which she
+answered, "Dear uncle, I cannot forget my Philip, particularly as
+my fate was foreshadowed at my bridal by a most ominous
+occurrence."
+
+Now, the Duke had heard this story of the bridal a hundred times;
+yet to please her he asked, "And what was it, dear cousin?"
+
+"Listen," she replied. "When Dr. Martin Luther exchanged our
+rings, mine fell from his hand to the ground; at which he was
+evidently troubled, and taking it up, he blew on it; then turning
+round, exclaimed--'Away with thee, Satan! away with thee, Satan!
+Meddle not in this matter!' And so my dear lord was taken from me
+in his forty-fifth year, and I was left a desolate widow." Here
+she sobbed and put her kerchief to her eyes.
+
+"But, cousin," said the Duke, "remember you have a great blessing
+from God in your five fine sons. And that reminds me--where are
+they all now?"
+
+This restored her Grace, and she began to discourse of her
+children, telling how handsome was the young Prince Ernest, and
+that he and the little Casimir were only with her now.
+
+Here Sidonia, as the other ladies remarked, moved restlessly on
+her chair, and her eyes flashed like torches, so that it was
+evident some plan had struck her, for she was strengthening day by
+day in wickedness.
+
+"Ay, cousin," cried the Duke, "it is no wonder a handsome mother
+should have handsome sons. And now what think you of giving us a
+jolly wedding? It is time for you to think of a second husband,
+methinks, after having wept ten years for your Philip. The best
+doctor, they say, for a young widow, is a handsome lover. What
+think you of myself, for instance?" And he pulled off his leather
+cap, and put his white head and beard up close to her Grace.
+
+Now, though her Grace could not help laughing at his position and
+words, yet she grew as sour as vinegar again immediately; for all
+the ladies tittered, and, as to Sidonia, she laughed outright.
+
+"Fie! uncle," said her Grace, "a truce to such folly; do you not
+know what St. Paul says--'Let the widows abide even as I'?"
+
+"Ay, true, dear cousin; but, then, does he not say, too, 'I will
+that the younger widows marry'?"
+
+"Ah, but, dear uncle, I am no longer young."
+
+"Why, you are as young and active as a girl; and I engage, cousin,
+if any stranger came in here to look for the widow, he would find
+it difficult to make her out amongst the young maidens; don't you
+think so, Sidonia?"
+
+"Ah, yes," she replied; "I never imagined her Grace was so young.
+She is as blooming as a rose."
+
+This appeared to please the Princess, for she smiled slightly and
+then sighed; but gave his Grace a smart slap when he attempted to
+seize her hand and kiss it, saying--"Now, uncle, I told you to
+leave off this foolery."
+
+At this moment the band outside struck up Duke Bogislaff's
+march--the same that was played before him in Jerusalem when he
+ascended the Via Dolorosa up to Golgotha; for it was the custom
+here to play this march half-an-hour before dinner, in order to
+gather all the household, knights, squires, pages, and even grooms
+and peasants, to the castle, where they all received
+entertainment. And ten rooms were laid with dinner, and all stood
+open, so that any one might enter under the permission of the
+Court Marshal. All this I must notice here, because Sidonia
+afterwards caused much scandal by these means. The music now
+rejoiced her greatly, and she began to move her little feet, not
+in a pilgrim, but in a waltz measure, and to beat time with them,
+as one could easily perceive by the motion underneath her mantle.
+
+The Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, now entered, and
+having looked at Sidonia with much surprise, advanced to kiss the
+hand of the Duke and bid him welcome to Wolgast. Then, turning to
+her Grace, he inquired if the twelve pages should wait at table to
+do honour to the Duke of Stettin. But the Duke forbade them,
+saying he wished to dine in private for this day with the Duchess
+and her two sons; the Grand Chamberlain, too, he hoped would be
+present, and Sidonia might have a seat at the ducal table, as she
+was of noble blood; besides, he had taken her likeness as Eve, and
+the first of women ought to sit at the first table. Hereupon the
+Duke drew forth the puppet, and called to Ulrich--"Here! you have
+seen my Adam in Treptow; what think you now of Eve? Look, dear
+cousin, is she not the image of Sidonia?"
+
+At this speech both looked very grave. Ulrich said nothing; but
+her Grace replied, "You will make the girl vain, dear uncle." And
+Ulrich added, "Yes, and the image has such an expression, that if
+the real Eve looked so, I think she would have left her husband in
+the lurch and run with the devil himself to the devil."
+
+While the last verse of the march was playing--"To Zion comes
+Pomerania's Prince"--they proceeded to dinner--the Duke and the
+Princes leading, while from every door along the corridor the
+young knights and pages peeped out to get a sight of Sidonia, who,
+having thrown off her mantle, swept by them in a robe of crimson
+velvet laced with gold.
+
+When they entered the dining-hall, Prince Ernest was leaning
+against one of the pillars wearing a black Spanish mantle,
+fastened with chains of gold. He stepped forward to greet the
+Duke, and inquire after his health.
+
+The Duke was well pleased to see him, and tapped him on the cheek,
+exclaiming--
+
+"By my faith, cousin, I have not heard too much of you. What a
+fine youth you have grown up since you left the university."
+
+But how Sidonia's eyes sparkled when (for his misfortune) she
+found herself seated next him at table. The Duchess now called
+upon Sidonia to say the "gratias;" but she blundered and
+stammered, which many imputed to modesty, so that Prince Ernest
+had to repeat it in her stead. This seemed to give him courage;
+for when the others began to talk around the table, he ventured to
+bid her welcome to his mother's court.
+
+When they rose from table, Sidonia was again commanded to say
+grace; but being unable, the Prince came to her relief and
+repeated the words for her. And now the evil spirit without doubt
+put it into the Duke's head, who had drunk rather freely, to say
+to her Grace--
+
+"Dear cousin, I have introduced the Italian fashion at my court,
+which is, that every knight kisses the lady next him on rising
+from dinner--let us do the same here." And herewith he first
+kissed her Grace and then Sidonia. Ulrich von Schwerin looked
+grave at this and shook his head, particularly when the Duke
+encouraged Prince Ernest to follow his example; but the poor youth
+looked quite ashamed, and cast down his eyes. However, when he
+raised them again Sidonia's were fixed on him, and she murmured,
+"Will you not learn?" with such a glance accompanying the words,
+that he could no longer resist to touch her lips. So there was
+great laughing in the hall; and the Duke then, taking his puppet
+under one arm and Sidonia under the other, descended with her to
+the castle gardens, complaining that he never got a good laugh in
+this gloomy house, let him do what he would.
+
+And the next day he departed, though the Prince sent his equerry
+to know would his Grace desire to hunt that day; or, if he
+preferred fishing, there were some excellent carp within the
+domain. But the Duke replied, that he would neither ride nor fish,
+but sail away at ten of the clock, if the wind were favourable.
+
+So many feared that his Grace was annoyed; and therefore the
+Duchess and Prince Ernest, along with the Grand Chamberlain,
+attended him to the gate; and even to please him, Sidonia was
+allowed to accompany them. The Pomeranian standard also was
+hoisted to do him honour, and finally he bade the illustrious
+widow farewell, recommending Sidonia to her care. But the fair
+maiden herself he took in his arms, she weeping and sobbing, and
+admonished her to be careful and discreet; and so, with a fair
+wind, set sail from Wolgast, and never once looked back.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_Sidonia knows nothing of God's Word, but seeks to learn it from
+the young Prince of Wolgast._
+
+
+Next day, Sunday, her Grace was unable to attend divine service in
+the church, having caught cold by neglecting to put on her mantle
+when she accompanied the Duke down to the water-gate. However,
+though her Grace could not leave her chamber, yet she heard the
+sermon of the preacher all the same; for an ear-tube descended
+from her apartment down on the top of the pulpit, by which means
+every word reached her, and a maid of honour always remained in
+attendance to find out the lessons of the day, and the other
+portions of the divine service, for her Grace, who thus could
+follow the clergyman word for word. Sidonia was the one selected
+for the office on this day.
+
+But, gracious Heavens! when the Duchess said, Find me out the
+prophet Isaiah, Sidonia looked in the New Testament; and when she
+said, Open the Gospel of St. John, Sidonia looked in the Old
+Testament. At first her Grace did not perceive her blunders; but
+when she became aware of them, she started up, and tearing the
+Bible out of her hands, exclaimed, "What! are you a heathen?
+Yesterday you could not repeat a simple grace that every child
+knows by heart, and to-day you do not know the difference between
+the Old and New Testaments. For shame! Alas! what an ill weed I
+have introduced into my house."
+
+So the cunning wench began to weep, and said, her father had never
+allowed her to learn Christianity, though she wished to do so
+ardently, but always made a mock of it, and for this reason she
+had sought a refuge with her Grace, where she hoped to become a
+truly pious and believing Christian. The Duchess was quite
+softened by her tears, and promised that Dr. Dionysius Gerschovius
+should examine her in the catechism, and see what she knew. He was
+a learned man from Daber [Footnote: A small town in Lower
+Pomerania.], and her Grace's chaplain. The very idea of the doctor
+frightened Sidonia so much, that her teeth chattered, and she
+entreated her Grace, while she kissed her hand, to allow her at
+least a fortnight for preparation and study before the doctor
+came.
+
+The Duchess promised this, and said, that Clara von Dewitz,
+another of her maidens, would be an excellent person to assist her
+in her studies, as she came from Daber also, and was familiar with
+the views and doctrines held by Dr. Gerschovius. This Clara we
+shall hear more of in our history. She was a year older than
+Sidonia, intelligent, courageous, and faithful, with a quiet,
+amiable disposition, and of most pious and Christian demeanour.
+She wore a high, stiff ruff, out of which peeped forth her head
+scarcely visible, and a long robe, like a stole, sweeping behind
+her. She was privately betrothed to her Grace's Master of the
+Horse, Marcus Bork by name, a cousin of Sidonia's; for, as her
+Grace discouraged all kinds of gallantry or love-making at her
+court, they were obliged to keep the matter secret, so that no
+one, not even her Grace, suspected anything of the engagement.
+
+This was the person appointed to instruct Sidonia in Christianity;
+and every day the fair pupil visited Clara in her room for an
+hour. But, alas! theology was sadly interrupted by Sidonia's folly
+and levity, for she chattered away on all subjects: first about
+Prince Ernest--was he affianced to any one? was he in love? had
+Clara herself a lover? and if that old proser, meaning the
+Duchess, looked always as sour? did she never allow a feast or a
+dance? and then she would toss the catechism under the bed, or
+tear it and trample on it, muttering, with much ill-temper, that
+she was too old to be learning catechisms like a child.
+
+Poor Clara tried to reason with her mildly, and said--"Her Grace
+was very particular on these points. The maids of honour were
+obliged to assemble weekly once in the church and once in her
+Grace's own room, to be examined by Dr. Gerschovius, not only in
+the Lutheran Catechism, which they all knew well, but also in that
+written by his brother, Dr. Timothy Gerschovius of Old Stettin; so
+Sidonia had better first learn the _Catechismum Lutheri_, and
+afterwards the _Catechismum Gerschovii_." At last Sidonia
+grew so weary of catechisms that she determined to run away from
+court.
+
+But Satan had more for her to do; so he put a little syrup into
+the wormwood draught, and thus it was. One day passing along the
+corridor from Clara's room, it so happened that Prince Ernest
+opened his door, just as she came up to it, to let out the smoke,
+and then began to walk up and down, playing softly on his lute.
+Sidonia stood still for a few minutes with her eyes thrown up in
+ecstasy, and then passed on; but the Prince stepped to the door,
+and asked her did she play.
+
+"Alas! no," she answered. "Her father had forbidden her to learn
+the lute, though music was her passion, and her heart seemed
+almost breaking with joy when she listened to it. If his Highness
+would but play one little air over again for her."
+
+"Yes, if you will enter, but not while you are standing there at
+my door."
+
+"Ah, do not ask me to enter, that would not be seemly; but I will
+sit down here on this beer-barrel in the corridor and listen;
+besides, music is improved by distance."
+
+And she looked so tenderly at the young Prince that his heart
+burned within him, and he stepped out into the corridor to play;
+but the sound reaching the ears of her Grace, she looked out, and
+Sidonia jumped up from the beer-barrel and fled away to her own
+room.
+
+When Sunday came again, all the maids of honour were assembled, as
+usual, in her Grace's apartment, to be examined in the catechism;
+and probably the Duchess had lamented much to the doctor over
+Sidonia's levity and ignorance, for he kept a narrow watch on her
+the whole day. At four of the clock Dr. Gerschovius entered in his
+gown and bands, looking very solemn; for it was a saying of his
+"that the devil invented laughter; and that it were better for a
+man to be a weeping Heraclitus than a laughing Democritus." After
+he had kissed the hand of her Grace, he said they had better now
+begin with the Commandments; and, turning to Sidonia, asked her,
+"What is forbidden by the seventh commandment?"
+
+Now Sidonia, who had only learned the Lutheran Catechism, did not
+understand the question in this form out of the Gerschovian
+Catechism, and remained silent.
+
+"What!" said the doctor, "not know my brother's catechism! You
+must get one directly from the court bookseller--the Catechism of
+Doctor Timothy Gerschovius--and have it learned by next Sunday."
+Then turning to Clara, he repeated the question, and she, having
+answered, received great praise.
+
+Now it happened that just at this time the ducal horse were led up
+to the horse-pond to water, and all the young pages and knights
+were gathered in a group under the window of her Grace's
+apartment, laughing and jesting merrily. So Sidonia looked out at
+them, which the doctor no sooner perceived than he slapped her on
+the hand with the catechism, exclaiming, "What! have you not heard
+just now that all sinful desires are forbidden by the seventh
+commandment, and yet you look forth upon the young men from the
+window? Tell me what are sinful desires?"
+
+But the proud girl grew red with indignation, and cried, "Do you
+dare to strike me?" Then, turning to her Grace, she said, "Madam,
+that sour old priest has struck me on the fingers. I will not
+suffer this. My father shall hear of it."
+
+Hereupon her Grace, and even the doctor, tried to appease her, but
+in vain, and she ran crying from the apartment. In the corridor
+she met the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who hated the doctor
+and all his rigid doctrines. So she complained of the treatment
+which she had received, and pressed his hand and stroked his
+beard, saying, would he permit a castle and land dowered maiden to
+be scolded and insulted by an old parson because she looked out at
+a window? That was worse than in the days of Popery. Now
+Zitsewitz, who had a little wine in his head, on hearing this, ran
+in great wrath to the apartment of her Grace, where soon a great
+uproar was heard.
+
+For the treasurer, in the heat of his remonstrance with the
+priest, struck a little table violently which stood near him, and
+overthrew it. On this had Iain the superb escritoire of her
+Highness, made of Venetian glass, in which the ducal arms were
+painted; and also the magnificent album of her deceased lord, Duke
+Philip. The escritoire was broken, the ink poured forth upon the
+album, from thence ran down to the costly Persian carpet, a
+present from her brother, the Prince of Saxony, and finally
+stained the velvet robe of her Highness herself, who started up
+screaming, so that the old chamberlain rushed in to know what had
+happened, and then he fell into a rage both with the priest and
+the treasurer. At length her Grace was comforted by hearing that a
+chemist in Grypswald could restore the book, and mend the glass
+again as good as new; still she wept, and exclaimed, "Alas! who
+could have thought it? all this was foreshadowed to her by Dr.
+Martinus dropping her ring."
+
+Here the treasurer, to conciliate her Grace, pretended that he
+never had heard the story of the betrothal, and asked, "What does
+your Grace mean?" Whereupon drying her eyes she answered, "O
+Master Jacob, you will hear a strange story"--and here she went
+over each particular, though every child in the street had it by
+heart. So this took away her grief, and every one got to rights
+again, for that day. But worse was soon to befall.
+
+I have said that half-an-hour before dinner the band played to
+summon all within the castle and the retainers to their respective
+messes, as the custom then was; so that the long corridor was soon
+filled with a crowd of all conditions--pages, knights, squires,
+grooms, maids, and huntsmen, all hurrying to the apartments where
+their several tables were laid. Sidonia, being aware of this, upon
+the first roll of the drum skipped out into the corridor, dancing
+up and down the whole length of it to the music, so that the
+players declared they had never seen so beautiful a dancer, at
+which her heart beat with joy; and as the crowd came up, they
+stopped to admire her grace and beauty. Then she would pause and
+say a few pleasing words to each, to a huntsman, if he were
+passing--"Ah, I think no deer in the world could escape you, my
+fine young peasant;" or if a knight, she would praise the colour
+of his doublet and the tie of his garter; or if a laundress, she
+would commend the whiteness of her linen, which she had never seen
+equalled; and as to the old cook and butler, she enchanted them by
+asking, had his Grace of Stettin ever seen them, for assuredly, if
+he had, he would have taken their fine heads as models for Abraham
+and Noah. Then she flung largess amongst them to drink the health
+of the Duchess. Only when a young noble passed, she grew timid and
+durst not venture to address him, but said, loud enough for him to
+hear, "Oh, how handsome! Do you know his name?" Or, "It is easy to
+see that he is a born nobleman"--and such like hypocritical
+flatteries.
+
+The Princess never knew a word of all this, for, according to
+etiquette, she was the last to seat herself at table. So Sidonia's
+doings were not discovered until too late, for by that time she
+had won over the whole court, great and small, to her interests.
+
+Amongst the cavaliers who passed one day were two fine young men,
+Wedig von Schwetzkow, and Johann Appelmann, son of the burgomaster
+at Stargard. They were both handsome; but Johann was a dissolute,
+wild profligate, and Wedig was not troubled with too much sense.
+Still he had not fallen into the evil courses which made the other
+so notorious. "Who is that handsome youth?" asked Sidonia as
+Johann passed; and when they told her, "Ah, a gentleman!" she
+exclaimed, "who is of far higher value in my eyes than a
+nobleman."
+
+_Summa:_ they both fell in love with her on the instant; but
+all the young squires were the same more or less, except her
+cousin Marcus Bork, seeing that he was already betrothed. Likewise
+after dinner, in place of going direct to the ladies' apartments,
+she would take a circuitous route, so as to go by the quarter
+where the men dined, and as she passed their doors, which they
+left open on purpose, what rejoicing there was, and such running
+and squeezing just to get a glimpse of her--the little putting
+their heads under the arms of the tall, and there they began to
+laugh and chat; but neither the Duchess nor the old chamberlain
+knew anything of this, for they were in a different wing of the
+castle, and besides, always took a sleep after dinner.
+
+However, old Zitsewitz, when he heard the clamour, knew well it
+was Sidonia, and would jump up from the marshal's table, though
+the old marshal shook his head, and run to the gallery to have a
+chat with her himself, and she laughed and coquetted with him, so
+that the old knight would run after her and take her in his arms,
+asking her where she would wish to go. Then she sometimes said, to
+the castle garden to feed the pet stag, for she had never seen so
+pretty a thing in all her life; and she would fetch crumbs of
+bread with her to feed it. So he must needs go with her, and
+Sidonia ran down the steps with him that led from the young men's
+quarter to the castle court, while they all rose up to look after
+her, and laugh at the old fool of a treasurer. But in a short time
+they followed too, running up and down the steps in crowds, to see
+Sidonia feeding the stag and caressing it, and sometimes trying to
+ride on it, while old Zitsewitz held the horns.
+
+Prince Ernest beheld all this from a window, and was ready to die
+with jealousy and mortification, for he felt that Sidonia was gay
+and friendly with every one but him. Indeed, since the day of the
+lute-playing, he fancied she shunned him and treated him coldly.
+But as Sidonia had observed particularly, that whenever the young
+Prince passed her in the gallery he cast down his eyes and sighed,
+she took another way of managing him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How the young Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the
+Duchess, in favour of Sidonia--Item, of the strange doings of the
+Laplander with his magic drum._
+
+
+The day preceding that on which Sidonia was to repeat the
+Catechism of Doctor Gerschovius (of which, by the way, she had not
+learned one word), the young Duke suddenly entered his mother's
+apartment, where she and her maidens were spinning, and asked her
+if she remembered anything about a Laplander with a drum, who had
+foretold some event to her and his father whilst they were at
+Penemunde some years before; for he had been arrested at Eldena,
+and was now in Wolgast.
+
+"Alas!" said her Grace, "I perfectly remember the horrible
+sorcerer. One spring I was at the hunt with your father near
+Penemunde, when this wretch suddenly appeared driving two cows
+before him on a large ice-field. He pretended that while he was
+telling fortunes to the girls who milked the cows, a great storm
+arose, and drove him out into the wide sea, which was a terrible
+misfortune to him. But your father told him in Swedish, which
+language the knave knew, that it had been better to prophesy his
+own destiny. To which he replied, a man could as little foretell
+his own fate as see the back of his own head, which every one can
+see but himself. However, if the Duke wished, he would tell him
+his fortune, and if it did not come out true, let all the world
+hold him as a liar for his life long.
+
+"Alas! your father consented. Whereupon the knave began to dance
+and play upon his drum like one frenzied; so that it was evident
+to see the spirit was working within him. Then he fell down like
+one dead, and cried, 'Woe to thee when thy house is burning! Woe
+to thee when thy house is burning!'
+
+"Therefore be warned, my son; have nothing to do with this fellow,
+for it so happened even as he said. On the 11th December '57, our
+castle was burned, and your poor father had a rib broken in
+consequence. Would that I had been the rib broken for him, so that
+he might still reign over the land; and this was the true cause of
+his untimely death. Therefore dismiss this sorcerer, for it is
+Satan himself speaks in him."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite pale, and dropped the thread, as if taken
+suddenly ill. Then she prayed the Duchess to excuse her, and
+permit her to retire to her own room.
+
+The moment the Duchess gave permission, Sidonia glided out; but,
+in place of going to her chamber, she threw herself in a languid
+attitude upon a seat in the corridor, just where she knew Prince
+Ernest must pass, and leaned her head upon her hand. He soon came
+out of his mother's room, and seeing Sidonia, took her hand
+tenderly, asking, with visible emotion--
+
+"Dear lady, what has happened?"
+
+"Ah," she answered, "I am so weak that I cannot go on to my little
+apartment. I know not what ails me; but I am so afraid----"
+
+"Afraid of what, dearest lady?"
+
+"Of that sour old priest. He is to examine me to-morrow in the
+Catechism of Gerschovius, and I cannot learn a word of it, do what
+I will. I know Luther's Catechism quite well" (this was a
+falsehood, we know), "but that does not satisfy him, and if I
+cannot repeat it he will slap my hands or box my ears, and my lady
+the Duchess will be more angry than ever; but I am too old now to
+learn catechisms."
+
+Then she trembled like an aspen-leaf, and fixed her eyes on him
+with such tenderness that he trembled likewise, and drawing her
+arm within his, supported her to her chamber. On the way she
+pressed his hand repeatedly; but with each pressure, as he
+afterwards confessed, a pang shot through his heart, which might
+have excited compassion from his worst enemy.
+
+When they reached her chamber, she would not let him enter, but
+modestly put him back, saying, "Leave me--ah! leave me, gracious
+Prince. I must creep to my bed; and in the meantime let me entreat
+you to persuade the priest not to torment me to-morrow morning."
+
+The Prince now left her, and forgetting all about the Lapland
+wizard whom he had left waiting in the courtyard, he rushed over
+the drawbridge, up the main street behind St. Peter's, and into
+the house of Dr. Gerschovius.
+
+The doctor was indignant at his petition.
+
+"My young Prince," he said, "if ever a human being stood in need
+of God's Word, it is that young maiden." At last, however, upon
+the entreaties of Prince Ernest, he consented to defer her
+examination for four weeks, during which time she could fully
+perfect herself in the catechism of his learned brother.
+
+He then prayed the Prince not to allow his eyes to be dazzled by
+this fair, sinful beauty, who would delude him as she had done all
+the other men in the castle, not excepting even that old sinner
+Zitsewitz.
+
+When the Prince returned to the castle, he found a great crowd
+assembled round the Lapland wizard, all eagerly asking to have
+their fortunes told, and Sidonia was amongst them, as merry and
+lively as if nothing had ailed her. When the Prince expressed his
+surprise, she said, that finding herself much relieved by lying
+down, she had ventured into the fresh air, to recreate herself,
+and have her fortune told. Would not the Prince likewise wish to
+hear his?
+
+So, forgetting all his mother's wise injunctions, he advanced with
+Sidonia to the wizard. The Lapland drum, which lay upon his knees,
+was a strange instrument; and by it we can see what arts Satan
+employs to strengthen his kingdom in all places and by all means.
+For the Laplanders are Christians, though they in some sort
+worship the devil, and therefore he imparts to them much of his
+own power. This drum which they use is made out of a piece of
+hollow wood, which must be either fir, pine, or birch, and which
+grows in such a particular place that it follows the course of the
+sun; that is, the pectines, fibræ, and lineæ in the annual rings
+of the wood must wind from right to left. Having hollowed out such
+a tree, they spread a skin over it, fastened down with little
+pegs; and on the centre of the skin is painted the sun, surrounded
+by figures of men, beasts, birds, and fishes, along with Christ
+and the holy Apostles. All this is done with the rind of the
+elder-tree, chewed first beneath their teeth. Upon the top of the
+drum there is an index in the shape of a triangle, from which hang
+a number of little rings and chains. When the wizard wishes to
+propitiate Satan and receive his power, he strikes the drum with a
+hammer made of the reindeer's horn, not so much to procure a sound
+as to set the index in motion with all its little chains, that it
+may move over the figures, and point to whatever gives the
+required answer. At the same time the magician murmurs
+conjurations, springs sometimes up from the ground, screams,
+laughs, dances, reels, becomes black in the face, foams, twists
+his eyes, and falls to the ground at last in an ecstasy, dragging
+the drum down upon his face.
+
+Any one may then put questions to him, and all will come to pass
+that he answers. All this was done by the wizard; but he desired
+strictly that when he fell upon the ground, no one should touch
+him with the foot, and secondly, that all flies and insects should
+be kept carefully from him. So after he had danced, and screamed,
+and twisted his face so horribly that half the women fainted, and
+foamed and raged until the demon seemed to have taken full
+possession of him, he fell down, and then every one put questions
+to him, to which he responded; but the answers sometimes produced
+weeping, sometimes laughing, according as some gentle maiden heard
+that her lover was safe, or that he had been struck by the mast on
+shipboard and tumbled into the sea. And all came out true, as was
+afterwards proved.
+
+Sidonia now invited the Prince to try his fortune; and so,
+forgetting the admonitions of the Duchess, he said, "What dost
+thou prophesy to me?"
+
+"Beware of a woman, if you would live long and happily," was the
+answer.
+
+"But of what woman?"
+
+"I will not name her, for she is present."
+
+Then the Prince turned pale and looked at Sidonia, who grew pale
+also, but made no answer, only laughed, and advancing asked, "What
+dost thou prophesy to me?" But immediately the wizard shrieked,
+"Away! away! I burn, I burn! thou makest me yet hotter than I am!"
+
+Many thought these exclamations referred to Sidonia's beauty,
+particularly the young lords, who murmured, "Now every one must
+acknowledge her beauty, when even this son of Satan feels his
+heart burning when she approaches." And Sidonia laughed merrily at
+their gallantries.
+
+Just then the Grand Chamberlain came by, and having heard what had
+happened, he angrily dismissed the crowd, and sending for the
+executioner, ordered the cheating impostor to be whipped and
+branded, and then sent over the frontier.
+
+The wizard, who had been lying quite stiff, now cried out (though
+he had never seen the Chamberlain before)--"Listen, Ulrich! I will
+prophesy something to thee: if it comes not to pass, then punish
+me; but if it does, then give me a boat and seven loaves, that I
+may sail away to-morrow to my own country."
+
+Ulrich refused to hear his prophecy; but the wizard cried
+out--"Ulrich, this day thy wife Hedwig will die at Spantekow."
+
+Ulrich grew pale, but only answered, "Thou liest! how can that
+be?" He replied, "Thy cousin Clas will visit her; she will descend
+to the cellar to fetch him some of the Italian wine for which you
+wrote, and which arrived yesterday; a step of the stairs will
+break as she is ascending; she will fall forward upon the flask,
+which will cut her throat through, and so she will die."
+
+When he ceased, the alarmed Ulrich called loudly to the chief
+equerry, Appelmann, who just then came by--"Quick! saddle the best
+racer in the stables, and ride for life to Spantekow, for it may
+be as he has prophesied, and let us outwit the devil. Haste,
+haste, for the love of God, and I will never forget it to thee!"
+
+So the equerry rode without stop or stay to Spantekow, and he
+found the cousin Clas in the house; but when he asked for the Lady
+Hedwig, they said, "She is in the cellar." So no misfortune had
+happened then; but as they waited and she appeared not, they
+descended to look for her, and lo! just as the wizard had
+prophesied, she had fallen upon the stairs while ascending, and
+there lay dead.
+
+The mournful news was brought by sunset to Wolgast, and Ulrich, in
+his despair and grief, wished to burn the Laplander; but Prince
+Ernest hindered him, saying, "It is more knightly, Ulrich, to keep
+your word than to cool your vengeance." So the old man stood
+silent a long space, and then said, "Well, young man, if you
+abandon Sidonia, I will release the Laplander."
+
+The Prince coloured, and the Lord Chamberlain thought that he had
+discovered a secret; but as the prophecy of the wizard came again
+into Prince Ernest's mind, he said--
+
+"Well, Ulrich, I will give up the maiden Sidonia. Here is my
+hand."
+
+Accordingly, next morning the wizard was released from prison and
+given a boat, with seven loaves and a pitcher of water, that he
+might sail back to his own country. The wind, however, was due
+north, but the people who crossed the bridge to witness his
+departure were filled with fear when they saw him change the wind
+at his pleasure to suit himself; for he pulled out a string full
+of knots, and having swung it about, murmuring incantations, all
+the vanes on the towers creaked and whirled right about, all the
+windmills in the town stopped, all the vessels and boats that were
+going up the stream became quite still, and their sails flapped on
+the masts, for the wind had changed in a moment from north to
+south, and the north waves and the south waves clashed together.
+
+As every one stood wondering at this, the sailors and fishermen in
+particular, the wizard sprang into his boat and set forth with a
+fair wind, singing loudly, "Jooike Duara! Jooike Duara!"
+[Footnote: This is the beginning of a magic rhyme, chanted even by
+the distant Calmucks--namely, _Dschie jo eie jog_.] and soon
+disappeared from sight, nor was he ever again seen in that
+country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_How Ulrich von Schwerin buries his spouse, and Doctor
+Gerschovius comforts him out of God's Word._
+
+
+This affair with the Lapland wizard much troubled the Grand
+Chamberlain, and his faith suffered sore temptations. So he
+referred to Dr. Gerschovius, and asked him how the prophets of God
+differed from those of the devil. Whereupon the doctor recommended
+him to meditate on God's Word, wherein he would find a source of
+consolation and a solution of all doubts.
+
+So the mourning Ulrich departed for his castle of Spantekow,
+trusting in the assistance of God. And her Grace, with all her
+court, resolved to attend the funeral also, to do him honour. They
+proceeded forth, therefore, dressed in black robes, their horses
+also caparisoned with black hangings, and the Duchess ordered a
+hundred wax lights for the ceremony. Sidonia alone declined
+attending, and gave out that she was sick in bed. The truth,
+however, was, that as Duke Ernest was obliged to remain at home to
+take the command of the castle, and affix his signature to all
+papers, she wished to remain also.
+
+The mourning cortège, therefore, had scarcely left the court, when
+Sidonia rose and seated herself at the window, which she knew the
+young Prince must pass along with his attendants on their way to
+the office of the castle. Then taking up a lute, which she had
+purchased privately, and practised night and morning in place of
+learning the catechism, she played a low, soft air, to attract
+their attention. So all the young knights looked up; and when
+Prince Ernest arrived he looked up also, and seeing Sidonia,
+exclaimed, with surprise, "Beautiful Sidonia, how have you learned
+the lute?" At which she blushed and answered modestly, "Gracious
+Prince, I am only self-taught. No one here understands the lute
+except your Highness."
+
+"Does this employment, then, give you much pleasure?"
+
+"Ah, yes! If I could only play it well; I would give half my life
+to learn it properly. There is no such sweet enjoyment upon earth,
+I think, as this."
+
+"But you have been sick, lady, and the cold air will do you an
+injury."
+
+"Yes, it is true I have been ill, but the air rather refreshes me;
+and besides, I feel the melancholy of my solitude less here."
+
+"Now farewell, dear lady; I must attend to the business of the
+castle."
+
+This little word--"dear lady"--gave Sidonia such confidence, that
+by the time she expected Prince Ernest to pass again on his
+return, she was seated at the window awaiting him with her lute,
+to which she now sang in a clear, sweet voice. But the Prince
+passed on as if he heard nothing--never even once looked up, to
+Sidonia's great mortification. However, the moment he reached his
+own apartment, he commenced playing a melancholy air upon his
+lute, as if in response to hers. The artful young maiden no sooner
+heard this than she opened her door. The Prince at the same
+instant opened his to let out the smoke, and their eyes met, when
+Sidonia uttered a feeble cry and fell fainting upon the floor. The
+Prince, seeing this, flew to her, raised her up, and trembling
+with emotion, carried her back to her room and laid her down upon
+the bed. Now indeed it was well for him that he had given that
+promise to Ulrich. When Sidonia after some time slowly opened her
+eyes, the Prince asked tenderly what ailed her; and she said, "I
+must have taken cold at the window, for I felt very ill, and went
+to the door to call an attendant; but I must have fainted then,
+for I remember nothing more." Alas! the poor Prince, he believed
+all this, and conjured her to lie down until he called a maid, and
+sent for the physician if she desired it; but, no--she refused,
+and said it would pass off soon. (Ah, thou cunning maiden! it may
+well pass off when it never was on.)
+
+However, she remained in bed until the next day, when the Princess
+and her train returned home from the funeral. Her Grace had
+assisted at the obsequies with all princely state, and even laid a
+crown of rosemary with her own hand upon the head of the corpse,
+and a little prayer-book beside it, open at that fine hymn "Pauli
+Sperati" (which also was sung over the grave). Then the husband
+laid a tin crucifix on the coffin, with the inscription from I
+John iii. 8--"The Son of God was manifested that He might destroy
+the works of the devil." After which the coffin was lowered into
+the grave with many tears.
+
+Some days after this, being Sunday, Doctor Gerschovius and the
+Grand Chamberlain were present at the ducal table. Ulrich indeed
+ate little, for he was filled with grief, only sipped a little
+broth, into which he had crumbled some reindeer cheese, not to
+appear ungracious; but when dinner was over, he raised his head,
+and asked Doctor Gerschovius to inform him now in what lay the
+difference between the prophets of God and those of the devil. The
+Duchess was charmed at the prospect of such a profitable
+discourse, and ordered a cushion and footstool to be placed for
+herself, that she might remain to hear it. Then she sent for the
+whole household--maidens, squires, and pages--that they too might
+be edified, and learn the true nature of the devil's gifts. The
+hall was soon as full, therefore, as if a sermon were about to be
+preached; and the doctor, seeing this, stroked his beard, and he
+begun as follows: [Footnote: Perhaps some readers will hold the
+rationalist doctrine that no prophecy is possible or credible, and
+that no mortal can under any circumstances see into futurity; but
+how then can they account for the wonderful phenomena of animal
+magnetism, which are so well authenticated? Do they deny all the
+facts which have been elicited by the great advance made recently
+in natural and physiological philosophy? I need not here bring
+forward proofs from the ancients, showing their universal belief
+in the possibility of seeing into futurity, nor a cloud of
+witnesses from our modern philosophers, attesting the truth of the
+phenomena of somnambulism, but only observe that this very Academy
+of Paris, which in 1784 anathematised Mesmer as a quack, a cheat,
+and a charlatan or fool, and which in conjunction with all the
+academies of Europe (that of Berlin alone excepted) reviled his
+doctrines and insulted all who upheld them, as witches had been
+reviled in preceding centuries, and compelled Mesmer himself to
+fly for protection to Frankfort--this very academy, I say, on the
+12th February 1826, rescinded all their condemnatory verdicts, and
+proclaimed that the wonderful phenomena of animal magnetism had
+been so well authenticated that doubt was no longer possible. This
+confession of faith was the more remarkable, because the members
+of the commission of inquiry had been carefully selected, on
+purpose, from physicians who were totally adverse to the doctrines
+of Mesmer.
+
+There are but two modes, I think, of explaining these
+extraordinary phenomena--either by supposing them effected by
+supernatural agency, as all seers and diviners from antiquity,
+through the Middle Ages down to our somnambulists, have pretended
+that they really stood in communication with spirit; or, by
+supposing that there is an innate latent divining element in our
+own natures, which only becomes evident and active under certain
+circumstances, and which is capable of revealing the _future_
+with more or less exactitude just as the mind can recall the
+_past_. For _past_ and _future_ are but different
+forms of our own subjective intuition of time, and because this
+internal intuition represents no figure, we seek to supply the
+defect by an analogy. For time exists _within_ us, not
+_without_ us; it is not something which subsists of itself,
+but it is the form only of our internal sense.
+
+These two modes of explaining the phenomena present, I know, great
+difficulties; the latter especially. However, the pantheistical
+solution of the Hegelian school adopted by Kieser, Kluge, Wirth,
+Hoffman, pleases me still less. I even prefer that of
+Jung-Stilling and Kerner--but at all events one thing is certain,
+the _facts_ are there; only ignorance, stupidity, and
+obstinacy can deny them. The _cause_ is still a subject of
+speculation, doubt, and difficulty. It is only by a vast induction
+of facts, as in natural philosophy, that we can ever hope to
+arrive at the knowledge of a general law. The crown of all
+creation is _man_; therefore while we investigate so acutely
+all other creatures, let us not shrink back from the strange and
+unknown depths of our own nature which magnetism has opened to
+us.]
+
+I am rejoiced to treat of this subject now, considering how lately
+that demon Lapp befooled ye all. And I shall give you many signs,
+whereby in future a prophet of God may be distinguished from a
+prophet of the devil. 1st, Satan's prophets are not conscious of
+what they utter; but God's prophets are always perfectly
+conscious, both of the inspiration they receive and the
+revelations they make known. For as the Laplander grew frenzied,
+and foamed at the mouth, so it has been with all false prophets
+from the beginning. Even the blind heathen called prophesying
+_mania_, or the wisdom of _madness_. The secret of
+producing this madness was known to them; sometimes it was by the
+use of roots or aromatic herbs, or by exhalations, as in the case
+of the Pythoness, whose incoherent utterances were written by the
+priests of Apollo, for when the fit was over, all remembrance of
+what she had prophesied vanished too. In the Bible we find all
+false prophets described as frenzied. In Isaiah xliv. 25--"God
+maketh the diviners mad." In Ezekiel xiii. 3--"Woe to the foolish
+prophets." Hosea ix. 7--"The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man
+is mad." And Isaiah xxviii. 7 explains fully how this madness was
+produced.
+
+Namely, by wine and the strong drink _Sekar_. [Footnote: It
+is doubtful of what this drink was composed. Hieronymus and Aben
+Ezra imagine that it was of the nature of strong beer. Probably it
+resembled the potion with which the mystery-men amongst the
+savages of the present day produce this divining frenzy. We find
+such in use throughout Tartary, Siberia, America, and Africa, as
+if the usage had descended to them from one common tradition.
+Witches, it is well known, made frequent use of potions, and as
+all somnambulists assert that the seat of the soul's greatest
+activity is in the stomach, it is not incredible what Van Helmont
+relates, that having once tasted the root _napellus_, his
+intellect all at once, accompanied by an unusual feeling of
+ecstasy, seemed to remove from his brain to his stomach.] Further
+examples of this madness are given in the Bible, as Saul when
+under the influence of the evil spirit flung his spear at the
+innocent David; and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal,
+who leaped upon the altar, and screamed, and cut themselves with
+knives and lancets until the blood flowed; and the maiden with the
+spirit of divination, that met Paul in the streets of Philippi;
+with many others.
+
+But all this is an abomination in the sight of God. For as the
+Lord came not to His prophet Elijah in the strong wind, nor in the
+earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice, so does
+He evidence Himself in all His prophets; and we find no record in
+Scripture, either of their madness, or of their having forgotten
+the oracles they uttered, like the Pythoness and others inspired
+by Satan. [Footnote: It is well known that somnambulists never
+remember upon their recovery what they have uttered during the
+crisis. Therefore phenomena of this class appear to belong, in
+some things, to that of the divining frenzy, though in others to
+quite a different category of the divining life.] Further, you may
+observe that the false prophets can always prophesy when they
+choose, Satan is ever willing to come when they exorcise him; but
+the true prophets of God are but instruments in the hand of the
+Lord, and can only speak when He chooses the spirit to enter into
+them. So we find them saying invariably--"This is the word which
+came unto me," or "This is the word which the Lord spake unto me."
+For the Lord is too high and holy to come at the bidding of a
+creature, or obey the summons of his will. St. Peter confirms
+this, 2 Pet. i. 21, that no prophecy ever came at the will of man.
+
+Again, the false prophets were persons of known infamous
+character, and in this differed from the prophets of God, who were
+always righteous men in word and deed. Diodorus informs us of the
+conduct of the Pythoness and the priests of Apollo, and also that
+all oracles were bought with gold, and the answer depended on the
+weight of the sack. As Ezekiel notices, xiii. 19; and Micah iii.
+8. Further, the holy prophets suffered all manner of persecution
+for the sake of God, as Daniel, Elias, Micah, yet remained
+faithful, with but one exception, and were severely punished if
+they fell into crime, and the gift of prophecy taken from them;
+for God cannot dwell in a defiled temple, but Satan can dwell in
+no other.
+
+Also, Satan's prophets speak only of temporal things, but God's
+people of spiritual things. The heathen oracles, for instance,
+never foretold any events but those concerning peace or war, or
+what men desire in riches, health, or advancement--in short,
+temporal matters alone. Whereas God's people, in addition to
+temporal concerns, preached repentance and holiness to the Jewish
+people, and the coming of Christ's kingdom, in whom all nations
+should be blessed. For as the soul is superior to the body, so are
+God's prophets superior to those of the Prince of this world.
+
+And in conclusion, observe that Satan's seers abounded with lies,
+as all heathen history testifies, or their oracles were capable of
+such different interpretations that they became a subject of
+mockery and contempt to the wise amongst the ancient philosophers.
+But be not surprised if they sometimes spoke truth, as the Lapland
+wizard has done, for the devil's power is superior to man's, and
+he can see events which, though close at hand, are yet hidden from
+us, as a father can foretell an approaching storm, though his
+little son cannot do so, and therefore looks upon his father's
+wisdom as supernatural. [Footnote: The somnambulists also can
+prophesy of those events which are near at hand, but never of the
+distant.] But the devil has not the power to see into futurity,
+nor even the angels of God, only God Himself.
+
+The prophets of God, on the contrary, are given power by Him to
+look through all time at a glance, as if it were but a moment; for
+a thousand years to Him are but as a watch of the night; and
+therefore they all from the beginning testified of the Saviour
+that was to come, and rejoiced in His day as if they really beheld
+Him, and all stood together as brothers in one place, and at the
+same time in His blessed presence. But what unanimity and feeling
+has ever been observed by the seers of Satan, when the
+contradictions amongst their oracles were notorious to every one?
+
+And as the eyes of all the holy prophets centred upon Christ, so
+the eyes of the greatest of all prophets penetrated the furthest
+depths of futurity. Not only His own life, sufferings, death, and
+resurrection were foretold by Him, but the end of the Jewish
+kingdom, the dispersion of their race, the rise of His Church from
+the grain of mustard-seed to the wide, world-spreading tree; and
+all has been fulfilled. Be assured, therefore, that this eternal
+glory, which He promised to those who trust in Him, will be
+fulfilled likewise when He comes to judge all nations. So, my
+worthy Lord Ulrich, cease to weep for your spouse who sleeps in
+Jesus, for a greater Prophet than the Lapland wizard has said, "I
+am the resurrection and the life, whosoever believeth in Me shall
+never die." [Footnote: In addition to the foregoing distinctions
+between the Satanic and the holy prophets, I may add the
+following--that almost all the diviners amongst the heathen were
+_women_. For instance, Cassandra, the Pythia in Delphi,
+Triton and Peristhæa in Dodona, the Sybils, the Velleda of
+Tacitus, the Mandragoras, and Druidesses, the witches of the
+Reformation age; and in fine, the modern somnambules are all women
+too. But throughout the whole Bible we find that the prophetic
+power was exclusively conferred upon _men_, with two
+exceptions--namely, Deborah, Judges iv. 4, and Hilda, 2 Chron.
+xxxiv. 22--for there is no evidence that Miriam had a seer spirit;
+she was probably only God-inspired, though classed under the
+general term prophet. We find, indeed, that woe was proclaimed
+against the divining women who prophesy out of their own head,
+Ezekiel xiii. 17-23; so amongst the people of God the revelation
+of the future was confined to _men_, amongst the heathen to
+_women_, or if men are mentioned in these pagan rites, it is
+only as assistants and inferior agents, like animals, metals,
+roots, stones, and such like. See Cicero, _De Divinatione_,
+i. 18.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Sidonia rides upon the pet stag, and what evil consequences
+result therefrom._
+
+
+When the discourse had ended, her Grace retired to her apartment
+and Ulrich to his, for it was their custom, as I have said, to
+sleep after dinner. Doctor Gerschovius returned home, and the
+young Prince descended to the gardens with his lute. Now was a
+fine time for the young knights, for they had been sadly disturbed
+in their carouse by that godly prophesying of the doctor's, and
+they now returned to their own quarter to finish it, headed by the
+old treasurer Zitsewitz. Then a merry uproar of laughing, singing,
+and jesting commenced, and as the door lay wide open as usual,
+Sidonia heard all from her chamber; so stepping out gently with a
+piece of bread in her hand, she tripped along the corridor past
+their door. No sooner was she perceived than a loud storm of
+cheers greeted her, which she returned with smiles and bows, and
+then danced down the steps to the courtyard. Several rose up to
+pursue her, amongst whom Wedig and Appelmann were the most eager.
+
+But they were too late, and saw nothing but the tail of her dress
+as she flew round the corner into the second court. Just then an
+old laundress, bringing linen to the castle for her Highness,
+passed by, and told the young men that the young lady had been
+feeding the tame stag with bread, and then jumped on its back
+while she held the horns, and that the animal had immediately
+galloped off like lightning into the second court; so that the
+young knights and squires rushed instantly after her, fearing that
+some accident might happen, and presently they heard her scream
+twice. Appelmann was the first to reach the outer court, and there
+beheld poor Sidonia in a sad condition, for the stag had flung her
+off. Fortunately it was on a heap of soft clay, and there she lay
+in a dead faint.
+
+Had the stag thrown her but a few steps further, against the
+manger for the knights' horses, she must have been killed. But
+Satan had not yet done with her, and therefore, no doubt, prepared
+this soft pillow for her head.
+
+When Appelmann saw that she was quite insensible, he kneeled down
+and kissed first her little feet, then her white hands, and at
+last her lips, while she lay at the time as still as death, poor
+thing. Just then Wedig came up in a great passion; for the
+castellan's son, who was playing ball, had flung the ball right
+between his legs, out of tricks, as he was running by, and nearly
+threw him down, whereupon Wedig seized hold of the urchin by his
+thick hair to punish him, for all the young knights were laughing
+at his discomfiture; but the boy bit him in the hip, and then
+sprang into his father's house, and shut the door. How little do
+we know what will happen! It was this bite which caused Wedig's
+lamentable death a little after.
+
+But if he was angry before, what was his rage now when he beheld
+the equerry, Appelmann, kissing the insensible maiden.
+
+"How now, peasant," he cried, "what means this boldness? How dare
+this tailor's son treat a castle and land dowered maiden in such a
+way? Are noble ladies made for his kisses?" And he draws his
+poignard to rush upon Appelmann, who draws forth his in return,
+and now assuredly there would have been murder done, if Sidonia
+had not just then opened her eyes, and starting up in amazement
+prayed them for her sake to keep quiet. She had been quite
+insensible, and knew nothing at all of what had happened. The old
+treasurer, with the other young knights, came up now, and strove
+to make peace between the two rivals, holding them apart by force;
+but nothing could calm the jealous Wedig, who still cried, "Let me
+avenge Sidonia!--let me avenge Sidonia!" So that Prince Ernest,
+hearing the tumult in the garden, ran with his lute in his hand to
+see what had happened. When they told him, he grew as pale as a
+corpse that such an indignity should have been offered to Sidonia,
+and reprimanded his equerry severely, but prayed that all would
+keep quiet now, as otherwise the Duchess and the Lord Chamberlain
+would certainly be awakened out of their after-dinner sleep, and
+then what an afternoon they would all have. This calmed every one,
+except the jealous Wedig, who, having drunk deeply, cried out
+still louder than before, "Let me go. I will give my life for the
+beautiful Sidonia. I will avenge the insolence of this peasant
+knave!"
+
+When Sidonia observed all this, she felt quite certain that a
+terrible storm was brewing for all of them, and so she ran to
+shelter herself through the first open door that came in her way,
+and up into the second corridor; but further adventures awaited
+her here, for not being acquainted with this part of the castle,
+she ran direct into an old lumber-room, where she found, to her
+great surprise, a young man dressed in rusty armour, and wearing a
+helmet with a serpent crest upon his head. This was Hans von
+Marintzky, whose brain Sidonia had turned by reading the Amadis
+with him in the castle gardens, and as she had often sighed, and
+said that she, too, could have loved the serpent knight, the poor
+love-stricken Hans, taking this for a favourable sign, determined
+to disguise himself as described in the romance, and thus secure
+her love.
+
+So when her beautiful face appeared at the door, Hans screamed for
+joy, like a young calf, and falling on one knee,
+exclaimed--"Adored Princess, your serpent knight is here to claim
+your love, and tender his hand to you in betrothal, for no other
+wife do I desire but thee; and if the Princess Rosaliana herself
+were here to offer me her love, I would strike her on the face."
+
+Sidonia was rather thunderstruck, as one may suppose, and
+retreated a few steps, saying, "Stand up, dear youth; what ails
+you?"
+
+"So I am dear to you," he cried, still kneeling; "I am then really
+dear to you, adored Princess? Ah! I hope to be yet dearer when I
+make you my spouse."
+
+Sidonia had not foreseen this termination to their romance
+reading, but she suppressed her laughter, remembering how she had
+lost her lover Uckermann by showing scorn; so she drew herself up
+with dignity, and said, with as grave a face as a chief mourner--
+
+"If you will not rise, sir knight, I must complain to her
+Highness; for I cannot be your spouse, seeing that I have resolved
+never to marry." (Ah! how willingly, how willingly you would have
+taken any husband half a year after.) "But if you will do me a
+service, brave knight, run instantly to the court, where Wedig and
+Appelmann are going to murder each other, and separate them, or my
+gracious lady and old Ulrich will awake, and then we shall all be
+punished."
+
+The poor fool jumped up instantly, and exclaiming, "Death for my
+adored princess!" he sprung down the steps, though rather
+awkwardly, not being accustomed to the greaves; and rushing into
+the middle of the crowd, with his vizor down, and the drawn sword
+in his hand, he began making passes at every one that came in his
+way, crying, "Death for my adored princess! Long live the
+beautiful Sidonia! Knaves, have done with your brawling, or I
+shall lay you all dead at my feet."
+
+At first every one stuck up close by the wall when they saw the
+madman, to get out of reach of his sword, which he kept whirling
+about his head; but as soon as he was recognised by his voice,
+Wedig called out to him--
+
+"Help, brother, help! Will you suffer that this peasant boor
+Appelmann should kiss the noble Sidonia as she lay there faint and
+insensible? Yet I saw him do this. So help me, relieve me, that I
+may brand this low-born knave for his daring."
+
+"What? My adored princess!" exclaimed the serpent knight. "This
+valet, this groom, dared to kiss her? and I would think myself
+blessed but to touch her shoe-tie;" and he fell furiously upon
+Appelmann.
+
+The uproar was now so great that it might have aroused the Duchess
+and Ulrich even from their last sleep, had they been in the
+castle.
+
+But, fortunately, some time before the riot began, both had gone
+out by the little private gate, to attend afternoon service at St.
+Peter's Church, in the town. For the archdeacon was sick, and
+Doctor Gerschovius was obliged to take his place there. No one,
+therefore, was left in the castle to give orders or hold command;
+even the castellan had gone to hear service; and no one minded
+Prince Ernest, he was so young, besides being under tutelage; and
+as to old Zitsewitz, he was as bad as the worst of them himself.
+
+The Prince threatened to have the castle bells rung if they were
+not quiet; and the uproar had indeed partially subsided just at
+the moment the serpent knight fell upon Appelmann. The Prince then
+ordered his equerry to leave the place instantly, under pain of
+his severe displeasure, for he saw that both had drunk rather
+deeply.
+
+So Appelmann turned to depart as the Prince commanded, but Wedig,
+who had been relieved by Hans the serpent, sprung after him with
+his dagger, limping though, for the bite in his hip made him
+stiff. Appelmann darted through the little water-gate and over the
+bridge; the other pursued him; and Appelmann, seeing that he was
+foaming with rage, jumped over the rails into a boat. Wedig
+attempted to do the same, but being stiff from the bite, missed
+the boat, and came down plump into the water.
+
+As he could not swim, the current carried him rapidly down the
+stream before the others had time to come up; but he was still
+conscious, and called to Hans, "Comrade, save me!" So Hans,
+forgetting his heavy cuirass, plunged in directly, and soon
+reached the drowning man. Wedig, however, in his death-struggles,
+seized hold of him with such force that they both instantly
+disappeared. Then every one sprang to the boats to try and save
+them; but being Sunday, the boats were all moored, so that by the
+time they were unfastened it was too late, and the two unfortunate
+young men had sunk for ever.
+
+What calamities may be caused by the levity and self-will of a
+beautiful woman! From the time of Helen of Troy up to the present
+moment, the world has known this well; but, alas! this was but the
+beginning of that tragedy which Sidonia played in Pomerania, as
+that other wanton did in Phrygia.
+
+Let us hear the conclusion, however. Prince Ernest, now being
+truly alarmed, despatched a messenger to the church for her
+Highness; but as Doctor Gerschovius had not yet ended his
+exordium, her Grace would by no means be disturbed, and desired
+the messenger to go to Ulrich, who no sooner heard the tidings
+than he rushed down to the water-gate. There he found a great
+crowd assembled, all eagerly trying, with poles and hooks, to fish
+out the bodies of the two young men; and one fellow even had tied
+a piece of barley bread to a rope, and flung it into the water--as
+the superstition goes that it will follow a corpse in the stream,
+and point to where it lies. And the women and children were
+weeping and lamenting on the bridge; but the old knight pushed
+them all aside with his elbows, and cried--"Thousand devils! what
+are ye all at here?"
+
+Every one was silent, for the young men had agreed not to betray
+Sidonia. Then Ulrich asked the Prince, who replied, that
+Marintzky, having put on some old armour to frighten the others,
+as he believed, they pursued him in fun over the bridge, and he
+and another fell over into the water. This was all he knew of the
+matter, for he was playing on the lute in the garden when the
+tumult began.
+
+"Thousand devils!" cries Ulrich; "I cannot turn my back a moment
+but there must be a riot amongst the young fellows. Listen! young
+lord--when it comes to your turn to rule land and people, I
+counsel you, send all the young fellows to the devil. Away with
+them! they are a vain and dissolute crew. Get up the bodies, if
+you can; but, for my part, I would care little if a few more were
+baptized in the same way. Speak! some of you: who commenced this
+tavern broil? Speak! I must have an answer."
+
+This adjuration had its effect, for a man answered--"Sidonia made
+the young men mad, and so it all happened." It was her own cousin,
+Marcus Bork, who spoke, for which reason Sidonia never could
+endure him afterwards, and finally destroyed him, as shall be
+related in due time.
+
+When Ulrich found that Sidonia was the cause of all, he raged with
+fury, and commanded them to tell him all. When Marcus had related
+the whole affair, he swore by the seven thousand devils that he
+would make her remember it, and that he would instantly go up to
+her chamber.
+
+But Prince Ernest stepped before him, saying, "Lord Ulrich, I have
+made you a promise--you must now make one to me: it is to leave
+this maiden in peace; she is not to blame for what has happened."
+But Ulrich would not listen to him.
+
+"Then I withdraw my promise," said the Prince. "Now act as you
+think proper."
+
+"Thousand devils! she had better give up that game," exclaimed
+Ulrich. However, he consented to leave her undisturbed, and
+departed with vehement imprecations on her head, just as the
+Duchess returned from church, and was seen advancing towards the
+crowd.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How Sidonia makes the young Prince break his word--Item, how
+Clara von Dewitz in vain tries to turn her from her evil ways._
+
+
+It may be easily conjectured what a passion her Grace fell into
+when the whole story was made known to her, and how she stormed
+against Sidonia. At last she entered the castle; but Prince
+Ernest, rightly suspecting her object, slipped up to the corridor,
+and met her just as she had reached Sidonia's chamber. Here he
+took her hand, kissed it, and prayed her not to disgrace the young
+maiden, for that she was innocent of all the evil that had
+happened.
+
+But she pushed him away, exclaiming--"Thou disobedient son, have I
+not heard of thy gallantries with this girl, whom Satan himself
+has sent into my royal house? Shame on thee! One of thy noble
+station to take the part of a murderess!"
+
+"But you have judged harshly, my mother. I never made love to the
+maiden. Leave her in peace, and do not make matters worse, or all
+the young nobles will fight to the death for her."
+
+"Ay, and thou, witless boy, the first of all. Oh, that my beloved
+spouse, Philippus Primus, could rise from his grave--what would he
+say to his lost son, who, like the prodigal in Scripture, loves
+strange women and keeps company with brawlers!" (Weeping.)
+
+"Who has said that I am a lost son?"
+
+"Doctor Gerschovius and Ulrich both say it."
+
+"Then I shall run the priest through the body, and challenge the
+knight to mortal combat, unless they both retract their words."
+
+"No! stay, my son," said the Duchess; "I must have mistaken what
+they said. Stay, I command you!"
+
+"Never! Unless Sidonia be left in peace, such deeds will be done
+to-day that all Pomerania will ring with them for years."
+
+In short, the end of the controversy was, that the Duchess at last
+promised to leave Sidonia unmolested; and then retired to her
+chamber much disturbed, where she was soon heard singing the 109th
+psalm, with a loud voice, accompanied by the little spindle clock.
+
+Sidonia, who was hiding in her room, soon heard of all that had
+happened, through the Duchess's maid, whom she kept in
+pay;--indeed, all the servants were her sworn friends, in
+consequence of the liberal largess she gave them; and even the
+young lords and knights were more distractedly in love with her
+than ever after the occurrences of the day, for her cunning turned
+everything to profit.
+
+So next morning, having heard that Prince Ernest was going to
+Eldena to receive the dues, she watched for him, probably through
+the key-hole, knowing he must pass her door. Accordingly, just as
+he went by, she opened it, and presented herself to his eyes
+dressed in unusual elegance and coquetry, and wearing a short robe
+which showed her pretty little sandals. The Prince, when he saw
+the short robe, and that she looked so beautiful, blushed, and
+passed on quickly, turning away his head, for he remembered the
+promise he had given to Ulrich, and was afraid to trust himself
+near her.
+
+But Sidonia stepped before him, and flinging herself at his feet,
+began to weep, murmuring, "Gracious Prince and Lord, accept my
+gratitude, for you alone have saved me, a poor young maiden, from
+destruction."
+
+"Stand up, dear lady, stand up."
+
+"Never until my tears fall upon your feet." And then she kissed
+his yellow silk hose ardently, continuing, "What would have become
+of me, a helpless, forlorn orphan, without your protection?"
+
+Here the young Prince could no longer restrain his emotions; if he
+had pledged his word to the whole world, even to the great God
+Himself, he must have broken it. So he raised her up and kissed
+her, which she did not resist; only sighed, "Ah! if any one saw us
+now, we would both be lost." But this did not restrain him, and he
+kissed her again and again, and pressed her to his heart, when she
+trembled, and murmured scarcely audibly, "Oh! why do I love you
+so! Leave me, my lord, leave me; I am miserable enough."
+
+"Do you then love me, Sidonia? Oh! let me hear you say it once
+more. You love me, enchanting Sidonia!"
+
+"Alas!" she whispered, while her whole frame trembled, "what have
+I foolishly said? Oh! I am so unhappy."
+
+"Sidonia! tell me once again you love me. I cannot credit my
+happiness, for you are even more gracious with the young nobles
+than with me, and often have you martyred my heart with jealousy."
+
+"Yes; I am courteous to them all, for so my father taught me, and
+said it was safer for a maiden so to be--but----"
+
+"But what? Speak on."
+
+"Alas!" and here she covered her face with her hands; but Prince
+Ernest pressed her to his heart, and kissed her, asking her again
+if she really loved him; and she murmured a faint "yes;" then as
+if the shame of such a confession had killed her, she tore herself
+from his arms, and sprang into her chamber. So the young Prince
+pursued his way to Eldena, but took so little heed about the dues
+that Ulrich shook his head over the receipts for half a year
+after.
+
+When mid-day came, and the band struck up for dinner, Sidonia was
+prepared for a similar scene with the young knights, and, as she
+passed along the corridor, she gave them her white hand to kiss,
+glittering with diamonds, thanking them all for not having
+betrayed her, and praying them to keep her still in their favour,
+whereat they were all wild with ecstasy; but old Zitsewitz, not
+content with her hand, entreated for a kiss on her sweet ruby
+lips, which she granted, to the rage and jealousy of all the
+others, while he exclaimed, "O Sidonia, thou canst turn even an
+old man into a fool!"
+
+And his words came true; for in the evening a dispute arose as to
+which of them Sidonia liked best, seeing that she uttered the same
+sweet things to all; and to settle it, five of them, along with
+the old fool Zitsewitz, went to Sidonia's room, and each in turn
+asked her hand in marriage; but she gave them all the same
+answer--that she had no idea then of marriage, she was but a
+young, silly creature, and would not know her own mind for ten
+years to come.
+
+One good resulted from Sidonia's ride upon the stag: her
+promenades were forbidden, and she was restricted henceforth
+entirely to the women's quarter of the castle. Her Grace and she
+had frequent altercations; but with Clara she kept upon good
+terms, as the maiden was of so excellent and mild a disposition.
+
+This peace, however, was destined soon to be broken; for though
+her Grace was silent in the presence of Sidonia, yet she never
+ceased complaining in private to the maids of honour of this
+artful wench, who had dared to throw her eyes upon Prince Ernest.
+So at length they asked why her Highness did not dismiss the girl
+from her service.
+
+"That must be done," she replied, "and without delay. For that
+purpose, indeed, I have written to Duke Barnim, and also to the
+father of the girl, at Stramehl, acquainting them with my
+intention."
+
+Clara now gently remonstrated, saying that a little Christian
+instruction might yet do much for the poor young sinner, and that
+if she did not become good and virtuous under the care of her
+Grace, where else could she hope to have her changed?
+
+"I have tried all Christian means," said her Grace, "but in vain.
+The ears of the wicked are closed to the Word of God."
+
+"But let her Grace recollect that this poor sinner was endowed
+with extraordinary beauty, and therefore it was no fault of hers
+if the young men all grew deranged for love of her."
+
+Here a violent tumult, and much scornful laughing, arose amongst
+the other maids of honour; and one Anna Lepels exclaimed--"I
+cannot imagine in what Sidonia's wonderful beauty consists. When
+she flatters the young men, and makes free with them as they are
+passing to dinner, what marvel if they all run after her? Any girl
+might have as many lovers if she chose to adopt such manners."
+
+Clara made no reply, but turning to her Grace, said with her
+permission she would leave her spinning for a while, to visit
+Sidonia in her room, who perhaps would hearken to her advice, as
+she meant kindly to her.
+
+"You may go," said her Grace; "but what do you mean to do? I tell
+you, advice is thrown away on her."
+
+"Then I will threaten her with the Catechism of Doctor
+Gerschovius, which she must repeat on Sunday, for I know that she
+is greatly afraid of that and the clergyman."
+
+"And you think you will frighten her into giving up running after
+the young men?"
+
+"Oh yes, if I tell her that she will be publicly reprimanded
+unless she can say it perfectly."
+
+So her Grace allowed her to depart, but with something of a weak
+faith.
+
+Although Sidonia had absented herself from the spinning, on the
+pretext of learning the catechism quietly in her own room, yet,
+when Clara entered, no one was there except the maid, who sat upon
+the floor at her work. She knew nothing about the young lady; but
+as she heard a great deal of laughter and merriment in the court
+beneath, it was likely Sidonia was not far off. On stepping to the
+window, Clara indeed beheld Sidonia.
+
+In the middle of the court was a large horse-pond built round with
+stones, to which the water was conducted by metal pipes
+communicating with the river Peene. In the middle of the pond was
+a small island, upon which a bear was kept chained. A plank was
+now thrown across the pond to the island; upon this Sidonia was
+standing feeding the bear with bread, which Appelmann, who stood
+beside her, first dipped into a can of syrup, and several of the
+young squires stood round them laughing and jesting.
+
+The idle young pages were wont to take great delight in shooting
+at the bear with blunt arrows, and when it growled and snarled,
+then they would calm it again by throwing over bits of bread
+steeped in honey or syrup. So Sidonia, waiting to see the fun, had
+got upon the plank ready to give the bread just as the bear had
+got to the highest pitch of irritation, when he would suddenly
+change his growling into another sort of speech after his fashion.
+All this amused Sidonia mightily, and she laughed and clapped her
+hands with delight.
+
+When the modest Clara beheld all this, and how Sidonia danced up
+and down on the plank, while the water splashed over her robe, she
+called to her--"Dear Lady Sidonia, come hither: I have somewhat to
+tell thee." But she answered tartly--"Dear Lady Clara, keep it
+then: I am too young to be told everything." And she danced up and
+down on the plank as before.
+
+After many vain entreaties, Clara had at length to descend and
+seize the wild bird by the wing--I mean thereby the arm--and carry
+her off to the castle. The young men would have followed, but they
+were engaged to attend his Highness on a fishing excursion that
+afternoon, and were obliged to go and see after their nets and
+tackle. So the two maidens could walk up and down the corridor
+undisturbed; and Clara asked if she had yet learned the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"No; I have no wish to learn it."
+
+_Hæc_.--"But if the priest has to reprimand you publicly from
+the pulpit?"
+
+_Illa_.--"I counsel him not to do it."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Why, what would you do to him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He will find that out."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Dear Sidonia, I wish you well; and therefore let me
+tell you that not only the priest, but our gracious lady, and all
+the noble maidens of the court, are sad and displeased that you
+should make so free with the young men, and entice them to follow
+you, as I have seen but too often myself. Do it not, dear Sidonia
+I mean well by you;--do it not. It will injure your reputation."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ha! you are jealous now, you little pious
+housesparrow, that the young men do not run after you too. How can
+I help it?"
+
+_Hæc_.--"Every maiden can help it; were she as beautiful as
+could be seen, she can help it. Leave off, Sidonia, or evil will
+come of it, particularly as her Grace has heard that you are
+seeking to entice our young lord the Prince. See, I tell you the
+pure truth, that it may turn you from your light courses. Tell me,
+what can you mean by it?--for when noble youths demand your hand
+in marriage, you reject them, and say you never mean to marry. Can
+you think that our gracious Prince, a son of Pomerania, will make
+thee his duchess--thou who art only a common nobleman's daughter?"
+
+_Illa_.--"A common nobleman's daughter!--that is good from
+the peasant-girl. You are common enough and low enough, I warrant;
+but my blood is as old as that of the Dukes of Pomerania, and
+besides, I am a castle and land dowered maiden. But who are you?
+who are you? Your forefathers were hunted out of Mecklenburg, and
+only got footing here in Pomerania out of charity."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Do not be angry, dear lady--you say true; yet I must
+add that my forebears were once Counts in Mecklenburg, and from
+their loyalty to the Dukes of Pomerania were given possessions
+here in Daber, where they have been lords of castles and lands for
+two hundred and fifty years. Yet I will confess that your race is
+nobler than mine; but, dear child, I make no boast of my ancestry,
+nor is it fitting for either of us to do so. The right royal
+Prince, who is given as an example and model to us all--who is
+Lord, not over castle and land, but of the heavens and the
+earth--the Saviour, Jesus Christ--He took no account of His arms
+or His ancestry, though the whole starry universe was His banner.
+He was as humble to the little child as to the learned doctors in
+the temple--to the chiefs among the people, as to the trembling
+sinner and the blind beggar Bartimæus. Let us take, then, this
+Prince for our example, and mind our life long what He says--'Come
+unto Me, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.' Will
+you not learn of Him, dear lady? I will, if God give me grace."
+
+And she extended her hand to Sidonia, who dashed it away,
+crying--"Stuff! nonsense! you have learned all this twaddle from
+the priest, who, I know, is nephew to the shoe-maker in Daber, and
+therefore hates any one who is above him in rank."
+
+Clara was about to reply mildly; but they happened now to be
+standing close to the public flight of steps, and a peasant-girl
+ran up when she saw them, and flung herself at Clara's feet,
+entreating the young lady to save her, for she had run away from
+Daber, where they were going to burn her as a witch. The pious
+Clara recoiled in horror, and desiring her to rise, said--"Art
+thou Anne Wolde, some time keeper of the swine to my father? How
+fares it with my dearest father and my mother?"
+
+They were well when she ran away, but she had been wandering now
+for fourteen days on the road, living upon roots and wild berries,
+or what the herds gave her out of their knapsacks for charity.
+
+_Hæc_.--"What crime wast thou suspected of, girl, to be
+condemned to so terrible a death?"
+
+_Illa_.--"She had a lover named Albert, who followed her
+everywhere, but as she would not listen to him he hated her, and
+pretended that she had given him a love-drink."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed aloud, and asked if she knew how to brew the
+love-drink?
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; she learned from her elder sister how to make
+it, but had never tried it with any one, and was perfectly
+innocent of all they charged her with."
+
+Here Clara shook her head, and wished to get rid of the
+witch-girl; for she thought, truly if Sidonia learns the brewing
+secret, she will poison and destroy the whole castleful, and we
+shall have the devil bodily with us in earnest. So she pushed away
+the girl, who still clung to her, weeping and lamenting. Hereupon
+Sidonia grew quite grave and pious all of a sudden, and said--
+
+"See the hypocrite she is! She first sets before me the example of
+Christ, and then treats this poor sinner with nothing but cross
+thorns! Has not Christ said, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy'? But only see how this bigot can have Christ
+on her tongue, but not in her heart!"
+
+The pious Clara grew quite ashamed at such talk, and raising up
+the wretch who had again fallen on her knees, said--
+
+"Well, thou mayest remain; so get thee to my maid, and she will
+give thee food. I shall also write to my father for thy pardon,
+and meanwhile ask leave from her Grace to allow thee to remain
+here until it arrives; but if thou art guilty, I cannot promise
+thee my protection any longer, and thou wilt be burned here, in
+place of at Daber."
+
+So the witch-girl was content, and importuned them no further.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How Sidonia Wished to learn the mystery of love-potions, but is
+hindered by Clara and the young Prince._
+
+
+When Prince Ernest returned home after an absence of some days,
+Sidonia had changed her tactics, for now she never lifted up her
+eyes when they met, but passed on blushing and confused, and in
+place of speaking, as formerly, only sighed. This turned his head
+completely, and sent the blood so quickly through his veins that
+he found it a hard matter to conceal his feelings any longer. For
+this reason he determined to visit Sidonia in her own room as soon
+as he could hit upon a favourable opportunity, and bring her then
+a beautiful lute, inlaid with gold and silver, which he had
+purchased for her at Grypswald.
+
+Now, it happened soon after, that her Grace and Clara went away
+one day into the town to purchase a jerkin for the little Prince
+Casimir, who accompanied them. Sidonia was immediately informed of
+their absence, and sought out Clara's maid without delay, put a
+piece of gold into her hand, and said--
+
+"Send the strange girl from Daber to my room for a few minutes;
+she can perhaps give me some tidings of my dear father and family,
+for Daber is only a little way from Stramehl. But mind," she
+added, "keep this visit a secret, as well from her Grace as from
+your mistress Clara; otherwise we shall all be scolded."
+
+So the maid very willingly complied, and brought the witch-girl
+directly to Sidonia's little apartment, and then ran to Clara's
+room to watch for the return of her Grace in time to give notice.
+
+The witch-girl was quite confounded (as she afterwards confessed
+upon the rack) when Sidonia began--
+
+"Thou knowest, Anne, that my entreaties alone obtained thee a
+shelter here, for I pitied thee from the first; and from what I
+hear, it is certain that her Grace means to deal no better with
+thee than thy judges at Daber, therefore my advice is--escape if
+thou canst."
+
+_Illa_, weeping.--"Where can I go? I shall die of hunger, or
+they will arrest me again as an evil-minded witch, and carry me
+back to Daber."
+
+"But do not tell them, stupid goose, that thou hast come from
+Daber."
+
+_Illa_.--"But what could she say? Besides, she had no money,
+and so must be lost and ruined for ever."
+
+"Well, I shall give thee gold enough to get thee through all
+dangers. I give it, mind, out of pure Christian charity; but now
+tell me honestly--canst thou really make a love-drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; her sister had taught her."
+
+"Is the drink of equal power for men and women?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; without doubt, it would make either mad with
+love."
+
+"Has it ever an injurious effect upon them? does it take away
+their strength?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; they fall down like flies. Some lose their
+memory, others become blind or lame."
+
+"Has she ever tried its effects upon any one herself?"
+
+_Illa_.--"But will the lady betray me?"
+
+"Out, fool! When I have promised thee gold enough to insure thy
+escape! I betray thee!"
+
+_Illa_.--"Then she will tell the lady the whole truth. She
+did give a love-drink to Albert, because he grew cross, and spent
+the nights away from her, and complained if she idled a little, so
+that her master beat her. Therefore she determined to punish him,
+and a rash came out over his whole body, so that he could neither
+sit nor lie for six weeks, and at night he had to be tied to a
+post with a hand-towel; but all this time his love for her grew so
+burning, that although he had previously hated and beaten her, yet
+now if she only brought him a drink of cold water, for which he
+was always screaming, he would kiss her hands and feet even though
+she spat in his face, and he would certainly have died if his
+relations had not found out an old woman who unbewitched him;
+whereupon his love came to an end, and he informed against her."
+
+That must be a wonderful drink. Would the girl teach her how to
+brew it?
+
+But just then our Lord God sent yet another warning to Sidonia,
+through His angel, to turn her from her villainy, for as the girl
+was going to answer, a knock was heard at the chamber-door. They
+both grew as white as chalk; but Sidonia bethought herself of a
+hiding-place, and bid the other creep under the bed while she went
+to the door to see who knocked, and as she opened it, so there
+stood Prince Ernest bodily before her eyes, with the lute in his
+hand.
+
+"Ah, gracious Prince, what brings you here? I pray your Highness,
+for the sake of God, to leave me. What would be said if any one
+saw you here?"
+
+"But who is to see us, my beautiful maiden? My gracious mother has
+gone out to drive; and now, just look at this lute that I have
+purchased for you in Grypswald. Will it please thee, sweet one?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas, gracious Prince, of what use will it be to
+me, when I have no one to teach me how to play?"
+
+"I will teach thee, oh, how willingly, but--thou knowest what I
+would say."
+
+_Illa_.--"No, no, I dare not learn from your Highness. Now
+go, and do not make me more miserable."
+
+"What makes thee miserable, enchanting Sidonia?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, if your Highness could know how this heart
+burns within me like a fire! What will become of me? Would that I
+were dead--oh, I am a miserable maiden! If your Highness were but
+a simple noble, then I might hope--but now. Woe is me! I must go!
+Yes, I must go!"
+
+"Why must thou go, my own sweet darling? and why dost thou wish me
+to be only a simple noble? Canst thou not love a duke better than
+a noble?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Gracious Prince, what is a poor count's daughter to
+your princely Highness? and would her Grace ever consent? Ah no, I
+must go--I must go!"
+
+Here she sobbed so violently, and covered her eyes with her hands,
+that the young Duke could no longer restrain his feelings. He
+seized her passionately in his arms, and was kissing away the
+crocodile tears, when lo, another knock came to the door, and
+Sidonia grew paler even than the first time, for there was no
+place to hide the Prince in, as the witch-wench was already under
+the bed, and not even quite hidden, for some of her red petticoat
+was visible round the post, and one could easily see by the way it
+moved that some living body was in it, for the girl was trembling
+with the most horrible fear and fright. But the Prince was too
+absorbed in love either to notice all this or to mind the knock at
+the door.
+
+Sidonia, however, knew well that it was over with them now, and
+she pushed away the young Prince, just as the door opened and
+Clara entered, who grew quite pale, and clasped her hands together
+when she saw the Duke and Sidonia together; then the tears fell
+fast from her eyes, and she could utter nothing but--"Ah, my
+gracious Prince--my poor innocent Prince--what has brought you
+here?" but neither of them spoke a word. "You are lost," exclaimed
+Clara; "the Duchess is coming up the corridor, and has just
+stopped to look at her pet cat and the kittens there by the page's
+room. Hasten, young Prince--hasten to meet her before she comes a
+step further."
+
+So the young lord darted out of the chamber, and found his
+gracious mother still examining her kittens, whereupon he prayed
+her then to descend with him to the courtyard and look also at his
+fine hounds, to which she consented.
+
+The moment Prince Ernest disappeared, Clara commenced upbraiding
+Sidonia for her evil ways, which could not be any longer
+denied--for had she not seen all with her own eyes?--and she now
+conjured her by the living God to turn away from the young Duke,
+and select some noble of her own rank as her husband. This could
+easily be done when so many loved her; but as to the Prince, as
+long as her Grace and Ulrich lived, or even one single branch of
+the princely house of Pomerania, this marriage would never be
+permitted, let the young lord do or say what he chose.
+
+"Ah, thou pious old priest in petticoats," exclaimed Sidonia, "who
+told thee I wanted to marry the Prince? How can I help if he
+chooses to come in here and, though I weep and resist, takes me in
+his arms and kisses me? So leave off thy preaching, and tell me
+rather what brings thee spying to my room?"
+
+Then Clara remembered what had really been her errand, although
+the love-scene had put everything else out of her head until now,
+and replied--"I was seeking the witch-girl from Daber, for when I
+went out with her Grace, I left her in charge of my maid; but as
+we returned home by the little garden gate, I slipped up to my
+room by the private stairs without any one seeing me, and found my
+maid looking out of the window, but no girl was to be seen. When I
+asked what had become of her, the maid answered she knew not, the
+girl must have slipped away while her back was turned, so I came
+here to ask if you had seen the impudent hussy, for I fear if her
+wings are not clipped she will do harm to some one."
+
+Here Sidonia grew quite indignant--what could she know of a vile
+witch-wench? Besides, she had not been ten minutes there in the
+room.
+
+"But perchance the bird has found herself a nest somewhere," said
+Clara, looking towards the bed; "methinks, indeed, I see some of
+the feathers, for surely a red gown never trembled that way under
+a bed unless there was something living inside of it." When the
+witch-girl heard this her fright increased, so that, to make
+matters worse, she pulled her gown in under the bed, upon which
+Clara kneeled down, lifted the coverlet, and found the owl in its
+nest. Now she had to creep out weeping and howling, and promised
+to tell everything.
+
+But Sidonia gave her a look which she understood well, and
+therefore when she stood up straight by the bed, begged piteously
+that the Lady Clara would not scold her for having tried to
+escape, because she herself had threatened her with being burned
+there as well as at Daber, so not knowing where to hide, and
+seeing the Lady Sidonia's door open, she crept in there and got
+under the bed, intending to wait till night came and then ask her
+aid in effecting her flight, for the Lady Sidonia was the only one
+in the castle who had shown her Christian compassion.
+
+Hereat Sidonia rose up as if in great rage, and said, "Ha! thou
+impudent wench, how darest thou reckon on my protection!" and
+seizing her by the hand--in which, however, she pressed a piece of
+gold--pushed her violently out of the door.
+
+Now Clara, thinking that this was the whole truth, fell weeping
+upon Sidonia's neck, and asked forgiveness for her suspicions.
+"There, that will do," said Sidonia,--"that will do, old preacher;
+only be more cautious in future. What! am I to poke under my bed
+to see if any one is hiding there? You may go, for I suppose you
+have often hidden a lover there, your eyes turn to it so
+naturally."
+
+As Clara grew red with shame, Sidonia drew the witch-girl again
+into the room, and giving her a box on the ear that made her teeth
+chatter--"Now, confess," said she, "what I said to the young lord
+without knowing that you were listening." So the poor girl
+answered weeping, "Nothing but what was good did you say to him,
+namely, that he should go away; and then you pushed him so
+violently when he attempted to kiss you, that he stumbled over
+against the bed."
+
+"See, now, my pious preacher," said Sidonia, "this girl confirms
+exactly what I told you; so now go along with you, you hussy, or
+mayhap you will come off no better than she has done."
+
+Hereupon Clara went away humbly with the witch-girl to her own
+room, and never uttered another word. Nevertheless the affair did
+not seem quite satisfactory to her yet. So she conferred with her
+betrothed, Marcus Bork, on the subject. For when he carried books
+for her Highness from the ducal library, it was his custom to
+scrape with his feet in a peculiar manner as he passed Clara's
+door; then she knew who it was, and opened it. And as her maid was
+present, they conversed together in the Italian tongue; for they
+were both learned, not only in God's Word, but in all other
+knowledge, so that people talk about them yet in Pomeranian land
+for these things.
+
+Clara therefore told him the whole affair in Italian, before her
+maid and the witch-girl--of the visit of the young Prince, and how
+the girl was lying hid under the bed, and asked him was it not
+likely that Sidonia had brought her there to teach her how to brew
+the love-drink, with which she would then have bewitched the
+Prince and all the men-folk in the castle, and ought she not to
+warn her Grace of the danger.
+
+But Marcus answered, that if the witch-girl had been at the castle
+weeks before, he might have supposed that Sidonia had received the
+secret of the love-potion from her, since every man, old and
+young, was mad for love of her--but now he must needs confess that
+Sidonia's eyes and deceiving mouth were magic sufficient; and that
+it was not likely she would bring a vile damsel to her room to
+teach her that which she knew already so perfectly. So he thought
+it better not to tell her Highness anything on the subject.
+Besides, if the wench were examined, who knows what she might tell
+of Sidonia and the young lord that would bring shame on the
+princely house of Wolgast, since she had been hid under the bed
+all the time, and perhaps only kept silence through fear. It were
+well therefore on every account not to let the matter get wind,
+and to shut up the wench safely in the witches' tower until the
+answer came from Daber. If she were pronounced really guilty, it
+would then be time enough to question her on the rack about the
+love-drink and the conversation between the young lord and
+Sidonia.
+
+So this course was agreed on. It is, however, much to be regretted
+that Clara did not follow the promptings of her good angel, and
+tell all to her Grace and old Ulrich; for then much misfortune and
+scandal would have been spared to the whole Pomeranian land. But
+she followed her bride-groom's advice, and kept all secret. The
+witch-girl, however, was locked up that very day in the witches'
+tower, to guard against future evil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_How Sidonia repeated the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius, and how
+she whipped the young Casimir, out of pure evil-mindedness._
+
+
+The Sunday came at last when Sidonia was to be examined publicly
+in the catechism of Dr. Gerschovius. Her Grace was filled with
+anxiety to see how all would terminate, for every one suspected
+(as indeed was the case) that not one word of it would she be able
+to repeat. So the church was crowded, and all the young men
+attended without exception, knowing what was to go forward, and
+fearing for Sidonia, because this Dr. Gerschovius was a stern,
+harsh man; but she herself seemed to care little about the matter,
+for she entered her Grace's closet as usual (which was right
+opposite the pulpit), and threw herself carelessly into a corner.
+However, when the doctor entered the pulpit she became more grave,
+and finally, when his discourse was drawing near to the close, she
+rose up quietly and glided out of the closet, intending to descend
+to the gardens. Her Grace did not perceive her movement, in
+consequence of the hat with the heron's plume which she wore, for
+the feathers drooped down at the side next Sidonia, and the other
+ladies were too much alarmed to venture to draw her attention to
+the circumstance. But the priest from the pulpit saw her well, and
+called out--"Maiden! maiden! Whither go you? Remember ye have to
+repeat your catechism!"
+
+Then Sidonia grew quite pale, for her Grace and all the
+congregation fixed their eyes on her. So when she felt quite
+conscious that she was looking pale, she said, "You see from my
+face that I am not well; but if I get better, doubt not but that I
+shall return immediately." Here all the maids of honour put up
+their kerchiefs to hide their laughter, and the young nobles did
+the same.
+
+So she went away; but they might wait long enough, I think, for
+her to come back. In vain her Grace watched until the priest left
+the pulpit, and then sent two of her ladies to look for the
+hypocrite; but they returned declaring that she was nowhere to be
+seen.
+
+_Summa_.--The whole service was ended, and her Grace looked
+as angry as the doctor; and when the organ had ceased, and the
+people were beginning to depart, she called out from her closet--
+
+"Let every one come this way, and accompany me to Sidonia's
+apartment. There I shall make her repeat the catechism before ye
+all. Messengers shall be despatched in all directions until they
+find out her hiding-place."
+
+This pleased the doctor and Ulrich well. So they all proceeded to
+Sidonia's little room; for there she was, to their great surprise,
+seated upon a chair with a smelling-bottle in her hand. Whereupon
+her Grace demanded what ailed her, and why she had not stayed to
+repeat the catechism.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she was so weak, she would certainly have
+fainted, if she had not descended to the garden for a little fresh
+air. She was so distressed that her Grace had been troubled
+sending for her, of which she was not aware until now."
+
+"Are you better now?" asked her Grace.
+
+_Illa_.--"Rather better. The fresh air had done her good."
+
+"Then," quoth her Grace, "you shall recite the catechism here for
+the doctor; for, in truth, Christianity is as necessary to you as
+water to a fish."
+
+The doctor now cleared his throat to begin; but she stopped him
+pertly, saying--
+
+"I do not choose to say my catechism here in my room, like a
+little child. Grown-up maidens are always heard in the church."
+
+Howbeit, her Grace motioned to him not to heed her. So to his
+first question she replied rather snappishly, "You have your
+answer already."
+
+No wonder the priest grew black with rage. But seeing a book lying
+open on a little table beside her bed, and thinking it was the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius which she had been studying, he
+stepped over to look. But judge his horror when he found that it
+was a volume of the _Amadis de Gaul_, and was lying open at
+the eighth chapter, where he read--"How the Prince Amadis de Gaul
+loved the Princess Rosaliana, and was beloved in return, and how
+they both attained to the accomplishment of their desires."
+
+He dashed the book to the ground furiously, stamped upon it, and
+cried--
+
+"So, thou wanton, this is thy Bible and thy catechism! Here thou
+learnest how to make young men mad! Who gave thee this infamous
+book? Speak! Who gave it to thee?"
+
+So Sidonia looked up timidly, and said, weeping, "It was his
+Highness Duke Barnim who gave it to her, and told her it was a
+merry book, and good against low spirits."
+
+Here the Duchess, who had lifted up her hand to give her a box on
+the ear, let it fall again with a deep sigh when she heard of the
+old Prince having given her such an infamous book, and lamented
+loudly, crying--
+
+"Who will free me from this shameless wanton, who makes all the
+court mad? Truly says Scripture, 'A beautiful woman without
+discretion is like a circlet of gold upon a swine's head.' Ah! I
+know that now. But I trust my messengers will soon return whom I
+have despatched to Stettin and Stramehl, and then I shall get rid
+of thee, thou wanton, for which God be thanked for evermore."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room with old Ulrich, who only shook
+his head, but remained as mute as a fish. Doctor Gerschovius,
+however, stayed behind with Sidonia, in order to exhort her to
+virtue; but as she only wept and did not seem to hear him, he grew
+tired, and finally went his way, also with many sighs and
+uplifting of his hands.
+
+A little after, as Sidonia was howling just out of pure
+ill-temper, for, in my opinion, nothing ailed her, the little
+Prince Casimir ran in to look for his mamma--she had gone to hear
+Sidonia her catechism, they told him.
+
+"What did he want with his lady mamma?"
+
+"His new jerkin hurt him, he wanted her to tie it another way for
+him; but is it really true, Sidonia, that you do not know your
+catechism? I can say it quite well. Just come now and hear me say
+it."
+
+It is probable that her Grace and the doctor had devised this plan
+in order to shame Sidonia, by showing her how even a little child
+could repeat it; but she took it angrily, and, calling him over,
+said, "Yes; come--I will hear you your catechism." And as the
+little boy came up close beside her, she slung him across her
+knee, pulled down his hose, and--oh, shame!--whipped his Serene
+Highness upon his princely _podex_, that it would have melted
+the heart of a stone. How this shows her cruel and evil
+disposition--to revenge on the child what she had to bear from the
+mother. Fie on the maiden!
+
+And here my gracious Prince will say--"O Theodore, this matter
+surely might have been passed over, since it brings a disrespect
+upon my princely house."
+
+I answer--"Gracious Lord and Prince, my most humble services are
+due to your Grace, but truth must be still truth, however it may
+displease your Highness. Besides, by no other act could I have so
+well proved the infernal evil in this woman's nature; for if she
+could dare to lay her godless hand upon one of your illustrious
+race, then all her future acts are perfectly comprehensible.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--This is true, and
+therefore I consent to let it remain; and I remember that Prince
+Casimir told me long afterwards that the scene remained indelibly
+impressed on his memory. "For," he said, "the wild eyes and the
+terrible voice of the witch frightened me more even than her cruel
+hand; as if even there I detected the devil in her, though I was
+but a little boy at the time."] When the malicious wretch let the
+boy go, he darted out of the room and ran down the whole corridor,
+screaming out that he would tell his mamma about Sidonia; but
+Zitsewitz met him, and having heard the story, the amorous old
+fool took him up in his arms, and promised him heaps of beautiful
+things if he would hold his tongue and not say a word more to any
+one, and that he would give Sidonia a good whipping himself, in
+return for what she had done to him. So, in short, her Grace never
+heard of the insult until after Sidonia's departure from court."
+
+Had her Highness been in her apartment, she must have heard the
+child scream; but it so happened that just then she was walking up
+and down the ducal gardens, whither she had gone to cool her
+anger.
+
+Soon after a stately ship was seen sailing down the river from
+Penemunde, [Footnote: A town in Pomerania.] which attracted all
+eyes in the castle, for on the deck stood a noble youth, with a
+heron's plume waving from his cap, and he held a tame sea-gull
+upon his hand, which from time to time flew off and dived into the
+water, bringing up all sorts of fish, great and small, in its
+beak, with which it immediately flew back to the handsome youth.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Clara, "there must be the sons of our gracious
+Princess! for to-morrow is her birthday, and here comes the noble
+bishop, Johann Frederick of Camyn, and his brother, Duke Bogislaff
+XIII., to pay their respects to their gracious mother."
+
+Her Grace, however, would scarcely credit that the handsome youth
+who was fishing after so elegant a manner was indeed her own
+beloved son; but Clara clapped her hands now, crying, "Look! your
+Grace--look! there is the flag hoisted!" And indeed there
+fluttered from the mast now the bishop's own arms. So the warder
+blew his horn, which was answered by the warder of St. Peter's in
+the town, and the bells in all the towers rang out, and the
+castellan ordered the cannon in the courtyard to be fired off.
+
+Her Grace was now thoroughly convinced, and weeping for joy, ran
+down to the little water-gate, where old Ulrich already stood
+waiting to receive the princes. As the vessel approached, however,
+they discovered that the handsome youth was not the bishop, but
+Duke Bogislaff, who had been staying on a visit at his brother's
+court at Camyn, along with several high prelates. The bishop,
+Johann Frederick, did not accompany him, for he was obliged to
+remain at home, in order to receive a visit from the Prince of
+Brandenburg.
+
+When the Duke stepped on shore he embraced his weeping mother
+joyfully, and said he came to offer her his congratulations on her
+birthday, and that she must not weep but laugh, for there should
+be a dance in honour of it, and a right merry feast at the castle
+on the morrow.
+
+Then he tumbled out on the bridge all the fish which the bird had
+caught; and her Grace wondered greatly, and stroked it as it sat
+upon the shoulder of the Prince. So he asked if the bird pleased
+her Grace, and when she answered "Yes," he said, "Then, dearest
+mother, let it be my birthday gift to you. I have trained it
+myself, and tried it here, as you see, upon the river. So any
+afternoon that you and your ladies choose to amuse yourselves with
+a sail, this bird will fish for you as long as you please, while
+you row down the river."
+
+Ah, what a good son was this handsome young Duke!--and when I
+think that Sidonia murdered them all--all--even this noble Prince,
+my heart seems to break, and the pen falls from my fingers.
+[Footnote: Note by Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Et quid mihi, misero
+filio? Domine in manus tuas commando spiritum meum, quia tu me
+redemisti fide Deus! (And what remains to me, wretched son? Lord,
+into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed me,
+Thou God of truth.)--When one thinks that it was the general
+belief in that age that the whole ducal race had been destroyed
+and blasted by Sidonia's sorceries, it is impossible not to be
+affected by these melancholy yet resigned and Christian words of
+the last orphaned and childless representative of the ancient and
+illustrious house of Wolgast.]
+
+But to continue. The Duchess embraced the fine young Prince, who
+still continued talking of the dance they must have next day. It
+was time now for his gracious mother to give up mourning for her
+deceased lord, he said.
+
+But her Grace would not hear of a dance; and replied that she
+would continue to mourn for her dear lord all the rest of her
+life, to whom she had been wedded by Doctor Martinus. However, the
+Duke repeated his entreaties, and all the young nobles added
+theirs, and finally Prince Ernest besought her Grace not to deny
+them permission to have a festival on the morrow, as it was to
+honour her birthday. So she at last consented; but old Ulrich
+shook his head, and took her Grace aside to warn her of the
+scandal which would assuredly arise when the young nobles had
+drunk and grew excited by Sidonia. Hereupon her Grace made answer
+that she would take care Sidonia should cause no scandal--"As she
+has refused to learn her catechism, she must not appear at the
+feast. It will be a fitting punishment to keep her a prisoner for
+the whole day, and therefore I shall lock her up myself in her own
+room, and put the key in my pocket."
+
+So Ulrich was well pleased, and all separated for the night with
+much contentment and hopes of enjoyment on the morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_Of Appelmann's knavery--Item, how the birthday of her Highness
+was celebrated, and Sidonia managed to get to the dance, with the
+uproar caused thereby._
+
+
+Before I proceed further, it will be necessary to state what
+happened a few days before concerning Prince Ernest's chief
+equerry, Johann Appelmann, otherwise many might doubt the facts I
+shall have to relate, though God knows I speak the pure truth.
+
+One came to his lordship the Grand Chamberlain--he was a shoemaker
+of the town--and complained to him of Appelmann, who had been
+courting his daughter for a long while, and running after her
+until finally he had disgraced her in the eyes of the whole town,
+and brought shame and scandal into his house. So he prayed Lord
+Ulrich to make the shameless profligate take his daughter to wife,
+as he had fairly promised her marriage long ago.
+
+Now Ulrich had long suspected the knave of bad doings, for many
+pearls and jewels had lately been missing from her Grace's
+shabrack and horse-trappings, and the groom, who always laid them
+on her Grace's white palfrey, knew nothing about them, though he
+was even put to the torture; but as Appelmann had all these things
+in his sole keeping, it was natural to think that he was not quite
+innocent. Besides, three hundred sacks of oats were missing on the
+new year, and no one knew what had become of them.
+
+Therefore Ulrich sent for the cheating rogue, and upbraided him
+with his profligate courses, also telling him that he must wed the
+shoemaker's daughter immediately. But the cunning knave knew
+better, and swore by all the saints that he was innocent, and
+finally prevailed upon Prince Ernest to intercede for him, so that
+Ulrich promised to give him a little longer grace, but then
+assuredly he would bring him to a strict account.
+
+And Appelmann drove the Prince that same day to Grypswald, to find
+out more musicians for the castle band, as the march of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great was to be played by eighty drums and forty
+trumpets in the grand ducal hall, to honour the birthday of her
+Highness.
+
+One can imagine what Sidonia felt when the Duchess announced that
+as she had refused to learn the catechism, and was neither
+obedient to God nor her Grace, she should remain a strict prisoner
+in her own room during the festival, as a signal punishment for
+her ungodly behaviour. But her maid might bring her food of all
+that she chose from the feast.
+
+Sidonia first prayed her Grace to forgive her for the love of God,
+and she would learn the whole catechism by heart. But as this had
+no effect, then she wept and lamented loudly, and at length fell
+down upon her knees before her Grace, who would, however, be
+neither moved nor persuaded; and when Sidonia threatened at last
+to leave her room, the Duchess went out, locked the door, and put
+the key in her pocket. The prisoner howled enough then, I warrant.
+
+But what did she do now, the cunning minx? She gave her maid a
+piece of gold, and told her to go up and down the corridor, crying
+and wringing her hands, and when any one asked what was the
+matter, to say, "That her beautiful young lady was dying of grief,
+because the Duchess had locked her up, like a little school-girl,
+in her own room, and all for not knowing the catechism of Dr.
+Gerschovius, which indeed was not taught in her part of the
+country, but another, which she had learned quite well in her
+childhood. And so for this, her poor young lady was not to be
+allowed to dance at the festival." The maid was to say all this in
+particular to Prince Ernest; or if he did not pass through the
+corridor, she was to stop weeping and groaning at his
+chamber-door, until he came out to ask what was the matter.
+
+The maid followed the instructions right well, and in less than an
+hour every soul in the castle, down to the cooks and washerwomen,
+knew what had happened, and everywhere the Duchess went she was
+assailed by old and young, great and small, with petitions of
+pardon for Sidonia.
+
+Her Grace, however, bid them all be silent, and threatened if they
+made such shameless requests to forbid the festival altogether.
+But when Prince Ernest likewise petitioned in her favour, she was
+angry, and said, "He ought to be ashamed of himself. It was now
+plain what a fool the girl had made of him. Her maternal heart
+would break, she knew it would--and this day would be one of
+sorrow in place of joy to her; all on account of this girl."
+
+So the young Prince had to hold his peace for this time; but he
+sent a message, nevertheless, to Sidonia, telling her not to fret,
+for that he would take her out of her room and bring her to the
+dance, let what would happen.
+
+Next morning, by break of day, the whole castle and town were
+alive with preparations for the festival. It was now seven
+years--that is, since the death of Duke Philip--since any one had
+danced in the castle except the rats and mice, and even yet the
+splendour of this festival is talked of in Wolgast; and many of
+the old people yet living there remember it well, and gave me many
+curious particulars thereof, which I shall set down here, that it
+may be known how such affairs were conducted in old time at our
+ducal courts.
+
+In the morning, by ten of the clock, the young princes, nobles,
+clergy, and the honourable counsellors of the town, assembled in
+the grand ducal hall, built by Duke Philip after the great fire,
+and which extended up all through the three stories of the castle.
+At the upper end of the hall was the grand painted window, sixty
+feet high, on which was delineated the pilgrimage of Duke
+Bogislaff the Great to Jerusalem, all painted by Gerard Homer;
+[Footnote: A Frieslander, and the most celebrated painter on glass
+of his time.] and round on the walls banners, and shields, and
+helmets, and cuirasses, while all along each side, four feet from
+the ground, there were painted on the walls figures of all the
+animals found in Pomerania: bears, wolves, elks, stags, deer,
+otters, &c., all exquisitely imitated.
+
+When all the lords had assembled, the drums beat and trumpets
+sounded, whereupon the Pomeranian marshal flung open the great
+doors of the hall, which were wreathed with flowers from the
+outside, and the princely widow entered with great pomp, leading
+the little Casimir by the hand. She was arrayed in the Pomeranian
+costume--namely, a white silk under-robe, and over it a surcoat of
+azure velvet, brocaded with silver, and open in front. A long
+train of white velvet, embroidered in golden laurel wreaths, was
+supported by twelve pages dressed in black velvet cassocks with
+Spanish ruffs. Upon her head the Duchess wore a coif of scarlet
+velvet with small plumes, from which a white veil, spangled with
+silver stars, hung down to her feet. Round her neck she had a
+scarlet velvet band, twisted with a gold chain; and from it
+depended a balsam flask, in the form of a greyhound, which rested
+on her bosom.
+
+As her Serene Highness entered with fresh and blushing cheeks, all
+bowed low and kissed her hand, glittering with diamonds. Then each
+offered his congratulations as best he could.
+
+Amongst them came Johann Neander, Archdeacon of St. Peter's, who
+was seeking preferment, considering that his present living was
+but a poor one; and so he presented her Grace with a printed
+_tractatum_ dedicated to her Highness, in which the question
+was discussed whether the ten virgins mentioned in Matt. xxv. were
+of noble or citizen rank. But Doctor Gerschovius made a mock of
+him for this afterwards, before the whole table. [Footnote: Over
+these exegetical disquisitions of a former age we smile, and with
+reason; but we, pedantic Germans, have carried our modern
+exegetical mania to such absurd lengths, that we are likely to
+become as much a laughing-stock to our contemporaries, as well as
+to posterity, as this Johannes Neander. In fact, our exegetists
+are mostly pitiful schoolmasters--word-anatomists--and one could
+as little learn the true spirit of an old classic poet from our
+pedantic philologists, as the true sense of holy Scripture from
+our scholastic theologians. What with their grammar twistings,
+their various readings, their dubious punctuations, their
+mythical, and who knows what other meanings, their
+hair-splittings, and prosy vocable tiltings, we find at last that
+they are willing to teach us everything but that which really
+concerns us, and, like the Danaides, they let the water of life
+run through the sieve of their learning. We may apply to them
+truly that condemnation of our Lord's (Matt, xxiii. 24)--"Ye blind
+guides; ye strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."]
+
+Now, when all the congratulations were over, the Duchess asked
+Prince Ernest if the water-works in the courtyard had been
+completed, [Footnote: The Prince took much interest in hydraulics,
+and built a beautiful and costly aqueduct for the town of
+Wolgast.] and when he answered "Yes," "Then," quoth her Grace,
+"they shall run with Rostock beer to-day, if it took fifty tuns;
+for all my people, great and small, shall keep festival to-day;
+and I have ordered my court baker to give a loaf of bread and a
+good drink to every one that cometh and asketh. And now, as it is
+fitting, let us present ourselves in the church."
+
+So the bells rung, and the whole procession swept through the
+corridor and down the great stairs, with drums and trumpets going
+before. Then followed the marshal with his staff, and the Grand
+Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, wearing his beautiful hat (a
+present from her Highness), looped up with a diamond aigrette, and
+spangled with little golden stars. Then came the Duchess,
+supported on each side by the young princes, her sons; and the
+nobles, knights, pages, and others brought up the rear, according
+to their rank and dignity.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's room, she began to beat the door and cry
+like a little spoiled child; but no one minded her, and the
+procession moved on to the courtyard, where the soldatesca fired a
+salute, not only from their muskets, but also from the great
+cannon called "the Old Aunt," which gave forth a deep joy-sigh.
+From all the castle windows hung banners and flags bearing the
+arms of Pomerania and Saxony, and the pavement was strewed with
+flowers.
+
+As they passed Sidonia's window she opened it, and appeared
+magnificently attired, and glittering with pearls and diamonds,
+but also weeping bitterly. At this sight old Ulrich gnashed his
+teeth for rage, but all the young men, and Prince Ernest in
+particular, felt their hearts die in them for sorrow. So they
+passed on through the great north gate out on the castle wall,
+from whence the whole town and harbour were visible. Here the
+flags fluttered from the masts and waved from the towers, and the
+people clapped their hands and cried "Huzza!" (for in truth they
+had heard about the beer, to my thinking, before the Princess came
+out upon the walls). _Summa_: There was never seen such joy;
+and after having service in church, they all returned to the
+castle in the same order, and set themselves down to the banquet.
+
+I got a list of the courses at the table of the Duchess from old
+Küssow, and I shall here set it down, that people may see how our
+fathers banqueted eighty years ago in Pomerania; but, God help us!
+in these imperial days there is little left for us to grind our
+teeth upon. So smell thereat, and you will still get a delicious
+savour from these good old times.
+
+_First Course_.--1. A soup; 2. An egg-soup, with saffron,
+peppercorns, and honey thereon; 3. Stewed mutton, with onions
+strewed thereon; 4. A roasted capon, with stewed plums.
+
+_Second Course_.--1. Ling, with oil and raisins; 2. Beef,
+baked in oil; 3. Eels, with pepper; 4. Dried fish, with Leipsic
+mustard.
+
+_Third Course_.--1. A salad, with eggs; 2. Jellies strewed
+with almond and onion seed; 3. Omelettes, with honey and grapes;
+4. Pastry, and many other things besides.
+
+_Fourth Course_.--1. A roast goose with red beet-root,
+olives, capers, and cucumbers; 2. Little birds fried in lard, with
+radishes; 3. Venison; 4. Wild boar, with the marrow served on
+toasted rolls. In conclusion, all manner of pastry, with fritters,
+cakes, and fancy confectionery of all kinds.
+
+So her Grace selected something from each dish herself, and
+despatched it to Sidonia by her maid; but the maiden would none of
+them, and sent all back with a message that she had no heart to
+gormandise and feast; but her Grace might send her some bread and
+water, which was alone fitting for a poor prisoner to receive.
+
+The young men could bear this no longer, their patience was quite
+exhausted, and their courage rose as the wine-cups were emptied.
+So at length Prince Ernest whispered to his brother Bogislaus to
+put in a good word for Sidonia. He refused, however, and Prince
+Ernest was ashamed to name her himself; but some of the young
+pages who waited on her Grace were bold enough to petition for her
+pardon, whereupon her Grace gave them a very sharp reproof.
+
+After dinner the Duchess and Prince Bogislaus went up the stream
+in a pleasure-boat to try the tame sea-gull, and her Grace
+requested Lord Ulrich to accompany them. But he answered that he
+was more necessary to the castle that evening than a night-watch
+in a time of war, particularly if the young Prince was to have
+Rostock beer play from the fountains in place of water.
+
+And soon his words came true, for when the Duchess had sailed away
+the young men began to drink in earnest, so that the wine ran over
+the threshold down the great steps, and the peasants and boors who
+were going back and forward with dried wood to the ducal kitchen,
+lay down flat on their faces, and licked up the wine from the
+steps (but the Almighty punished them for this, I think, for their
+children now are glad enough to sup up water with the geese).
+
+Meanwhile many of the youths sprang up, swearing that they would
+free Sidonia; others fell down quite drunk, and knew nothing more
+of what happened. Then old Ulrich flew to the corridor, and
+marched up and down with his drawn dagger in his hand, and swore
+he would arrest them all if they did not keep quiet; that as to
+those who were lying dead drunk like beasts, he must treat them
+like other beasts--whereupon he sends to the castle fountain for
+buckets of cold water, and pours it over them. Ha! how they sprang
+up and raged when they felt it; but he only laughed and said--if
+they would not hold their peace he would treat them still worse;
+they ought to be ashamed of their filthiness and debauchery.
+[Footnote: Almost all writers of that age speak of the excesses to
+which intoxication was carried in all the ducal courts, but
+particularly that of Pomerania.]
+
+But now to the uproar within was added one from without, for when
+the fountains began to play with Rostock beer, all the town ran
+thither, and drank like leeches, while they begged the
+serving-wenches to bring them loaves to eat with it. How the old
+shoemaker threw up his cap in the air, and shouted--"Long live her
+Grace! no better Princess was in the whole world--they hoped her
+Grace might live for many years and celebrate every birthday like
+this!" Then they would pray for her right heartily, and the women
+chattered and cackled, and the children screamed so that no one
+could hear a word that was saying, and Sidonia tried for a long
+time in vain to make them hear her. At last she waved a white
+kerchief from the window, when the noise ceased for a little, and
+she then began the old song, namely, "Would they release her?"
+
+Now there were some brave fellows among them to whom she had given
+drink-money, or purchased goods from, and they now ran to fetch a
+ladder and set it up against the wall; but old Ulrich got wind of
+this proceeding, and dispersed the mob forthwith, menacing
+Sidonia, before their faces, that if she but wagged a finger, and
+did not instantly retire from the window, and bear her
+well-merited punishment patiently, he would have her carried
+straightway through the guard-room, and locked up in the bastion
+tower. This threat succeeded, and she drew in her head. Meantime
+the Duchess returned from fishing, but when she beheld the crowd
+she entered through the little water-gate, and went up a winding
+stair to her own apartment, to attire herself for the dance.
+
+The musicians now arrived from Grypswald, and all the knights and
+nobles were assembled except Zitsewitz, who lay sick, whether from
+love or jealousy I leave undecided; so the great affair at length
+began, and in the state hall the band struck up Duke Bogislaus'
+march, played, in fact, by eighty drums and forty-three trumpets,
+so that it was as mighty and powerful in sound as if the great
+trumpet itself had played it, and the plaster dropped off from the
+ceiling, and the picture of his Highness the Duke, in the north
+window, was so disturbed by the vibration, that it shook and
+clattered as if it were going to descend from the frame and dance
+with the guests in the hall, and not only the folk outside danced
+to the music, but down in the town, in the great market-place, and
+beyond that, even in the horse-market, the giant march was heard,
+and every one danced to it whether in or out of the house, and
+cheered and huzzaed. Now the Prince could no longer repress his
+feelings, for, besides that he had taken a good Pomeranian draught
+that day, and somewhat rebelled against his lady mother, he now
+flung the fourth commandment to the winds (never had he done this
+before), and taking three companions with him, by name Dieterich
+von Krassow, Joachim von Budde, and Achim von Weyer, he proceeded
+with them to the chamber of Sidonia, and with great violence burst
+open the door. There she lay on the bed weeping, in a green velvet
+robe, laced with gold, and embroidered with other golden
+ornaments, and her head was crowned with pearls and diamonds, so
+that the young Prince exclaimed, "Dearest Sidonia, you look like a
+king's bride. See, I keep my word; come now, and we shall dance
+together in the hall."
+
+Here he would willingly have kissed her, but was ashamed because
+the others were by, so he said, "Go ye now to the hall and see if
+the dance is still going on. I will follow with the maiden."
+Thereat the young men laughed, because they saw well that the
+Prince did not just then desire their company, and they all went
+away, except Joachim von Budde, the rogue, who crept behind the
+door, and peeped through the crevice.
+
+Now, the young lord was no sooner left alone with Sidonia than he
+pressed her to his heart--"Did she love him? She must say yes once
+again." Whereupon she clasped his neck with her little hands, and
+with every kiss that he gave her she murmured, "Yes, yes, yes!"
+"Would she be his own dear wife?" "Ah, if she dared. She would
+have no other spouse, no, not even if the Emperor came himself
+with all the seven electors. But he must not make her more
+miserable than she was already. What could they do? he never would
+be allowed to marry her." "He would manage that." Then he pressed
+her again to his heart, with such ardour that the knave behind the
+door grew jealous, and springing up, called out--"If his Highness
+wishes for a dance he must come now."
+
+When they both entered the hall, her Grace was treading a measure
+with old Ulrich, but he caught sight of them directly, and without
+making a single remark, resigned the hand of her Grace to Prince
+Bogislaus, and excused himself, saying that the noise of the music
+had made his head giddy, and that he must leave the hall for a
+little. He ran then along the corridor down to the courtyard, from
+thence to the guard, and commanded the officer with his troop,
+along with the executioner and six assistants, to be ready to rush
+into the hall with lighted matches, the moment he waved his hat
+with the white plumes from the window.
+
+When he returns, the dance is over, and my gracious lady,
+suspecting nothing as yet, sits in a corner and fans herself. Then
+Ulrich takes Sidonia in one hand and Prince Ernest in the other,
+brings them up straight before her Highness, and asks if she had
+herself given permission for the Prince and Sidonia to dance
+together in the hall. Her Highness started from her chair when she
+beheld them, her cheeks glowing with anger, and exclaimed, "What
+does this mean? Have you dared to release Sidonia?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes; for this noble maiden has been treated worse
+than a peasant-girl by my lady mother."
+
+_Illa_.--"Oh, woe is me! this is my just punishment for
+having forgotten my Philip so soon, and even consenting to tread a
+measure in the hall." So she wept, and threw herself again upon
+the seat, covering her face with both hands.
+
+Now old Ulrich began. "So, my young Prince, this is the way you
+keep the admonitions that your father, of blessed memory, gave you
+on his death-bed! Fie--shame on you! Did you not give your promise
+also to me, the old man before you? Sidonia shall return to her
+chamber, if my word has yet some power in Pomerania. Speak,
+gracious lady, give the order, and Sidonia shall be carried back
+to her room."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she laid her white hand, all covered with
+jewels, upon the old man's arm, and looked up at him with
+beseeching glances, and stroked his beard after her manner,
+crying, with tears of anguish, "Spare a poor young maiden! I will
+learn anything you tell me; I will repeat it all on Sunday. Only
+do not deal so hardly with me." But the little hands for once had
+no effect, nor the tears, nor the caresses; for Ulrich, throwing
+her off, gave her such a slap in the face that she uttered a loud
+cry and fell to the ground.
+
+If a firebrand had fallen into a barrel of gunpowder, it could not
+have caused a greater explosion in the hall than that cry; for
+after a short pause, in which every one stood silent as if
+thunderstruck, there arose from all the nobles, young and old, the
+terrible war-cry--"Jodute! Jodute! [Footnote: The learned have
+puzzled their heads a great deal over the etymology of this
+enigmatical word, which is identical in meaning with the terrible
+"_Zettergeschrei_" of the Reformation era. It is found in the
+Swedish, Gothic, and Low German dialects, and in the Italian
+_Goduta_. One of the best essays on the subject--which,
+however, leads to no result--the lover of antiquarian researches
+will find in Hakeus's "Pomeranian Provincial Papers," vol. v. p.
+207.] to arms, to arms!" and the cry was re-echoed till the whole
+hall rung with it. Whoever had a dagger or a sword drew it, and
+they who had none ran to fetch one. But the Prince would at once
+have struck old Ulrich to the heart, if his brother Bogislaus had
+not sprung on him from behind and pinioned his arms. Then Joachim
+von Budde made a pass at the old knight, and wounded him in the
+hand. So Ulrich changed his hat from the right hand to the left,
+and still kept retreating till he could gain the window and give
+the promised sign to the guard, crying as he fought his way
+backward, step by step, "Come on now--come on, Ernest. Murder the
+old grey-headed man whom thy father called friend--murder him, as
+thou wilt murder thy mother this night."
+
+Then reaching the window, he waved his hat until the sign was
+answered; then sprang forward again, seized Sidonia by the hand,
+crying, "Out, harlot!" Hereupon young Lord Ernest screamed still
+louder, "Jodute! Jodute! Down with the grey-headed villain! What!
+will not the nobles of Pomerania stand by their Prince? Down with
+the insolent grey-beard who has dared to call my princely bride a
+harlot!" And so he tore himself from his brother's grasp, and
+sprang upon the old man; but her Grace no sooner perceived his
+intention than she rushed between them, crying, "Hold! hold! hold!
+for the sake of God, hold! He is thy second father." And as the
+young Prince recoiled in horror, she seized Sidonia rapidly, and
+pushing her before Ulrich towards the door, cried, "Out with the
+accursed harlot!" But Joachim Budde, who had already wounded the
+Grand Chamberlain, now seizing a stick from one of the drummers,
+hit her Grace such a blow on the arm therewith that she had to let
+go her hold of Sidonia. When old Ulrich beheld this, he screamed,
+"Treason! treason!" and rushed upon Budde. But all the young
+nobles, who were now fully armed, surrounded the old man, crying,
+"Down with him! down with him!" In vain he tried to reach a bench
+from whence he could defend himself against his assailants; in a
+few moments he was overpowered by numbers and fell upon the floor.
+Now, indeed, it was all over with him, if the soldatesca had not
+at that instant rushed into the hall with fierce shouts, and
+Master Hansen the executioner, in his long red cloak, with six
+assistants accompanying them.
+
+"Help! help!" cried her Grace; "help for the Lord Chamberlain!"
+
+So they sprang to the centre of the hall where he was lying,
+dashed aside his assailants, and lifted up the old man from the
+floor with his hand all bleeding.
+
+But Joachim Budde, who was seated on the very same bench which
+Ulrich had in vain tried to reach, began to mock the old knight.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked if it were he who had struck her Grace with
+the drumstick. "Ay," quoth he, laughing, "and would that she had
+got more of it for treating that darling, sweet, beautiful Sidonia
+no better than a kitchen wench. Where is the old hag now? I will
+teach her the catechism with my drumstick, I warrant you."
+
+And he was going to rise, when Ulrich made a sign to the
+executioner, who instantly dropped his red cloak, under which he
+had hitherto concealed his long sword, and just as Joachim looked
+up to see what was going on, he whirled the sword round like a
+flash of lightning, and cut Budde's head clean off from the
+shoulders, so that not even a quill of his Spanish ruff was
+disturbed, and the blood spouted up like three horse-tails to the
+ceiling (for he drank so much that all the blood was in his head),
+and down tumbled his gay cap, with the heron's plume, to the
+ground, and his head along with it.
+
+In an instant all was quietness; for though some of the ladies
+fainted, amongst whom was her Grace, and others rushed out of the
+hall, still there was such a silence that when the corpse fell
+down at length heavily upon the ground the clap of the hands and
+feet upon the floor was quite audible.
+
+When Ulrich observed that his victory was complete, he waved his
+hat in the air, exclaiming, "The princely house of Pomerania is
+saved! and, as long as I live, its honour shall never be tarnished
+for the sake of a harlot! Remove Prince Ernest and Sidonia to
+separate prisons. Let the rest go their ways;--this devil's
+festival is at an end, and with my consent, there shall never be
+another in Wolgast."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_How Sidonia is sent away to Stettin--Item, of the young lord's
+dangerous illness, and what happened in consequence._
+
+
+Now the Grand Chamberlain was well aware that no good would result
+from having Sidonia brought to a public trial, because the whole
+court was on her side.
+
+Therefore he called Marcus Bork, her cousin, to him in the night,
+and bid him take her and her luggage away next morning before
+break of day, and never stop or stay until they reached Duke
+Barnim's court at Stettin. The wind was half-way round now, and
+before nightfall they might reach Oderkruge. He would first just
+write a few lines to his Highness; and when Marcus had made all
+needful preparation, let him come here to his private apartment
+and receive the letter. He had selected him for the business
+because he was Sidonia's cousin, and also because he was the only
+young man at the castle whom the wanton had not ensnared in her
+toils.
+
+But that night Ulrich had reason to know that Sidonia and her
+lovers were dangerous enemies; for just as he had returned to his
+little room, and seated himself down at the table, to write to his
+Grace of Stettin the whole business concerning Sidonia, the window
+was smashed, and a large stone came plump down upon the ink-bottle
+close beside him, and stained all the paper. As Ulrich went out to
+call the guard, Appelmann, the equerry, came running up to him,
+complaining that his lordship's beautiful horse was lying there in
+the stable groaning like a human creature, for that some wretches
+had cut its tail clean off.
+
+_Ille_.--"Were any of the grooms in the stable lately? or had
+he seen any one go by the window?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; it was impossible to see any one, on account of
+the darkness; but he thought he had heard some one creeping along
+by the wall."
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him come then, fetch a lantern, and summon all
+the grooms; he would give it to the knaves. Had he heard anything
+of her Highness recently?"
+
+_Hic_.--"A maid told him that her Grace was better, and had
+retired to rest."
+
+_Ille_.--"Thank God. Now they might go."
+
+But as they proceeded along the corridor, which was now almost
+quite dark, the old knight suddenly received such a blow upon his
+hat that the beautiful aigrette was broken, and he himself thrown
+against the wall with such violence that he lay a quarter of an
+hour insensible; then he shook his grey head. What could that
+mean? Had Appelmann seen any one?
+
+_Hic_.--"Ah! no; but he thought he heard steps, as if of some
+one running away."
+
+So they went on to the ducal stables, but nothing was to be seen
+or heard. The grooms knew nothing about the matter--the guard knew
+nothing. Then the old knight lamented over his beautiful horse,
+and told Appelmann to ride next morning, with Marcus Bork and
+Sidonia, to the Duke's castle at Stettin, and purchase the piebald
+mare for him from his Grace, about which they had been bargaining
+some time back; but he must keep all this secret, for the young
+nobles were to know nothing of the journey.
+
+Ah, what fine fun this is for the cunning rogue. "If his lordship
+would only give him the purse, he would bring him back a far finer
+horse than that which some knaves had injured." Whereupon the old
+knight went down to reckon out the rose-nobles--but, lo! a stone
+comes whizzing past him close to his head, so that if it had
+touched him, methinks the old man would never have spoken a word
+more. In short, wherever he goes, or stops, or stands, stones and
+buffets are rained down upon him, so that he has to call the guard
+to accompany him back to his chamber; but he lays the saddle on
+the right horse at last, as you shall hear in another place.
+
+After some hours everything became quiet in the castle, for the
+knaves were glad enough to sleep off their drunkenness. And so,
+early in the morning before dawn, while they were all snoring in
+their beds, Sidonia was carried off, scream as she would along the
+corridor, and even before the young knight's chamber; not a soul
+heard her. For she had not been brought to the prison tower, as at
+first commanded, but to her own little chamber, likewise the young
+lord to his; for the Grand Chamberlain thought afterwards this
+proceeding would not cause such scandal.
+
+But there truly was great grief in the castle when they all rose,
+and the cry was heard that Sidonia was gone; and some of the
+murderous lords threatened to make the old man pay with his blood
+for it. _Item_, no sooner was it day than Dr. Gerschovius ran
+in, crying that some of the young profligates had broken all his
+windows the night before, and turned a goat into the rectory, with
+the catechism of his dear and learned brother tied round his neck.
+
+Then old Ulrich's anger increased mightily, as might be imagined,
+and he brought the priest with him to the Duchess, who had got but
+little rest that night, and was busily turning her wheel with the
+little clock-work, and singing to it, in a loud, clear voice, that
+beautiful psalm (120th)--"In deep distress I oft have cried." She
+paused when they entered, and began to weep. "Was it not all
+prophesied? Why had she been persuaded to throw off her mourning,
+and slight the memory of her loved Philip? It was for this the
+wrath of God had come upon her house; for assuredly the Lord would
+avenge the innocent blood that had been shed."
+
+Then Ulrich answered that, as her Grace knew, he had earnestly
+opposed this festival; but as to what regarded, the traitor whose
+head he had chopped off, he was ready to answer for that blood,
+not only to man but before God. For had not the coward struck his
+own sovereign lady the Princess with the drumstick? _Item_,
+was he not in the act of rising to repeat the blow, as the whole
+nobility are aware, only he lost his head by the way; and if this
+had not been done, all order and government must have ceased
+throughout the land, and the mice and the rats rule the cats,
+which was against the order of nature and contrary to God's will.
+But his gracious lady might take consolation, for Sidonia had been
+carried from the castle that morning by four of the clock, and, by
+God's grace, never should set foot in it again. But there was
+another _gravamen_, and that concerned the young nobles, who,
+no doubt, would become more daring after the events of last
+evening. Then he related what had happened to the priest.
+"_Item_, what did my gracious lady mean to do with those
+drunken libertines? If her Grace had kept up the huntings and the
+fishings, as in the days of good Duke Philip, mayhap the young men
+would have been less given to debauchery; but her Grace kept an
+idle house, and they had nothing to do but drink and brew
+mischief. If her Grace had no fitting employment for these young
+fellows, then he would pack them all off to the devil the very
+next morning, for they brought nothing but disrespect upon the
+princely house of Wolgast."
+
+So her Grace rejoiced over Sidonia's departure, but could not
+consent to send away the young knights. Her beloved husband and
+lord, Philippus Primus, always kept a retinue of such young
+nobles, and all the princely courts did the same. What would her
+cousin of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg say, when they heard that
+she had no longer knights or pages at her court? She feared her
+princely name would be mentioned with disrespect.
+
+So Ulrich replied, that at all events, this set of young
+boisterers must be sent off, as they had grown too wild and
+licentious to be endured any longer; and that he would select a
+new retinue for her Grace from the discreetest and most
+sober-minded young knights of the court. Marcus Bork, however,
+might remain; he was true, loyal, and brave--not a wine-bibber and
+profligate like the others.
+
+So her Grace at last consented, seeing that no good would come of
+these young men now; on the contrary, they would be more daring
+and riotous than ever from rage, when they found that Sidonia had
+been sent away; and that business of the window-smashing and the
+goat demanded severe punishment. So let Ulrich look out for a new
+household; these gay libertines would be sent away.
+
+While she was speaking, the door opened, and Prince Ernest entered
+the chamber, looking so pale and haggard, that her Grace clasped
+her hands together, and asked him, with terror, what had happened.
+
+_Ille._--"Did she ask what had happened, when all Pomerania
+rung with it?--when nobles were beheaded before her face as if
+they were nothing more than beggars' brats?--when the delicate and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, who had been entrusted to her care by Duke
+Barnim himself, was turned out of the castle in the middle of the
+night as if she were a street-girl, because, forsooth, she would
+not learn her catechism? The world would scarcely credit such
+scandalous acts, and yet they were all true. But to-morrow (if
+this weakness which had come over him allowed of it) he would set
+off for Stettin, also to Berlin and Schwerin, and tell the princes
+there, his cousins, what government they held in Wolgast. He would
+soon be twenty, and would then take matters into his own hands;
+and he would pray his guardian and dear uncle, Duke Barnim, to
+pronounce him at once of age; then the devil might take Ulrich and
+his government, but he would rule the castle his own way."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"But what did he complain of? What ailed him?
+She must know this first, for he was looking as pale as a corpse."
+
+_Ille_.--"Did she not know, then, what ailed him? Well, since
+he must tell her, it was anger-anger that made him so pale and
+weak."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Anger, was it? Anger, because the false
+wanton, Sidonia, had been removed by her orders from her princely
+castle? Ah! she knew now what the wanton had come there for; but
+would he kill his mother? She nearly sank upon the ground last
+night when he called the impudent wench his bride. But she forgave
+him; it must have been the wine he drank made him so forget
+himself; or was it possible that he spoke in earnest?"
+
+_Ille_ (sighing).--"The future will tell that." "Oh, woe is
+me! what must I live to hear? If thy father could look up from his
+grave, and see thee disgracing thy princely blood by a marriage
+with a bower maiden!--. thou traitorous, disobedient son, do not
+lie to me. I know from thy sighs what thy purpose is--for this
+thou art going to Stettin and Berlin."
+
+The Prince is silent, and looks down upon the ground.
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Oh, shame on thee! shame on thee for the sake
+of thy mother! shame on thee for the sake of this servant of God,
+thy second father, this old man here! What! a vile knave strike
+thy mother, before the face of all the court, and thou condemnest
+him because he avenged her! Truly thou art a fine, brave son, to
+let thy mother be struck before thy face, for the sake of a
+harlot. Canst thou deny it? I conjure thee by the living God, tell
+me is it thy true purpose to take this harlot to thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He could give but one answer, the future would
+decide."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"Oh, she was reserved for all
+misfortunes! Why did Doctor Martinus let her ring fall? All, all
+has followed from that! If he had chosen a good, humble, honest
+girl, she would say nothing; but this wanton, this light maiden,
+that ran after every carl and let them court her!"
+
+Here the young Prince was seized with such violent convulsions
+that he fell upon the floor, and her Grace raised him up with loud
+lamentations. He was carried in a dead faint to his chamber, and
+the court physician, Doctor Pomius, instantly summoned. Doctor
+Pomius was a pompous little man (for my father knew him well), dry
+and smart in his words, and with a face like a pair of
+nutcrackers, for his front teeth were gone, so that his lips
+seemed dried on his gums, like the skin of a mummy. He was withal
+too self-conceited and boastful, and malicious, full of gossip and
+ill-nature, and running down every one that did not believe that
+he (Doctor Pomius) was the only learned physician in the world.
+Following the celebrated rules laid down by Theophrastus
+Paracelsus, he cured everything with trash--and asses' dung was
+his infallible panacea for all complaints. This pharmacopoeia was
+certainly extremely simple, easily obtained, and universal in its
+application. If the dung succeeded, the doctor drew himself up,
+tossed his head, and exclaimed, "What Doctor Pomius orders always
+succeeds." But if the wretched patient slipped out of his hands
+into the other world, he shook his head and said, "There is an
+hour for every man to die; of course his had come--physicians
+cannot work miracles."
+
+Pomius hated every other doctor in the town, and abused them so
+for their ignorance and stupidity, that finally her Grace believed
+that no one in the world knew anything but Doctor Pomius, and that
+a vast amount of profound knowledge was expressed, if he only put
+his finger to the end of his nose, as was his habit.
+
+So, as I have said, she summoned him to attend the young lord; and
+after feeling his pulse and asking some questions respecting his
+general health, the doctor laid his finger, as usual, to his nose,
+and pronounced solemnly--"The young Prince must immediately take a
+dose of asses' dung stewed in wine, with a little of the
+_laudanum paracelsi_ poured in afterwards--this will restore
+him certainly."
+
+But it was all in vain; for the young Prince still continued day
+and night calling for Sidonia, and neither the Duchess nor Doctor
+Gerschovius could in any wise comfort him. This afflicted her
+Grace almost to the death; and by Ulrich's advice, she despatched
+her second son, Duke Barnim the younger, and Dagobert von
+Schwerin, to the court of Brunswick, to solicit in her name the
+hand of the young Princess Sophia Hedwig, for her son Ernest
+Ludovicus. Now, in the whole kingdom, there was no more beautiful
+princess than Sophia of Brunswick; and her Grace was filled with
+hope that, by her means, the influence of the detestable Sidonia
+over the heart of the young lord would be destroyed for ever.
+
+In due time the ambassadors returned, with the most favourable
+answer. Father, mother, and daughter all gave consent; and the
+Duke of Brunswick also forwarded by their hands an exquisite
+miniature of his beautiful daughter for Prince Ernest.
+
+This miniature her Grace now hung up beside his bed. Would he not
+look at the beautiful bride she had selected for him? Could there
+be a more lovely face in all the German empire? What was Sidonia
+beside her, but a rude country girl!--would he not give her up at
+last, this light wench? While, on the contrary, this illustrious
+princess was as virtuous as she was beautiful, and this the whole
+court of Brunswick could testify.
+
+But the young lord would give no heed to her Grace, and spat out
+at the picture, and cried to take away the daub--into the fire
+with it--anywhere out of his sight. Unless his dear, his beautiful
+Sidonia came to tend him, he would die--he felt that he was dying.
+
+So her Grace took counsel with old Ulrich, and Doctor Pomius, and
+the priest, what could be done now. The doctor mentioned that he
+must have been witch-struck. Then more doctors were sent for from
+the Grypswald, but all was in vain--no one knew what ailed him;
+and from day to day he grew worse.
+
+Clara von Dewitz now bitterly reproached herself for having
+concealed her suspicions about the love-drink from her
+Grace--though indeed she did so by desire of her betrothed, Marcus
+Bork. But now, seeing that the young Prince lay absolutely at the
+point of death, she could no longer hold her peace, but throwing
+herself on her knees before her Grace, told her the whole story of
+the witch-girl whom she had sheltered in the castle, and of her
+fears that Sidonia had learned from her how to brew a
+love-philtre, which she had afterwards given to the Prince.
+
+Her Grace was sore displeased with Clara for having kept all this
+a secret, and said that she would have expected more wisdom and
+discretion from her, seeing that she had always counted her the
+most worthy amongst her maidens; then she summoned Ulrich, and
+laid the evil matter before him. He shook his head; believed that
+they had hit on the true cause now. Such a sickness had nothing
+natural about it--there must be magic and witchwork in it; but he
+would have the whole land searched for the girl, and make her give
+the young lord some potion that would take off the spell.
+
+Now the witch-girl had been pardoned a few days before that, and
+sent back to Usdom, near Daber; but bailiffs were now sent in all
+directions to arrest her, and bring her again to Wolgast without
+delay.
+
+So the wretched creature was discovered, before long, in Kruge,
+near Mahlzow, where she had hired herself as a spinner for the
+winter, and brought before Ulrich and her Grace. She was there
+admonished to tell the whole truth, but persisted in asseverating
+that Sidonia had never learned from her how to make a love-drink.
+Her statement, however, was not believed; and Master Hansen was
+summoned, to try and make her speak more. The affair, indeed,
+appeared so serious to Ulrich, that he himself stood by while she
+was undergoing the torture, and carried on the _protocollum_,
+calling out to Master Hansen occasionally not to spare his
+squeezes. But though the blood burst from her finger-ends, and her
+hip was put out of joint, so that she limped ever after, she
+confessed nothing more, nor did she alter the statement which she
+had first made.
+
+_Item_, her Grace, and the priest, and all the bystanders
+exhorted her in vain to confess the truth (for her Grace was
+present at the torture). At last she cried out, "Yes, I know
+something that will cure him! Mercy! mercy! and I will tell it."
+
+So they unbound her, and she was going straightway to make her
+witch-potion, but old Ulrich changed his mind. Who could know
+whether this devil's fiend was telling them the truth? May be she
+would kill the young lord in place of curing him. So they gave her
+another stretch upon the rack. But as she still held by all her
+assertions, they spared her any further torture.
+
+But, in my opinion, the young lord must have obtained something
+from her, otherwise he could not have recovered all at once the
+moment that Sidonia was brought back, as I shall afterwards
+relate.
+
+_Sum total_.--The young Prince screamed day and night for
+Sidonia, and told her Grace that he now felt he was dying, and
+requested, as his last prayer upon this earth, to be allowed to
+see her once more. The maiden was an angel of goodness; and if she
+could but close his dying eyes, he would die happy.
+
+It can be easily imagined with what humour her Grace listened to
+such a request, for she hated Sidonia like Satan himself; but as
+nothing else could satisfy him, she promised to send for her, if
+Prince Ernest would solemnly swear, by the corpse of his father,
+that he would never wed her, but select some princess for his
+bride, as befitted his exalted rank--the Princess Hedwig, or some
+other--as soon as he had recovered sufficiently to be able to quit
+his bed. So he quickly stretched forth his thin, white hand from
+the bed, and promised his dearly beloved mother to do all she had
+asked, if she would only send horsemen instantly to Stettin, for
+the journey by water was insecure, and might be tedious if the
+wind were not favourable.
+
+Hereupon a great murmur arose in the castle; and young Duke
+Bogislaus fell into such a rage that he took his way back again to
+Camyn, and his younger brother, Barnim, accompanied him. But the
+anger of the Grand Chamberlain no words can express. He told her
+Grace, in good round terms, that she would be the mock of the
+whole land. The messengers had only just returned who had carried
+away Sidonia from the castle under the greatest disgrace; and now,
+forsooth, they must ride back again to bring her back with all
+honour.
+
+"Oh, it was all true, quite true; but then, if her dearest son
+Ernest were to die--"
+
+_Ille_.--"Let him die. Better lose his life than his honour."
+
+_Hæc_.--"He would not peril his honour, for he had sworn by
+the corpse of his father never to wed Sidonia."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, he was quick enough in promising, but
+performing was a different thing. Did her Grace think that the
+passion of a man could be controlled by promises, as a tame horse
+by a bridle? Never, never. Passion was a wild horse, that no bit,
+or bridle, or curb could guide, and would assuredly carry his
+rider to the devil."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Still she could not give up her son to death;
+besides, he would repent and see his folly. Did not God's Word
+tell us how the prodigal son returned to his father, and would not
+her son return likewise?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Ay, when he has kept swine. After that he may
+return, but not till then. The youngster was as great a fool about
+women as he had ever come across in his life."
+
+_Her Grace_ (weeping).--"He was too harsh on the young man.
+Had she not sent away the girl at his command; and now he would
+let her own child die before her eyes, without hope or
+consolation?"
+
+_Ille_.--"But if her child is indeed dying, would she send
+for the devil to attend him in his last moments? Her Grace should
+be more consistent. If the young lord is dying, let him die; her
+Grace has other children, and God will know how to comfort her.
+Had he not been afflicted himself? and let her ask Dr. Gerschovius
+if the Lord had not spoken peace unto him."
+
+_Her Grace_.--"Ah, true; but then neither of them are
+mothers. Her son is asking every moment if the messengers have
+departed, and what shall she answer him? She cannot lie, but must
+tell the whole bitter truth."
+
+_Ille_.--"He saw the time had come at last for him to follow
+the young princes. He was of no use here any longer. Her Grace
+must give him permission to take his leave, for he would sail off
+that very day for his castle at Spantekow, and then she might do
+as she pleased respecting the young lord."
+
+So her Grace besought him not to leave her in her sore trouble and
+perplexity. Her two sons had sailed away, and there was no one
+left to advise and comfort her.
+
+But Ulrich was inflexible. "She must either allow her son quietly
+to leave this miserable life, or allow him to leave this miserable
+court service."
+
+"Then let him go to Spantekow. Her son should be saved. She would
+answer before the throne of the Almighty for what she did. But
+would he not promise to return, if she stood in any great need or
+danger? for she felt that both were before her; still she must
+peril everything to save her child."
+
+_Ille_.--"Yes, he would be ready on her slightest summons;
+and he doubted not but that Sidonia would soon give her trouble
+and sorrow enough. But he could not remain now, without breaking
+his knightly oath to Duke Philip, his deceased feudal seigneur of
+blessed memory, and standing before the court and the world as a
+fool."
+
+So after many tears her Grace gave him his dismissal, and he rode
+that same day to Spantekow, promising to return if she were in
+need, and also to send her a new retinue and household
+immediately.
+
+This last arrangement displeased Marcus Bork mightily, for he had
+many friends amongst the knights who were now to be dismissed, and
+so he, too, prayed her Grace for leave to resign his office and
+retire from court. He had long looked upon Clara von Dewitz with a
+holy Christian love, and, if her Grace permitted, he would now
+take her home as his dear loving wife.
+
+Her Grace replied that she had long suspected this
+betrothal--particularly from the time that Clara told her of his
+advice respecting the concealment of the witch-girl's visit to
+Sidonia; and as he had acted wrongly in that business, he must now
+make amends by not deserting her in her greatest need. Her sons
+and old Ulrich had already left her; some one must remain in whom
+she could place confidence. It would be time enough afterwards to
+bring home his beloved wife Clara, and she would wish them God's
+blessing on their union.
+
+_Ille_.--"True, he had been wrong in concealing that business
+with the witch-girl, but her Grace must pardon him. He never
+thought it would bring the young lord to his dying bed. Whatever
+her Grace now commanded he would yield obedience to."
+
+"Then," said her Grace, "do you and Appelmann mount your horses
+instantly, ride to Stettin, and bring back Sidonia. For her dearly
+beloved son had sworn that he could not die easy unless he beheld
+Sidonia once more, and that she attended him in his last moments."
+
+It may be easily imagined how the good knight endeavoured to
+dissuade her Highness from this course, and even spoke to the
+young Prince himself, but in vain. That same day he and Appelmann
+were obliged to set off for Stettin, and on their arrival
+presented the following letter to old Duke Barnim:--
+
+"MARIA, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, BORN DUCHESS OF SAXONY, &c.
+
+"ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE AND MY DEAR UNCLE,--It has not been concealed
+from your Highness how our clear son Ernest Ludovicus, since the
+departure of Sidonia, has fallen, by the permission of God, into
+such a state of bodily weakness that his life even stands in
+jeopardy.
+
+"He has declared that nothing will restore him but to see Sidonia
+once more. We therefore entreat your Highness, after admonishing
+the aforesaid maiden severely upon her former light and unseemly
+behaviour, to dismiss her with our messengers, that they may
+return and give peace and health to our dearly beloved son.
+
+"If your Highness would enjoy a hunt or a fishing with a tame
+sea-gull, it would give us inexpressible pleasure.
+
+"We commend you lovingly to God's holy keeping.
+
+"Given from our Castle of Wolgast, this Friday, April 15, 1569.
+
+"MARIA."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How Duke Barnim of Stettin and Otto Bork accompany Sidonia back
+to Wolgast._
+
+
+When his Highness of Stettin had finished the perusal of her
+Grace's letter, he laughed loudly, and exclaimed--
+
+"This comes of all their piety and preachings. I knew well what
+this extravagant holiness would make of my dear cousin and old
+Ulrich. If people would persist in being so wonderfully religious,
+they would soon become as sour as an old cabbage head; and Sidonia
+declared, that, for her part, a hundred horses should not drag her
+back to Wolgast, where she had been lectured and insulted, and all
+because she would not learn her catechism like a little
+school-girl."
+
+Nor would Otto Bork hear of her returning. (He was waiting at
+Stettin to conduct her back to Stramehl.) At last, however, he
+promised to consent, on condition that his Highness would grant
+him the dues on the Jena.
+
+Now the Duke knew right well that Otto wanted to revenge himself
+upon the people of Stargard, with whom he was at enmity; but he
+pretended not to observe the cunning knight's motives, and merely
+replied--
+
+"They must talk of the matter at Wolgast, for nothing could be
+decided upon without having the opinion of his cousin the
+Duchess."
+
+So the knight taking this as a half-promise, and Sidonia having at
+last consented, they all set off on Friday with a good south wind
+in their favour, and by that same evening were landed by the
+little water-gate at Wolgast. His Highness was received with
+distinguished honours--the ten knights of her Grace's new
+household being in waiting to receive him as he stepped on shore.
+
+So they proceeded to the castle, the Duke having Sidonia upon one
+arm, and a Cain under the other, which he had been carving during
+the passage, for the Eve had long since been finished. Otto
+followed; and all the people, when they beheld Sidonia, uttered
+loud cries of joy that the dear young lady had come back to them.
+
+This increased her arrogance, so that when her Grace received her,
+and began a godly admonishment upon her past levities, and
+conjured her to lead a modest, devout life for the future, Sidonia
+replied indiscreetly--"She knew not what her Grace and her parson
+meant by a modest, devout life, except it were learning the
+catechism of Dr. Gerschovius; from such modesty and devoutness she
+begged to be excused, she was no little school-girl now--she
+thought her Grace had got rid of all her whims and caprices, by
+sending for her after having turned her out of the castle without
+any cause whatever--but it was all the old thing over again."
+
+Her Grace coloured up with anger at this bitter speech, but held
+her peace. Then Otto addressed her, and begged leave to ask her
+Grace what kind of order was held at her court, where a priest was
+allowed to slap the fingers of a noble young maiden, and a
+chamberlain to smite her on the face? Had he known that such were
+the usages at her court of Wolgast, the Lady Sidonia (such he
+delighted to call her, as though she were of princely race) never
+should have entered it, and he would now instantly take her back
+to Stramehl, if her Grace would not consent to give him up the
+dues on the Jena.
+
+Now her Grace knew nothing about the dues, and therefore said,
+turning to the Duke--"Dear uncle, what does this arrogant knave
+mean? I do not comprehend his insolent speech." Hereupon Otto
+chafed with rage, that her Grace had named him with such contempt,
+and cried--"Then was your husband a knave, too! for my blood is as
+noble and nobler than your own, and I am lord of castles and
+lands. Come, my daughter; let us leave the robbers' den, or mayhap
+thy father will be struck even as thou wert."
+
+Now her Grace knew not what to do, and she lamented loudly--more
+particularly because at this moment a message arrived from Prince
+Ernest, praying her for God's sake to bring Sidonia to him, as he
+understood that she had been in the castle now a full quarter of
+an hour. Then old Otto laughed loudly, took his daughter by the
+hand, and cried again, "Come--let us leave this robber hole. Come,
+Sidonia!"
+
+This plunged her Grace into despair, and she exclaimed in anguish,
+"Will you not have pity on my dying child?" but Otto continued,
+"Come, Sidonia! come, Sidonia!" and he drew her by the hand.
+
+Here Duke Barnim rose up and said, "Sir Knight, be not so
+obstinate. Remember it is a sorrowing mother who entreats you. Is
+it not true, Sidonia, you will remain here?"
+
+Then the cunning hypocrite lifted her kerchief to her eyes, and
+replied, "If I did not know the catechism of Doctor Gerschovius,
+yet I know God's Word, and how the Saviour said, 'I was sick and
+ye visited Me,' and James also says, 'The prayer of faith shall
+save the sick.' No, I will not let this poor young lord die, if my
+visit and my prayer can help him."
+
+"No, no," exclaimed Otto, "thou shall not remain, unless the dues
+of the Jena be given up to me." And as at this moment another page
+arrived from Prince Ernest, with a similar urgent request for
+Sidonia to come to him, her Grace replied quickly, "I promise all
+that you desire," without knowing what she was granting; so the
+knight said he was content, and let go his daughter's hand.
+
+Now the good town of Stargard would have been ruined for ever by
+this revengeful man, if his treacherous designs had not been
+defeated (as we shall see presently) by his own terrible death. He
+had long felt a bitter hatred to the people of Stargard, because
+at one time they had leagued with the Greifenbergers and the Duke
+of Pomerania to ravage his town of Stramehl, in order to avenge an
+insult he had offered to the old burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann,
+father of the chief equerry, Johann Appelmann. In return for this
+outrage, Otto determined, if possible, to get the control of the
+dues of the Jena into his own hands, and when the Stargardians
+brought their goods and provisions up the Jena, and from thence
+prepared to enter the river Haff, he would force them to pay such
+exorbitant duty upon everything, that the merchants and the
+people, in short, the whole town, would be ruined, for their whole
+subsistence and merchandise came by these two rivers, and all this
+was merely to gratify his revenge. But the just God graciously
+turned away the evil from the good town, and let it fall upon
+Otto's own head, as we shall relate in its proper place.
+
+So, when the old knight had let go his daughter's hand, her Grace
+seized it, and went instantly with Sidonia to the chamber of the
+young lord, all the others following. And here a moving scene was
+witnessed, for as they entered, Prince Ernest extended his thin,
+pale hands towards Sidonia, exclaiming, "Sidonia, ah, dearest
+Sidonia, have you come at last to nursetend me?" then he took her
+little hand, kissed it, and bedewed it with his tears, still
+repeating, "Sidonia, dearest Sidonia, have you come to nursetend
+me?"
+
+So the artful hypocrite began to weep, and said--. "Yes, my
+gracious Prince, I have come to you, although your priest struck
+me on the fingers, and your mother and old Ulrich called me a
+harlot, before all the court, and lastly, turned me out of the
+castle by night, as if I had been a swine-herd; but I have not the
+heart to let your Highness surfer, if my poor prayers and help can
+abate your sickness; therefore let them strike me, and call me a
+harlot again, if they wish."
+
+This so melted the heart of my gracious Prince Ernest, that he
+cried out, "O Sidonia, angel of goodness, give me one kiss, but
+one little kiss upon my mouth, Sidonia! bend down to me--but one,
+one kiss!" Her Grace was dreadfully scandalised at such a speech,
+and said he ought to be ashamed of such words. Did he not remember
+what he had sworn by the corpse of his father at St. Peter's? But
+old Duke Barnim cried out, laughing--"Give him a kiss, Sidonia;
+that is the best plaster for his wounds; 'a kiss in honour brings
+no dishonour,' says the proverb."
+
+However, Sidonia still hesitated, and bending down to the young
+man, said, "Wait, gracious Prince, until we are alone."
+
+If the Duchess had been angry before, what was it to her rage
+now--"Alone! she would take good care they were never to be
+alone!"
+
+Otto took no notice of this speech, probably because he saw that
+matters were progressing much to his liking between the Prince and
+his daughter; but Duke Barnim exclaimed, "How now, dearest cousin,
+are you going to spoil all by your prudery? You brought the girl
+here to cure him, and what other answer could she give? Bend thee
+down, Sidonia, and give him one little kiss upon the lips--I, the
+Prince, command thee; and see, thou needst not be ashamed, for I
+will set thee an example with his mother. Come, dear cousin, put
+off that sour face, and give me a good, hearty kiss; your son will
+get well the sooner for it:" but as he attempted to seize hold of
+her Grace, she cried out, and lifted up her hands to Heaven,
+lamenting in a loud voice--"Oh, evil and wicked world! may God
+release me from this wicked world, and lay me down this day beside
+my Philip in the grave!" Then weeping and wringing her hands, she
+left the chamber, while the old knight, and--God forgive
+him!--even Duke Barnim, looked after her, laughing.
+
+"Come, Otto," said his Grace, "let us go too, and leave this pair
+alone; I must try and pacify my dear cousin." So they left the
+room, and on the way Otto opened his mind to the Duke about this
+love matter, and asked his Grace, would he consent to the union,
+if Prince Ernest, on his recovery, made honourable proposals for
+his daughter Sidonia.
+
+But his Grace was right crafty, and merely answered--"Time enough
+to settle that, Otto, when he is recovered; but methinks you will
+have some trouble with his mother unless you are more civil to
+her; so if you desire her favour, bear yourself more humbly, I
+advise you, as befits a subject."
+
+This the knight promised, and the conversation ceased, as they
+came up with the Duchess just then, who was waiting for them in
+the grand corridor. No sooner did she perceive that Sidonia was
+not with them than she cried out, "So my son is alone with the
+maiden!" and instantly despatched three pages to watch them both.
+
+Otto had now changed his tone, and instead of retorting, thanked
+her Grace for the praiseworthy and Christian care she took of his
+daughter. He did not believe this at first, but now he saw it with
+his own eyes. Alas, it was too true, the world was daily growing
+worse and worse, and the devil haunted us with his temptations,
+like our own flesh and blood. Then he sighed and kissed her hand,
+and prayed her Grace to pardon him his former bold language--but,
+in truth, he had felt displeased at first to see her Grace so
+harsh to Sidonia, when every one else at the castle received her
+with rapture; but he saw now that she only meant kindly and
+motherly by the girl.
+
+Then the Duke asked, her pardon for his little jest about the
+kissing. She knew well that he meant no harm; and also that it was
+not in his nature to endure any melancholy or lamentable faces
+around him.
+
+So her Grace was reconciled to both, and when the Duke announced
+that he and the knight proposed visiting Barth [Footnote: Barth, a
+little town; and Eldena was at that time a richly endowed convent
+near Greifswald.] and Eldena, from whence they would return in a
+few days, to take their leave of her, she said that if her dearest
+son Ernest grew any better, she would have a grand _battue_
+in honour of his Highness Duke Barnim, upon their return.
+
+Accordingly, after having amused themselves for a little fishing
+with the tame sea-gull, the Duke and Otto rode away, and her Grace
+went to the chamber of the young Prince, to keep watch there
+during the night. She would willingly have dismissed Sidonia, but
+he forbade her; and Sidonia herself declared that she would watch
+day and night by the bedside of the young lord. So she sat the
+whole night by his bed, holding his hand in hers, and told him
+about her journey, and how shamefully she had been smuggled away
+out of the castle by old Ulrich, because she would not learn the
+catechism; and of her anguish when the messengers arrived, and
+told of their young lord's illness. She was quite certain Ulrich
+must have given him something to cause it, as a punishment for
+having released her from prison, for if he could strike a maiden,
+it was not surprising that he would injure even his future
+reigning Prince to gratify his malice. It was well the old
+malignant creature was away now, as she was told, and if his Grace
+did right he would play him a trick in return, and set fire to his
+castle at Spantekow as soon as he was able to move.
+
+Her Grace endured all this in silence, for her dear son's sake,
+though in truth her anger was terrible. The young lord, however,
+grew better rapidly, and the following day was even able to creep
+out of bed for a couple of hours, to touch the lute. And he taught
+Sidonia all, and placed her little fingers himself on the strings,
+that she might learn the better. Then, for the first time, he
+called for something to eat, and after that fell into a profound
+sleep which lasted forty-eight hours. During this time he lay like
+one dead, and her Grace would have tried to awaken him, but the
+physician prevented her. At length, when he awoke, he cried out
+loudly, first for Sidonia, and then for some food.
+
+At last, to the great joy of her Grace, he was able, on the fourth
+day, to walk in the castle garden, and arranged to attend the hunt
+with his dear uncle upon his return to Wolgast. The Duke, on his
+arrival, rejoiced greatly to find the young lord so well, and said
+with his usual gay manner, "Come here, Sidonia; I have been rather
+unwell on the journey: come here and give me a kiss too, to make
+me better!" and Sidonia complied. Whereupon her Grace looked
+unusually sour, but said nothing, for fear of disturbing the
+general joy. Indeed, the whole castle was in a state of jubilee,
+and her Grace promised that she and her ladies would attend the
+hunt on the following day.
+
+About this time the castle was troubled by a strange
+apparition--no other than the spectre of the serpent knight, who
+had been drowned some time previously. It was reported that every
+night the ghost entered the castle by the little water-gate,
+though it was kept barred and bolted, traversed the whole length
+of the corridor, and sunk down into the earth, just over the place
+where the ducal coaches and sleighs were kept.
+
+Every one fled in terror before the ghost, and scarcely a
+lansquenet could be found to keep the night watch. What this
+spectre betokened shall be related further on in this little
+history, but at present I must give an account of the grand
+_battue_ which took place according to her Grace's orders,
+and of what befell there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_Of the grand battue, and what the young Duke and Sidonia
+resolved on there._
+
+
+The preparations for the hunt commenced early in the morning, and
+the knights and nobles assembled in the hall of fishes (so called
+because the walls were painted with representations of all the
+fishes that are indigenous to Pomerania). Here a superb breakfast
+was served, and pages presented water in finger-basins of silver
+to each of the princely personages. Then costly wines were handed
+round, and Duke Barnim, having filled to the brim a cup bearing
+the Pomeranian arms, rose up and said, "Give notice to the warder
+at St. Peter's." And immediately, as the great bell of the town
+rang out, and resounded through the castle and all over the town,
+his Grace gave the health of Prince Ernest, who pledged him in
+return. Afterwards they all descended to the courtyard, and his
+Grace entered the ducal mews himself, to select a horse for the
+day. Now these mews were of such wonderful beauty, that I must
+needs append a description of them here.
+
+First there was a grand portico, and within a corridor with ranges
+of pillars on each side, round which were hung antlers and horns
+of all the animals of the chase. This led to the pond with the
+island in the centre, where the bear was kept, as I have already
+described. When Duke Barnim and the old knight emerged from the
+portico to enter the stable, they were met by Johann Appelmann,
+the chief equerry, who spread before the feet of his Highness a
+scarlet horse-cloth, embroidered with the ducal arms, whereon he
+laid a brush and a riding-whip; and then demanded his
+_Trinkgeld_.
+
+On entering, they observed numerous stalls filled with Pomeranian,
+Hungarian, Frisian, Danish, and Turkish horses--each race by
+itself, and each horse standing ready saddled and bridled since
+the morning. _Item_, all along the walls were ranged enormous
+brazen lions' heads, which conveyed water throughout the building,
+and cleansed the stables completely every day.
+
+Otto wondered much at all this magnificence, and asked his Grace
+what could her Highness want with all these horses.
+
+"They eat their oats in idleness, for the most part," replied the
+Duke. "No one uses them but the pages and knights of the
+household, who may select any for riding that pleases them; but
+her Highness would never diminish any of the state maintained by
+her deceased lord, Duke Philip. So there has been always, since
+that time, particular attention paid to the ducal stables at
+Wolgast."
+
+Now the train began to move towards the hunt, in all about a
+hundred persons, and in front rode her Grace upon an ambling
+palfrey, dressed in a riding-habit of green velvet, and wearing a
+yellow hat with plumes. Her little Casimir rode by her side on a
+Swedish pony; then followed her ladies-in-waiting, amongst whom
+rode Sidonia, all likewise dressed in green velvet
+hunting-dresses, fastened with golden clasps; but in place of
+yellow, they wore scarlet hats, with gilded herons' plumes. Duke
+Barnim and Prince Ernest rode along with her Grace; and though
+none but those of princely blood were allowed to join this group,
+yet Otto strove to keep near them, as if he really belonged to the
+party, just as the sacristan strives to make the people think he
+is as good as the priest by keeping as close as he can to him
+while the procession moves along the streets.
+
+After these came the marshal, the castellan, and then the
+treasurer, with the office-bearers, knights, and esquires of the
+household. Then the chief equerry, with the master of the hounds
+and the principal huntsmen. But the beaters, pages, lacqueys,
+drummers, coursers, and runners had already gone on before a good
+way; and never had the Wolgastians beheld such a stately hunt as
+this since the death of good Duke Philip. So the whole town ran
+together, and followed the procession for a good space, up to the
+spot where blue tents were erected for her Grace and her ladies.
+The ground all round was strewed with flowers and evergreens, and
+before the tents palisades were erected, on which lay loaded
+rifles, ready to discharge at any of the game that came that way;
+and for two miles round the master of the hunt had laid down nets,
+which were all connected together at a point close to the princely
+tent.
+
+When the beaters and their dogs had started the animals, he left
+the tent to reconnoitre, and if the sport promised to be
+plentiful, he ordered the drums to beat, in order to give her
+Highness notice. Then she took a rifle herself, and brought down
+several head, which was easily accomplished, when they passed upon
+each other as thick as sheep. Sidonia, who had often attended the
+hunts at Stramehl, was a most expert shot, and brought down ten
+roes and stags, whereon she had much jesting with the young lords,
+who had not been half so successful. And let no one imagine that
+there was danger to her Highness and her ladies in thus firing at
+the wild droves from her tent, for it was erected upon a
+scaffolding raised five feet from the ground, and surrounded by
+palisades, so that it was impossible the animals could ever reach
+it.
+
+On that day, there were killed altogether one hundred and fifty
+stags, one hundred roes, five hundred hares, three hundred foxes,
+one hundred wild boars, seven wolves, five wild-cats, and one
+bear, which was entangled in the net and then shot. And at last
+the right hearty pleasure of the day began.
+
+For it was the custom at the ducal court for each huntsman, from
+the master of the hunt down, to receive a portion of the game; and
+her Grace took much pleasure now in seeing the mode in which the
+distribution was made. It was done in this wise: each man received
+the head of the animal, and as much of the neck as he could cover
+with the ears, by dragging them down with all his might.
+
+So the huntsmen stood now toiling and sweating, each with one foot
+firmly planted against a stone and the other on the belly of the
+beast, dragging down the ears with all his force to the very
+furthest point they could go, when another huntsman, standing by,
+cut off the head at that point with his hunting-knife.
+
+Then each man let his dog bite at the entrails of a stag, while
+they repeated old charms and verses over them, such as:--
+
+  "Diana, no better e'er track'd a wood;
+  There's many a huntsman not half so good."
+
+Or, in Low German:--
+
+  "Wasser, if ever the devil you see,
+  Bite his leg for him, or he will bite me."
+
+These old rhymes pleased the young Casimir mightily: if his lady
+mother would only lend him a ribbon, he would lead up little
+Blaffert his dog to them, and have a rhyme said over him. So her
+Grace consented, and broke off her sandal-tie to fasten in the
+little dog's collar, because in her hurry she could find no other
+string, and left the tent herself with the child to conduct him to
+the huntsmen.
+
+Now the moment her Grace had taken her eyes off Sidonia, and that
+all the other ladies had left the tent to follow her and the
+little boy, who was laughing and playing with his dog, the young
+maiden, looking round to see that no one was observing her,
+slipped out and ran in amongst the bushes, and my lord, Prince
+Ernest, slipped after her. No one observed them, for all eyes were
+turned upon the princely child, who sprang to a huntsman and
+begged of him to say a rhyme or two over his little dog Blaffert.
+The carl rubbed his forehead, and at last gave out his psalm, as
+follows, in Low German:--
+
+  "Blaffert, Blaffert, thou art fat!
+    If my lord would only feed
+  All his people like to that
+    'Twould be well for Pommern's need."
+
+ [Footnote: Pomerania.]
+
+All the bystanders laughed heartily, and then the hounds were
+given their dinner according to the usage, which was this:--A
+number of oak and birch trees were felled, and over every two and
+two there was spread a tablecloth--that is, the warm skin of a
+deer or wild-boar; into this, as into a wooden trencher, was
+poured the warm blood of the wild animals, which the hounds lapped
+up, while forty huntsmen played a march with drums and trumpets,
+which was re-echoed from the neighbouring wood, to the great
+delight of all the listeners. When the hounds had lapped up all
+the blood, they began to eat up the tablecloths likewise; but as
+these belonged to the huntsmen, a great fight took place between
+them and the dogs for the skins, which was right merry to behold,
+and greatly rejoiced the ducal party and all the people.
+
+In the meantime, as I said, Sidonia had slipped into the wood, and
+the young lord after her. He soon found her resting under the
+shadow of a large nut-tree, and the following conversation took
+place between them, as he afterwards many times related:--
+
+"Alas, gracious Prince, why do you follow me? if your lady mother
+knew of this we should both suffer. My head ached after all that
+firing, and therefore I came hither to enjoy a little rest and
+quietness. Leave me, leave me, my gracious lord."
+
+"No, no, he would not leave her until she told him whether she
+still loved him; for his lady mother watched him day and night,
+like the dragon that guarded the Pomeranian arms, and until this
+moment he had never seen her alone."
+
+"But what could he now desire to say? Had he not sworn by the
+corpse of his father never to wed her?"
+
+"Yes; in a moment of anguish he had sworn it, because he would
+have died if she had not been brought back to the castle."
+
+"But still he must hold by his word to his lady mother, would he
+not?"
+
+"Impossible! all impossible! He would sooner renounce land and
+people for ever than his beautiful Sidonia. How he felt, for the
+first time, the truth of the holy words, 'Love is strong as
+death.'" [Footnote: Song of Solomon viii. 6.] Then he throws his
+arms round her and kissed her, and asked, would she be his?
+
+Here Sidonia covered her face with both hands, and sinking down
+upon the grass, murmured, "Yours alone, either you or death."
+
+The Prince threw himself down beside her, and besought her not to
+weep. "He could not bear to see her tears; besides, there was good
+hope for them yet, for he had spoken to old Zitsewitz, who wished
+them both well, and who had given him some good advice."
+
+_Sidonia_ (quickly removing her hands).--"What was it?"
+
+"To have a private marriage. Then the devil himself could not
+separate them, much less the old bigot Ulrich. There was a priest
+in the neighbourhood, of the name of Neigialink. He lived in
+Crummyn, [Footnote: A town near Wolgast.] with a nun whom he had
+carried off from her convent and married; therefore he would be
+able to sympathise with lovers, and would help them."
+
+"But his Highness should remember his kingly state, and not bring
+misery on them both for ever."
+
+"He had considered all that, they should therefore keep this
+marriage private for a year; she could live at Stramehl during
+that period, and receive his visits without his mother knowing of
+the matter. At the end of that year he would be of age, and his
+own master."
+
+_Sidonia_ (embracing him).--"Ah, if he really loved her so,
+then the sooner the better to the church. But let him take care
+that evil-minded people would not separate them for ever, and
+bring her to an early grave. Had the priest been informed that he
+would be required to wed them?"
+
+"Not yet; but if he continued as strong as he felt to-day, he
+would ride over to Crummyn himself (for it was quite near to
+Wolgast) the moment Duke Barnim and her father quitted the
+castle."
+
+"But how would she know the result of his visit? his mother
+watched her day and night. Could he send a page or a serving-maid
+to her?--though indeed there were none now he could trust, for
+Ulrich had dismissed all her good friends. And if he came himself
+to her room, evil might be spoken of it."
+
+"He had arranged all that already. There was the bear, as she
+remembered, chained upon the little island in the horse-pond, just
+under her window. Now when he returned from Crummyn, he would go
+out by seven in the morning, before his lady mother began her
+spinning, and commence shooting arrows at the bear, by way of
+sport; then, as if by chance, he would let fly an arrow at her
+window and shiver the glass, but the arrow would contain a little
+note, detailing his visit to the priest at Crummyn, and the
+arrangement he had made for carrying her away secretly from the
+castle. She must take care, however, to move away her seat from
+the window, and place it in a corner, lest the arrow might strike
+herself."
+
+But then a loud "Sidonia! Sidonia!" resounded through the wood,
+and immediately after, "Ernest! Ernest!"
+
+So she sprang up, and cried, "Run, dearest Prince, run as fast as
+you are able, to the other side, where the huntsmen are gathering,
+and mix with them, so that her Grace may not perceive you." This
+he did, and began to talk to the huntsmen about their dogs and the
+sweep of the chase, and as her Grace continued calling "Ernest!
+Ernest!" he stepped slowly towards her out of the crowd, and asked
+what was her pleasure? So she suspected nothing, and grew quite
+calm again.
+
+Duke Barnim now began to complain of hunger, and asked her Grace
+where she meant to serve them a collation, for he could never hold
+out until they reached Wolgast, and his friend Otto also was
+growing as ravenous as a wolf.
+
+Her Grace answered, the collation was laid in the Cisan tower,
+close beside them, and as the weather was good, his Grace could
+amuse himself with the _tubum opticum_, which a Pomeranian
+noble had bought in Middelburg from one Johann Lippersein,
+[Footnote: An optician, and the probable inventor of the
+telescope, which was first employed about the end of the sixteenth
+and the beginning of the seventeenth century.] and presented to
+her. By the aid of this telescope he would see as far as his own
+town of Stettin. Neither the Duke nor Otto Bork believed it
+possible to see Stettin, at the distance of thirteen or fourteen
+miles, with any instrument. But her Grace, who had heard of Otto's
+godless infidelity, rebuked him gravely, saying, "You will soon be
+convinced, sir knight; so we often hold that to be impossible in
+spiritual matters, which becomes not only possible, but certain,
+when we look through the telescope which the Holy Spirit presents
+to us, weak and short-sighted mortals. God give to every infidel
+such a _tubum opticum_!" The Duke, fearing now that her Grace
+would continue her sermon indefinitely, interrupted her in his
+jesting way--"Listen, dear cousin! I will lay a wager with you. If
+I cannot see Stettin, as you promise, you shall give me a kiss;
+but if I see it and recognise it clearly, then I shall give you a
+kiss."
+
+Her Grace was truly scandalised, as one may imagine, and replied
+angrily--"Good uncle! if you attempt to offer such indignities to
+me, the princely widow, I must pray your Grace to leave my court
+with all speed, and never to return!" This rebuke made every one
+grave until they reached the Cisan tower. This building lay only
+half a mile from the hunting-ground, and was situated on the
+summit of the Cisanberg, from whence its name. It was built of
+wood, and contained four stories, besides excellent stabling for
+horses. The apartments were light, airy, and elegant, so that her
+Grace frequently passed a portion of the summer time there. The
+upper story commanded a view of the whole adjacent country. At the
+foot of the hill ran the little river Cisa into the Peen, and many
+light, beautiful bridges were thrown over it at different points.
+The hill itself was finely wooded with pines and other trees, and
+the tower was made more light and airy than that which Duke Johann
+Frederick afterwards erected at Friedrichswald, and commanded a
+far finer prospect, seeing that the Cisanberg is the highest hill
+in Pomerania.
+
+While the party proceeded to the tower, Sidonia rode along by her
+father, and to judge from her animation and gestures, she was, no
+doubt, communicating to him all that the young lord had promised,
+and her hopes, in consequence, that a very short period would
+elapse before he might salute her as Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+When they reached the tower, all admired the view even from the
+lower window, for they could see the Peen, the Achterwasser, and
+eight or nine towns, besides the sea in the distance. I say
+nothing of Wolgast, which seemed to lie just beneath their feet,
+with its princely castle and cathedral perfectly distinct, and all
+its seats laid out like a map, where they could even distinguish
+the people walking. Then her Grace bade them ascend to the upper
+story, and look out for Stettin, but they sought for it in vain
+with their unassisted eyes; then her Grace placed the _tubum
+opticum_ before the Duke, and no sooner had he looked through
+it than he cried out, "As I live, Otto, there is my strong tower
+of St. James's, and my ducal castle to the left, lying far behind
+the Finkenwald mountain." But the unbelieving Thomas laughed, and
+only answered, "My gracious Prince! do not let yourself be so
+easily imposed upon."
+
+Hereupon the Duke made him look through the telescope himself; and
+no sooner had he applied his eye to the glass than he jumped back,
+rubbed his eyes, looked through a second time, and then
+exclaimed--
+
+"Well, as true as my name is Otto Bork, I never could have
+believed this."
+
+"Now, sir knight," said her Grace, "so it is with you as concerns
+spiritual things. How if you should one day find that to be true
+which your infidelity now presumptuously asserts to be false? Will
+not your repentance then be bitter? If you have found my words
+true--the words of a poor, weak, sinful woman, will you not much
+more find those of the holy Son of God? Yes, to your horror and
+dismay, you will find His words to be truth, of whom even His
+enemies testified that He never lied--Matt. xxii. 16. Tremble, sir
+knight, and bethink you that what often seems impossible to man is
+possible to God."
+
+The bold knight was now completely silenced, and the good-natured
+Duke, seeing that he had not a word to say in reply, advanced to
+his rescue, and changed the conversation by saying--
+
+"See, Otto, the wind seems so favourable just now, that I think we
+had better say '_Vale_' to our gracious hostess in the
+morning, and return to Stettin."
+
+Not a word did his Grace venture to say more about the wager of
+the kisses, for his dear cousin's demeanour restrained even his
+hilarity. Otto had nothing to object to the arrangement; and her
+Grace said, if they were not willing longer to abide at her
+widowed court, she would bid them both Godspeed upon their
+journey. "And you, sir knight, may take back your daughter
+Sidonia, for our dear son, as you may perceive, is now quite
+restored, and no longer needs her nursing. For the good deed she
+has wrought in curing him, I shall recompense her as befits me.
+But at my court the maiden can no longer abide."
+
+The knight was at first so thunderstruck by these words that he
+could not speak; but at last drawing himself up proudly, he said,
+"Good; I shall take the Lady Sidonia back with me to my castle;
+but as touching the recompense, keep it for those who need it."
+Sidonia, however, remained quite silent, as did also the young
+lord.
+
+But hear what happened. The festival lasted until late in the
+night, and then suddenly such a faintness and bodily weakness came
+over the young Prince Ernest that all the physicians had to be
+sent for; and they with one accord entreated her Grace, if she
+valued his life, not to send away Sidonia.
+
+One can imagine what her Grace felt at this news. Nothing would
+persuade her to believe but that Sidonia had given him some
+witch-drink, such as the girl out of Daber had taught her to make.
+
+No one could believe either that his Highness affected this
+sickness, in order to force his mother to keep Sidonia at the
+court; indeed, he afterwards strongly asseverated, and this at a
+time when he would have killed Sidonia with a look, if it had been
+possible, that this weakness came upon him suddenly like an ague,
+and that it could not have been caused by anything she had given
+him, for he had eaten nothing, except at the banquet at the Cisan
+tower.
+
+In short, the young Prince became as bad as ever; but Sidonia
+never heeded him, only busied herself packing up her things, as if
+she really intended going away with Otto, and finally, as eight
+o'clock struck the next morning, she wrapped herself in her mantle
+and hood, and went with her father and Duke Barnim to take leave
+of her Grace. She looked as bitter and sour as a
+vinegar-cruet--nothing would tempt her to remain even for one day
+longer. What was her Grace to do? the young lord was dying, and
+had already despatched two pages to her, entreating for one sight
+of Sidonia! She must give the artful hypocrite good words--but
+they were of no avail--Sidonia insisted on leaving the castle that
+instant with her father; then turning to Duke Barnim, she
+exclaimed with bitter tears, "Now, gracious Prince, you see
+yourself how I am treated here."
+
+Neither would the cunning Otto permit his daughter to remain on
+any account, unless, indeed, her Grace gave him a written
+authority to receive the dues on the Jena. Such shameless knavery
+at last enraged the old Duke Barnim to such a degree that he cried
+out--"Listen, Otto, my illustrious cousin here has no more to do
+with the dues on the Jena than you have; they belong to me alone,
+and I can give no promise until I lay the question before my
+council and the diet of the Stettin dukedom: be content,
+therefore, to wait until then." One may easily guess what was the
+termination of the little drama got up by Otto and his fair
+daughter--namely, that Otto sailed away with the Duke, and that
+Sidonia remained at the court of Wolgast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How the ghost continued to haunt the castle, and of its daring
+behaviour--Item, how the young lord regained his strength, and was
+able to visit Crummyn, with what happened to him there.
+
+
+So Sidonia was again seated by the couch of the young Prince, with
+her hand in his hand; but her Grace, as may well be imagined, was
+never very far off from them; and this annoyed Sidonia so much,
+that she did not scruple to treat the mourning mother and princely
+widow with the utmost contempt; at last disdaining even to answer
+the questions addressed to her by her Grace. All this the Duchess
+bore patiently for the sake of her dear son. But even Prince
+Ernest felt, at length, ashamed of such insolent scorn being
+displayed towards his mother, and said--
+
+"What, Sidonia, will you not even answer my gracious mother?"
+
+Hereupon the hypocrite sighed, and answered--
+
+"Ah, my gracious Prince! I esteem it better to pray in silence
+beside your bed than to hold a loud chattering in your ears.
+Besides, when I am speaking to God I cannot, at the same time,
+answer your lady mother."
+
+This pleased the young man, and he pressed her little hand, and
+kissed it. And very shortly after, his strength returned to him
+wonderfully, so that her Grace and Sidonia only watched by him one
+night. The next day he fell into a profound sleep, and awoke from
+it perfectly recovered.
+
+In the meantime, the ghost became so daring and troublesome, that
+all the house stood in fear of it. Oftentimes it would be seen
+even in the clear morning light; and a maid, who had forgotten to
+make the bed of one of the grooms, and ran to the stables at night
+to finish her work, encountered the ghost there, and nearly died
+of fright. _Item_, Clara von Dewitz, one beautiful moonlight
+night, having gone out to take a turn up and down the corridor,
+because she could not sleep from the toothache, saw the
+apparition, just as day dawned, sinking down into the earth, not
+far from the chamber of Sidonia, to her great horror and
+astonishment. _Item_, her Grace, that very same night, having
+heard a noise in the corridor, opened her door, and there stood
+the ghost before her, leaning against a pillar. She was
+horror-struck, and clapped to her door hastily, but said nothing
+to the young Prince, for fear of alarming him.
+
+He had recovered, as I have said, in a most wonderful manner, and
+though still looking pale and haggard, yet his love for the maiden
+would not permit him to defer his visit to Crummyn any longer;
+particularly as it lay only half a mile from the castle, but on
+the opposite bank of the river, near the island of Usdom.
+
+Thereupon, on the fourth night, he descended to the little
+water-gate, having previously arranged with his chief equerry,
+Appelmann, to have a boat there in readiness for him, and also a
+good horse, to take across the ferry with them to the other side.
+So, at twelve o'clock, he and Appelmann embarked privately, with
+Johann Bruwer, the ferryman, and were safely landed at Mahlzow.
+Here he mounted his horse, and told the two others to await his
+return, and conceal themselves in the wood if any one approached.
+Appelmann begged permission to accompany his Highness, which,
+however, was denied; the young Prince charging them strictly to
+hold themselves concealed till his return, and never reveal to
+human being where they had conducted him this evening, on pain of
+his severe anger and loss of favour for ever; but if they held
+their secret close, he would recompense them at no distant time,
+in a manner even far beyond their hopes.
+
+So his Highness rode off to Crummyn, where all was darkness,
+except, indeed, one small ray of light that glanced from the lower
+windows of the cloister--for it was standing at that time. He
+dismounted, tied his horse to a tree, and knocked at the window,
+through which he had a glimpse of an old woman, in nun's garments,
+who held a crucifix between her hands, and prayed.
+
+"Who are you?" she demanded. "What can you want here at such an
+hour?"
+
+"I am from Wolgast," he answered, "and must see the priest of
+Crummyn."
+
+"There is no priest here now."
+
+"But I have been told that a priest of the name of Neigialink
+lived here."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a Lutheran swaddler and no priest, otherwise
+he would not live in open sin with a nun."
+
+"It is all the same to me; only come and show me the way."
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he a heathen or a true Christian?"
+
+His Highness could not make out what the old mother meant, but
+when he answered, "I am a Christian," she opened the door, and let
+him enter her cell. As she lifted up the lamp, however, she
+started back in terror at his young, pale, haggard face. Then,
+looking at his rich garments, she cried--
+
+"This must be a son of good Duke Philip's, for never were two
+faces more alike."
+
+The Prince never imagined that the old mother could betray him,
+and therefore answered, "Yes; and now lead me to the priest."
+
+So the old mother began to lament over the downfall of the pure
+Christian doctrine, which his father, Duke Philip, had upheld so
+bravely. And if the young lord held the true faith (as she hoped
+by his saying he was a Christian), if so, then she would die
+happy, and the sooner the better--even if it were this night, for
+she was the last of all the sisterhood, all the other nuns having
+died of grief; and so she went on chattering.
+
+Prince Ernest regretted that he had not time to discourse with her
+upon the true faith, but would she tell him where the priest was
+to be found.
+
+_Illa_.--"She would take him to the parson, but he must first
+do her a service."
+
+"Whatever she desired, so that it would not detain him."
+
+_Illa_.--"It was on this night the vigil of the holy St.
+Bernard, their patron saint, was held; now, there was no one to
+light the altar candles for her, for her maid, who had grown old
+along with her, lay a-dying, and she was too old and weak herself
+to stretch up so high. And the idle Lutheran heretics of the town
+would mock, if they knew she worshipped God after the manner of
+her fathers. The old Lutheran swaddler, too, would not suffer it,
+if he knew she prayed in the church by nights. But she did not
+care for his anger, for she had a private key that let her in at
+all hours; and his Highness, the Prince, at her earnest prayers,
+had given her permission to pray in the church, at any time she
+pleased, from then till her death."
+
+So the old mother wept so bitterly, and kissed his Highness's
+hand, entreating him with such sad lamentations to remain with her
+until she said a prayer, that he consented. And she said, if the
+heretic parson came there to scold her, which of a surety he
+would, knowing that she never omitted a vigil, he could talk to
+him in the church, without going to disturb him and his harlot nun
+at their own residence. Besides, the church was the safest place
+to discourse in, for no one would notice them, and he would be
+able to protect her from the parson's anger besides.
+
+Here the old mother took up the church keys and a horn lantern,
+and led the young Prince through a narrow corridor up to the
+church door. Hardly, however, had she put the key in the lock,
+when the loud bark of a dog was heard inside, and they soon heard
+it scratching, and smelling, and growling at them close to the
+door.
+
+"What can that dog be here for?" said his Highness in alarm.
+
+"Alas!" answered the nun, "since the pure old religion was
+destroyed, profanity and covetousness have got the upper hand; so
+every church where even a single pious relic of the wealth of the
+good old times remains, must be guarded, as you see, by dogs.
+[Footnote: It is an undeniable fact, that the immorality of the
+people fearfully increased with the progress of the Reformation
+throughout Pomerania. An old chronicler, and a Protestant, thus
+testifies, 1542:--"And since this time (the Reformation) a great
+change has come over all things. In place of piety, we have
+profanity; in place of reverence, sacrilege and the plundering of
+God's churches; in place of alms-deeds, stinginess and
+selfishness; in place of feasts, greed and gluttony; in place of
+festivals, labour; in place of obedience and humility of children,
+obstinacy and self-opinion; in place of honour and veneration for
+the priesthood, contempt for the priest and the church ministers.
+So that one might justly assert that the preaching of the
+evangelism had made the people worse in place of better."
+
+Another Protestant preacher, John Borkmann, asserts, 1560:--"As
+for sin, it overflows all places and all stations. It is growing
+stronger in all offices, in all trades, in all employments, in
+every station of life--what shall I say more?--in every
+individual"--and so on. I would therefore recommend the blind
+eulogists of the good old times to examine history for themselves,
+and not to place implicit belief either in the pragmatical
+representations of the old and new Lutherans."] And she had herself
+locked up her pretty dog Störteback [Footnote: The name of a
+notorious northern pirate.] here, that no one might rob the altar
+of the golden candlesticks and the little jewels, at least as long
+as she lived."
+
+So she desired Störteback to lie still, and then entered the
+church with the Prince, who lit the altar candles for her, and
+then looked round with wonder on the silver lamps, the golden pix
+and caps, and other vessels adorned with jewels, used by the
+Papists in their ceremonies.
+
+The old mother, meanwhile, took off her white garment and black
+scapulary, and being thus naked almost to the waist, descended
+into a coffin, which was lying in a corner beside the altar. Here
+she groped till she brought up a crucifix, and a scourge of
+knotted cords. Then she kneeled down within the coffin, lashing
+herself with one hand till the blood flowed from her shoulders,
+and with the other holding up the crucifix, which she kissed from
+time to time, whilst she recited the hymn of the holy St.
+Bernard:--
+
+   "Salve caput cruentatum,
+   Totum spinis coronatum,
+   Conquassatum, vulneratum,
+   Arundine verberatum
+   Facie sputis illita."
+
+When she had thus prayed, and scourged herself a while, she
+extended the crucifix with her bleeding arm to the Prince, and
+prayed him, for the sake of God, to have compassion on her, and so
+would the bleeding Saviour and all the saints have compassion upon
+him at the last day. And when his Highness asked her what he could
+do for her, she besought him to bring her a priest from Grypswald,
+who could break the Lord's body once more for her, and give her
+the last sacrament of extreme unction here in her coffin. Then
+would she never wish to leave it, but die of joy if this only was
+granted to her.
+
+So the Prince promised to fulfil her wishes; whereupon she
+crouched down again in the coffin, and recommenced the scourging,
+while she repeated with loud sobs and groans the two last verses
+of the hymn. Scarcely had she ended when a small side-door opened,
+and the dog Störteback began to bark vociferously.
+
+"What!" exclaimed a voice, "is that old damned Catholic witch at
+her mummeries, and burning my good wax candles all for nothing?"
+
+And, silencing the dog, a man stepped forward hastily, but, seeing
+the Prince, paused in astonishment. Whereupon the old mother
+raised herself up out of the coffin, and said, "Did I not tell
+your Grace that you would see the hardhearted heretic here?--that
+is the man you seek." So the Prince brought him into the choir,
+and told him that he was Prince Ernest Ludovicus, and came here to
+request that he would privately wed him on the following night,
+without knowledge of any human being, to his beloved and affianced
+bride, Sidonia von Bork.
+
+The priest, however, did not care to mix himself up with such a
+business, seeing that he feared Ulrich mightily; but his Grace
+promised him a better living at the end of the year, if he would
+undertake to serve him now.
+
+To which the priest answered--"Who knows if your Highness will be
+alive by the end of the year, for you look as pale as a corpse?"
+
+"He never felt better in his life. He had been ill lately, but now
+was as sound as a fish. Would he not marry him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Certainly not; unless he received a handsome
+consideration. He had a wife and dear children; what would become
+of them if he incurred the displeasure of that stern Lord
+Chamberlain and of the princely widow?"
+
+"But could he not bring his family to Stettin; for he and his
+young bride intended to fly there, and put themselves under the
+protection of his dear uncle, Duke Barnim?"
+
+_Hic_.--"It was a dangerous business; still, if his Highness
+gave him a thousand gulden down, and a written promise, signed and
+sealed, that he would provide him with a better living before the
+year had expired, why, out of love for the young lord, he would
+consent to peril himself and his family; but his Highness must not
+think evil of him for demanding the thousand gulden paid down
+immediately, for how were his dear wife and children to be
+supported through the long year otherwise?"
+
+His Highness, however, considered the sum too large, and said that
+his gracious mother had scarcely more a year for herself than a
+thousand gulden--she that was the Duchess of Pomerania.
+
+However, they finally agreed upon four hundred gulden; for his
+Highness showed him that Doctor Luther himself had only four
+hundred gulden a year, and surely he would not require more than
+the great _reformator ecclesia_.
+
+So everything was arranged at last, the priest promising to
+perform the ceremony on the third night from that; "For some
+time," he said, "would be necessary to collect people to assist
+them in their flight, and money must be distributed; but his
+Highness would, of course, repay all that he expended in his
+behalf, and further promise to give him and his family free
+quarters when they reached Stettin."
+
+After the ceremony, they could reach the boat through the convent
+garden, and sail away to Warte. [Footnote: A town near Usdom.]
+Then he would have four or five peasants in waiting, with
+carriages ready, to escort them to East Clune, from whence they
+could take another boat and cross the Haff into Stettin; for, as
+they could not reckon on a fair wind with any certainty, it was
+better to perform the journey half by land and half by water;
+besides, the fishermen whom he intended to employ were not
+accustomed to sail up the Peen the whole way into the Haff, for
+their little fishing-smacks were too slight to stand a strong
+current.
+
+Hereupon the Prince answered, that, since it was necessary, he
+would wait until the third night, when the priest should have
+everything in readiness, but meanwhile should confide the secret
+to no one. So he turned away, and comforted the old mother again
+with his promises as he passed out.
+
+The next morning, having written all down for Sidonia, and
+concealed the note in an arrow, he went forth as he had arranged,
+and began to tease the bear by shooting arrows at him, till the
+beast roared and shook his chain. Then, perceiving that Sidonia
+had observed him from the window, he watched a favourable
+opportunity, and shot the arrow up, right through her window, so
+that the pane of glass rattled down upon the floor. In the billet
+therein concealed he explained the whole plan of escape; and asked
+her to inform him, in return, how she could manage to come to him
+on the third night. Would his dearest Sidonia put on the dress of
+a page? He could bring it to her little chamber himself the next
+night. She must write a little note in answer, and conceal it in
+the arrow as he had done, then throw it out of the window, and he
+would be on the watch to pick it up.
+
+So Sidonia replied to him that she was content; but, as regarded
+the page's dress, he must leave it, about ten o'clock the next
+night, upon the beer-barrel in the corridor, but not attempt to
+bring it himself to her chamber. Concerning the manner in which
+she was to meet him on the third night, had he forgotten that the
+old castellan barred and bolted all that wing of the castle by
+eleven o'clock, so that she could never leave the corridor by the
+usual way; but there was a trapdoor near her little chamber which
+led down into the ducal stables, and this door no one ever thought
+of or minded--it was never bolted night or day, and was quite
+large enough for a man to creep through. Her dear Prince might
+wait for her, by that trap-door, at eleven o'clock on the
+appointed night. He could not mistake it, for the large basket lay
+close behind, in which her Grace kept her darling little kittens;
+from thence they could easily get into the outer courtyard, which
+was never locked, and, after that, go where they pleased. If he
+approved of this arrangement, let him shoot another arrow into her
+room; but, above all things, he was to keep at a distance from her
+during the day, that her Grace might not suspect anything.
+
+Having thrown the arrow out of the window, and received another in
+answer from the Prince, which the artful hypocrite flung out as if
+in great anger, she ran to Clara's room, and complained bitterly
+how the young lord had broken her window, because, forsooth, he
+must be shooting arrows at the bear; and so she had to come into
+her room out of the cold air, until the glazier came to put in the
+glass. When Clara asked how she could be so angry with the young
+Prince--did she not love him any longer?--Sidonia replied, that
+truly she had grown very tired of him, for he did nothing but sigh
+and groan whenever he came near her, like an asthmatic old woman,
+and had grown as thin and dry as a baked plum. There was nothing
+very lovable about him now. Would to Heaven that he were quite
+well, and she would soon bid farewell to the castle and every one
+in it; but the moment she spoke of going his sickness returned, so
+that she was obliged to remain, which was much against her
+inclination; and this she might tell Clara in confidence, because
+she had always been her truest friend.
+
+Then she pretended to weep, and cursed her beauty, which had
+brought her nothing but unhappiness; thereupon the tender-hearted
+Clara began to comfort her, and kissed her; and the moment Sidonia
+left her to get the glass mended, Clara ran to her Grace to tell
+her the joyful tidings; but, alas! that very day the wickedness of
+the artful maiden was brought to light. For what happened in the
+afternoon? See, the nun of Crummyn steps out of a boat at the
+little water-gate, and places herself in a corner of the
+courtyard, where the people soon gather round in a crowd, to laugh
+at her white garments and black scapulary; and the boys begin to
+pelt the poor old mother with stones, and abuse her, calling her
+the old Papist witch; but by good fortune the castellan comes by,
+and commands the crowd to leave off tormenting her, and then asks
+her business.
+
+_Illa._--"She must speak instantly to her Grace the princely
+widow."
+
+So the old man brings her to her Grace, with whom Clara was still
+conversing, and the old nun, after she had kneeled to the Duchess
+and kissed her hand, began to relate how her young lord, Prince
+Ernest, had been with her the night before, while she was keeping
+the _vigilia_ of holy St. Bernard to the best of her ability,
+and had urgently demanded to see the Lutheran priest named
+Neigialink, and that when this same priest came into the church to
+scold her, as was his wont, he and the Prince had retired into the
+choir, and there held a long conversation which she did not
+comprehend. But the priest's mistress had told her the whole
+business this morning, under a promise of secrecy--namely, that
+the priest, her leman, had promised to wed Prince Ernest
+privately, on the third night from that, to a certain young damsel
+named Sidonia von Bork. That the Prince had given him a thousand
+gulden for his services, and a promise of a rich living when he
+succeeded to the government, so that in future she could live as
+grand as an abbess, and have what beautiful horses she chose from
+the ducal stables.
+
+"And this," said the nun, "was told me by the priest's mistress;
+but as I have a true Pomeranian heart, although, indeed, the
+Prince has left the good old religion, I could not rest in peace
+until I stepped into a boat, weak and old as I am, and sailed off
+here direct to inform your Grace of the plot." She only asked one
+favour in return for her service. It was that her Grace would
+permit her to end the rest of her days peaceably in the cloister,
+and protect her from the harshness of the Lutheran priests and the
+fury of the mob, who fell on her like mad dogs here in the castle
+court, and would have torn her to pieces if the castellan had not
+come by and rescued her. But above all, she requested and prayed
+her Grace to permit a true priest to come to her from Grypswald,
+who could give her the holy Eucharist, and prepare her for death.
+But her Grace was struck dumb by astonishment and alarm, and Clara
+could not speak either, only wrung her hands in anguish. And her
+Grace continued to walk up and down the room weeping bitterly,
+until at last she sat down before her desk to indite a note to old
+Ulrich, praying for his presence without delay, and straightway
+despatched the chief equerry, Appelmann, with it to Spantekow.
+
+The old nun still continued crying, would not her Grace send her a
+priest? But her Grace refused; for in fact she was a stern
+upholder of the pure doctrine. Anything else the old mother
+demanded she might have, but with the abominations of Popery her
+Grace would have nothing to do. Still the old nun prayed and
+writhed at her feet, crying and groaning, "For the love of God, a
+priest! for the love of God, a priest!" but her Grace drew herself
+up stiff and stern, and let the old woman writhe there unheeded,
+until at length she motioned to Clara to have her removed to the
+courtyard, where the poor creature leaned up against the pump in
+bitter agony, and drew forth a crucifix from her bosom, kissed it,
+and looking up to heaven, cried, "Jesu! Jesu! art Thou come at
+last?" and then dropped down dead upon the pavement, which the
+crowd no sooner observed than they gathered round the corpse,
+screaming out, "The devil has carried her off! See! the devil has
+carried off the old Papist witch!" Hearing the uproar, her Grace
+descended, as did also the young lord and Sidonia, who both
+appeared as if they knew nothing at all about the old nun. And her
+Grace commanded that the executioner should by no means drag away
+the body, as the people demanded, who were now rushing to the spot
+from all quarters of the town, but that it should be decently
+lifted into the boat and conveyed back again to Crummyn, there to
+be interred with the other members of the sisterhood at the
+cloister.
+
+No word did she speak, either to her undutiful son or to Sidonia,
+about what she had heard; only when the latter asked her what the
+nun came there for, she answered coldly, "For a Popish priest."
+Hereupon the young Prince was filled with joy, concluding that
+nothing had been betrayed as yet. And it was natural the old nun
+should come with this request, seeing that she had made the same
+to him. Her Grace also strictly charged Clara to observe a
+profound silence upon all they had heard, until the old
+chamberlain arrived, and this she promised.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_Of Ulrich's counsels--Item, how Clara von Dewitz came upon the
+track of the ghost._
+
+
+At eleven o'clock that same night, the good and loyal Lord Ulrich
+arrived at the castle with Appelmann, from Spantekow, and just
+waited to change his travelling dress before he proceeded to the
+apartment of her Grace. He found her seated with Clara and another
+maiden, weeping bitterly. Dr. Gerschovius was also present. When
+the old man entered, her Grace's lamentations became yet
+louder--alas! how she was afflicted! Who could have believed that
+all this had come upon her because the devil, out of malice, had
+made Dr. Luther drop her wedding-ring at the bridal! And when the
+knight asked in alarm what had happened, she replied that tears
+prevented her speaking, but Dr. Gerschovius would tell him all.
+
+So the doctor related the whole affair, from the declaration of
+the old nun to the hypocritical conduct of Sidonia towards Clara
+von Dewitz, upon which the old knight shook his head, and said,
+"Did I not counsel your Grace to let the young lord die, in God's
+name, for better is it to lose life than honour. Had he died then,
+so would the Almighty have raised him pure and perfect at the last
+day, but now he is growing daily in wickedness as a young wolf in
+ferocity."
+
+Then her Grace made answer, the past could not now be recalled;
+and that she was ready to answer before God for what she had done
+through motherly love and tenderness. They must now advise her how
+to save her infatuated son from the snares of this wanton. Dr.
+Gerschovius, thereupon, gave it as his opinion that they should
+each be placed in strict confinement for the next fourteen days,
+during which time he would visit and admonish them twice a day, by
+which means he hoped soon to turn their hearts to God.
+
+Here old Ulrich laughed outright, and asked the doctor, was he
+still bent upon teaching Sidonia her catechism? As to the young
+lord, no admonition would do him good now; he was thoroughly
+bewitched by the girl, and though he made a hundred promises to
+give her up, would never hold one of them. Alas! alas! that the
+son of good Duke Philip should be so degenerate.
+
+But her Grace wept bitterly, and said, that never was there a more
+obedient, docile, and amiable child than her dear Ernest; skilled
+in all the fine arts, and gifted by nature with all that could
+ensure a mother's love. "But how does all this help him now?"
+cried Ulrich. "It is with a good heart as with a good ship, unless
+you guide it, it will run aground--stand by the helm, or the best
+ship will be lost. What had the country to expect from a Prince
+who would die, forsooth? unless his mistress sat by his bedside?
+Ah! if he could only have followed the funeral of the young lord,
+he would have given a hundred florins to the poor that very day!"
+
+"It was not her son's fault--that base hypocrite had caused it all
+by some hell magic."
+
+_Ille_.--"That was quite impossible; however, he would
+believe it to please her Grace."
+
+"Then let him speak his opinion, if the counsel of Dr. Gerschovius
+did not please him."
+
+_Ille_.--"His advice, then, was to keep quiet until the third
+night, then secretly place a guard round the castle and at the
+wing, and when the bridal party met, take them out prisoners, send
+my young lord to the tower, but disgrace Sidonia publicly, and
+send her off where she pleased--to the fiend, if she liked."
+
+"Then they would have the same old scene over again; her son would
+fall sick, and Sidonia could not be brought back to cure him, if
+once she had been publicly disgraced before all the people. So
+matters would be worse than ever."
+
+Hereupon old Ulrich fell into such a rage that he cursed and
+swore, that her Grace treated him no better than a fool, to bring
+him hither from Spantekow, and then refuse to take his advice. As
+to Sidonia, her Grace had already brought disgrace upon her
+princely house, by first turning her out, and then praying her to
+come back before three days had elapsed. All Pomerania talked of
+it, and old Otto Bork did not scruple to brag and boast
+everywhere, that her Grace had no peace or rest from her
+conscience until she had asked forgiveness from the Lady Sidonia
+(as the vain old knave called her) and entreated her to return.
+Now if she took the advice of Doctor Gerschovius, and first
+imprisoned and then turned away Sidonia, no one would believe in
+her story of the intended marriage, but look on her conduct as
+only a confirmation of all the hard treatment which her Grace was
+reported to have employed towards the girl; whereas if she only
+waited till the whole bridal party were ready to start, and then
+arrested Sidonia, her Grace was justified before the whole world,
+for what greater fault could be committed than thus to entrap the
+young Prince into a secret marriage, and run away with him by
+night from the castle? Let her Grace then send for the
+executioner, and let him give Sidonia a public whipping before all
+the people. No one would think the punishment too hard, for
+seducing a Prince of Pomerania into a marriage with her.
+
+So the princely widow of Duke Philip will be justified before all
+the world; and when the young lord sees his bride so disgraced, he
+will assuredly be right willing to give her up; even if he fall
+sick, it is impossible that he could send for a maiden to sit by
+his bed who had been publicly whipped by the executioner. Those
+were stern measures, perhaps, but a branch of the old Pomeranian
+tree was decayed; it must be lopped, or the whole tree itself
+would soon fall.
+
+When the Grand Chamberlain ceased speaking, her Grace considered
+the matter well, and finally pronounced that she would follow his
+advice, whereupon, as the night waxed late, she dismissed the
+party to their beds, retaining only Clara with her for a little
+longer.
+
+But a strange thing happened as she, too, finally quitted her
+Grace, and proceeded along the corridor to her own little
+apartment--and here let every one consider how the hand of God is
+in everything, and what great events He can bring forth from the
+slightest causes, as a great oak springs up from a little acorn.
+
+For as the maiden walked along, her sandal became unfastened, and
+tripped her, so that she nearly fell upon her face, whereupon she
+paused, and placing her foot upon a beer-barrel that stood against
+the wall not far from Sidonia's chamber, began to fasten it, but
+lo! just at that moment the head of the ghost appeared rising
+through the trap-door, and looked round, then, as if aware of her
+presence, drew back, and she heard a noise as if it had jumped
+down on the earth beneath. She was horribly frightened, and crept
+trembling to her bed; but then on reflecting over this apparition
+of the serpent knight, it came into her head that it could not be
+a ghost, since it came down on the ground with such a heavy jump;
+she prayed to God, therefore, to help her in discovering this
+matter, and as she could not sleep, rose before the first glimmer
+of daylight to examine this hole which lay so close to Sidonia's
+chamber, and there truly she discovered the trap-door, and having
+opened, found that it lay right over a large coach in the ducal
+stables; thereupon she concluded that the ghost was no other than
+the Prince himself who thus visited Sidonia.
+
+Then she remembered that the ghost had been particularly active
+while the young Prince lay sick on his bed watched by his mother;
+so to make the matter clearer she went the next evening into the
+stables, and observing the coach, which lay just beneath the hole,
+sprinkled fine ash-dust all round it. Then returning to her room,
+she waited until it grew quite dark, and as ten o'clock struck and
+all the doors of the corridor leading to the women's apartments
+were barred and bolted, she wrapped herself in a black mantle and
+stole out with a palpitating heart into the gallery. Remembering
+the large beer-barrel near Sidonia's room, she crouched down
+behind it, and from thence had a distinct view of the trap-door,
+and also of Sidonia's chamber. There she waited for about an hour,
+when she perceived the young Prince coming, but not through the
+trap-door. He knocked lightly at Sidonia's door, who opened it
+instantly, and they held a long whispering conversation together.
+He had brought her the page's dress, and there was nothing to be
+feared now, for he had examined the trap and found they could
+easily get out through it on the top of the coach, and from thence
+into the stables. After that the way was clear. Surely some good
+angel had put the idea into her head. Then he kissed her tenderly.
+
+_Illa_.--"What did the old nun come for? Could she have
+betrayed them?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Impossible. She did not know a syllable of their
+affairs, and had come to ask his lady mother to send her a Popish
+priest, as she had asked himself." Then he kissed her again, but
+she tore herself from his arms, threw the little bundle into the
+room, and shut the door in his face. Whereupon the young Prince
+went his way, sighing as if his heart would break.
+
+Now Clara concluded, with reason, that the young lord was not the
+ghost, inasmuch as he did not creep through the trap-door, nor did
+he wear helmet or cuirass, or any sort of disguise. But when she
+heard Sidonia talk with such knowledge of the trap-door, she
+guessed there was some knavery in the matter, and though she sat
+the night there she was determined to watch. And behold! at twelve
+o'clock there was a great clattering heard below, and presently a
+helmet appeared rising through the hole, and then the entire
+figure of the ghost clambered up through it, and after cautiously
+looking round it, approached Sidonia's door, and knocked lightly.
+Immediately she opened it herself, admitted the ghost, and Clara
+heard her drawing the bolts of the door within.
+
+The pious and chaste maiden felt ready to faint with shame; for it
+was now evident that Sidonia deceived the poor young Prince as
+well as every one else, and that this ghost whom she admitted must
+be a favoured lover. She resolved to watch until he came out. But
+it was about the dawn of morning before he again appeared, and
+took his hellish path down through the trap-door, in the same way
+as he had risen. But to make all certain she took a brush, and
+before it was quite day, descended to the stables, where, indeed,
+she observed large, heavy footprints in the ashes all round the
+coach, quite unlike those which the delicate little feet of his
+Highness would have made. So she swept them all clean away to
+avoid exciting any suspicion, and crept back noiselessly to her
+little room. Then waiting till the morning was somewhat advanced,
+she despatched her maid on some errand into the town, in order to
+get rid of her, and then watched anxiously for her bridegroom,
+Marcus Bork, who always passed her door going to his office; and
+hearing his step, she opened her door softly, and drew him in.
+Then she related fully all she had heard and seen on the past
+night.
+
+The upright and virtuous young man clasped his hands together in
+horror and disgust, but could not resolve whether it were fitter
+to declare the whole matter to her Highness instantly or not.
+Clara, however, was of opinion that her Grace would derive great
+comfort from the information, because when the Prince found how
+Sidonia had betrayed him, he would give up the creature of his own
+accord. To which Marcus answered, that probably the Prince would
+not believe a word of the story, and then matters would be in a
+worse way than ever.
+
+_Illa_.--"Was he afraid to disgrace Sidonia because she was
+his kinswoman? Was it the honour of his name he wished to shield
+by sparing her from infamy?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; she wronged him. If she were his sister, he
+would still do his duty towards her Grace. The honour of the whole
+Pomeranian house was perilled here, and he would save it at any
+cost. But did his darling bride know who the ghost was?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; she had been thinking the whole night about him
+till her head ached, but in vain."
+
+At this moment the Grand Chamberlain passed the room on his way to
+the Duchess, and they both went to the door, and entreated him to
+come in and give them his advice. How the old knight laughed for
+joy when he heard all; it was almost as good news to him as the
+death of the young lord would have been. But no; they must not
+breathe a syllable of it to her Highness. Wait for this night, and
+if the dear ghost appeared again, he would give him and his
+paramour something to think of to the end of their lives. Then he
+walked up and down Clara's little room, thinking over what should
+be done; and finally resolved to open the matter to the young
+Prince that night between ten and eleven o'clock, and show him
+what a creature he was going to make Duchess of Pomerania. After
+which they should all, Marcus included, go armed to the
+stables--for the Prince, no doubt, would be slow of belief--and
+there conceal themselves in the coach until the ghost arrived. If
+he came, as was almost certain, they would follow him to Sidonia's
+room, break it open, and discover them together. In order that
+witnesses might not be wanting, he would desire all the pages and
+household to be collected in his room at that hour; and the moment
+they were certain of having trapped the ghost, Marcus should slip
+out of the coach, and run to gather them all together in the grand
+corridor. To ensure all this being done, he would take the keys
+from the castellan himself that night, and keep them in his own
+possession. But, above all things, they were to keep still and
+quiet during the day; and now he would proceed to her Grace.
+
+But Marcus Bork begged to ask him, if the ghost did not come that
+night, what was to be done? For the next was to be that of the
+marriage, and unless the Prince was convinced by his own eyes,
+nothing would make him credit the wickedness of his intended
+bride. Sidonia would swear by heaven and earth that the story was
+a malicious invention, and a plot to effect her utter destruction.
+
+This view of the case puzzled the old knight not a little, and he
+rubbed his forehead and paced up and down the room, till suddenly
+an idea struck him, and he exclaimed--"I have it, Marcus! You are
+a brave youth, dear Marcus, and a loyal subject and servant to her
+Grace. Your conduct will bring as much honour upon the noble name
+of Bork as Sidonia's has brought disgrace. Therefore I will trust
+you. Listen, Marcus. If the ghost does not appear to-night, then
+you must ride the morrow morn to Crummyn. Bribe the priest with
+gold. Tell him that he must write instantly to the young Prince,
+saying, that the marriage must be delayed for eight days, for
+there was no boat to be had safe enough to carry him and his bride
+up the Haff, seeing that all the boats and their crews were
+engaged at the fisheries, and would not be back to Crummyn until
+the following Saturday. The young lord, therefore, must have
+patience. Should the priest hesitate, then Marcus must threaten
+him with the loss of his living, as the whole princely house
+should be made acquainted with his villainy. He will then consent.
+I know him well!
+
+"If that is once arranged, then we shall seat ourselves every
+night in the coach until the ghost comes; and, methinks, he will
+not long delay, since hitherto he has managed his work with such
+security and success."
+
+The discreet and virtuous Marcus promised to obey Ulrich in all
+things, and the Grand Chamberlain then went his way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How the horrible wickedness of Sidonia was made apparent; and
+how in consequence thereof she was banished with ignominy from the
+ducal court of Wolgast_.
+
+
+The night came at last. And the Grand Chamberlain collected, as he
+had said, all the officials and pages of the household together in
+his office at the treasury, and bid them wait there until he
+summoned them. No one was to leave the apartment under pain of his
+severe displeasure. _Item_, he had prayed her Grace not to
+retire to rest that night before twelve of the clock; and when she
+asked wherefore, he replied that she would have to take leave of a
+very remarkable visitor that night; upon which she desired to know
+more, but he said that his word was passed not to reveal more. So
+her Grace thought he meant himself, and promised to remain up.
+
+As ten o'clock struck, the castellan locked, up, as was his wont,
+all that portion of the castle leading to the women's apartments.
+Whereupon Ulrich asked him for the keys, saying that he would keep
+them in his own charge. Then he prayed his Serene Highness Prince
+Ernest to accompany him to the lumber-room.
+
+His Highness consented, and they both ascended in the dark. On
+entering, Ulrich drew forth a dark lantern from beneath his cloak,
+and made the light fall upon an old suit of armour. Then turning
+to the Prince--"Do you know this armour?" he said.
+
+"Ah, yes; it was the armour of his dearly beloved father, Duke
+Philip."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. Did he then remember the admonitions which
+the wearer of this armour had uttered, upon his deathbed, to him
+and his brothers?"
+
+"Oh yes, well he remembered them; but what did this long sermon
+denote?"
+
+_Ille_.--"This he would soon know. Had he not given his right
+hand to the wearer of that armour, and pledged himself ever to set
+a good example before the people committed to his rule?"
+
+_Hic_.--"He did not know what all this meant. Had he even set
+a bad example to his subjects?"
+
+_Ille_.--"He was on the high-road to do it, when he had
+resolved to wed himself secretly to a maiden beneath his rank.
+(Here the young Prince became as pale as a corpse.) Let him deny,
+if he could, that he had sworn by his father's corpse, with his
+hand upon the coffin, to abandon Sidonia. He would not upbraid him
+with his broken promises to him, but would he bring his loving
+mother to her grave through shame and a broken heart? Would he
+make himself on a level with the lowest of the people, by wedding
+Sidonia the next night in the church at Crummyn?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Had that accursed Catholic nun then betrayed him?
+Ah, he was surrounded by spies and traitors; but if he could not
+obtain Sidonia now, he would wed her the moment he was of age and
+succeeded to the government. If he could in no way have Sidonia,
+then he would never wed another woman, but remain single and a
+dead branch for his whole life long. Her blood was as noble as his
+own, and no devil should dare to part them."
+
+_Ille.--"But if he could prove, this very night, to the young
+lord, that Sidonia was not an honourable maiden, but a dishonoured
+creature----" Here the young Prince drew his dagger and rushed
+upon the old man, with lips foaming with rage; but Ulrich sprang
+behind the armour of Duke Philip, and said calmly, "Ernest, if
+thou wouldst murder me who have been so leal and faithful a
+servant to thee and thine, then strike me dead here through the
+links of thy father's cuirass."
+
+And as the young man drew back with a deep groan, he
+continued--"Hear me, before thou dost a deed which eternity will
+not be long enough to repent. I cannot be angry with thee, for I
+have been young myself, and would have stricken any one to the
+earth who had called my own noble bride dishonoured. Listen to me,
+then, and strike me afterwards, if thou wilt." Hereupon the old
+knight stepped out from behind the armour, which was fixed upon a
+wooden frame in the middle of the apartment, with the helmet
+surmounting it, and leaning against the shoulder-piece, he
+proceeded to relate all that Clara had seen and heard.
+
+The young Prince turned first as red as scarlet, then pale as a
+corpse, and sunk down upon a pile of old armour, unable to utter
+anything but sighs and groans.
+
+Ulrich then asked if he remembered the silly youth who had been
+drowned lately in consequence of Sidonia's folly; for it was his
+apparition in the armour he then wore which it was reported
+haunted the castle. And did he remember also how that armour (in
+which the poor young man's father also had been killed fighting
+against the Bohemians) had been taken off the corpse and hung up
+again in that lumber-room?
+
+_Hic_.--"Of course he remembered all that; it had happened
+too lately for him to forget the circumstance."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, let him take the lantern himself, and
+see if the armour hung still upon the wall." So the young lord
+took the lantern with trembling hands, and advanced to the place;
+but no--there was no armour there now. Then he looked all round
+the room, but the armour with the serpent crest was nowhere to be
+seen. He dropped the lantern with a bitter execration. Hereupon
+the old knight continued--"You see, my gracious Prince, that the
+ghost must have flesh and blood, like you or me. The castellan
+tells me that when the ghost first began his pranks, the helmet
+and cuirass were still found every morning in their usual place
+here. But for eight days they have not been forthcoming; for the
+ghost, you see, is growing hardy and forgetting his usual
+precautions. However, the castellan had determined to watch him,
+and seize hold of him, for, as he rightly conjectured, a spirit
+could not carry away a heavy iron suit of armour on him; but his
+wife had dissuaded him from those measures up to the present time.
+Come now to the stables with me," continued Ulrich, "and let us
+conceal ourselves in the coach which I mentioned to you; Marcus
+Bork shall accompany us, and let us wait there until the ghost
+appears, and creeps through the trapdoor. After some time we shall
+follow him; and then this wicked cheat will be detected. But
+before we move, swear to me that you will await the issue
+peaceably and calmly in the coach; you must neither sigh nor
+groan, nor scarcely breathe. No matter what you hear or see, if
+you cannot control your fierce, jealous rage, all will be lost."
+
+Then the young Prince gave him his hand, and promised to keep
+silence, though it should cost him his life, for no one could be
+more anxious to discover the truth or falsehood of this matter
+than he himself. So they both descended now to the courtyard,
+Ulrich concealing the lantern under his mantle; and they crouched
+along by the wall till they reached the horse-pond, where Marcus
+Bork stood awaiting them; then they glided on, one by one, into
+the stables, and concealed themselves within the coach.
+
+It was well they did so without longer delay, for scarcely had
+they been seated when the ghost appeared. No doubt he had heard of
+the intended marriage, and wished to take advantage of his last
+opportunity. As the sound of his feet became audible approaching
+the coach, the Prince almost groaned audibly; but the stout old
+knight threw one arm powerfully round his body, and placed the
+hand of the other firmly over his mouth. The ghost now began to
+ascend the coach, and they heard him clambering up the hind wheel;
+he slipped down, however (a bad omen), and muttered a half-curse;
+then, to help himself up better, he seized hold of the sash of the
+window, and with it took a grip of Ulrich's beard, as he was
+leaning close to the side of the coach to watch his proceedings.
+Not a stir did the brave old knight make, but sat as still as
+marble, and even held his breath, lest the ghost might feel it
+warm upon his hand, and so discover their ambuscade.
+
+At last he was up; and they heard him clattering over their heads,
+then creeping through the trap-door into the corridor, and a
+little after, the sound of a door gently opening.
+
+All efforts were in vain to keep the Prince quiet. He must follow
+him. He would rush through the trap-door after him, though it cost
+him his life! But old Ulrich whispered in his ear, "Now I know
+that Prince Ernest has neither honour nor discretion, and
+Pomerania has little to hope from such a ruler." All in vain--he
+springs out of the coach, but the knight after him, who hastily
+gave Marcus Bork the keys of the castle, and bade him go fetch the
+household, down to the menials, here to the gallery. Marcus took
+them, and left the stables instantly. Then Ulrich seized the hand
+of Prince Ernest, who was already on the top of the coach, and
+asked him was it thus he would, leave an old man without any one
+to assist him. Let him in first through the trap-door, while the
+Prince held the lantern. To this he consented, and helped the old
+knight up, who, having reached the trap-door, put his head
+through; but, alas! the portly stomach of the stout old knight
+would not follow. He stretched out his head, however, on every
+side, as far as it could go, and heard distinctly low whispering
+voices from Sidonia's little room; then a sound as of the tramp of
+many feet became audible in the courtyard, by which he knew that
+Marcus and the household were advancing rapidly.
+
+But the young lord, who was waiting at the top of the coach, grew
+impatient, and pulled him back, endeavouring to creep through the
+hole himself. Praised be Heaven, however, this he failed to do
+from weakness; so he was obliged to follow the Grand Chamberlain,
+who whispered to him to come down, and they could reach the
+corridor through the usual entrance. Hereupon they both left the
+stables, and met Marcus in the courtyard with his company.
+
+Then all ascended noiselessly to the gallery, and ranged
+themselves around Sidonia's door. Ulrich now told eight of the
+strongest carls present to step forward and lean their shoulders
+against the door, but make no stir until he gave a sign; then when
+he cried "Now!" they should burst it open with all their force.
+
+As to the young Prince, he was trembling like an aspen leaf, and
+his weakness was so great that two young men had to support him.
+In short, as all present gradually stole closer and closer up to
+the door of Sidonia's room, the old knight drew forth his lantern,
+and signed to the men, who stood with their shoulders pressed
+against it; then when all was ready, he cried "Now!" and the door
+burst open with a loud crash. Every lock, and bar, and bolt
+shivered to atoms, and in rushed the whole party, Ulrich at their
+head, with his lantern lifted high up above them all.
+
+Sidonia and her visitor were standing in the middle of the room.
+Ulrich first flashed the light upon the face of the man. Who would
+have believed it?--no other than Johann Appelmann! The knight hit
+him a heavy blow across the face, exclaiming, "What! thou common
+horse-jockey--thou low-born varlet--is it thus thou bringest
+disgrace upon a maiden of the noblest house in Pomerania? Ha, thou
+shalt be paid for this. Wait! Master Hansen shall give thee some
+of his gentle love-touches this night!"
+
+But meanwhile the young Prince had entered, and beheld Sidonia, as
+she stood there trembling from shame, and endeavouring to cover
+her face with her long, beautiful golden hair that fell almost to
+her knees. "Sidonia!" he exclaimed, with a cry as bitter as if a
+dagger had passed through his heart--"Sidonia!" and fell
+insensible before her.
+
+Now a great clamour arose amongst the crowd, for beside the couch
+lay the helmet and cuirass of the ghost; so every one knew now who
+it was that had played this trick on them for so long, and kept
+the castle in such a state of terror.
+
+Then they gathered round the poor young Prince, who lay there as
+stiff as a corpse, and lamented over him with loud lamentations,
+and some of them lifted him up to carry him out of the chamber;
+but the Grand Chamberlain sternly commanded them to lay him down
+again before his bride, whom he had arranged to wed privately at
+Crummyn on the following night. Then seizing Sidonia by the hand,
+and dashing back her long hair, he led her forward before all the
+people, and said with a loud voice, "See here the illustrious and
+high-born Lady Sidonia, of the holy Roman Empire, Duchess of
+Pomerania, Cassuben, and Wenden, Princess of Rügen, Countess of
+Gützkow, and our Serene and most Gracious Lady, how she honours
+the princely house of Pomerania by sharing her love with this
+stable groom, this tailor's son, this debauched profligate! Oh! I
+could grow mad when I think of this disgrace. Thou shameless one!
+have I not long ago given thee thy right name? But wait--the name
+shall be branded on thee this night, so that all the world may
+read it."
+
+Just then her Grace entered with Clara, followed by all the other
+maids of honour; for, hearing the noise and tumult, they had
+hastened thither as they were, some half undressed, others with
+only a loose night-robe flung round them. And her Grace, seeing
+the young lord lying pale and insensible on the ground, wrung her
+hands and cried out, "Who has killed my son? who has murdered my
+darling child?"
+
+Here stepped forward Ulrich, and said, "The young lord was not
+dead; but, if it so pleased God, was in a fair way now to regain
+both life and reason." Then he related all which had led to this
+discovery; and how they had that night been themselves the
+witnesses of Sidonia's wickedness with the false ghost. Now her
+Grace knew his secret, which he had not told until certain of
+success.
+
+As he related all these things, her Grace turned upon Sidonia and
+spat on her; and the young lord, having recovered somewhat in
+consequence of the water they had thrown on him, cried out,
+"Sidonia! is it possible? No, Sidonia, it is not possible!"
+
+The shameless hypocrite had now recovered her self-possession, and
+would have denied all knowledge of Appelmann, saying that he
+forced himself in when she chanced to open the door; but he,
+interrupting her, cried, "Does the girl dare to lay all the blame
+on me? Did you not press my hand there when you were lying after
+you fell from the stag? Did you not meet me afterwards in the
+lumber-room--that day of the hunt when Duke Barnim was here last?"
+
+"No, no, no!" shrieked Sidonia. "It is a lie, an infamous lie!"
+But he answered, "Scream as you will, you cannot deny that this
+disguise of the ghost was your own invention to favour my visits
+to you. Did you not drop notes for me down on the coach, through
+the trap-door, fixing the nights when I might come? and bethink
+you of last night, when you sent me a note by your maid, wrapped
+up in a little horse-cloth which I had lent you for your cat, with
+the prayer that I would not fail to be with you that night nor the
+next"--Oh, just Heaven! to think that it was upon that very night
+that Clara should break her shoe-string, by which means the
+Almighty turned away ruin and disgrace from the ancient,
+illustrious, and princely house of Pomerania--all by a broken
+shoe-string! For if the ghost had remained away but that one
+night, or Clara had not broken her shoestring, Sidonia would have
+been Duchess of Pomerania; but what doth the Scripture say? "Man's
+goings are of the Lord. What man understandeth his own way?"
+(Prov. xx. 24).
+
+When Sidonia heard him tell all this, and how she had written
+notes of entreaty to him, she screamed aloud, and springing at him
+like a wild-cat, buried her ten nails in his hair, shrieking,
+"Thou liest, traitor; it is false! it is false!"
+
+Now Ulrich rushed forward, and seized her by her long hair to part
+them, but at that moment Master Hansen, the executioner, entered
+in his red cloak, with six assistants (for Ulrich had privately
+sent for him), and the Grand Chamberlain instantly let go his hold
+of Sidonia, saying, "You come in good time, Master Hansen; take
+away this wretched pair, lock them up in the bastion tower, and on
+the morn bring them to the horse-market by ten of the clock, and
+there scourge and brand them; then carry them both to the frontier
+out of our good State of Wolgast, and let them both go their ways
+from that, whither it may please them."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she let go her paramour and fell fainting
+upon the bed; but recovering herself in a little time, she
+exclaimed, "What is this you talk of? A noble maiden who is as
+innocent as the child in its cradle, to be scourged by the common
+executioner? Oh, is there no Christian heart here to take pity on
+a poor, helpless girl! Gracious young Prince, even if all the
+world hold me guilty, you cannot, no, you cannot; it is
+impossible!"
+
+Hereupon the young lord began to tremble like an aspen leaf, and
+said in a broken voice, "Alas, Sidonia! you betrayed yourself: if
+you had not mentioned that trap-door to me, I might still have
+believed you innocent (I, who thought some good angel had guided
+you to it!); now it is impossible; yet be comforted, the
+executioner shall never scourge you nor brand you--you are branded
+enough already." Then turning to the Grand Chamberlain he said,
+that with his consent a hangman should never lay his hands upon
+this nobly born maiden, whom he had once destined to be Duchess of
+Pomerania; but Appelmann, this base-born vassal, who had eaten of
+his bread and then betrayed him like a Judas, let him be flogged
+and branded as much as they pleased; no word of his should save
+the accursed seducer from punishment.
+
+Notwithstanding this, old Ulrich was determined on having Sidonia
+scourged, and my gracious lady the Duchess must have her scourged
+too. "Let her dear son only think that if the all-merciful God had
+not interposed, he would have been utterly ruined and his princely
+house disgraced, by means of this girl. Nothing but evil had she
+brought with her since first she set foot in the castle: she had
+caused his sickness; item, the death of two young knights by
+drowning; item, the terrible execution of Joachim Budde, who was
+beheaded at the festival; and had she not, in addition, whipped
+her dear little Casimir, which unseemly act had only lately come
+to her knowledge? and had she not also made every man in the
+castle that approached her mad for love of her, all by her
+diabolical conduct? No--away with the wretch: she merits her
+chastisement a thousand and a thousand-fold!" And old Ulrich
+exclaimed likewise, "Away with the wretch and her paramour!"
+
+Here the young lord made an effort to spring forward to save her,
+but fell fainting on the ground; and while the attendants were
+busy running for water to throw over him, Clara von Dewitz,
+turning away the executioner with her hand from Sidonia, fell down
+on her knees before her Grace, and besought her to spare at least
+the person of the poor, unfortunate maiden; did her Grace think
+that any punishment could exceed what she had already suffered?
+Let her own compassionate heart plead along with her words--and
+did not the Scripture say, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord."
+
+Hereupon her Grace looked at old Ulrich without speaking; but he
+understood her glance, and made answer--"No; the hangman must do
+his duty towards the wretch!" when her Grace said mildly, "But for
+the sake of this dear, good young maiden, I think we might let her
+go, for, remember, if she had not opened out this villainy to us,
+the creature would have been my daughter-in-law, and my princely
+house disgraced for evermore."
+
+Now Marcus Bork stepped forward, and added his prayers that the
+noble name he bore might not be disgraced in Sidonia. "He had ever
+been a faithful feudal vassal to her princely house, and had not
+even scrupled to bring the secret wicked deeds of his cousin
+before the light of day, though it was like a martyrdom of his own
+flesh and blood for conscience' sake."
+
+Here old Ulrich burst forth in great haste--"Seven thousand
+devils! Let the wench be off, then. Not another night should she
+rest in the castle. Let her speak--where would she go to? where
+should they bring her to?"
+
+And when Sidonia answered, sobbing, "To Stettin, to her gracious
+lord, Duke Barnim, who would take pity on her because of her
+innocence," Ulrich laughed outright in scorn. "I shall give the
+driver a letter to him, and another to thy father. Perhaps his
+Grace will show thee true pity, and drive thee with his horsewhip
+to Stramehl. But thou shalt journey in the same coach whereon thy
+leman clambered up to the trap-door, and Master Hansen shall sit
+on the coach-box and drive thee himself. As to thy darling
+stablegroom here, the master must set his mark on him before he
+goes; but that can be done when the hangman returns from Stettin."
+
+When Appelmann heard this, he fell at the feet of the Lord
+Chamberlain, imploring him to let him off too. "Had he not ridden
+to Spantekow, without stop or stay, at the peril of his life, to
+oblige Lord Ulrich that time the Lapland wizard made the evil
+prophecy; and though his illustrious lady died, yet that was from
+no fault of his, and his lordship had then promised not to forget
+him if he were but in need. So now he demanded, on the strength of
+his knightly word, that a horse should be given him from the ducal
+stables, and that he be permitted to go forth, free and scathless,
+to ride wherever it might please him. His sins were truly heavy
+upon him, and he would try and do better, with the help of God."
+
+When the old knight heard him express himself in this godly sort
+(for the knave knew his man well), he was melted to compassion,
+and said, "Then go thy way, and God give thee grace to repent of
+thy manifold sins."
+
+Her Grace had nothing to object; only to put a fixed barrier
+between the Prince and Sidonia, she added, "But send first for Dr.
+Gerschovius, that he may unite this shameless pair in marriage
+before they leave the castle, and then they can travel away
+together."
+
+Hereupon Johann Appelmann exclaimed, "No, never! How could he hope
+for God's grace to amend him, living with a thing like that, tied
+to him for life, which God and man alike hold in abhorrence?" At
+this speech Sidonia screamed aloud, "Thou lying and accursed
+stable-groom, darest thou speak so of a castle and land dowered
+maiden?" and she flew at him, and would have torn his hair, but
+Marcus Bork seized hold of her round the waist, and dragged her
+with great effort into Clara's room.
+
+Now the tears poured from the eyes of her Grace at such a
+disgraceful scene, and she turned to her son, who was slowly
+recovering--"Hast thou heard, Ernest, this groom--this servant of
+thine--refuses to take the girl to wife whom thou wast going to
+make Duchess of Pomerania? Woe! woe! what words for thy poor
+mother to hear; but it was all foreshadowed when Dr. Luther--" &c.
+&c.
+
+In short, the end of the infamous story was, that Sidonia was
+carried off that very night in the identical coach we know of, and
+Master Hansen was sent with her, bearing letters to the Duke and
+Otto from the Grand Chamberlain, and one also to the burgomaster
+Appelmann in Stargard; and the executioner had strict orders to
+drive her himself the whole way to Stettin. As for Appelmann, he
+sprung upon a Friesland clipper, as the old chamberlain had
+permitted, and rode away that same night. But the young lord was
+so ill from grief and shame, that he was lifted to his bed, and
+all the _medici_ of Grypswald and Wolgast were summoned to
+attend him.
+
+And such was the end of Sidonia von Bork at the ducal court of
+Wolgast. But old Küssow told me that for a long while she was the
+whole talk of the court and town, many wondering, though they knew
+well her light behaviour, that she should give herself up to
+perdition at last for a common groom, no better than a menial
+compared to her. But I find the old proverb is true for her as
+well as for another, "The apple falls close to the tree; as is the
+sheep, so is the lamb;" for had her father brought her up in the
+fear of God, in place of encouraging her in revenge, pride, and
+haughtiness, Sidonia might have been a good and honoured wife for
+her life long. But the libertine example of her father so
+destroyed all natural instincts of modesty and maidenly reserve
+within her, that she fell an easy prey to the first temptation.
+
+In short, my gracious Prince Bogislaus XIV., as well as all those
+who love and honour the illustrious house of Wolgast, will
+devoutly thank God for having turned away this disgrace in a
+manner so truly wonderful.
+
+I have already spoken of the broken shoe-tie, but in addition, I
+must point out that if Sidonia had counselled her paramour to take
+the armour of Duke Philip, which hung in the same lumber-room, in
+place of that belonging to the serpent knight, that wickedness
+would never have come to light. For assuredly all in the castle
+would have believed that it was truly the ghost of the dead duke,
+who came to reproach his son for not holding the oath which he had
+sworn on his coffin, to abandon Sidonia. And consequently, respect
+and terror would have alike prevented any human soul in the castle
+from daring to follow it, and investigate its object. Therefore
+let us praise the name of the Lord who turned all things to good,
+and fulfilled, in Sidonia and her lover, the Scripture which
+saith, "Thinking themselves wise, they became fools" (Rom. i. 21).
+
+
+
+
+END OF FIRST BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+FROM THE BANISHMENT OF SIDONIA FROM THE DUCAL COURT OF WOLGAST UP
+TO HER RECEPTION IN THE CONVENT OF MARIENFLIESS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_Of the quarrel between Otto Bork and the Stargardians, which
+caused him to demand the dues upon the Jena._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Grace must be informed,
+that much of what I have here set down, in this second book, was
+communicated to me by that same old Uckermann of Dalow of whom I
+have spoken already in my first volume.
+
+Other important facts I have gleaned from the Diary of Magdalena
+von Petersdorfin, _Priorissa_ of the convent of Marienfliess.
+She was an old and worthy matron, whom Sidonia, however, used to
+mock and insult, calling her the old cat, and such-like names. But
+she revenged herself on the shameless wanton in no other way than
+by writing down what facts she could collect of her disgraceful
+life and courses, for the admonition and warning of the holy
+sisterhood.
+
+This little book the pious nun left to her sister Sophia, who is
+still living in the convent at Marienfliess; and she, at my
+earnest entreaties, permitted me to peruse it.
+
+Before, however, I continue the relation of Sidonia's adventures,
+I must state to your Grace what were the circumstances which
+induced Otto von Bork to demand so urgently the dues upon the Jena
+from their Highnesses of Stettin and Wolgast. In my opinion, it
+was for nothing else than to revenge himself upon the burgomaster
+of Stargard, Jacob Appelmann, father of the equerry. The quarrel
+happened years before, but Otto never forgot it, and only waited a
+fitting opportunity to take vengeance on him and the people of
+Stargard.
+
+This Jacob Appelmann was entitled to receive a great portion of
+the Jena dues, which were principally paid to him in kind,
+particularly in foreign spices, which he afterwards sold to the
+Polish Jews, at the annual fair held in Stramehl.
+
+It happened, upon one of these occasions, as Jacob, with two of
+his porters, appeared, as usual, carrying bags of spices, to sell
+to the Polish Jews, that Otto met him in the market-place, and
+invited him to come up to his castle, for that many nobles were
+assembled there who would, no doubt, give him better prices for
+his goods than the Polish Jews, and added that the worthy
+burgomaster must drink his health with him that day.
+
+Now, Jacob Appelmann was no despiser of good cheer or of broad
+gold pieces; so, unfortunately for himself, he accepted the
+invitation. But the knight had only lured him up to the castle to
+insult and mock him. For when he entered the hall, a loud roar of
+laughter greeted his appearance, and the half-drunk guests, who
+were swilling the wine as if they had tuns to fill, and not
+stomachs, swore that he must pledge each of them separately, in a
+lusty draught. So they handed him an enormous becker, cut with
+Otto's arms, bidding him drain it; but as the Herr Jacob
+hesitated, his host asked him, laughing, was he a Jesu disciple,
+that he refused to drink?
+
+Hereupon the other answered, he was too old for a disciple, but he
+was not ashamed to call himself a servant of Jesus.
+
+Then they all roared with laughter, and Otto spoke--
+
+"My good lords and dear friends, ye know how that the Stargard
+knaves joined with the Pomeranian Duke to ravage my good town of
+Stramehl, so that it can be only called a village now. And it is
+also not unknown to you that my disgrace then passed into a
+proverb, so that people will still say, 'He fell upon me as the
+Stargardians upon Stramehl.' Let us, then, revenge ourselves
+to-day. If this Jesu's servant will not drink, then tear open his
+mouth, put a tun-dish therein, and pour down a good draught till
+the knave cries 'enough!' As to his spices, let us scatter them
+before the Polish Jews, as pease before swine, and it will be
+merry pastime to see how the beasts will lick them up. Thus will
+Stramehl retort upon Stargard, and the whole land will shout with
+laughter. For wherefore does this Stargard pedlar come here to my
+fairs? Mayhap I shall visit his."
+
+Peals of laughter and applause greeted Otto's speech; but Jacob,
+when he heard it, determined, if possible, to effect his escape;
+and watching his opportunity, for he was the only one there not
+drunk, sprang out of the hall, and down the flight of steps, and
+being young then, never drew breath till he reached the
+market-place of Stramehl, and jumped into his own waggon.
+
+In vain Otto screamed out to "stop him, stop him!" all his
+servants were at the fair, where, indeed, the people of the whole
+country round were gathered. Then the host and the guests sprang
+up themselves, to run after Jacob Appelmann, but many could not
+stand, and others tumbled down by the way. However, with a chorus
+of cries, curses, and threats, Otto and some others at last
+reached the waggon, and laid hold of it. Then they dragged out the
+bags of spices, and emptied them all down upon the street,
+crying--
+
+"Come hither, ye Jews; which of you wants pepper? Who wants
+cloves?"
+
+So all the Jews in the place ran together, and down they went on
+all-fours picking up the spices, while their long beards swept the
+pavement quite clean. Hey! how they pushed and screamed, and dealt
+blows about among themselves, till their noses bled, and the place
+looked as if gamecocks had been fighting there, whereat Otto and
+his roistering guests roared with laughter.
+
+One of the bags they pulled out of the waggon contained cinnamon;
+but a huntsman of Otto Bork's, not knowing what it was, poured it
+down likewise into the street. Cinnamon was then so rare, that it
+sold for its weight in gold. So an old Jew, spying the precious
+morsel, cried out, "Praise be to God! Praise be to God!" and ran
+through Otto Bork's legs to get hold of a stick of it. This made
+the knight look down, and seeing the cinnamon, he straightway bid
+the huntsman gather it all up again quick, and carry it safely
+home to the castle.
+
+But the old Jew would by no means let go his hold of the booty,
+and kept the sticks in one hand high above his head, while with
+the other he dealt heavy buffets upon the huntsman. An apprentice
+of Jacob Appelmann's beheld all this from the waggon, and knowing
+what a costly thing this cinnamon was, he made a long arm out of
+the waggon, and snapped away the sticks from the Jew. Upon this
+the huntsman sprang at the apprentice; but the latter, seizing a
+pair of pot-hooks, which his master had that day bought in the
+fair, dealt such a blow with them upon the head of the huntsman,
+that he fell down at once upon the ground quite dead.
+
+Now every one cried out "Murder! murder! Jodute! Jodute! Jodute!"
+and they tore the bags right and left from the waggon, Jews as
+well as Christians; but Otto commanded them to seize the
+apprentice also. So they dragged him out too. He was a fine young
+man of twenty-three, Louis Griepentroch by name. There was such an
+uproar, that the men who held the horses' heads were forced away.
+Whereupon the burgomaster resolved to seize this opportunity for
+escape; and without heeding the lamentations of the other
+apprentice, Zabel Griepentroch, who prayed him earnestly to stop
+and save his poor brother, desired the driver to lash the horses
+into a gallop, and never stop nor stay until the unlucky town was
+left far behind them.
+
+Otto von Bork ordered instant pursuit, but in vain. The
+burgomaster could not be overtaken, and reached Wangerin in
+safety. There he put up at the inn, to give the panting horses
+breathing-time; and now the aforesaid Zabel besought him, with
+many tears, to write to Otto Bork on behalf of his poor brother,
+to which the burgomaster at last consented; for he loved these two
+youths, who were orphans and twins, and he had brought them up
+from their childhood, and treated them in all things like a true
+and loving godfather. So he wrote to Otto, "That if aught of ill
+happened to the young Louis Griepentroch, he (the burgomaster)
+would complain to his Grace of Stettin, for the youth had only
+done his duty in trying to save the property of his master from
+the hands of robbers." The good Jacob, however, admonished Zabel
+to make up his mind for the worst, for the knight was not a man
+whose heart could be melted, as he himself had experienced but too
+well that day.
+
+But the sorrowing youth little heeded the admonitions, only seized
+the letter, and ran with it that same evening back to Stramehl.
+Here, however, no one would listen to him, no one heeded him; and
+when at last he got up to Otto and gave him the letter, the knight
+swore he would flay him alive if he did not instantly quit the
+town. Now the poor youth gnashed his teeth in rage and despair,
+and determined to be revenged on the knight.
+
+Just then came by a great crowd leading his brother Louis to the
+gallows; and on his head they had stuck a high paper cap with the
+Stargard arms painted thereon, namely, a tower with two griffins
+(Sidonia, indeed, had painted it, and she was by, and clapping her
+hands with delight); and for the greater scandal to Stargard, they
+had tied two hares' tails to the back of the cap, with the
+inscription written in large letters above them--"So came the
+Stargardians to Stramehl!"
+
+And Otto and his guests gathered round the gallows, and all the
+market-folk, with great uproar and laughter. _Summa_, when
+the poor carl saw all this, and that there was no hope for his
+heart's dear brother, neither could he even get near him just to
+say a last "good-night," he ran like mad to the castle, which was
+almost empty now, as every one had gone to the market-place; and
+there, on the hill, he turned round and saw how the hangman had
+shoved his dear Louis from the ladder, and the body was swinging
+lamentably to and fro between heaven and earth. So he seized a
+brand and set fire to the brew-house, from which a thick smoke and
+light flames soon rose high into the air. Now all the people
+rushed towards the castle, for they suspected well who had done
+the deed, particularly as they had observed a young fellow
+running, as if for life or death, in the opposite direction
+towards the open country. So they pursued him with wild shouts
+from every direction; right and left they hemmed him in, and cut
+off his escape to the wood. And Otto Bork sprang upon a fresh
+horse, and galloped along with them, roaring out, "Seize the
+rascal!--seize the vile incendiary! He who takes him shall have a
+tun of my best beer!" But others he despatched to the castle to
+extinguish the flames.
+
+Now the poor Zabel knew not what to do, for on every side his
+pursuers were gaining fast upon him, and he heard Otto's voice
+close behind crying, "There he runs! there he runs! Seize the
+gallows-bird, that he may swing with his brother this night. A tun
+of my best beer to the man who takes him! Seize the incendiary!"
+So the poor wretch, in his anguish, threw off his smock upon the
+grass and sprang into the lake, hoping to be able to swim to the
+other side and reach the wood.
+
+"In after him!" roared Otto; and a fellow jumped in instantly, and
+seizing hold of Zabel by the hose, dragged him along with him; but
+they were soon both carried into deep water--Zabel, however, was
+the uppermost, and held the other down tight to stifle him.
+Another seeing this, plunged in to rescue his companion, and from
+the bank dived down underneath Zabel, intending to seize him round
+the body; but it so happened that the fishermen of Stramehl had
+laid their nets close to the place, and he plunged direct into the
+middle of the largest, and stuck there miserably; which when Zabel
+observed, he let the other go, who was now quite dead, and struck
+out boldly for the opposite bank. The fishermen sprang into their
+boats to pursue him, and the crowd ran round, hoping to cut off
+the pass before he could gain the bank; but he was a brave youth,
+and distanced them all, jumped on land before one of them could
+reach him, and plunged into the thick wood. Here it was vain to
+follow him, for night was coming on fast; so he pursued his path
+in safety, and returned to his master at Stramehl.
+
+Otto von Bork, however, would not let the matter rest here, for he
+had sustained great loss by the burning of his brew-house (the
+other buildings were saved); therefore he wrote to the honourable
+council at Stargard--"That by the shameful and scandalous burning
+of his brew-house, he had lost two fine hounds named Stargard and
+Stramehl, which he had brought himself from Silesia; _item_,
+two old servants and a woman; _item_, in the lake, two other
+servants had been drowned; and all by the revenge of an
+apprentice, because he had justly caused his brother to be
+executed. Therefore this apprentice must be given up to him, that
+he might have him broken on the wheel, otherwise their vassals on
+the Jena should suffer in such a sort, that the Stargardians would
+long have reason to remember Otto Bork."
+
+Now, some of the honourable councillors were of opinion that they
+should by no means give up the apprentice; first, because Otto had
+insulted the Stargard arms, and secondly, lest it might appear as
+if they feared he would fulfil his threats respecting the Jena.
+
+But Jacob Appelmann, the burgomaster, who lay sick in his bed from
+the treatment he had received at Stramehl, entirely disapproved of
+this resolution; and when they came to him for his advice,
+proposed to give for answer to the knight that he should first
+indemnify him for the loss of his costly spices, which he valued
+at one thousand florins, and when this sum was paid down, they
+might treat of the matter concerning the apprentice.
+
+The knight, however, mocked them for making such an absurd demand
+as compensation, and reiterated his threats, that if the young man
+were not delivered up to him, he would punish Stargard with a
+great punishment.
+
+The council, however, were still determined not to yield; and as
+the burgomaster lay sick in his bed, they released the apprentice
+from prison; and replied to Otto, "That if he broke the public
+peace of his Imperial Majesty, let the consequences fall on his
+own head--there was still justice for them to be had in
+Pomerania."
+
+When the burgomaster heard of this, he had himself carried in a
+litter, sick as he was, to the honourable council, and asked them,
+"Was this justice, to release an incendiary from prison? If they
+sought justice for themselves, let them deal it out to others. No
+one had lost more by the transaction than he: his income for the
+next two years was clean gone, and the care and anxiety he had
+undergone, besides, had reduced him to this state of bodily
+weakness which they observed. It was a heart-grief to him to give
+up the young man, for he had reared him from the baptism water,
+and he had been a faithful servant unto him up to this day. Could
+he save him, he would gladly give up his house and all he was
+worth, and go and take a lodging upon the wall; for this young man
+had once saved his life, by slaying a mad dog which had seized him
+by the tail of his coat; but it was not to be done. They must set
+an honourable example, as just and upright citizens and fearless
+magistrates, who hold that old saying in honour--'_Fiat justitia
+et pereat mundus_;' which means, 'Let justice be done, though
+life and fortune perish.' But the punishment of the wheel was, he
+confessed, altogether too severe for the poor youth; and therefore
+he counselled that they should hang him, as Otto had hung his
+brother."
+
+This course the honourable society consented at last to adopt; but
+the knight had disgraced their arms, and they ought in return to
+disgrace his. They could get the court painter from Stettin at the
+public expense, and let him paint Otto Bork's arms on the back of
+the young man's hose.
+
+Here the burgomaster again interfered--"Why should the honourable
+council attempt a stupid insult, because the knight had done so?"
+But he talked in vain; they were determined on this retaliation.
+At last (but after a great deal of trouble) he obtained a promise
+that they would have the arms painted before, upon his smock, and
+not behind, upon the hose, for that would be a sore disgrace to
+Otto, and bring his vengeance upon them. "Why should they do more
+to him than he had done unto them? The Scripture said, 'Eye for
+eye, tooth for tooth,' and not two eyes for an eye, two teeth for
+a tooth." Hereupon the honourable council pronounced sentence on
+the young man, and fixed the third day from that for his
+execution. But first the executioner must bring him up before the
+bed of the burgomaster, who thus spoke--"Ah, Zabel, wherefore
+didst thou not behave as I admonished thee in Wangerin?" And as
+the young man began to weep, he gave him his hand, and admonished
+him to be steadfast in the death-hour, asked his forgiveness for
+having condemned him, but it was his duty as a magistrate so to
+do--thanked him for having saved his life by slaying the mad dog;
+finally, bid him "Good-night," and then buried his face in the
+pillow.
+
+So the hangman carried back the weeping youth to the council-hall,
+where the honourable councillors had the Bork arms fastened upon
+his smock, and out of further malice against Otto (for they knew
+the burgomaster, being sick in his bed, could not hinder them),
+they placed over them a large piece of pasteboard, on which was
+written, "So did the Stargardians with Stramehl." _Item_,
+they fastened to the two corners a pair of wolf's ears, because
+Bork, in the Wendig tongue, signifies wolf. This was to revenge
+themselves for the hares' tails.
+
+Then the poor apprentice was carried to the gallows, amid loud
+laughter from the common people. And even the honourable
+councillors waxed merry at the sight; and as the hangman pushed
+him from the ladder, they cried out, "So will the Stargardians do
+to Stramehl!"
+
+Now Otto heard tidings of all these doings, but he feared to
+complain to his Highness the Duke, because he himself had begun
+the quarrel, and they had only retorted as was fair. _Item_,
+he did not dare to stop the boats upon the Jena--for he knew that
+although Duke Barnim was usually of a soft and placable temper,
+yet when he was roused there was no more dangerous enemy. And if
+the Stargardians leagued with him, they might fall upon his town
+of Stramehl, as they had done once before.
+
+Therefore he waited patiently for an opportunity of revenge, and
+held his peace until Sidonia acquainted him with the love of the
+young Prince Ernest. Then he resolved to demand the dues upon the
+Jena to be given up to him, and if his wicked desire had been
+gratified, I think the good citizens of Stargard might have taken
+to the beggar's staff for the rest of their days, for like all the
+old Hanseatic towns, their entire subsistence came to them by
+water, and all their wares and merchandise were carried up the
+Jena in boats to the town. These the knight would have rated so
+highly, if he had been made owner of the dues, that the town and
+people would have been utterly ruined.
+
+It has been already stated that the Duke Barnim gave an ambiguous
+answer to Otto upon the subject; but the knight, after his visit
+to Wolgast, was so certain of seeing his daughter in a short time
+Duchess of Pomerania, that he already looked upon the Jena dues as
+his own, and proceeded to act as shall be related in the next
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Otto von Bork demands the Jena dues from the Stargardians,
+and how the burgomaster Jacob Appelmann takes him prisoner, and
+locks him up in the Red Sea._ [Footnote: A watch-tower, built
+in the Moorish style, upon the town wall of Stargard, from which
+the adjacent streets take their name.]
+
+
+As the aforesaid knight and my gracious lord, Duke Barnim,
+journeyed home from Wolgast, the former discoursed much on this
+matter of the Jena dues, but his Grace listened in silence, after
+his manner, and nicked away at his doll. (I think, however, that
+his Grace did not quite understand the matter of the Jena dues
+himself.)
+
+_Summa_, while Otto was at Stettin, he received information
+that three vessels, laden with wine and spices, and all manner of
+merchandise, were on their way to Stargard. So he took this for a
+good sign, and went straight to the town and up to the
+burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, would not sit down, however, but
+made himself as stiff as if his back would break, and asked
+whether he (Appelmann) was aware that the lands of the Bork family
+bordered close upon the Jena.
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, he knew it well."
+
+_Hic._--"Then he could not wonder if he now demanded dues
+from every vessel that went up to Stargard."
+
+_Ille._--"On the contrary, he would wonder greatly; since by
+an Act passed in the reign of Duke Barnim the First, A.D. 1243,
+the freedom of the Jena had been secured to them, and they had
+enjoyed it up to the present date."
+
+_Hic_.--"Stuff! what was the use of bringing up these old
+Acts. His Grace of Stettin, as well as the Duchess of Wolgast, had
+now given them over to him."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then let his lordship produce his charter; if he
+had got one, why not show it?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No, he had not got the written order yet, but he
+would soon have it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, until then they would abide by the old law."
+
+_Hic_.--"By no means. This very day he would insist on being
+paid the dues."
+
+_Ille_.--"That meant, that he purposed to break the peace of
+our lord the Emperor. Let him think well of it. It might cost him
+dear."
+
+_Hic_.--"That was his care. The Stargardians should not a
+second time hang his arms on the gallows."
+
+_Ille_.--"It was a simple act of retaliation; had he not
+read, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Nonsense! was that retaliation, when a set of low
+burgher carls took upon themselves to disgrace the lord of castles
+and lands; as well might one of his serfs, when he struck him,
+strike him in return; that would be retaliation too. Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+_Ille_.--"What did his lordship mean? He was no village
+justice, nor were the burghers of this good town serfs or boors."
+
+_Hic_.--"If he knew not now what he meant, he would soon
+learn; ay, and take off his hat so low to the Bork arms that it
+would touch the ground. Then, too, he might himself get a lesson
+in retaliation."
+
+And herewith the knight strode firmly out of the room, without
+even saluting the burgomaster; but Jacob knew well how to deal
+with him, so he sent instantly for the keeper of the forest, who
+lived in the thick wood on the banks of the Jena, and told him to
+watch by night and day, and if he observed anything unusual going
+on, to spring upon a horse and bring him the intelligence without
+delay.
+
+Meanwhile the knight summoned all his feudal vassals around him at
+Stramehl, and told them how his Grace had bestowed the Jena dues
+upon him, but the sturdy burghers of Stargard had dared to impugn
+his rights; therefore let each of them select two trusty
+followers, and meet all together on the morrow morn at Putzerlin,
+close to the Jena ferry. Then, if there came by any vessels laden
+with choice wines, let them be sure and drink a health to
+Stargard. So they all believed him, and came to the appointed
+place with twenty horsemen, and the knight himself brought twenty
+more. There they unsaddled and turned into the meadow, then set to
+work to throw a bridge over the river. As soon as the forest
+ranger spied them, he saddled his wild clipper, which he himself
+had caught in the Uckermund country, and flew like wind to the
+town (for the wild horses are much stouter and fleeter than the
+tame, but there are none to be found now in all Pomerania).
+
+When the burgomaster heard this tale, he told him to go back the
+way he came, and keep perfectly still until he saw a rocket rise
+from St. Mary's Tower, then let him loose all his hounds upon the
+horses in the meadow, and he and the burghers would follow soon,
+and make a quick end of the robber knights and freebooters; but he
+would wait for three hours before giving the promised sign from
+St. Mary's Tower, that he might have time to get back to the wood.
+Still the knight and his followers continued working at the bridge
+right merrily. They took the ferryman's planks and poles, and cut
+down large oak-trees, and every one that went across the ferry
+must stop and help them; but their work was not quite completed,
+when three vessels appeared in sight, laden with all sorts of
+merchandise, and making direct for Stargard. As soon as Otto
+perceived them, he took half-a-dozen fellows with him, and jumped
+into a ferry-boat, crying, "Hold! until the dues are paid, you can
+go no farther. The river and the land alike belong to me now, and
+I must have my dues, as his Grace of Stettin has commanded."
+
+The crew, however, strictly objected, saying that in the memory of
+man they had never paid dues upon their goods, and they would not
+pay them now; but Otto and his knights jumped on deck, followed by
+their squires, and having asked for the bill of lading, decimated
+all the goods, as a priest collecting his tithe of the sheaves.
+Then he took the best cask of wine, had it rolled on land, and
+called out to the crew, who were crying like children, "Now, good
+people, you may go your ways."
+
+But the poor devils were in despair, and followed him on land,
+praying and beseeching him not to ruin them, but to restore their
+property, at which Otto laughed loudly, and bid the strongest of
+his followers chase the miserable varlets back to their vessel.
+
+Meanwhile the cask of wine had been rolled up against a tree, and
+the knight and his followers set themselves round it upon the
+grass, and because they had no glasses, they drank out of kettles,
+and pots, and bowls, and dishes, or whatever the ferryman could
+give them. Yea, some of them drew off their boots and filled them
+with the wine, others drank it out of their caps, and so there
+they lay on the grass, swilling the wine, and the different wares
+they had seized lay all scattered round them, and they laughed and
+drank, and roared, "Thus we drink a health to Stargard!" Hereupon
+the crew, seeing that nothing could be got from the robbers, went
+their way with curses and imprecations, to which the knight and
+his party responded only with peals of laughter.
+
+But the vessel had scarcely set sail, when a woman's voice was
+heard crying out loudly from the deck--"Father! father! I am here.
+Listen, Otto von Bork, your daughter Sidonia is here!"
+
+When the knight heard this, he felt as if stunned by a blow, but
+immediately comforted himself by thinking that no doubt Prince
+Ernest was with her, particularly as he could observe in the
+twilight the figure of a man seated beside her on a bundle of
+goods. "This surely must be the Prince," he said to himself, and
+so called out with a joyful voice, "Ah, my dearest daughter,
+Sidonia! how comest thou in the merchant vessel?"
+
+Then he screamed to the sailors to stop and cast anchor; but they
+heeded neither his cries nor commands, and in place of stopping,
+began to crowd all sail. Otto now tried entreaties, and promised
+to restore all their goods, and even pay for the wine drunk, if
+they would only stop the vessel. This made them listen to him, but
+they demanded, beside, a compensation money of one hundred
+florins, for all the anxiety and delay they had suffered. This he
+promised also, only let them stop instantly. However, they would
+not trust his word, and not until he had pledged his knightly
+faith would they consent to stop. Some, indeed, were not even
+content with this, and required that he should stand bareheaded on
+the bank, and take a solemn oath, with his hand extended to
+heaven, that he would deal with them as he had promised.
+
+To this also the knight consented, since they would not believe he
+held his knightly word higher than any oath; though, in my
+opinion, he would have done anything they demanded, such was his
+anxiety to behold the Prince and Princess of Pomerania, for he
+could imagine nothing else, but that his daughter and her husband
+had been turned out of Wolgast by the harsh Duchess and the old
+Grand Chamberlain, and were now on their way to his castle at
+Stramehl.
+
+Here my gracious Prince will no doubt say, "But, Theodore, why did
+she not call on her father sooner, when, as you told me, he was on
+board this very vessel plundering the wares?"
+
+I answer--"Serene Prince! your Grace must know that she and her
+paramour were at that time crouching in the cabin, through fear of
+Otto, for the sailors did not know her, or who she was. They had
+taken her and Appelmann in at Damm, and believed this story: that
+he was secretary to the Duke at Stettin, and Sidonia was his wife;
+they were on their way to Stargard, but preferred journeying by
+water, on account of the robbers who infested the high-roads, and
+who, they heard, had murdered three travellers only a few days
+before."
+
+But when Sidonia had found what her father had done, and heard the
+crew cursing and vowing vengeance on him, she feared it would be
+worse for her even to fall into the hands of the Stargardians than
+into her father's, and therefore rushed up on deck and called out
+to him, though her paramour conjured her by heaven and earth to
+keep quiet, and not bring him under her father's sword.
+
+_Summa_, as the vessel once more stood still, the knight
+sprang quick as thought into the ferry-boat along with some of his
+followers, and rowed off to the vessel, where his daughter sat
+upon a bundle of merchandise and wept, but Appelmann crept down
+again into the cabin. When the knight stepped on board, he kissed
+and embraced her--but where was the young Prince whom he had seen
+standing beside her?
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! it was not the Prince; the young lord had
+shamefully deceived her!" (weeping.)
+
+_Hic_.--"He would make him suffer for it, then; let her tell
+him the whole business. If he had trifled with her, she should be
+revenged. Was he not as powerful as any duke in Pomerania?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He must send away all the bystanders first; did he
+not see how they all stood round, with their mouths open from
+wonder?" Hereupon the knight roared out, "Away, go all, all of ye,
+or I'll stick ye dead as calves. The devil take any of you who
+dare to listen!" His whole frame trembled meanwhile as an aspen
+leaf, and he could scarcely wait till the carls clambered over the
+bundles of goods--"What had happened? In the name of all the
+devils, let her speak, now that they were alone."
+
+But here the cunning wanton began to weep so piteously, that not a
+word could she utter; however, as old Otto grew impatient, and
+began to curse and swear, and shake her by the arm, she at last
+commenced (while Appelmann was listening from the cabin):--
+
+"Her dearest father knew how the young lord had bribed a priest in
+Crummyn to wed them privately; but this was all a trick which his
+wicked mother had suggested to him, in order to bring her to utter
+ruin; for on the very wedding night, while she was waiting for the
+Prince in her little room, according to promise, to flee with him
+to Crummyn, the perfidious Duchess, who was aware of the whole
+arrangement, sent a groom to her chamber at the appointed hour,
+and she being in the dark, embraced him, thinking he was the
+Prince. In the self-same instant the door was burst open, and the
+old revengeful hag, with Ulrich von Schwerin, rushed in, along
+with the young Prince and Marcus Bork, her cousin, amid a great
+crowd of people with lanterns. And no one would listen to her or
+heed her; so she was thrust that same night out of the castle,
+like a common swine-maid, though the young lord, when he saw the
+full extent of his wicked mother's treachery, fell down in a dead
+faint at her feet."
+
+And here she wept and groaned, as if her heart would break.
+
+"Who, then, was the gay youth who sat beside her there on the
+bundle?" screamed Otto.
+
+_Illa_.--"That was the very groom that she had embraced, for
+they had sent him away with her, to make their wicked story seem
+true."
+
+_Hic_.--"But what was his name? May the devil take her, to
+have gone off with a base-born groom. What was his name?"
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"What did he think of her, that she should
+love a common groom? truly, he had the title of equerry, but then
+he was nothing better than a common burgher carl. What could she
+do, when they turned her by night and cloud out of the castle? She
+must thank God for having had even this groom to protect her, but
+that he was her lover--fie!--no; that was, indeed, to think little
+of her."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would strike her dead if she did not answer. Who
+was the knave? Where did he come from?"
+
+_Illa_.--"He was called Johann Appelmann, and was son to the
+burgomaster of Stargard."
+
+Here the knight raved and chafed like a wild beast, and drew his
+sword to kill Sidonia, but she fled away down to her paramour in
+the cabin. However, he had heard the whole conversation, and flew
+at her to beat her, crying, "Am I then a base-born groom? Ha! thou
+proud wanton, didst thou not run after me like a common
+street-girl? I will teach thee to call me a groom!"
+
+And as the knight listened to all this, the sword dropped from his
+hands and fell into the hold, so that he could not get it up
+again. Then he was beside himself for rage, and seized a stone of
+the ballast, to rush down with it to the cabin.
+
+But, behold! a rocket shot up from St. Mary's Tower, and poured
+its clear light upon the deepening twilight, like a starry meteor,
+and, at the same instant, the deep bay of ten or twelve
+blood-hounds resounded fearfully across the meadow where the
+horses were grazing, and the dogs flew on them, and tore some of
+them to the ground, and bit others, so that they dashed nearly to
+their masters, who were lying round the wine-cask, and others fled
+into the wood bleeding and groaning with pain and agony, as if
+they had been human creatures.
+
+Then all the fellows jumped up from their wine-cask, and screamed
+as if the last day had come, and Otto let the stone fall from his
+hand with horror; but still called out boldly to his men to know
+what had happened. "Was the devil himself among them that accursed
+evening?"
+
+Then they shouted in return, that he must hasten to land, for the
+Stargardians were upon them, and had killed all their horses.
+
+"Strike them dead, then; kill all, and himself the last, but he
+would go over and help them."
+
+So he jumped into the boat with his companions, but had not time
+to set foot on shore, when the Stargardians, horse and foot, with
+the burgomaster at their head, dashed forth from the wood,
+shouting, "So fall the Stargardians upon Stramehl!"
+
+At this sight the knight could no longer restrain his impatience,
+but jumped out of the boat; and although the water reached up
+under his arms, strode forward, crying--
+
+"Courage, my brave fellows; down with the churls. Kill, slay, give
+no quarter. He who brings me the head of the burgomaster shall be
+my heir! His vile son hath brought my daughter to shame. Kill
+all--all! I will never outlive this day. Ye shall all be my
+heritors--only kill! kill! kill!"
+
+Then he jumps on land and goes to draw his sword, but he has
+none--only the scabbard is hanging there; and as the Stargard men
+are already pressing thick upon them, he shouts--
+
+"A sword, a sword! give me a sword! My good castle of Stramehl for
+a sword, that I may slay this base-born churl of a burgomaster!"
+
+But a blood-hound jumped at his throat, and tore him to the
+ground, and as he felt the horrible muzzle closer to his face, he
+screamed out--
+
+"Save me! save me! Oh, woe is me!"
+
+And at the same moment, Sidonia's voice was heard from the vessel,
+shrieking--
+
+"Father, father, save me! this groom is beating me to death--he is
+killing me!" while a loud roar of laughter from the crew
+accompanied her cries.
+
+No one, however, came to save the knight; for the Stargardians
+were slaying right and left, and Otto's followers were utterly
+discomfited. So the knight tried to draw his dagger, and having
+got hold of it, plunged it with great force into the heart of the
+ferocious animal, who fell back dead, and Otto sprang to his feet.
+Just then, however, a tanner recognised him, and seizing hold of
+him by the arms, carried him off to the other prisoners.
+
+Now, indeed, might he call on the mountains to fall on him, and
+the hills to cover him (Hosea x.); and now he might feel, too,
+what a terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living
+God (Hebrews x.); for the Jesu wounds, I'm thinking, burned then
+like hell-fire in his heart.
+
+_Summa_, as the wretched man was brought before the
+burgomaster, who sat down upon a bank and wiped his sword in the
+grass, the latter cried out--
+
+"Well, sir knight, you would not heed me; you have worked your
+will. Now, do you understand what retaliation means--'An eye for
+an eye, a tooth for a tooth'?"
+
+And as the other stood quite silent, he continued--
+
+"Where is your charter for the Jena dues? Perchance it is
+contained in this letter, which I have received to-day from her
+Grace of Wolgast, addressed to you. Hand a lantern here, that the
+knight may read it! If the charter is not therein, then he shall
+be flung into prison this night with his followers, until my lord,
+Duke Barnim, pronounces judgment upon him."
+
+The ferryman advanced and held a light; but Otto had scarcely
+looked over the letter when he began to tremble as if he would
+fall to the ground, and then sighed forth, like the rich man in
+hell--
+
+"Have mercy on me, and give me a drink of water!"
+
+They brought him the water, and then he added--
+
+"Jacob, hast thou, too, had any tidings of our children?"
+
+"Alas!" the other answered; "Ulrich has written all to me."
+
+"Then have mercy on me. Listen how your godless son there in the
+vessel is beating my daughter to death, and how she is shrieking
+for help."
+
+As the burgomaster heard these unexpected tidings, he sent
+messengers to the vessel, with orders to bring the pair
+immediately before him.
+
+Meanwhile the other prisoners besought the burgomaster to let them
+go, for they were feudal vassals of Otto Bork, and must do as he
+commanded them. Besides, he told them that Duke Barnim had given
+him the dues, and therefore they held it their duty to assist him
+in collecting them.
+
+And as Otto confirmed their words, saying that he had indeed
+deceived them, the burgomaster turned to his party, and cried--
+
+"How say you then, worthy burghers and dear friends, shall we let
+the vassals run, and keep the lord? for, if the master lies, are
+the servants to be punished if they believe him? Speak, worthy
+friends."
+
+Then all the burghers cried--
+
+"Let them go, let them go; but keep the knight a prisoner."
+
+Upon which all the retainers took to their heels, not forgetting,
+though, to hoist the cask of wine upon their shoulders, and so
+they fled away into the wood.
+
+Now comes a great crowd from all the vessels, accompanying the
+infamous pair, mocking, and gibing, and laughing at them, so that
+no one can hear a word for the tumult. But the burgomaster bids
+them hold their peace, and let the guilty pair be placed before
+him.
+
+He remained a long while silent, gazing at them both, then sighing
+deeply, addressed his son--
+
+"Oh, thou lost son, hast thou not yet given up thy dissolute
+courses? What is this I hear of thee in Wolgast? Now thou must
+needs humble this noble maiden, and bring dishonour on her
+house--flinging all thy father's admonitions to the wind--"
+
+Here the son interrupted--
+
+"True; but this noble maiden had thrown herself in his way, like a
+common girl, and he was only flesh and blood like other men. Why
+did she follow him so?"
+
+Whereupon the father replied--
+
+"Oh, thou shameless child, who, like the prodigal in Scripture,
+hast destroyed thy substance with harlots and riotous living, in
+place of humbleness and repentance, dost thou impudently tell of
+this poor young maiden's shame before all the world? Oh, son! oh,
+son! even the blind heathen said, '_Ego illum periisse puto, cui
+quidem periit pudor_' [Footnote: Plautus in Bacchid.]--which
+means, 'I esteem him dead in whom shame is dead.' Therefore is thy
+sin doubled, being a Christian, for thou hast boasted of thy shame
+before the people here, and held up the young maiden to their
+contempt, besides having beaten her so on board the vessel that
+many heard her screams, as if she were only a common wench, and
+not a castle and land dowered maiden."
+
+To which Appelmann answered, that she had called him a common
+groom and a base-born burgher churl. But his father commanded him
+to be silent, and bid his men first bind the knight's hands behind
+his back, and then those of his son, and so carry them both to
+prison; but to let the maiden go free.
+
+When the knight heard that he was to be bound, his pride revolted,
+and he offered any ransom, or to give any compensation that could
+be demanded for the injury he had done them. Every one knew his
+wealth, and that he had power to keep his word to the uttermost.
+But the burgomaster made answer, "Eye for eye, and tooth for
+tooth; how say you, sir knight--speak the truth, if you had taken
+me prisoner, as I have taken you, would you have bound my hands or
+not?" To which the knight replied, "Well, Jacob, I will not speak
+a falsehood, for I feel that my end is near;--I would have bound
+your hands."
+
+Hereupon the brave burgomaster answered, "I know it well; however,
+as you have answered me honestly, I will spare you. Burghers, do
+not bind his hands, neither those of my son. Ye have enough to
+suffer yet before ye, and God give you both grace to repent. And
+now to the town! The crew shall declare to-morrow morn, before the
+honourable council, what they have lost by the knight's means; and
+he shall make it all good again to them."
+
+So all the people returned with great uproar and rejoicing back to
+the town, and the bell from St. Mary's and St. John's rung forth
+merry peals, and all the people of the town ran forth to meet
+them; but when they saw the knight a prisoner, and his empty
+scabbard hanging by his side, they clapped their hands and
+huzzaed, shouting, "So fell the Stargardians upon Stramehl." Thus
+with merry laughter, and jests, and mockings, they carried him up
+the street to the tower called the Red Sea, and there locked him
+up, well guarded.
+
+Here again he prayed the burgomaster to accept a ransom, but in
+vain. Whereupon he at last solicited pen, paper, and ink, and a
+light, that he might indite a letter to his Grace, Duke Barnim;
+and this was granted to him.
+
+As for his unworthy son, the burgomaster had him carried to his
+own house, and there placed him in a room, with three stout
+burghers as a guard over him. And Sidonia was placed by herself in
+another little chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Of Otto Bark's dreadful suicide--Item, how Sidonia and Johann
+Appelmann were brought before the burgomaster._
+
+
+During that night there was a strong suspicion upon every one's
+mind that something terrible was going to happen; for a great
+storm arose at midnight, and raged fearfully round the Red Sea
+tower, so that it seemed to rock, and when the night-watch went
+round to examine it, behold three toads crept out, and set
+themselves upright upon the parapet like little manikins, as the
+hares sometimes make themselves into manikins.
+
+What all this denoted was discovered next morning, for when the
+jailer entered Otto's cell in the tower, he saw him lying on the
+floor in a pool of blood, with his own dagger sticking in his
+heart. On the table stood the lamp which he had asked for, still
+burning feebly, and near it a great many written papers.
+
+The man instantly ran for the burgomaster, who followed him with
+all speed to the tower. They felt the corpse, but it was already
+quite cold. So then a messenger was despatched for the chirurgeon,
+to hold a _visum repertum_ over him.
+
+Meantime they examined the papers, and found first my gracious
+Lady of Wolgast's letter to the unfortunate father--the same which
+had made him tremble so the day before--and therein was related
+all the shameful circumstances concerning Sidonia, just as Ulrich
+had stated them in the letter to the burgomaster. Then they came
+upon his last will and testament; but where the seal ought to have
+been, there lay a large drop of blood, with this memorandum
+beneath it: "This is my heart's first blood which I have affixed
+here, in place of a seal, and may he who slights it be accursed
+for evermore, even as my daughter Sidonia."
+
+In this testament he had completely disinherited his daughter
+Sidonia, and made his son Otto sole inheritor of all his property,
+castles, and lands (for his daughter Clara was already dead, and
+had left no children). Nothing should his daughter Sidonia have
+but two farm-houses in Zachow, [Footnote: A small town near
+Stramehl, a mile and a half from Regenwalde.] just to keep her
+from beggary, and to save the ancient, illustrious name of their
+house from falling into further contempt. Yet should his son think
+proper to give her further _alimentum_, he was at liberty so
+to do. Lastly, for the second and third time, he cursed his
+daughter, to whom he owed all his misery, from the affair with the
+apprentice to that concerning the Jena dues, up to this his most
+miserable and wretched death. _Item_, the burgomaster picked
+up another letter, which was addressed to himself, and wherein the
+knight prayed, first, that his body might not be drawn by the
+executioner to burial, as was the custom with suicides, but
+conveyed honourably to Stramehl, and there deposited in the vault
+of his family; secondly, that his daughter Sidonia might be sent
+to Zachow, there to learn how to live humbly as a peasant
+maid--for that she might look to being a Duchess of Pomerania,
+only when she could keep her evil desires still for even a couple
+of days.
+
+Then he cursed her so that it was pitiable to read; and proved
+that, if he had been a more God-fearing father, she might have
+been a different daughter; for as St. Paul says (Galatians vi.),
+"What a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The letter further
+said, that, for the good deed done to his corpse, the burgomaster
+should take all the gold found upon his person, consisting of
+eighty good rose-nobles, and indemnify himself therewith for the
+loss of his spices that day in Stramehl when they were scattered
+before the Jews. He lastly desired his last will and testament to
+be conveyed to his son, along with his corpse; and further, his
+son was to send compensation to the crew for the cask of wine and
+whatever other losses they had sustained, according to his
+knightly word which he had pledged to them.
+
+_Summa_, when the chirurgeon arrived and the body was
+examined, there was found upon the unfortunate knight a purse,
+embroidered with pearls and diamonds, containing eighty
+rose-nobles, which the burgomaster in no wise disdained to
+receive, and then laid the whole matter before the honourable
+council, with the petition of Otto concerning the corpse. The
+honourable council fully justified the burgomaster for all he had
+done, and gave their opinion, that as the good town had no
+jurisdiction over the knight, so they could have none over his
+body, and therefore let it be removed with all honour to Stramehl,
+particularly as he had in all things made amends for the wrong he
+had done them. As regarded Sidonia, two porters should be sent to
+convey her to Zachow.
+
+Meantime Sidonia had heard of her father's horrible death, and lay
+on the ground nearly insensible from grief. Just then the
+burgomaster returned from the council-hall, and commanded that she
+and his profligate son should be brought before him. When they
+arrived, he asked how it happened that they were both found in the
+vessel, for Ulrich, the Grand Chamberlain, had written to inform
+him that Sidonia had been sent away in a coach to Stettin, with
+the executioner on the box.
+
+Here Sidonia sobbed so violently that no word could she utter;
+therefore the son replied that such had been done, but that he
+had been given a horse from the ducal stables, and had followed
+the coach; and when they stopped at Uckermund for the night, he
+had secretly got speech with Sidonia, and advised her to try and
+remove the planks from the bottom of the carriage and escape to
+him, for that he would be quite close at hand. And he did what he
+could that night to loosen the boards himself. So in the morning
+Sidonia got them up easily, and first dropped her baggage out
+through the hole, which he picked up; and then, as they came to a
+soft, sandy tract where the coach had to go very slowly, she let
+herself also down through it, and sinking in the deep sand, let
+the coach go over her without any hurt. Then he came to her, and
+they fled to the next town, where he bought a waggon from some
+peasants, for her and her luggage to proceed into Stargard, for
+she was ashamed to appear before Duke Barnim, and wished to get on
+from Stargard to Stramehl; but when they reached Damm, they heard
+such wild tales of the robbers and partisans who infested the
+roads, that Sidonia grew alarmed, and made him go by water for
+safety. So he left the horse and waggon at the inn, and took ship
+with the merchants who were going to Stargard. These were their
+adventures. The rest his father knew as well as himself.
+
+The burgomaster then asked Sidonia had he spoken truth. So she
+dried her eyes, and nodded her head for "Yes."
+
+Then he admonished her gravely, for that she, a noble maiden,
+could have dishonoured herself with a mere burgher's son, like his
+Johann, in whom even he, his own father, must say, there was
+nothing to tempt any girl. And now she knew the truth of those
+words of St. James: "Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth
+sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
+
+Her sin had, indeed, brought forth her father's death;--would that
+he could say only his _temporal_ death. This her father had
+himself asserted in his testament, which he held now in his hands,
+and for this cause had left all his goods, lands, and castles to
+her brother Otto--only giving her two farm-houses in Zachow to
+save her from the beggar's staff, and their noble name from
+falling into yet greater contempt--and, in addition, he had cursed
+her with terrible curses; but these might be yet turned away, if
+she would incline her heart to God, and lead a pious, honest life
+for the rest of her days. And much more the worthy man preached to
+her; but she interrupted him, having found her tongue at last, and
+exclaimed in wrath, "What! has the good-for-nothing old churl
+written this? Let me see it; it cannot be true."
+
+So the burgomaster reached her the paper, and, as she read, her
+colour changed, and at last she shrieked aloud and fell down
+before the burgomaster, clasping his knees, and praying by the
+Jesu cross not to send such a testament to her brother, for that
+he was still harder than her father, because he was by nature
+avaricious, and would grudge her even salt with her bread. Let him
+remember that his son had promised her marriage, and would he
+destroy his own children?
+
+Then Jacob Appelmann turned to his profligate son, and asked,
+"Does she speak the truth? Have you promised her marriage?"
+
+But the shameless knave answered, "True, I so promised her, when
+we were at Uckermund; but now that she has no money, I wash my
+hands of her."
+
+Such villainy made the old man flame with indignation. "He would
+make him know that he must stand by his word--he would force him
+to it, if he could only think it would be for the advantage of
+this wretched girl. But he would admonish her to give him up; did
+she not see that he was shameless, cruel, and selfish? and how
+could she ever hope to turn to God and lead a new life with such
+an infamous partner? _Item_, his son should be made to work,
+and to feel poverty, so that his evil desires might be stifled;
+and as for her, let her go in God's name to Zachow, and there in
+solitude repent her sins, and strive to win the favour of God."
+
+But that was no water for her mill; so she continued to lament,
+and weep, and pray the burgomaster not to send the will to her
+harsh brother; upon which he answered mildly, "Wert thou to lie at
+my feet till morning, it would not help thee: the testament goes
+this day to Stramehl; but I will do this for thee. Thy father left
+me some rose-nobles, in a purse which he carried about with him,
+as a compensation for my spices, which he strewed before the Jews
+in Stramehl, of which deed thou, too, wert also guilty, as I know;
+therefore I was not ashamed to take the money. But of the purse
+thy father said naught; so I had it in my mind to keep it--for, in
+truth, it is of more worth than the nobles it contained. If I
+mistake not, these are true pearls and diamonds with which it is
+broidered. Look, here it is. What sayest thou?"
+
+Here she sobbed, and answered, "She knew it well; she had
+broidered the purse herself. They were her mother's pearls and
+diamonds, and part of her bridal gear; truly they were worth three
+thousand florins."
+
+"Then," said the brave old man, "I will give thee this purse,
+since it was not named either for me or for thy brother at
+Stramehl. Take it to Zachow; thou wilt make a good penny of it. Be
+pious, and God-fearing, and industrious, remembering what the Holy
+Scripture says (Prov. xxxi.): 'A virtuous woman takes wool and
+flax, and labours diligently with her hands. She stretches out her
+hands to the wheel, and her fingers grasp the spindle.' Hadst thou
+learned this, in place of thy costly broidery, methinks it would
+have been better with thee this day."
+
+As he thus spoke, he put the purse in her hands, and she instantly
+hid it in her pocket. But the profligate Johann now suddenly
+became repentant, for he thought, if I can obtain nothing good
+from my father, I may at least get the purse. So he began to weep
+and lament, and fell down, too, at his father's feet, saying, if
+he would only pardon him this once, he would indeed take this poor
+maiden to wife, as he had promised her, for he alone was guilty of
+her sin; only would his heart's dearest father forgive him? And so
+the hypocrite went on with his lies.
+
+Whereupon his father made answer honourably and mildly--"Such
+promises thou hast often made, but never kept. However, I will try
+thee yet again. If thou wilt spend each day diligently writing in
+the council-office, and return each night to sleep in my chamber,
+and continue this good conduct for a few years, to testify thy
+repentance, as a brave and upright son, and Sidonia meanwhile
+continues to lead a godly and humble life at Zachow, then, in
+God's name, ye shall both marry, and make amends for your sin; but
+not before that."
+
+As he said this, and bid his son stand up, the hypocrite answered,
+yes, he would do the will of his dear father; but then he must
+keep back this testament; so would his children be happy.
+Otherwise, wherefore should they marry?--what could they live on?
+A couple of cabins in Zachow would not be enough.
+
+"Truly," replied the old man, "if I were as great a knave as thou
+art, I would do as thou hast said; yet, though the loss of the
+spices, which her father wickedly destroyed, did me such injury
+that I had to sell my house, to get the means of living and
+keeping thee at the University of Grypswald, I will keep my hands
+pure from the property of another, even if this property belonged
+to my greatest enemy, and the enemy of this good town also.
+_Summa_, this day thou shalt go to the council-office, the
+testament to Stramehl, and Sidonia to Zachow."
+
+So the knave was silent: but Sidonia still resisted; she would not
+go to Zachow--never; but if he would send her to Stettin, she was
+certain the good Duke Barnim would be kind to an unfortunate
+maiden, who had done nothing more than what thousands do in
+secret. And whatever the gracious Prince resolved concerning her,
+she would abide by.
+
+When the burgomaster heard this speech, he saw that no amendment
+was to be expected from her; and as he had no authority to compel
+her to Zachow, he promised, at last, to send her to Stettin on the
+following day, for there were two market waggons going, and she
+could travel in one, and thereby be more secure against all
+danger. And so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_How Sidonia meets Claude Uckermann again, and solicits him to
+wed her--Item, what he answered, and how my gracious Lord of
+Stettin received her._
+
+
+Sidonia, next morning, got a good soft seat in the waggon, upon
+the sack of a cloth merchant; he was cousin to the burgomaster,
+and promised to take her with him, out of friendship for him. All
+the men in the waggon were armed with spears and muskets, for fear
+of the robbers, who were growing more daring every day.
+
+So they proceeded; but had not got far from the town when a
+horseman galloped furiously after them, and called out that he
+would accompany them; and this was Claude Uckermann, of whom I
+have spoken so much in my former book. He, too, was going to
+Stettin. Now when Sidonia saw him, her eyes glistened like a cat's
+when she sees a mouse, and she rejoiced at the prospect of such
+good company, for since the wedding of her sister, never had this
+handsome youth come across her, though she was constantly looking
+out for him. So as he rode up by the waggon, she greeted him, and
+prayed him to alight and come and sit by her upon the sack, that
+they might talk together of dear old times.
+
+She imagined, no doubt, that he knew nothing of all that had
+happened; but her disgrace was as public at Stargard as if it had
+been pealed from the great bell of St. Mary's. He therefore knew
+her whole story, and answered, that sitting by her was
+disagreeable to him now; and he rode on. This was plain enough,
+one would think; but Sidonia still held by her delusion; for as
+they reached the first inn, and stopped to feed the horses, she
+saw him stepping aside to avoid her, and seating himself at some
+distance on a bank. So she put on her flattering face, and
+advanced to him, saying, "Would not the dear young knight make up
+with her?--what ailed him?--it was impossible he could resent her
+silly fun at her sister's wedding. Oh! if he had come again and
+asked her seriously to be his wife, in place of there in the
+middle of the dancing, as if he had been only jesting, she would
+never have had another husband, for from that till now, never had
+so handsome a knight met her eyes; but she was still free."
+
+Hereupon the young man (as he told me himself) made answer--"Yes,
+she had rightly judged, he was only jesting, and taking his
+pastime with her, as they sat there upon the carpet, for he held
+in unspeakable aversion and disgust a cup from which every one
+sipped."
+
+Still Sidonia would not comprehend him, and began to talk about
+Wolgast. But he looked down straight before him in the grass, and
+never spake a word, but turned on his heel, and entered the inn,
+to see after his horse. So he got rid of her at last.
+
+As the waggon set off again, she began to sing so merrily and
+loudly, that all the wood rang with it. And the young knight was
+not so stupid but that he truly discerned her meaning, which was
+to show him that she cared little for his words, since she could
+go away in such high spirits.
+
+_Summa_, when they reached the inn at Stettin, Sidonia got
+all her baggage carried in from the waggon, and there dressed
+herself with all her finery: silken robes, golden hairnet, and
+golden chains, rings, and jewels, that all the people saluted her
+when she came forth, and went to the castle to ask for his
+Highness the Duke. He was in his workshop, and had just finished
+turning a spinning-wheel; he laughed aloud when she entered, ran
+to her, embraced her, and cried, "What! my treasure!--where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel? How I laughed when Master
+Hansen, whom my old, silly, sour cousin of Wolgast sent with thee,
+came in lately into my workshop, and told me he had brought thee
+hither in a ducal coach! I ran directly to the courtyard; but when
+the knave opened the door, my little thrush had flown. Where hast
+thou been so long, my sugar-morsel?"
+
+As his Grace put all these questions, he continued kissing her, so
+that his long white beard got entangled in her golden chains; and
+as she pushed him away, a bunch of hair remained sticking to her
+brooch, so that he screamed for pain, and put his hand to his
+chin. At this, in rushed the court marshal and the treasurer (who
+were writing in the next chamber) as white as corpses, and asked,
+"Who is murdering his Grace?" but his Grace held up his hand over
+his bleeding mouth, and winked to them to go away. So when they
+saw that it was only a maiden combat, they went their way
+laughing.
+
+Hereupon speaks his Grace--"See now, treasure, what thou hast
+done! Thou canst be so kind to a groom, yet thy own gracious
+Prince will treat so harshly!"
+
+But Sidonia began to weep bitterly. "What did he think of her? The
+whole story was an invention by his old sour cousin of Wolgast to
+ruin her because she would not learn her catechism (and then she
+told the same tale as to her father); but would not his Grace take
+pity on a poor forsaken maiden, seeing that Prince Ernest could
+not deny he had promised to make her his bride, and wed her
+privately at Crummyn, on the very next night to that on which her
+Grace had so shamefully outraged her?"
+
+"My sweet treasure!" answered the Duke, "the young Prince was only
+making a fool of you; therefore be content that things are no
+worse. For even if he had wedded you privately, it would have been
+all in vain, seeing that neither the princely widow nor the
+Elector of Brandenburg, his godfather, nor any of the princes of
+the holy Roman Empire, nor lastly, the Pomeranian States, would
+ever have permitted so unequal a marriage. Therefore, what the
+priest joined in Crummyn would have been put asunder next day by
+the tribunals. My poor nephew is a silly enthusiast not to have
+perceived this all along, before he put such absurdities in your
+head. That he talked gallantry to you was very natural, and I
+wished him all success; but that he should ever have talked of
+marriage shows him to be even sillier than I expected from his
+years."
+
+Here Sidonia's tears burst forth anew. "Who would care for her now
+that her father was dead, and had left her penniless? All because
+he believed that old hypocrite of Wolgast more than his own
+daughter. Alas! alas! she was a poor orphan now! and all her
+possessions would be torn from her by her hard-hearted, avaricious
+brother. Yet surely his Grace might at least take pity on her
+innocence."
+
+His Grace wondered much when he heard of Otto's death, for the
+letters brought by the market waggon from the honourable council,
+acquainting him with the matter, had not yet arrived, and he
+scratched behind his ear, and said, "It was an evil deed of that
+proud devil her father, to claim the Jena dues. He had got his
+answer at Wolgast, and ought to have left the dues alone. What
+right had he to break the peace of the land, to gratify his lust
+and greed? It was well that he was dead; but as concerning his
+testament, that must not be interfered with, he had no power over
+the property of individuals. Each one might leave his goods as
+best pleased him; yet he would make his treasurer write a letter
+in her favour to her brother Otto: that was all that he could do."
+
+This threw Sidonia into despair; she fell at his feet, and told
+him, that let what would become of her, she would never go a step
+to Zachow, and her harsh brother would never give her one
+groschen, unless he were forced to it. His Grace ought to remember
+that it was by his advice she had gone to Wolgast, where all her
+misery had commenced; for by the traitorous conduct of the widow,
+there she had been robbed, not only of her good name, but also of
+her fortune. So his Grace comforted her, and said that as long as
+he lived she would want for nothing. He had a pretty house behind
+St. Mary's, and six young maidens lived there, who had nothing to
+do but spin and embroider, or comb out the beautiful herons'
+feathers as the birds moulted; for he had a large stock of herons
+close to the house; and there was a darling little chamber there,
+which she could have immediately for herself. As to clothes, they
+might all get the handsomest they pleased, and their meals were
+supplied from the ducal kitchen.
+
+As his Grace ended, and lifted up Sidonia and kissed her, she wept
+and sighed more than ever. "Could he think this of her? No; she
+would never enter the house which was the talk of all Pomerania.
+If she consented, then, indeed, would the world believe all the
+falsehoods that were told of her--of her, who was as innocent as a
+child!" Hereupon his Grace answered stiff and stern (yet this was
+not his wont, for he was a right tender master), "Then go your
+ways. Into that house or nowhere else." (Alas! let every maiden
+take warning, by this example, to guard against the first false
+step. Amen, chaste Jesus! Amen.)
+
+That evening Sidonia took up her abode in the house. But that same
+evening there was a great _scandalum,_ and tearing of each
+other's hair among the girls. For one of them, named Trina
+Wehlers, was a baker's daughter from Stramehl, and on the occasion
+of Clara's wedding she had headed a procession of young peasants
+to join the bridal party, but Sidonia had haughtily pushed her
+back, and forbid them to approach. This Trina was a fine rosy
+wench, and my Lord Duke took a fancy to her then, so that she
+looked with great jealousy on any one that threatened to rob her
+of his favour. Now when Sidonia entered the house and saw the
+baker's daughter, she commenced again to play the part of the
+great lady, but the other only laughed, and mockingly asked her,
+"Where was the princely spouse, Duke Ernest of Wolgast? Would his
+Highness come to meet her there?"
+
+Then Sidonia raged from shame and despair, that this peasant girl
+should dare to insult her, and she ran weeping to her chamber; but
+when supper was served, the _scandalum_ broke out in earnest.
+For Sidonia had now grown a little comforted, and as there were
+many dainty dishes from the Duke's table sent to them, she began
+to enjoy herself somewhat, when all of a sudden the baker's
+daughter gave her a smart blow over the fingers with a fork.
+Sidonia instantly seized her by the hair; and now there was such
+an uproar of blows, screams, and tongues, that my gracious lord,
+the Duke, was sent for. Whereupon he scolded the baker's daughter
+right seriously for her insolence, and told her that as Sidonia
+was the only noble maiden amongst them, she was to bear rule. And
+if the others did not obey her humbly, as befitted her rank, they
+should all be whipped. His Grace wore a patch of black plaister on
+his chin, and attempted to kiss Sidonia again, but she pushed him
+away, saying that he must have told all that happened at Wolgast
+to these girls, otherwise how could the baker's daughter have
+mocked her about it.
+
+Whereupon my gracious lord consoled her, and said that if she were
+quiet and well-behaved, he would take her with him to the Diet at
+Wollin, for all the young dukes of Pomerania were to attend it,
+and Prince Ernest amongst the number, seeing that he had summoned
+them all there, in order to give up the government of the land
+into their hands, as he was too old now himself to be tormented
+with state affairs.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, hope sprang up within her heart, and she
+resolved to bear her destiny calmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_How they went on meantime at Wolgast--Item, of the Diet at
+Wollin, and what happened there._
+
+
+With regard to their Serene Highnesses of Wolgast, I have already
+related, _libro primo,_ that the young lord, Ernest
+Ludovicus, was carried out of Sidonia's chamber like one dead,
+when he beheld her abominable wickedness with his own eyes
+and all can easily believe that he lay for a long while sick unto
+death. In vain Dr. Pomius offered his celebrated specific; he
+would take nothing, did nothing day or night but sigh and groan--
+
+"Ah, Sidonia; ah, my beloved heart's bride, Sidonia, can it be
+possible? Adored Sidonia, my heart is breaking. Sidonia, Sidonia,
+can it be possible?"
+
+At last the idea struck Dr. Pomius that there must be magic and
+devil's work in it. So he searched through all his learned books,
+and finally came upon a recipe which was infallible in such cases.
+This was to burn the tooth of a dead man to powder, and let the
+sick bewitched person smoke the ashes. Such was solemnly
+recommended by Petrus Hispanus Ulyxbonensis, who, under the name
+of John XXII., ascended the papal throne. See his _Thesaurus
+Pauperum,_ cap. ult.
+
+But the Prince would neither take anything nor smoke anything, and
+the _delirium amatorium_ grew more violent and alarming day
+by day, so that the whole ducal house was plunged into the deepest
+grief and despair.
+
+Now there was a prisoner in the bastion tower at Wolgast, a carl
+from Katzow, who had been arrested and condemned for practising
+horrible sorceries and magic--namely, having changed the calves of
+his neighbours into young hares, which instinctively started off
+to the woods, and were never seen more, as the whole town
+testified; and other devil's doings he had practised, which I now
+forget; but they were fully proved against him, and so he was
+sentenced to be burned.
+
+This man now sent a message to the authorities, that if they
+pardoned him and allowed him free passage from the town, he would
+tell of something to cure the young lord. This was agreed to; and
+when he was brought to the chamber of the Prince, he laid his ear
+down upon his breast, to listen if it were witchcraft that ailed
+him. Then he spake--
+
+"Yes; the heart beats quite unnaturally, the sound was like the
+whimpering of a fly caught in a spider's web; their lordships
+might listen for themselves."
+
+Whereupon all present, one after the other, laid their ear upon
+the breast of the young Prince, and heard really as he had
+described.
+
+The earl now said that he would give his Highness a potion which
+would make him, from that hour, hate the woman who had bewitched
+him as much as he had adored her. _Item,_ the young lord must
+sleep for three days, and when he woke, his strength would have
+returned to him; to procure this sleep, he must anoint his temples
+with goat's milk, which they must instantly bring him, and during
+his sleep the Lady Duchess must, every two hours, lay fresh
+ox-flesh upon his stomach.
+
+When her Grace heard this, she rejoiced that her dear son would so
+soon hold the harlot in abhorrence who had bewitched him. And the
+earl gave him a red syrup, which he had no sooner swallowed than
+all care for Sidonia seemed to have vanished from his mind. Even
+before the goat's milk came, he exclaimed--
+
+"Now that I think over it, what a great blessing that we have got
+rid of Sidonia."
+
+And no sooner were his temples bathed with the milk than he fell
+into a deep sleep, which lasted for three days, and when he opened
+his eyes, his first words were--
+
+"Where is that Sidonia? Is the wanton still here? Bring her before
+me, that I may tell her how I hate her. Oh, fool that I was, to
+peril my princely honour for a harlot. Where is she? I must have
+my revenge upon the light wanton."
+
+Her Grace could hardly speak for joy when she heard these words;
+and she gave the earl, who had watched all the time by the bedside
+of the young Prince, so much ham and sausages from the ducal
+kitchen, that he finally could not walk, but was obliged to be
+drawn out of the town in a car. Then she asked Dr. Pomius how such
+a miracle could have been effected. At which he laid his finger on
+his nose, after his manner, and replied, such was accomplished
+through the introduction of the natural Life Balsam, which the
+learned called _confermentationem Mumie_, and so the fool
+went on prating, and her Grace devouring his words as if they were
+gospel.
+
+_Summa._--After a few days the young lord was able to leave
+his bed, and as they kept fresh ox-flesh continually applied to
+his stomach, he soon regained his strength, so that, in a couple
+of weeks, he could ride, fish, and hunt, and his cheeks were as
+fresh and rosy as ever. One day he mentioned "the groom's
+mistress," as he called her, and wished he could give her a lesson
+in lute-playing, it would be one to make her tremble. But when the
+letter arrived from Duke Barnim, declaring that, from his great
+age, he proposed resigning the government of Pomerania into the
+hands of her Grace's sons, there was no end to the rejoicings at
+Wolgast, and her Grace declared that she would herself accompany
+them to the Diet at Wollin.
+
+We shall now see what a treat was waiting her at the old castle
+there. It was built wholly of wood, and has long since fallen; but
+at the time I write of, it was standing in all its glory.
+
+Monday, the 15th May 1569, at eleven in the forenoon, his Grace of
+Stettin came with seven coaches and two hundred and fourteen
+horsemen into the courtyard. And there, on the steps of the
+castle, stood my gracious Lady of Wolgast, holding the little
+Casimir by the hand, in waiting to receive his Highness, and all
+her other sons stood round her--namely, the illustrious Bishop of
+Camyn, Johann Frederick, in his bishop's robes, with the staff and
+mitre. _Item,_ Duke Bogislaus, who had presented her Grace
+with a tame sea-gull. _Item,_ Ernest Ludovicus, in a Spanish
+mantle of black velvet, embossed in gold, and upon his head a
+black velvet Spanish hat, looped up with diamonds, from which long
+white plumes descended to his shoulder. _Item,_ Barnim the
+younger, who wore a dress similar to his brother's. _Item,_
+the Grand Chamberlain, Ulrich von Schwerin, and with him a great
+crowd of the counsellors and state officers of Wolgast, besides
+all the nobles, prelates, knights, and chief burghers of the
+duchy. Among the nobles stood Otto von Bork, brother to Sidonia;
+and the burgomaster, Jacob Appelmann, held his place among the
+citizens.
+
+As Duke Barnim drove up to the castle, the guards fired a salute,
+and the bells rang, and the cannon roared, and all the vessels in
+the harbour hoisted their flags, while the streets, houses, and
+courtyards were decorated with flowers, and all the people of the
+little town trotted round the carriage, shouting, "Vivat! vivat!
+vivat!" so that the like was never seen before in Wollin.
+
+Now, when the coach stopped, her Grace the Duchess advanced to
+meet his Highness; and as old Duke Barnim's head appeared at the
+window, with his long white beard and yellow leather cap, her
+Grace stepped forward, and said--"Welcome, dearest Un------"
+
+But she could get no farther, and stood as stiff as Lot's wife
+when she was turned into a pillar of salt, for there was Sidonia
+seated in the carriage beside the Duke! Old Ulrich, who followed,
+soon spied the cause of her Grace's dismay, and exclaimed--
+
+"Three thousand devils, what does your Highness mean by bringing
+the accursed harlot a third time amongst us?"
+
+But his Highness only laughed, and drew forth his last puppet, it
+was a Satan as he tempted Eve, saying--
+
+"Hold this for me, good Ulrich, till I am out of the coach, and
+then I shall hear all about it."
+
+To which the other answered--
+
+"If you let me catch hold of this other Satan, whom ye bring with
+you, I think it were wiser done!"
+
+Prince Ernest now sprang down the steps, his eye flaming with
+rage, and drawing his sword, cried--
+
+"Hold me, or I will stab the serpent to the heart, who so
+disgraced me and my family honour. I will murder her there in the
+coach before your eyes."
+
+Whereupon old Ulrich flung the little wooden Satan to the ground,
+and seized the young man by the arm, while Sidonia screamed
+violently. But the old Duke stepped deliberately out of the coach.
+Seeing, however, his wooden Satan lying broken on the ground, he
+became very wroth, and called loudly for a turner with his
+glue-pot. Then he ascended the steps, and when all had greeted him
+deferentially, he began--
+
+"Dear niece, worthy cousins, and friends, ye have no doubt heard
+of the misfortune which hath befallen Sidonia von Bork, who sits
+there in the carriage. Her father has died; and, further, she has
+been disinherited. Thereupon she fled to me to seek a refuge. Now
+ye all know well that the Von Borks are an ancient, honourable,
+and illustrious race--none more so; therefore I had compassion
+upon the orphan, and brought her hither to effect a reconciliation
+between her and Otto Bork, her brother. Step forward, Otto Bork,
+where are you hiding? Step forth, and hand your sister from the
+carriage; I saw you amongst the nobles here to-day. Step forth!"
+
+But Otto had disappeared; and as the Duke found he would not
+answer to his summons, he bid Sidonia come forth herself.
+Whereupon the young Prince swore fiercely that, if she but put a
+foot upon the step he would murder her. "What the devil! young
+man," said the Duke, laughing; "first you must needs wed her, and
+now you will slay her dead at our feet! This is somewhat
+inconsistent. Come forth, Sidonia; he will not be so cruel."
+
+But she sat in the coach, and wept like a child who has lost its
+nurse. So my gracious lady stepped forward, and commanded the
+coachman to drive instantly with the maiden to the town inn; and
+so it was done.
+
+Now the old Duke never ceased for the whole forenoon soliciting
+Otto Bork to take the poor orphan home with him, and there to
+treat her as a faithful and kind brother, in compensation for her
+father's harsh and unnatural will; but it was all in vain, as she
+indeed had prophesied. "Not the weight of a feather more should
+she get than the two farmhouses in Zachow; and never let her call
+him brother, for ancient as his race was, never had one of them
+borne the brand of infamy till now."
+
+In the afternoon, all the prelates, nobles, and burghers assembled
+in the grand hall; then entered the ducal family, Barnim the elder
+at their head. He was dressed in a long black robe, such as the
+priests wear now, with white ruffles and Spanish frill, and was
+bareheaded. He took his seat at the top of the table, and thus
+spake--
+
+"Illustrious Princess, dear cousins, nobles, and faithful
+burghers, ye all know that I have ruled this Pomeranian land for
+fifty years, upholding the pure doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther,
+and casting down papacy in all places and at all times. But as I
+am now old, and find it hard sometimes to keep my unruly vassals
+in order, whereof we have had a proof lately, it is my will and
+purpose to resign the government into the hands of my dear
+cousins, the illustrious Princes von Pommern-Wolgast, and retire
+to Oderburg in Old Stettin, there to rest in peace for the
+remainder of my days; but there are four princes (for the fifth,
+Casimir, to-morrow or next day shall get a church endowment) and
+but two duchies. For ye know that, by the Act passed in 1541, the
+Duchy of Pomerania can only be divided into two portions, the
+other princes of the family being entitled but to life-annuities.
+Therefore I have resolved to let it be decided by lot amongst the
+four Pomeranian princes (according to the example set us by the
+holy apostles), which of them shall succeed me in Stettin, which
+is to rule in Wolgast in the room of my loved brother, Philippus
+Primus of blessed memory; and, finally, which is to be content
+only with the life-annuity. And this shall now be ascertained in
+your presence."
+
+Having ended, he commanded the Grand Marshal, Von Flemming, to
+bring the golden lottery-box with the tickets, and beckoned the
+young princes to the table. Then, while they drew the lots, he
+commanded all the nobles, knights, and burghers present to lift up
+their hands and repeat the Lord's Prayer aloud. So every hand was
+elevated, even the Duke and my gracious lady uplifting theirs, and
+the three young princes drew the lots, but not the fourth, and
+this was Bogislaff. So Duke Barnim wondered, and asked the reason.
+Whereupon he answered, "That he would not tempt God in aught. To
+govern a land was a serious thing; and he who had little to rule
+had little to be responsible for before God. He would therefore
+freely withdraw his claims, and be content with the annuity; then
+he could remain with his dear mother, and console her in her
+widowhood. He did not fear that he would ever repent his choice,
+for he had more pleasure in study than in the pomp of the world;
+and if he took the government, then must his beloved library be
+given up for food to the moths and spiders."
+
+All arguments were vain to turn him from his resolve: so the lots
+were drawn, and it was found that Johann Frederick had come by the
+Dukedom of Stettin, and Ernest Ludovicus by that of Wolgast.
+
+But as Barnim the younger went away empty, he was filled with envy
+and mortification, showing quite a different spirit from his meek,
+humble-minded brother, Bogislaff. He swore, and cursed his ill
+luck. "Why did not that fool of a bookworm give over his chance to
+him, if he would not profit by it himself? Why the devil should he
+descend to play the commoner, when he was born to play the
+prince?" and suchlike unamiable and ill-tempered speeches.
+However, he was now silenced by the drums and trumpets, which
+struck up the _Te Deum_, in which all present joined. Then
+Doctor Dannenbaum offered up a prayer, and so that grand ceremony
+concluded. But the feasting and drinking was carried on with such
+spirit all through the evening, and far into the night, that all
+the young lords, except Bogislaff, had well nigh drowned their
+senses in the wine-cup; and Ernest started up about midnight,
+declaring that he would go to the inn and murder Sidonia. Barnim
+was busy quarrelling with Johann Frederick about his annuity. So
+Ernest would certainly have gone to Sidonia, if one of the nobles,
+by name Dinnies Kleist, a man of huge strength, had not detained
+him in a singular manner. For he laid a wager that, just with his
+little finger in the girdle of the young Prince, he would hold him
+fast; and if he (the Prince) moved but one inch from the spot
+where he stood, he was content to lose his wager.
+
+And, in truth, Prince Ernest found that he could not stir one step
+from the spot where Dinnies Kleist held him; so he called a noble
+to assist him, who seized his hand and tried to draw him away, but
+in vain; then he called a second, a third, a fourth, up to a
+dozen, and they all held each other by the hand, and pulled and
+pulled away till their heads nearly touched the floor, but in
+vain; not one inch could they make the Prince to move. So Dinnies
+Kleist won his wager; and the Duke, Johann Frederick, was so
+delighted with this proof of his giant strength, that he took him
+into his service from that hour. So the whole night Dinnies amused
+the guests by performing equally wonderful feats even until day
+dawned.
+
+Now, there was an enormous golden becker which Duke Ratibor I. had
+taken away from the rich town of Konghalla, in Norway land, when
+he fell upon it and plundered it. This becker stood on the table
+filled with wine, and as the Duke handed it to him to pledge him,
+Dinnies said, "Shall I crush this in my hand, like fresh bread,
+for your Grace?" "You may try," said the Duke, laughing; and
+instantly he crushed it together with such force, that the wine
+dashed down all over the table-cover. _Item_, the Duke threw
+down some gold and silver medals--"Could he break them?"
+
+"Ay, truly, if they were given to him; not else."
+
+"Take, then, as many as you can break," said the Duke. So he broke
+them all as easily as altar wafers, and thrust them, laughing,
+into his pocket.
+
+_Item_, there had been large quantities of preserved cherries
+at supper, and the lacqueys had piled up the stones on a dish like
+a high mountain. From this mountain Dinnies took handful after
+handful, and squeezed them together, so that not a single stone
+remained whole in his hand. We shall hear a great deal more of
+this Dinnies Kleist, and his strength, as we proceed; therefore
+shall let him rest for the present.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_How Sidonia is again discovered with the groom, Johann
+Appelmann._
+
+
+It was a good day for Johann Appelmann, when his father went to
+the Diet at Wollin. For as the old burgomaster held strictly by
+his word, and sent him each day to the writing-office, and locked
+him up each night in his little room, the poor young man had found
+life growing very dull. Now he was his mother's pet, and all his
+sins and wickedness were owing to her as much as Sidonia's to her
+father. She had petted and spoiled him from his youth up, and
+stiffened his back against his father. For whenever worthy Jacob
+laid the stick upon the boy's shoulders, she cried and roared, and
+called him nothing but an old tyrant. Then how she was always
+stuffing him up with tit-bits and dainties, whenever his father's
+back was turned; and if there were a glass of wine left in the
+bottle, the boy must have it. Then she let him and his brother
+beat and abuse all the street-boys and send them away bleeding
+like dogs; and some were afraid to complain of them, as they were
+sons of the burgomaster; and if others came to the house to do so,
+she took good care to send them away with a stout blow or bloody
+nose.
+
+And as the lads grew up, how she praised their beauty, and curled
+their hair and beards herself, telling them they were not to think
+of citizen wives, but to look after the richest and highest, for
+the proudest in the land might be glad to get them as husbands. So
+she prated away during her husband's absence, for he was in his
+office all day and most part of the evening. And God knows, bad
+fruit she brought forth with such rearing--not alone in Johann,
+but also in his brother Wittich, who, as I afterwards heard, got
+on no better in Pudgla, where he held the office of magistrate. So
+true it is what the Scripture says, "A wise woman buildeth her
+house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands" (Prov.
+xiv.) Then, another Scripture, "As moths from a garment, so from a
+woman wickedness" (Sirach xlii.)
+
+For what did this fool do now? As soon as her upright and worthy
+husband had left the house, forgetting and despising all his
+admonitions respecting this son Johann, she called together all
+her acquaintance, and kept up a gormandising and drinking day
+after day, all to comfort her heart's dear pet Johann, who had
+been used so harshly by his cross father. Think of her fine,
+handsome son being stuck down all day to a clerk's desk. Ah! was
+there ever such a tyrant as her husband to any one, but especially
+to his own born children?
+
+And so she went on complaining how she had thrown herself away
+upon such a hard-hearted monster, and had refused so many fine
+young carls, all to wed Satan himself at least. She could not make
+out why God had sent such a curse upon her.
+
+When the brave Johann heard all this, he begged money from his
+mother, that he might seek another situation. Now that there was a
+new duke in Stettin, he would assuredly get employment there, but
+then he must treat all the young fellows and pages about the
+court, otherwise they would not put in a good word for him.
+Therefore he would give them a great carouse at the White Horse in
+the Monk's Close, and then assuredly he would be appointed chief
+equerry. So she believed every word he uttered; but as old Jacob
+had carried away all the money that was in the house with him, she
+sold the spices that had just come in, for a miserable sum, also
+her own pearl earrings and fur mantle, that her dear heart's son
+might have a gay carouse, to console him for all his father's hard
+treatment.
+
+_Summa_.--When the rogue had got all he could from her, he
+took his father's best mare from the stable, and rode up to
+Stettin, where he put up at the White Horse Inn, and soon scraped
+acquaintance with all the idle young fellows about the court. So
+they drank and caroused until Johann's last penny was spent, but
+he had got no situation except in good promises. Truly the young
+pages had mentioned him to the Duke, and asked the place of
+equerry for their jovial companion, but his Highness, Duke Johann,
+had heard too much of his doings at Wolgast, and would by no means
+countenance him.
+
+Then Johann bethought himself of Sidonia, for he had heard from
+his boon companions that she was in the Duke's house behind St.
+Mary's. And he remembered that purse embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds which his father had given her, so he went many days
+spying about the house, hoping to get a glimpse of Sidonia; but as
+she never appeared, he resolved to gain admission by playing the
+tailor. Wherefore, he tied on an apron, took a tailor's measure
+and shears, and went straight up to the house, asking boldly, if a
+young maiden named Sidonia did not live there? for he had got
+orders to make her a garment. Now the baker's daughter, Trim
+Wehlers, suspected all was not right, for she had seen my gay
+youth spying about the house before, and staring up at all the
+windows. However, she showed the tailor Sidonia's room, and then
+set herself down to watch. But the wonders of Providence are
+great. Although she could not hear a word they said, yet all that
+passed in Sidonia's room was made evident--it was in this wise.
+Just before the house rose up the church of St. Mary's, with all
+its stately pillars, and as if God's house wished in wrath to
+expose the wickedness of the pair, everything that passed in the
+room was shadowed on these pillars; so when Trina observed this,
+she ran for the other girls, crying, "Come here, come here, and
+see how the two shadows are kissing each other. They can be no
+other than Sidonia and her tailor. This would be fine news for our
+gracious lord!" They would tell him the whole story when his
+Highness came that evening, and so get rid of this proud, haughty
+dragon who played the great lady amongst them, and ruled
+everything her own way. Therefore they all set themselves to watch
+for the tailor when he left Sidonia's room; but the whole day
+passed, and he had not done with his measurement. Whereupon they
+concluded she must have secreted him in her chamber.
+
+Now the Duke had a private key of the house, and was in the habit
+of walking over from Oderburg after dusk almost every evening; but
+as there was no sign of him now, they despatched a messenger,
+bidding him come quick to his house, and his Grace would hear and
+see marvels. How the young girls gathered round him when he
+entered, all telling him together about Sidonia. And when at last
+he made out the story, his Grace fell into an unwonted rage (for
+he was generally mild and good-tempered) that a poacher should get
+into his preserves. So he runs to Sidonia's door and tries to open
+it, but the bolts are drawn. Then he threatened to send for Master
+Hansen if she did not instantly admit him, at which all the girls
+laughed and clapped their hands with joy. Whereupon Sidonia at
+last came to the door with looks of great astonishment, and
+demanded what his Grace could want. It was bed-time, and so, of
+course, she had locked her door to lie down in safety.
+
+_Ille_.-"Where is that tailor churl who had come to her in
+the morning?"
+
+_Illa_.-"She knew nothing about him, except that he had gone
+away long ago."
+
+So the girls all screamed "No, no, that is not true! She and the
+tailor had been kissing each other, as they saw by the shadows on
+the wall, and making love."
+
+Here Sidonia appeared truly horrified at such an accusation, for
+she was a cunning hypocrite; and taking up the coif-block
+[Footnote: A block for head-gears.] with an air of offended
+dignity, said, turning to his Grace, "It was this coif-block,
+methinks, I had at the window with me, and may those be accursed
+who blackened me to your face." So the Duke half believed her, and
+stood silent at the window; but Trina Wehlers cried out, "It is
+false! it is false! a coif-block could not give kisses!" Whereupon
+Sidonia in great wrath snatched up a robe that lay near her on a
+couch, to hit the baker's daughter with it across the face. But
+woe! woe! under the robe lay the tailor's cap, upon which all the
+girls screamed out, "There is the cap! there is the cap! now we'll
+soon find the tailor," pushing Sidonia aside, and beginning to
+search in every nook and corner of the room. Heyday, what an
+uproar there was now, when they caught sight of the tailor himself
+in the chimney and dragged him down; but he dashed them aside with
+his hands, right and left, so that many got bleeding noses, hit
+his Grace, too, a blow as he tried to seize him, and rushed out of
+the house.
+
+Still the Duke had time to recognise the knave of Wolgast, and was
+so angry at his having escaped him, that he almost beat Sidonia.
+"She was at her old villainy. No good would ever come of her. He
+saw that now with his own eyes. Therefore this very night she and
+her baggage should pack off, to the devil if she chose, but he had
+done with her for ever."
+
+When Sidonia found that the affair was taking a bad turn, she
+tried soft words, but in vain. His Highness ordered up her two
+serving wenches to remove her and her luggage. And so, to the
+great joy of the other girls, who laughed and screamed, and
+clapped their hands, she was turned out, and having nowhere to go
+to, put up once more at the White Horse Inn.
+
+Now Johann knew nothing of this until next morning, when, as he
+was toying with one of the maids, he heard a voice from the
+window, "Johann! Johann! I will give thee the diamond." And
+looking up, there was Sidonia. So the knave ran to her, and swore
+he was only jesting with the maid in the court, for that he would
+marry no one but her, as he had promised yesterday, only he must
+first wait till he was made equerry, then he would obtain letters
+of nobility, which could easily be done, as he was the son of a
+_patricius_; but gold, gold was wanting for all this, and to
+keep up with his friends at the court. Perhaps this very day he
+might get the place, if he had only some good claret to entertain
+them with; therefore she had better give him a couple of diamonds
+from the purse. And so he went on with his lies and humbug, until
+at last he got what he wanted.
+
+Sidonia now felt so ashamed of her degradation, that she resolved
+to leave the White Horse, and take a little lodging in the Monk's
+Close until Johann obtained the post of equerry. But in vain she
+hoped and waited. Every day the rogue came, he begged for another
+pearl or diamond, and if she hesitated, then he swore it would be
+the last, for this very day he was certain of the situation. At
+last but two diamonds were left, and beg as he might, these he
+should not have. Then he beat her, and ran off to the White Horse,
+but came back again in less than an hour. Would she forgive him?
+Now they would be happy at last; he had received his appointment
+as chief equerry. His friends had behaved nobly and kept their
+word, therefore he must give them a right merry carouse out of
+gratitude; she might as well hand him those two little diamonds.
+Now they would want for nothing at last, but live like princes at
+the table of his Highness the Duke. Would she not be ready to
+marry him immediately?
+
+Thereupon the unfortunate Sidonia handed over her two last jewels,
+but never laid eyes on the knave for two days after, when he came
+to tell her it was all up with him now, the traitors had deceived
+him, he had got no situation, and unless she gave him more money
+or jewels he never could marry her. She had still golden armlets
+and a gold chain, let her go for them, he must see them, and try
+what he could get for them. But he begged in vain. Then he
+stormed, swore, threatened, beat her, and finally rushed out of
+the house declaring that she might go to the devil, for as to him
+he would never give himself any further trouble about her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_Of the distress in Pomeranian land--Item, how Sidonia and
+Johann Appelmann determine to join the robbers in the vicinity of
+Stargard._
+
+
+When my gracious lord, Duke Johann Frederick, succeeded to the
+government, he had no idea of hoarding up his money in old pots,
+but lavished it freely upon all kinds of buildings, hounds,
+horses--in short, upon everything that could make his court and
+castle luxurious and magnificent.
+
+Indeed, he was often as prodigal, just to gratify a whim, as when
+he flung the gold coins to Dinnies Kleist, merely to see if he
+could break them. For instance, he was not content with the old
+ducal residence at Stettin, but must pull it down and build
+another in the forest, not far from Stargard, with churches,
+towers, stables, and all kinds of buildings; and this new
+residence he called after his own name, Friedrichswald.
+
+_Item_, my gracious lord had many princely visitors, who
+would come with a train of six hundred horses or more; and his
+princely spouse, the Duchess Erdmuth, was a lady of munificent
+spirit, and flung away gold by handfuls; so that in a short time
+his Highness had run through all his forefathers' savings, and his
+incoming revenue was greatly diminished by the large annuity which
+he had to pay to old Duke Barnim.
+
+Therefore he summoned the states, and requested them to assist him
+with more money; but they gave answer that his Highness wanted
+prudence; he ought to tie his purse tighter. Why did he build that
+new castle of Friedrichswald? Was it ever heard in Pomerania that
+a prince needed two state residences? But his Highness never
+entered the treasury to look after the expenditure of the
+duchy--he did nothing but banquet, hunt, fish, and build. The
+states, therefore, had no gold for such extravagances.
+
+When his Highness had received this same answer two or three times
+from the states, he waxed wroth, and threatened to pronounce the
+_interdictum seculars_ over his poor land, and finally close
+the royal treasury and all the courts of justice, until the states
+would give him money.
+
+Now the old treasurer, Jacob Zitsewitz, who had quitted Wolgast to
+enter the service of his Grace, was so shocked at these
+proceedings, that he killed himself out of pure grief and shame.
+He was an upright, excellent man, this old Zitsewitz, though
+perchance, like old Duke Barnim, he loved the maidens and a lusty
+Pomeranian draught rather too well. And he foretold all the evil
+that would result from this same interdict; but his Highness
+resisted his entreaties; and when the old man found his warnings
+unheeded and despised, he stabbed himself, as I have said, there
+in the treasury, before his master's eyes, out of grief and shame.
+
+The misery which he prophesied soon fell upon the land; for it was
+just at that time that the great house of Loitz failed in Stettin,
+leaving debts to the amount of twenty tons of gold, it was said;
+by reason of which many thousand men, widows, and orphans, were
+utterly beggared, and great distress brought upon all ranks of the
+people. Such universal grief and lamentation never had been known
+in all Pomerania, as I have heard my father tell, of blessed
+memory; and as the princely treasury was closed, as also all the
+courts of justice, and no redress could be obtained, many
+misguided and ruined men resolved to revenge themselves; and this
+was now a welcome hearing to Johann Appelmann.
+
+For having given up all hope of the post of equerry, he made
+acquaintance with these disaffected persons, amongst whom was a
+miller, one Philip Konneman by name, a notorious knave. With this
+Konneman he sits down one evening in the inn to drink Rostock
+beer, begins to curse and abuse the reigning family, who had
+ruined and beggared the people even more than Hans Loitz. They
+ought to combine together and right themselves. Where was the
+crime? Their cause was good; and where there were no judges in the
+land, complaints would do little good. He would be their captain.
+Let him speak to the others about it, and see would they consent.
+He knew of many churches where there were jewels and other
+valuables still remaining. Also in Stargard, where his dear father
+played the burgomaster, there was much gold.
+
+So they fixed a night when they should all meet at Lastadie,
+[Footnote: A suburb of Stettin.] near the ducal fish-house; and
+Johann then goes to Sidonia to wheedle her out of the gold chain,
+for handsel for the robbers.
+
+"Now," he said, "the good old times were come back in Pomerania,
+when every one trusted to his own good sword, and were not led
+like sheep at the beck of another; for the treasury and all the
+courts of justice were closed. So the glorious times of
+knight-errantry must come again, such as their forefathers had
+seen." His companions had promised to elect him captain; but then
+he must give them handsel for that, and the gold chain would just
+sell for the sum he wanted. What use was it to her? If she gave
+it, then he would take her with him, and the first rich prize they
+got he would marry her certainly, and settle down in Poland
+afterwards, or wherever else she wished. That would be a glorious
+life, and she would never regret the young Duke. And had not all
+the nobles in old time led the same life, and so gained their
+castles and lands?
+
+But Sidonia began to weep. "Let him do what he would, she would
+never give the chain; and if he beat her, she would scream for
+help through the streets, and betray all his plans to the
+authorities. Now she saw plainly how she had been deceived. He had
+talked her out of all her gold, and now wanted to bring her to the
+gallows at last. No, never should he get the chain--it was all she
+had left; and she had determined at last to go and live quietly at
+her farm in Zachow, as soon as she could obtain a vehicle from
+Regenswald to Labes."
+
+When Johann heard this, he was terribly alarmed, and kissed her
+little hands, and coaxed and flattered her--"Why did she weep?
+There were plenty of herons' feathers now in the garden behind St.
+Mary's, for the birds were moulting. She could easily get some of
+them, and they were worth three times as much as the gold chain.
+Did she think it a crime to take a few feathers from that old
+sinner, Duke Barnim, or his girls? And if she really wished to
+leave him, she could sell the feathers even better in Dresden than
+here."
+
+It was all in vain. Sidonia continued weeping--"Let him talk as he
+liked, she would never give the chain. He was a knave through and
+through. Woe to her that she had ever listened to him! He was the
+cause of all her misery!" and so she went on.
+
+But the cunning fox would not give up his prey so easily. He now
+tried the same trick which he had played so successfully at
+Wolgast upon old Ulrich, and at Stargard upon his father; in
+short, he played the penitent, and began to weep and lament over
+his errors, and all the misery he had caused her. "It was, indeed,
+true that he was to blame for all; but if she would only forgive
+him, and say she pardoned him, he would devote his life to her,
+and revenge her upon all her enemies. The moment for doing so was
+nigh at hand; for the young lord, Prince Ernest, who had so
+shamefully abandoned her, was coming here to Stettin with his
+young bride, the Princess Hedwig of Brunswick, to spend the
+honeymoon, and would he not take good care to waylay them on their
+journey to Wolgast, and give them something to think of for the
+rest of their lives?"
+
+When Sidonia heard these tidings, her eyes flashed like a cat's in
+the dark. "Who told him that? She would not believe it, unless
+some one else confirmed the story."
+
+So he answered--"That any one could confirm it, for the whole
+castle was filled with workmen making preparations for their
+reception; the bridal chamber had been hung with new tapestry, and
+painters and carvers were busy all day long painting and carving
+the united arms of Pomerania and Brunswick upon all the furniture
+and glass."
+
+_Illa_.--"Well, she would go into the town to inquire, and if
+his tale were true, and that he swore to marry her, he should have
+the chain."
+
+_Ille_.--"There was a carver going by with his basket and
+tools--let her call him in, and hear what he said on the matter."
+
+So my cunning fellow called out to the workman, who stepped in
+presently with his basket, and assured the lady politely, that in
+fourteen days the young Duke of Wolgast and his princely bride
+were to arrive at the castle, for the Court Marshal had told him
+this himself, and given him orders to have a large number of
+glasses cut with their united arms ready with all diligence.
+
+When Sidonia heard this, and saw the glasses in his basket, she
+handed the golden chain to Johann, and the carver went his way.
+Then the aforesaid rogue fell down on his knees, swearing to marry
+her, and never to leave her more, for she had now given him all;
+and if this, too, were lost, she must beg her way to Zachow.
+
+So the gallows-bird went off with the chain, turned it into money,
+drank and caroused, and with the remainder set off for Lastadie,
+to meet the ringleaders, near the ducal fishhouse, as agreed upon.
+
+But Master Konneman had only been able to gather ten fellows
+together; the others held back, though they had talked so boldly
+at first, thinking, no doubt, that when the courts of justice were
+reopened, they would all be brought to the gallows.
+
+So Johann thought the number too small for his purposes, and
+agreed with the others to send an envoy to the robber-band of the
+Stargard Wood, proposing a league between them, and offering
+himself (Johann Appelmann, a knight of excellent family and
+endowments) as their captain. Should they consent, the said Johann
+would give them right good handsel; and on the appointed day, meet
+them in the forest, with his illustrious and noble bride; and as a
+sign whereby they should know him, he would whistle three times
+loudly when he approached the wood.
+
+Konneman undertook to be the bearer of the message, and returned
+in a few days, declaring that the robbers had received the
+proposal with joy. He found them encamped under a large nut-tree
+in the forest, roasting a sheep upon a spear, at a large fire. So
+they made him sit down and eat with them, and told him it was a
+right jolly life, with no ruler but the great God above them.
+Better to live under the free heaven than die in their squalid
+cabins. The band was strong, besides many who had joined lately,
+since the bankruptcy of Hans Loitz, and there were some gipsies
+too, amongst whom was an old hag who told fortunes, and had lately
+prophesied to the band that a great prize was in store for them;
+they had just returned with some booty from the little town of
+Damm, where they had committed a robbery. One of their party,
+however, had been taken there.
+
+When Johann heard the good result of his message, he summoned all
+his followers to another meeting at the ducal fish-house, gave
+them each money, and swore them to fidelity; then bid them
+disperse, and slip singly to the band, to avoid observation, and
+he would himself meet them in the forest next day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_How Johann and Sidonia meet an adventure, at Alten Damm--Item,
+of their reception by the robber-band._
+
+
+Now Johann Appelmann had a grudge against the newly appointed
+equerry to his Highness, for the man had swilled his claret, and
+been foremost in his promises, and yet now had stepped into the
+place himself, and left Johann in the lurch. The knave, therefore,
+determined on revenge; so invented a story, how that his father,
+old Appelmann, had sent for him to give him half of all he was
+worth, and as he must journey to Stargard directly, he prayed his
+friend the equerry to lend him a couple of horses and a waggon out
+of the ducal stables, with harness and all that would be
+necessary, swearing that when he brought them back he would give
+him and his other friends such a carouse at the inn, as they had
+never yet had in their lives.
+
+And when the other asked, would not one horse be sufficient,
+Johann replied no, that he required the waggon for his luggage,
+and two horses would be necessary to draw it. _Summa_, the
+fool gives him two beautiful Andalusian stallions, with harness
+and saddles; _item_, a waggon, whereon my knave mounted next
+morning early, with Sidonia and her luggage, and took the miller,
+Konneman, with him as driver.
+
+But as they passed through Alten Damm, a strange adventure
+happened, whereby the all-merciful God, no doubt, wished to turn
+them from their evil way; but they flung His warnings to the wind.
+
+For the carl was going to be executed who belonged to the
+robber-band, that had committed a burglary there, in the town,
+some days previously. However, the gallows having been blown down
+by a storm, the linen-weavers, according to old usage, came to
+erect another. This angered the millers, who also began to erect
+one of their own, declaring that the weavers had only a right to
+supply the ladder, but they were to erect the gallows. A great
+fight now arose between weavers and millers, while the poor thief
+stood by with his hands tied behind his back, and arrayed in his
+winding-sheet. But the sheriffs, and whatever other honourable
+citizens were by, having in vain endeavoured to appease the
+quarrel, returned to the inn, to take the advice of the honourable
+council.
+
+Just at this moment Johann and Sidonia drove into the middle of
+the crowd, and the former leaped off and laughed heartily, for a
+miller had thrown down a poor lean weaver close behind the
+criminal, and was belabouring him stoutly with his floured fists,
+whilst the poor wretch screamed loudly for succour or assistance
+to the criminal, who answered in his _Platt Deutsch_, "I
+cannot help thee, friend, for, see, my hands are bound." Upon
+this, Johann draws his knife from his girdle, and slipping behind
+the felon, cuts the ropes binding him.
+
+He straightway, finding himself free, jumped upon the miller, and
+turned the flour all red upon his face with his heavy blows. Then
+he ran towards the waggon, but the guardsman caught hold of him by
+the shoulder, so the poor wretch left the winding-sheet in his
+hand, and jumping, naked as he was, on the back of one of the
+horses, set off, at top speed, to the forest, with Sidonia
+screaming and roaring fleeing with him.
+
+Millers and weavers now left off their wrangling, and joined
+together in pursuit, but in vain; the fellow soon distanced them
+all, and was lost to sight in the wood.
+
+When he had driven the waggon a good space, and still hearing the
+roaring of the people in pursuit, he stopped the horses, and
+jumped off, to take to his heels amongst the trees. Whereupon
+Konneman threw him a horse-cloth from the waggon, bidding him
+cover himself with it; so the carl snapped it up, and rolled it
+about his body with all alacrity. Now this horse-cloth was
+embroidered with the Pomeranian arms, and the poor Adam looked so
+absurd running away in such a garment, that Sidonia,
+notwithstanding all her fright, could not help bursting into a
+loud mocking laughter.
+
+Whereupon the crowd came up, cursing, swearing, and cursing, that
+the thief had escaped them; Johann Appelmann, who was amongst
+them, and was just in the act of stepping up to the waggon, when
+Prince Johann Frederick and a company of carbineers galloped up
+along with the chief equerry and a large retinue, all on their way
+to Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke stopped to hear the cause of the tumult, and when they
+told him, he laughingly said, he would soon return with the
+gallows-knaves; then, turning to Appelmann, he asked who he was,
+and what brought him there?
+
+When Johann gave his name, and said he was going to Stargard, his
+Grace exclaimed, with surprise--
+
+"So thou art the knave of whom I have heard so much; and this woman
+here, I suppose, is Sidonia? Pity of her. She is a handsome wench,
+I see."
+
+Then, as Sidonia blushed and looked down, he continued--
+
+"And where did the fellow get these fine horses? Would he sell
+them?"
+
+Now Appelmann had a great mind to tell the truth, and say he got
+them from the equerry, who was already turning white with pure
+fear; but recollecting that he might come in for some of the
+punishment himself, besides hoping to play a second trick upon his
+Highness, he answered, that his father at Stargard had made them a
+present to him.
+
+The Duke, now turning to his equerry, asked him--
+
+"Would not these horses match his Andalusian stallions perfectly?"
+
+And as the other tremblingly answered, "Yes, perfectly," his Grace
+demanded if the knave would sell them.
+
+_Ille_.--"Oh yes; to gratify his Serene Highness the Duke, he
+would sell the horses for 3000 florins."
+
+"Let it be so," said the Duke; "but I must owe thee the money,
+fellow."
+
+_Ille_.--"Then he would not make the bargain, for he wanted
+the money directly to take him to Stargard."
+
+So the Duke frowned that he would not trust his own Prince; and as
+Appelmann attempted to move off with the waggon, his Highness took
+his plumed cap from his head, and cutting off the diamond agrafe
+with his dagger, flung it to him, exclaiming--
+
+"Stay! take these jewels, they are worth 1300 florins, but leave
+me the horses."
+
+Now the chief equerry nearly fell from his horse with shame as the
+knave picked up the agrafe, and shoved it into his pocket, then
+humbly addressing his Highness, prayed for permission just to
+leave the maiden and her luggage in Stargard, and then he would
+return instantly with both horses, and bring them himself to his
+gracious Highness at Friedrichswald.
+
+The Duke having consented, the knave sprang up upon the waggon,
+and turning off to another road, drove away as hard as he could
+from the scene of this perilous adventure. After some time he
+whistled, but receiving no response, kept driving through the
+forest until evening, when a loud, shrill whistle at last replied
+to his, and on reaching a cross-road, he found the whole band
+dancing with great merriment round a large sign-board which had
+been stuck up there by the authorities, and on which was painted a
+gipsy lying under the gallows, while the executioner stood over
+him in the act of applying the torture, and beneath ran the
+inscription--
+
+  "Gipsy! from Pomerania flee,
+  Or thus it shall be done to thee."
+
+These words the robber crew had set to some sort of rude melody,
+and now sang it and danced to it round the sign, the fellow with
+the horse-cloth in the midst of them, the merriest of them all.
+
+The moment they got a glimpse of their captain, men, women, and
+children ran off like mad to the waggon, clapping their hands and
+shouting, "Huzzah! huzzah! what a noble captain! Had he brought
+them anything to drink?" And when he said "Yes," and handed out
+three barrels of wine, there was no end to the jubilee of
+cheering. Then he must give them handsel, and after that they
+would make a large fire and swear fealty to him round it, as was
+the manner of the gipsies, for the band was mostly composed of
+gipsies, and numbered about fifty men altogether.
+
+_Summa_.--A great fire was kindled, round which they all took
+the oath of obedience to their captain, and he swore fidelity to
+them in return. Then a couple of deer were roasted; and after they
+had eaten and drunk, the singing and dancing round the great
+sign-board was resumed, until the broad daylight glanced through
+the trees.
+
+People may see from this to what a pitch of lawlessness and
+disorder the land came under the reign of Duke Johann. For,
+methinks, these robbers would never have dared to make such a mock
+of the authorities, only that my Lord Duke had shut up all the
+courts of justice in the kingdom.
+
+During their jollity, our knave Appelmann cast his eyes upon a
+gipsy maiden, called the handsome Sioli; a tall, dark-eyed wench,
+but with scarcely a rag to cover her. Therefore he bade Sidonia
+run to her luggage, and take out one of her own best robes for the
+girl; but Sidonia turned away in great wrath, exclaiming--
+
+"This was the way he kept his promise to her. She had given him
+all, and followed him even hither, and yet he cared more for a
+ragged gipsy girl than for her. But she would go away that very
+night, anywhere her steps might lead her, if only away from her
+present misery. Let him give her the Duke's diamonds, and she
+would leave him all the herons' feathers, and never come near him
+any more."
+
+But my knave only laughed, and bid her come take the diamonds if
+she wanted them, they were in his bosom. Then the gipsy girl and
+her mother, old Ussel, began to mock the fine lady. So Sidonia sat
+there weeping and wringing her hands, while Johann laughed,
+danced, drank, and kissed the gipsy wench, and finally threatened
+to go and take a robe himself out of the luggage, if Sidonia did
+not run for one instantly.
+
+However, she would not stir; so Konnemann, the miller, took pity
+on her, and would have remonstrated, but Johann cut him short,
+saying--
+
+"What the devil did he mean? Was he not the captain? and why
+should Konnemann dare to interfere with him?"
+
+Then he strode over to the waggon to plunder Sidonia's baggage,
+which, when she observed, her heart seemed to break, and she
+kneeled down, lifted up her hands, and prayed thus:--
+
+"Merciful Creator, I know Thee not, for my hard and unnatural
+father never brought me to Thee; therefore on his head be my sins.
+But if Thou hast pity on the young ravens, who likewise know Thee
+not, have pity upon me, and help me to leave this robber den with
+Thy gracious help."
+
+Here such a shout of laughter resounded from all sides, that she
+sprang up, and seizing the best bundle in the waggon, plunged into
+the wood, with loud cries and lamentation; whilst Appelmann only
+said--
+
+"Never heed her, let her do as she pleases; she will be back again
+soon enough, I warrant."
+
+Accordingly, scarcely an hour had elapsed, when the unhappy maiden
+appeared again, to the great amusement of the whole band, who
+mocked her yet more than before. She came back crying and
+lamenting--
+
+"She could go no further, for the wolves followed her, and howled
+round her on all sides. Ah! that she were a stone, and buried
+fathoms deep in the earth! That shameless knave, Appelmann, might
+indeed have pitied her, if he hoped for pity from God; but had he
+not taken her robe to put it on the gipsy beggar? She nearly died
+of shame at the sight. But she would never forgive the beggar's
+brat to the day of judgment for it. All she wanted now was some
+good Christian to guide her out of the wild forest. Would no one
+come with her? that was all she asked."
+
+And so she went on crying, and lamenting in the deepest grief.
+
+_Summa_.--When the knave heard all this, his heart seemed to
+relent; perhaps he dreaded the anger of her relations if she were
+treated too badly, or, mayhap, it was compassion, I cannot say;
+but he sprang up, kissed her, caressed her, and consoled her.
+
+"Why should she leave them? He would remain faithful and constant
+to her, as he had sworn. Why should the gown for the beggar-girl
+anger her? When they get the herons' feathers on the morrow, he
+would buy her ten new gowns for the one he had taken." And so he
+continued in his old deceiving way, till she at last believed him,
+and was comforted.
+
+Here the roll of a carriage was heard, and as many of the band as
+were not quite drunk seized their muskets and pikes, and rushed in
+the direction of the sound. But behold, the waggon and horses,
+with all Sidonia's luggage, was off! For, in truth, the equerry,
+seeing Johann's treachery, had secretly followed him, hiding
+himself in the bushes till it grew dark, but near enough to
+observe all that was going on; then, watching his opportunity, and
+knowing the robbers were all more or less drunk, he sprang upon
+the waggon, and galloped away as hard as he could. Johann gave
+chase for a little, but the equerry had got too good a start to be
+overtaken; and so Johann returned, cursing and raging, to the
+band. Then they all gathered round the fire again, and drank and
+caroused till morning dawned, when each sought out a good
+sleeping-place amongst the bushwood. There they lay till morn,
+when Johann summoned them to prepare for their excursion to the
+Duke's gardens at Zachan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_How his Highness, Duke Barnim the elder, went a-hawking at
+Marienfliess--Item, of the shameful robbery at Zachan, and how
+burgomaster Appelmann remonstrates with his abandoned son._
+
+
+After Duke Barnim the elder had resigned the government, he betook
+himself more than ever to field-sports; and amongst others,
+hawking became one of his most favourite pursuits. By this sport,
+he stocked his gardens at Zachan with an enormous number of
+herons, and made a considerable sum annually by the sale of the
+feathers. These gardens at Zachan covered an immense space, and
+were walled round. Within were many thousand herons' nests; and
+all the birds taken by the falcons were brought here, and their
+wings clipped. Then the keepers fed them with fish, frogs, and
+lizards, so that they became quite tame, and when their wings grew
+again, never attempted to leave the gardens, but diligently built
+their nests and reared their young. Now, though it cost a great
+sum to keep these gardens in order, and support all the people
+necessary to look after the birds, yet the Duke thought little of
+the expense, considering the vast sum which the feathers brought
+him at the moulting season.
+
+Accordingly, during the moulting time, he generally took up his
+abode at a castle adjoining the gardens, called "The Stone
+Rampart," to inspect the gathering in of the feathers himself; and
+he was just on his journey thither with his falconers, hunters,
+and other retainers, when the robber-band caught sight of him from
+the wood. His Highness was seated in an open carriage, with Trina
+Wehlers, the baker's daughter, by his side; and Sidonia, who
+recognised her enemy, instantly entreated Johann to revenge her on
+the girl if possible; but, as he hesitated, the old gipsy mother
+stepped forward and whispered Sidonia, "that she would help her to
+a revenge, if she but gave her that little golden smelling-bottle
+which she wore suspended by a gold chain on her neck." Sidonia
+agreed, and the revenge soon followed; for the Duke left the
+carriage, and mounted a horse to follow the chase, the falconer
+having unloosed a couple of hawks and let them fly at a heron.
+Trina remained in the coach; but the coachman, wishing to see the
+sport, tied his horses to a tree, and ran off, too, after the
+others into the wood. The hawk soared high above the heron,
+watching its opportunity to pounce upon the quarry; but the heron,
+just as it swooped down upon it, drove its sharp bill through the
+body of the hawk, and down they both came together covered with
+blood, right between the two carriage horses.
+
+No doubt this was all done through the magic of the gipsy mother;
+for the horses took fright instantly, plunged and reared, and
+dashed off with the carriage, which was over-turned some yards
+from the spot, and the baker's daughter had her leg broken.
+Hearing her screams, the Duke and the whole party ran to the spot;
+and his Highness first scolded the coachman for leaving his
+horses, then the falconer for having let fly his best falcon,
+which now lay there quite dead. The heron, however, was alive, and
+his Grace ordered it to be bound and carried off to Zachan. The
+baker's daughter prayed, but in vain, that the coachman might be
+hung upon the next tree. Then they all set off homeward, but Trina
+screamed so loudly, that his Grace stopped, and ordered a couple
+of stout huntsmen to carry her to the neighbouring convent of
+Marienfliess, where, as I am credibly informed, in a short time
+she gave up the ghost.
+
+Now, the robber-band were watching all these proceedings from the
+wood, but kept as still as mice. Not until his Grace had driven
+off a good space, and the baker's daughter had been carried away,
+did they venture to speak or move; then Sidonia jumped up,
+clapping her hands in ecstasy, and mimicking the groans and
+contortions of the poor girl, to the great amusement of the band,
+who laughed loudly; but Johann recalled them to business, and
+proposed that they should secretly follow his Highness, and hide
+themselves at Elsbruck, near the water-mill of Zachan, until the
+evening closed in. In order also to be quite certain of the place
+where his Grace had laid up all the herons' feathers of that
+season, Johann proposed that the miller, Konnemann, should visit
+his Grace at Zachan, giving out that he was a feather merchant
+from Berlin. Accordingly, when they reached Elsbruck, the miller
+put on my knave's best doublet (for he was almost naked before),
+and proceeded to the Stone Rampart, Sidonia bidding him, over and
+over again, to inquire at the castle when the young Lord of
+Wolgast and his bride were expected at Stettin. The Duke received
+Konnemann very graciously, when he found that he was a wealthy
+feather merchant from Berlin, who, having heard of the number and
+extent of his Grace's gardens at Zachan, had come to purchase all
+the last year's gathering of feathers. Would his Highness allow
+him to see the feathers?
+
+_Summa_.--He had his wish; for his Grace brought him into a
+little room on the ground-floor, where lay two sacks full of the
+most perfect and beautiful feathers; and when the Duke demanded a
+thousand florins for them, the knave replied, "That he would
+willingly have the feathers, but must take the night to think over
+the price." Then he took good note of the room, and the garden,
+and all the passages of the castle, and so came back in the
+twilight to the band with great joy, assuring them that nothing
+would be easier than to rob the old turner's apprentice of his
+feathers.
+
+Such, indeed, was the truth; for at midnight my knave Johann, with
+Konnemann and a few chosen accomplices, carried away those two
+sacks of feathers; and no one knew a word about the robbery until
+the next morning, when the band were far off in the forest, no one
+knew where. But a quarrel had arisen between my knave and Sidonia
+over the feathers: she wanted them for herself, that she might
+turn them into money, and so be enabled to get back to her own
+people; but Johann had no idea of employing his booty in this way.
+"What was she thinking of? If those fine stallions, indeed, had
+not been stolen from him, he might have given her the feathers;
+but now there was nothing else left wherewith to pay the band--she
+must wait for another good prize. Meantime they must settle
+accounts with the young Lord of Wolgast, who, as Konnemann had
+found out, was expected at Stettin in seven days."
+
+Now, the daring robbery at Zachan was the talk of the whole
+country, and as the old burgomaster, Appelmann, had heard at
+Friedrichswald about the horses and waggon, and his son's shameful
+knavery, he could think of nothing else but that the same rascal
+had stolen the Duke's feathers at So he took some faithful
+burghers with him, and set off for the forest, to try and find his
+lost son. At last, after many wanderings, a peasant, who was
+cutting wood, told them that he had seen the robber-band encamped
+in a thick wood near Rehewinkel; [Footnote: Two miles and a half
+from Stargard, and the present dwelling-place of the editor.] and
+when the miserable father and his burghers arrived at the place,
+there indeed was the robber-band stretched upon the long grass,
+and Sidonia seated upon the stump of a tree--for she must play the
+lute, while Johann, his godless son, was plaiting the long black
+hair of the handsome Sioli.
+
+Methinks the knave must have felt somewhat startled when his
+father sprang from behind an oak, a dagger in his hand, exclaiming
+loudly, "Johann, Johann, thou lost, abandoned son! is it thus I
+find thee?"
+
+The knave turned as white as a corpse upon the gallows, and his
+hands seemed to freeze upon the fair Sioli's hair; but the band
+jumped up and seized their arms, shouting, "Seize him! seize him!"
+The old man, however, cared little for their shouts; and still
+gazing on his son, cried out, "Dost thou not answer me, thou
+God-forgetting knave? Thou hast deceived and robbed thy own
+Prince. Answer me--who amongst all these is fitter for the gallows
+than thou art?"
+
+So my knave at last came to his senses, and answered sullenly,
+"What did he want here? He had done nothing for him. He must earn
+his own bread."
+
+_Ille_.--"God forgive thee thy sins; did I not take thee back
+as my son, and strive to correct thee as a true and loving father?
+Why didst thou run away from my house and the writing-office?"
+
+_Hic._--"He was born for something else than to lead the life
+of a dog."
+
+_Ille_.--"He had never made him live any such life; and even
+if he had, better live like a dog than as a robber wolf."
+
+_Hic_.--"He was no robber. Who had belied him so? He and his
+friends were on their way to Poland to join the army."
+
+_Ille_.--"Wherefore, then, had he tricked his Highness of
+Stettin out of the horses?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was only a revenge upon the equerry, to pay him
+back in his own coin, for he was his enemy, and had broken faith
+with him."
+
+_Ille_.--"But he had robbed his Grace Duke Barnim, likewise,
+of the herons' feathers. No one else had done it."
+
+_Hic_.--"Who dared to say so? He was insulted and belied by
+every one." Then he cursed and swore that he knew nothing whatever
+of these herons' feathers which he was making such a fuss about.
+
+Meanwhile the band stood round with cocked muskets, and as the
+burghers now pressed forward, to save their leader, if any
+violence were offered, Konnemann called out, "Give the word,
+master--shall I shoot down the churl?"
+
+Here Johann's conscience was moved a little, and he shouted,
+"Back! back!--he is my father!"
+
+But the old gipsy mother sprang forward with a knife, crying, "Thy
+father, fool?--what care we for thy father? Let me at him, and
+I'll soon settle thy father with my knife."
+
+When the unfortunate son heard and saw this, he seized a heavy
+stick that lay near him, and gave the gipsy such a blow on the
+crown, that she rolled, screaming, on the ground. Whereupon the
+whole band raised a wild yell, and rushed upon the burgomaster.
+
+Then Johann cried, almost with anguish, "Back! back! he is my
+father! Do ye not remember your oaths to me? Spare my father!
+Wait, at least; he has something of importance to tell me."
+
+And at last, though with difficulty, he succeeded in calming these
+children of Belial. Then drawing his father aside, under the shade
+of a great oak, he began--"Dearest father mine, it was fear of
+you, and despair of the future, that drove me to this work; but if
+you will now give me three hundred florins, I will go forth into
+the wide world, and take honourable service, wherever it is to be
+had, during the wars."
+
+_Ille_.--"Had he yet married that unfortunate Sidonia, who he
+observed, to his surprise, was still with him?"
+
+_Hic_.--"No; he could never marry the harlot now, for she had
+run away from old Duke Barnim, and followed him here to the
+forest."
+
+_Ille_.--"What would become of her, then, when he joined the
+army?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That was her look-out. Let her go to her farm at
+Zachow."
+
+Hereupon the old man held his peace, and rested his arm against
+the oak, and his grey head upon his arm, and looked down long upon
+the grass without uttering a word; then he sighed deeply, and
+looking up, thus addressed Johann:--
+
+"My son, I will trust thee yet again; but it shall be the last
+time; therefore take heed to what I say. Between Stargard and
+Pegelow there stands an old thorn upon the highway; there,
+to-morrow evening, by seven of the clock, my servant Caspar, whom
+thou knowest, shall bring thee three hundred florins; but on this
+one condition, that thou dost now swear solemnly to abandon this
+villainous robber-band, and seek an honourable living far away, in
+some other country, where thou must pray daily to God the Lord, to
+turn thee from thy evil ways, and help thee by His grace."
+
+So the knave knelt down before his father, wept, and prayed for
+his father's forgiveness; then swore solemnly to abandon his
+sinful life, and with God's help to perform all that his father
+had enjoined. "And would he not give his last farewell to his
+dear, darling mother?" "Thy mother!--ah, thy mother!" sighed the
+old man; "but rise, now, and let me and mine homewards. God grant
+that my eyes have beheld thee for the last time. Come, I will take
+this Sidonia back with me."
+
+So they forthwith joined the robber crew again, who were still
+making a great uproar, which, however, Johann appeased, and after
+some time obtained a free passage for his father and the burghers;
+but Sidonia would not accompany them. The upright old burgomaster
+admonished first, then he promised to drive her with his own
+horses to her farm at Zachow; but his words were all in vain, for
+the knave privately gave her a look, and whispered something in
+her ear, but no one knew what it was.
+
+Nor did the old man omit to admonish the whole band likewise,
+telling them that if they did not now look up to the high God,
+they would one day look down from the high gallows, for all
+thieves and robbers came to dance in the wind at last: ten hung in
+Stargard, and he had seen twenty at Stettin, and not even the
+smallest town had its gallows empty. Hereat Konnemann cried out,
+"Ho! ho! who will hang us now? We know well the courts of justice
+are closed in all places." And as the old man sighed, and prepared
+to answer him, the whole band set up such a shout of laughter that
+he stood silent a space; then turning round, trod slowly out of
+the thick wood with all his burghers, and was soon lost to view.
+
+The next evening Johann received the three hundred florins at the
+thorn-bush, along with a letter from his father, admonishing him
+yet again, and conjuring him to fulfil his promise speedily of
+abandoning his wicked life. Upon which, my knave gave some of the
+money to a peasant that he met on the highway, and bid him go into
+the town, purchase some wine and all sorts of eatables, and fetch
+them to the band in the wood, that they might have a merry carouse
+that same night. This very peasant had been one of their
+accomplices, and great was his joy when he beheld them all again,
+and, in particular, the gipsy mother. He told her that all her
+prophecy had come out true, for his daughter had been deserted,
+and her lover had taken Stina Krugers to wife; could she not,
+therefore, give him something that would make Stina childless, and
+cause her husband to hate her?
+
+"Ay, if he crossed her hand with silver."
+
+This the peasant did. Whereupon she gave him a padlock, and
+whispered some words in his ear.
+
+When Sidonia heard that the man could be brought to hate his wife
+by some means, her eyes flashed wildly, and she called the
+horrible old gipsy mother aside, and asked her to tell her the
+charm.
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but what would she give her? She had two
+pretty golden rings on her finger; let her give them, and she
+should have the secret."
+
+_Hæc_.--"She would give one ring now, and the other if the
+charm succeeded. The peasant had only given her a few groschen."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yes; but she had only given him half the charm."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Was it anything to eat or drink?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; there was no eating or drinking: the charm did
+it all."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Then let her teach it to her, and if it succeeded by
+the young Lord of Wolgast, she would have both rings; if not, but
+one."
+
+_Illa_.--"It would succeed without doubt; if his young wife
+had no promise of offspring as yet, she would remain childless for
+ever."
+
+_Summa_.--The old gipsy taught her the charm, the same with
+which she afterward bewitched the whole princely Pomeranian race,
+so that they perished childless from off the face of the earth;
+[Footnote: Marginal note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"O ter quaterque
+detestabilem! Et ego testis adfui tametsi in actis de industria
+hand notatis. (Oh, thrice accursed! And I, too, was present at
+this confession, although I am not mentioned in the protocol.)"]
+and this charm Sidonia confessed upon the rack afterwards, in the
+Great Hall of Oderburg, July 28, A.D. 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_How the robbers attack Prince Ernest and his bride in the
+Uckermann forest, and Marcus Bork and Dinnies Kleist come to their
+rescue._
+
+
+The young Lord of Wolgast and his young bride, the Princess Sophia
+Hedwig, arrived in due time at the court of Stettin, on a visit to
+their illustrious brother, Duke Johann Frederick. During the ten
+days of their stay, there was no end to the banquetings, huntings,
+fishings, and revellings of all kinds, to do honour to their
+presence.
+
+The young lord has quite recovered from his long and strange
+illness. But the young bride complains a little. Whereupon my Lord
+of Stettin jests with her, and the courtiers make merry, so that
+the young bride blushes and entreats her husband to take her away
+from this impudent court of Stettin, and take her home to his
+illustrious mother at Wolgast.
+
+Prince Ernest consents, but as the wind is contrary, he arranges
+to make the journey with a couple of carriages through the
+Uckermann forest, not waiting for the grand escort of cavaliers
+and citizens which his lady mother had promised to send to
+Stettin, to convey the bride with all becoming honour to her own
+future residence at Wolgast.
+
+His brother reminded him of the great danger from the robber-band
+in the wood, now that the courts of justice were closed, and that
+Sidonia and Johann were hovering in the vicinity, ready for any
+iniquity. Indeed, he trusted the states would soon be brought to
+reason by the dreadful condition of the country, and give him the
+gold he wanted. These robbers would do more for him than he could
+do for himself. And this was not the only band that was to be
+feared; for, since the fatal bankruptcy of the Loitz family,
+robbers, and partisans, and freebooters had sprung up in every
+corner of the land. Then he related the trick concerning his two
+Andalusian stallions. And Duke Barnim the elder told him of his
+loss at Zachan, and that no one else but the knave Appelmann had
+been at the bottom of it. So, at last, Prince Ernest half resolved
+to await the escort from Wolgast. However, the old Duke continued
+jesting with the bride, after his manner, so that the young
+Princess was blushing with shame every moment, and finally
+entreated her husband to set off at once.
+
+When his Grace of Stettin found he could prevail nothing, he bade
+them a kind farewell, promising in eight days to visit them at
+Wolgast, for the wedding festivities; and he sent stout Dinnies
+Kleist, with six companions, to escort them through the most
+dangerous part of the forest, which was a tract extending for
+about seven miles.
+
+Now, when they were half-way through the forest, a terrible storm
+came on of hail, rain, thunder, and lightning; and though the
+Prince and his bride were safe enough in the carriage, yet their
+escort were drenched to the skin, and dripped like rivulets. The
+princely pair therefore entreated them to return to Falkenwald,
+and dry their clothes, for there was no danger to be apprehended
+now, since they were more than half through the wood, and close to
+the village of Mutzelburg.
+
+So Dinnies and his companions took their leave, and rode off.
+Shortly after the galloping of a horse was heard, and this was
+Marcus Bork; for he was on his way to purchase the lands of
+Crienke, previous to his marriage with Clara von Dewitz, and had a
+heavy sack of gold upon his shoulder, and a servant along with
+him. Having heard at Stettin that the Prince and his young bride
+were on the road, he had followed them, as fast as he could, to
+keep them company.
+
+By this time they had reached Barnim's Cross, and the Prince
+halted to point it out to his bride, and tell her the legend
+concerning it; for the sun now shone forth from the clouds, and
+the storm was over. But he first addressed his faithful Marcus,
+and asked, had he heard tidings lately of his cousin Sidonia? But
+he had heard nothing. He would hear soon enough, I'm thinking.
+
+Then seeing that his good vassal Marcus was thoroughly wet, his
+Grace advised him to put on dry clothes; but he had none with him.
+Whereupon his Grace handed him his own portmanteau out of the
+coach window, and bid him take what he wanted.
+
+Marcus then lifted the money-bag from his shoulder, which his
+Grace drew into the coach through the window--and sprang into the
+wood with the portmanteau, to change his clothes. While the Prince
+tarried for him, he related the story of Barnim's Cross to his
+young wife, thus:--
+
+"You must know, dearest, that my ancestor, Barnim, the second of
+the name, was murdered, out of revenge, in this very spot by one
+of his vassals, named Vidante von Muckerwitze. For this aforesaid
+ancestor had sent him into Poland under some pretence, in order
+the better to accomplish his designs upon the beautiful Mirostava
+of Warborg, Vidante's young wife. But the warder of Vogelsang, a
+village about two miles from here, pleasantly situated on the
+river Haff, and close to which lay the said Vidante's castle,
+discovered the amour, and informed the knight how he was
+dishonoured. His wrath was terrible when the news was brought to
+him, but he spoke no word of the matter until St. John's day in
+the year----"
+
+But here his Grace paused in his story, for he had forgotten the
+year; so he drove on the carriage close up to the cross, where he
+could read the date--"St John's day, A.D. MCCXCII."--and there
+stopped, with the blessed cross of our Lord covering and filling
+up the whole of the coach window.
+
+Ah, well it is said--Prov. xx. 24--"Each man's going is of the
+Lord, what man is there who understandeth his way?"
+
+Now when the Princess had read the date for herself, she asked,
+what had happened to the Duke, his ancestor? To which the Prince
+replied--
+
+"Here, in these very bushes, the jealous knight lay concealed,
+while the Duke was hunting. And here, in this spot, the Duke threw
+himself down upon the grass to rest, for he was weary. And he
+whistled for his retinue, who had been separated from him, when
+the knight sprang from his hiding-place and murdered him where he
+lay. His false wife he reserved for a still more cruel death.
+
+"For he brought a coppersmith from Stettin, and had him make a
+copper coffin for the wretched woman, who was obliged to help him
+in the work. Then he bade her put on her bridal dress, and forced
+her to enter the coffin, where he had her soldered up alive, and
+buried. And the story goes, that when any one walks over the spot,
+the coffin clangs in the earth like a mass-bell, to this very
+day." Meanwhile Marcus had retreated behind a large oak, to dress
+himself in the young Duke's clothes; but the wicked robber crew
+were watching him all the time from the wood, and just as he drew
+the dry shirt over his head, before he had time to put on a single
+other garment, they sprang upon him with loud shouts, Sidonia the
+foremost of all, screaming, "Seize the knave! seize the base spy!
+he is my greatest enemy!" So Marcus rushed back to the coach, just
+as he was, and placing the cross as a shield between him and the
+robbers, cried out loudly to his Highness for a sword.
+
+The Prince would have alighted to assist him, but his young bride
+wound her arms so fast around him, shrieking till the whole wood
+re-echoed, that he was forced to remain inside. Up came the
+robber-band now, and attacked the coach furiously; musket after
+musket was fired at it and the horses, but luckily the rain had
+spoiled the powder, so they threw away their muskets, while
+Sidonia screamed, "Seize the false-hearted liar, who broke his
+marriage promise to me! seize his screaming harlot! drag her from
+the coach! Where is she?--let me see her!--we will cram her into
+the old oak-tree; there she can hold her marriage festival with
+the wild-cats. Give her to me!--give her to me! I will teach her
+what marriage is!" And she sprang wildly forward, while the others
+flung their spears at Marcus. But the blessed cross protected him,
+and the spears stuck in the wood or in the body of the carriage,
+while he hewed away right and left, striking down all that
+approached him, till he stood in a pool of blood, and the white
+shirt on him was turned to red.
+
+As Sidonia rushed to the coach, he wounded her in the hand, upon
+which, with loud curses and imprecations, she ran round to the
+other coach window, calling out, "Come hither, come hither,
+Johann! here is booty, here is the false cat! Come hither, and
+drag her out of the coach window for me!" And now Marcus Bork was
+in despair, for the coachman had run away from fear, and though
+his sword did good service, yet their enemies were gathering thick
+round them. So he bade the Princess, in a low voice, to tear open
+his bag of money, for the love of heaven, with all speed, and
+scatter the gold out of the windows with both hands; for help was
+near, he heard the galloping of a horse; could they gain but a few
+moments, they were saved. Thereupon the Princess rained the gold
+pieces from the window, and the stupid mob instantly left all else
+to fling themselves on the ground for the bright coins, fighting
+with each other as to who should have them. In vain Johann roared,
+"Leave the gold, fools, and seize the birds here in this cage; ye
+can have the gold after." But they never heeded him, though he
+cursed and swore, and struck them right and left with his sword.
+
+But Marcus, meanwhile, had nearly come to a sad end; for the old
+gipsy hag swore she would stab him with her knife, and while the
+poor Marcus was defending himself from a robber who had rushed at
+him with a dagger, she crept along upon the ground, and lifted her
+great knife to plunge into his side.
+
+Just then, like a messenger from God, comes the stout Dinnies
+Kleist, galloping up to the rescue; for after he had ridden a good
+piece upon the homeward road, he stopped his horse to empty the
+water out of his large jack-boots, for there it was plumping up
+and down, and he was still far from Falkenwald. While one of his
+men emptied the boots, another wandered through the wood picking
+the wild strawberries, that blushed there as red as scarlet along
+the ground.
+
+While he was so bent down close to the earth, the shrieks of my
+gracious lady reached his ear, upon which he ran to tell his
+master, who listened likewise; and finding they proceeded from the
+very direction where he had left the bridal pair, he suspected
+that some evil had befallen them. So springing into his saddle, he
+bade his fellows mount with ail speed, and dashed back to the spot
+where they had left the carriage.
+
+Marcus was just now fainting from loss of blood, and his weary
+hand could scarcely hold the sword, while his frame swayed back
+and forward, as if he were near falling to the ground. The gipsy
+hag was close beside him, with her arm extended, ready to plunge
+the knife into his side, when the heavy stroke of a sword came
+down on it, and arm and knife fell together to the ground, and
+Dinnies shouting, "Jodute! Jodute!" swung round his sword a second
+time, and the head of the robber carl fell upon the arm of the
+hag. Then he dashed round on his good horse to the other side of
+the carriage, hewed right and left among the stupid fools who were
+scraping up the gold, while his fellows chased them into the wood,
+so that the alarmed band left all this booty, and ran in every
+direction to hide themselves in the forest. In vain Johann roared,
+and shouted, and swore, and opposed himself single-handed to the
+knight's followers. He received a blow that sent him flying, too,
+after his band, and Sidonia along with him, so that none but the
+dead remained around the carriage.
+
+Thus did the brave Dinnies Kleist and Marcus Bork save the Prince
+and his bride, like true knights as they were; but Marcus is
+faint, and leans for support against the carriage, while before
+him lie three robber carls whom he had slain with his own hand,
+although he fought there only in his shirt; but the blessed cross
+had been his shield. And there, too, lay the gipsy's arm with the
+knife still clutched in the hand, but the hag herself had fled
+away; and round the brave Dinnies was a circle of dead men, seven
+in number, whom he and his followers had killed; and the earth all
+round looked like a ripe strawberry field, it was so red with
+blood.
+
+One can imagine what joy filled the hearts of the princely pair,
+when they found that all their peril was past. They alighted from
+the coach, and when the Princess saw Marcus lying there in a dead
+faint, with his garment all covered with blood, she lamented
+loudly, and tore off her own veil to bind up his wounds, and
+brought wine from the carriage, which she poured herself through
+his lips, like a merciful Samaritan; and when he at last opened
+his eyes, and kissed the little hands of the Princess out of
+gratitude, she rejoiced greatly. And the Prince himself ran to the
+wood for the portmanteau, which they found behind the oak, and
+helped to dress the poor knight, who was so weak that he could not
+raise a finger.
+
+Then they lifted him into the coach, while the Prince comforted
+him, saying, he trusted that he would soon be well again, for he
+would pray daily to the Lord Jesus for him, whose blessed cross
+had been their protection, and that he should have all his gold
+again, and the lands of Crienke in addition. So faithful a vassal
+must never be parted from his Prince, for inasmuch as he hated
+Sidonia, so he loved and praised him. They were like the two
+Judases in Scripture, of whom some one had said, "What one gave to
+the devil, the other brought back to God."
+
+And now he saw the wonderful hand of God in all; for if it had not
+rained, the powder of the robber-band would have been dry, and
+then they were all lost. _Item_, the knight would not have
+stopped to empty his boots, and they never would have heard the
+screams of his dear wife. _Item_, if he had himself not
+forgotten the date, he would never have driven up close to the
+cross, which cross had saved them all, but, in particular, saved
+their dear Marcus, after a miraculous manner. "Look how the
+blessed wood is everywhere pierced with spears, and yet we are all
+living! Therefore let us hope in the Lord, for He is our helper
+and defender!"
+
+Then the Duke turned to the stout Dinnies, and prayed him to enter
+his service, but in vain, for he was sworn vassal to his Highness
+of Stettin. So his Grace took off his golden collar, and put it on
+his neck, and the Princess drew off her diamond ring to give him,
+whereupon her spouse laughed heartily, and asked, Did she think
+the good knight had a finger for her little ring? To which she
+replied, But the brave knight may have a dear wife who could wear
+it for her sake, for he must not go without some token of her
+gratitude.
+
+However, the knight put back the ring himself, saying that he had
+no spouse, and would never have one; therefore the ring was
+useless. So the Princess wonders, and asks why he will have no
+spouse; to which he replied, that he feared the fate of Samson,
+for had not love robbed him of his strength? He, too, might meet a
+Delilah, who would cut off his long hair. Then riding up close to
+the carriage, he removed his plumed hat from his head, and down
+fell his long black hair, that was gathered up under it, over his
+shoulders like a veil, even till it swept the flanks of his horse.
+Would not her Grace think it a grief and sorrow if a woman sheared
+those locks? In such pleasant discourse they reached Mutzelburg,
+where, as the good Marcus was so weak, they resolved to put up for
+the night, and send for a chirurgeon instantly to Uckermund. And
+so it was done.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_Of the ambassadors in the tavern of Mutzelburg--Item, how the
+miller, Konnemann, is discovered, and made by Dinnies Kleist to
+act as guide to the robber cave, where they find all the
+women-folk lying apparently dead, through some devil's magic of
+the gipsy mother._
+
+
+When their Highnesses entered the inn at Mutzelburg, they found it
+filled with burghers and peasants out of Uckermund, Pasewalk, and
+other adjacent places, on their way to Stettin, to petition his
+Grace the Duke to open the courts of justice, for thieves and
+robbers had so multiplied throughout the land, that no road was
+safe; and all kinds of witchcraft, and imposture, and devil's work
+were so rife, that the poor people were plagued out of their
+lives, and no redress was to be had, seeing his Grace had closed
+all the courts of justice. Forty burghers had been selected to
+present the petition, and great was the joy to meet now with his
+Grace Prince Ernest, for assuredly he would give them a letter to
+his illustrious brother, and strengthen the prayer of their
+petition. The Prince readily promised to do this, particularly as
+his own life and that of his bride had just been in such sore
+peril, all owing to the obstinacy of his Grace of Stettin in not
+opening the courts.
+
+Meanwhile the leech had visited good Marcus Bork, who was much
+easier after his wounds were dressed, and promised to do well, to
+the great joy of their Graces; and Dinnies Kleist went to the
+stable to see after his horse, there being so many there, in
+consequence of this gathering of envoys, that he feared they might
+fight. Now, as he passed through the kitchen, the knight observed
+a man bargaining with the innkeeper; and he had a kettle before
+him, into which he was cramming sausages, bread, ham, and all
+sorts of eatables. But he would have taken no further heed, only
+that the carl had but one tail to his coat, which made the knight
+at once recognise him as the very fellow whose coat-tail he had
+hewed off in the forest. He sprang on him, therefore; and as the
+man drew his knife, Dinnies seized hold of him and plumped him
+down, head foremost, into a hogshead of water, holding him
+straight up by the feet till he had drunk his fill. So the poor
+wretch began to quiver at last in his death agonies; whereupon the
+knight called out, "Wilt thou confess? or hast thou not drunk
+enough yet?"
+
+"He would confess, if the knight promised him life. His name was
+Konnemann; he had lost his mill and all he was worth, by the Loitz
+bankruptcy, therefore had joined the robber-band, who held their
+meeting in an old cave in the forest, where also they kept their
+booty." On further question, he said it was an old, ruined place,
+with the walls all tumbling down. A man named Muckerwitze had
+lived there once, who buried his wife alive in this cave,
+therefore it had been deserted ever since.
+
+Then the knight asked the innkeeper if he knew of such a place in
+the forest; who said, "Yes." Then he asked if he knew this fellow,
+Konnemann; but the host denied all knowledge of him (though he
+knew him well enough, I think). Upon which Konnemann said, "That
+he merely came to buy provisions for the band, who were hungry,
+and had despatched him to see what he could get, while they
+remained hiding in the cave." The knight having laid these facts
+before their Graces and the envoys, it was agreed that they should
+steal a march upon the robbers next morning, and meanwhile keep
+Konnemann safe under lock and key.
+
+Next morning they set off by break of day, taking Konnemann as
+guide, and surrounded the old ruin, which lay upon a hill buried
+in oak-trees; but not a sound was heard inside. They approached
+nearer--listened at the cave--nothing was to be heard. This
+angered Dinnies Kleist, for he thought the miller had played a
+trick on them, who, however, swore he was innocent; and as the
+knight threatened to give him something fresh to drink in the
+castle well, he offered to light a pine torch and descend into the
+cave. Hardly was he down, however, when they heard him
+screaming--"The robbers have murdered the women--they are all
+lying here stone dead, but not a man is to be seen."
+
+The knight then went down with his good sword drawn. True enough,
+there lay the old hag, her daughter, and Sidonia, all stained with
+blood, and stiff and cold, upon the damp ground. And when the
+knight asked, "Which is Sidonia?" the fellow put the pine torch
+close to her face, which was blue and cold. Then the knight took
+up her little hand, and dropped it again, and shook his head, for
+the said little hand was stiff and cold as that of a corpse.
+
+_Summa_.--As there was nothing further to be done here, the
+knight left the corpses to moulder away in the old cellar, and
+returned with the burghers to Mutzelburg, when his Highness
+wondered much over the strange event; but Marcus rejoiced that his
+wicked cousin was now dead, and could bring no further disgrace
+upon his ancient name.
+
+But was the wicked cousin dead? She had heard every word that had
+been said in the cave; for they had all drunk some broth made by
+the gipsy mother, which can make men seem dead, though they hear
+and see everything around them. Such devil's work is used by
+robbers sometimes in extremity, as some toads have the power of
+seeming dead when people attempt to seize them. It will soon be
+seen what a horrible use Sidonia made of this devil's potion.
+
+Wherefore she tried its effect upon herself now, I know not--I
+have my own thoughts upon the subject--but it is certain that the
+innkeeper, who was a secret friend of the robbers (as most
+innkeepers were in those evil times), had sent a messenger by
+night to warn them of their danger. So, while the band saved
+themselves by hiding in the forest, perhaps the old hag
+recommended this plan for the women, as they had got enough of
+cold steel the day before; or perhaps the robbers wished to have a
+proof of the power of this draught, in case they might want to
+save themselves, some time or other, by appearing dead. Still I
+cannot, with any certainty, assert why they should all three
+choose to simulate death.
+
+Further, just to show the daring of these robber-bands, now that
+his Highness had closed the courts, I shall end this chapter by
+relating what happened at Monkbude, a town through which their
+Highnesses passed that same day, and which, although close to the
+Stettin border, belongs to Wolgast.
+
+It was Sunday, and after the priest had said Amen from the pulpit,
+the sexton rung the kale-bell. This bell was a sign throughout all
+Pomerania land, to the women-folk who were left at home in the
+houses, to prepare dinner; for then, in all the churches, the
+closing hymn began--"Give us, Lord, our daily bread." So the maid,
+at the first stroke of the bell, lifted off the kale-pot from the
+fire, and had the kale dished, with the sausages, and whatever
+else was wanting, by the time that the hymn was over, and father
+and mother had come out of church. Then, whatever poor wretch had
+fasted all the week, and never tasted a morsel of blessed bread,
+if he passed on a Sunday through the town, might get his fill; for
+when the hymn is sung, "Give us, Lord, our daily bread," the doors
+lie open, and no stranger or wayfarer is turned away empty.
+
+Just before their Highnesses had entered the town, this kale-bell
+had been rung, and each maid in the houses had laid the kale and
+meat upon the table, ready for the family, when, behold! in rush a
+troop of robbers from the forest, Appelmann at their head--seize
+every dish with the kale and meat that had been laid on the
+tables, stick the loaves into their pockets, and gallop away as
+hard as they can across into the Stettin border.
+
+How the maids screamed and lamented I leave unsaid; but if any one
+of them followed and seized a robber by the hair, he drew his
+knife, so she was glad enough to run back again, while the
+impudent troop laughed and jeered. Thus was it then in dear
+Pomerania land! It seemed as if God had forsaken them; for the
+nobles began their feuds, as of old, and the Jews were tormented
+even to the death--yea, even the pastors were chased away, as if,
+indeed, they had all learned of Otto Bork, these nobles saying,
+"What need of these idle, prating swaddlers, with their prosy
+sermons and whining psalms, teaching, forsooth, that all men are
+equal, and that God makes no difference between lord and peasant?
+Away with them! If the people learn such doctrine, no wonder if
+they grow proud and disobedient--better no priests in the land."
+And such-like ungodly talk was heard everywhere.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_How the peasants in Marienfliess want to burn a witch, but are
+hindered by Johann Appelmann and Sidonia, who discover an old
+acquaintance in the witch, the girl Wolde Albrechts._
+
+
+At this time, one David Grosskopf was pastor of Marienfliess. He
+was a learned and pious man, and like other pious priests, was in
+the habit of gathering all the women-folk of the parish in his
+study of a winter's evening, particularly the young maidens, with
+their spinning-wheels. And there they all sat spinning round the
+comfortable fire, while he read out to them from God's Word, and
+questioned them on it, and exhorted them to their duties. Thus was
+it done every evening during the winter, the maidens spinning
+diligently till midnight without even growing weary; or if one of
+them nodded, she was given a cup of cold water to drink, to make
+her fresh again. So there was plenty of fine linen by each New
+Year's day, and their masters were well pleased. No peasant kept
+his daughter at home, but sent her to the priest, where she
+learned her duties, and was kept safe from the young men. Even old
+mothers went there, among whom Trina Bergen always gave the best
+answers, and was much commended by the priest in consequence. This
+pleased her mightily, so that she boasted everywhere of it; but
+withal she was an excellent old woman, only the neighbours looked
+rather jealously on her.
+
+This same priest, with all his goodness and learning, was yet a
+bad logician; for by his careless speaking in one of his sermons,
+much commotion was raised in the village. In this sermon he
+asserted that anything out of the usual course of nature must be
+devil's work, and ought to be held in abhorrence by all good
+Christians: he suffered for this after-wards, as we shall see. On
+the Monday after this discourse, he journeyed into Poland, to
+visit a brother who dwelt in some town there, I know not which.
+
+Then arose a great talking amongst the villagers concerning the
+said Trina Bergen; for the cocks began to sit upon the eggs in
+place of the hens, in her poultry-yard, and all the people came
+together to see the miracle, and as it was against the course of
+nature, it must be devil's work, and Trina Bergen was a witch.
+
+In vain the old mother protested she knew nothing of it, then runs
+to the priest's house, but he is away; from that to the mayor of
+the village, but he is going out to shoot, and bid her and the
+villagers pack off with their silly stories.
+
+So the poor old mother gets no help, and meanwhile the peasants
+storm her house, and search and ransack every corner for proofs of
+her witchcraft, but nothing can be found. Stay! there in the
+cellar sits a woman, who will not tell her name.
+
+They drag her out, bring her up to the parlour, while the old
+mother sits wringing her hands. Who was this woman? and how did
+she come into the cellar?
+
+_Illa_.--"She had hired her to spin, because her daughter was
+out at service till autumn, and she could not do all the work
+herself."
+
+"Why then did she sit in the cellar, as if she shunned the light?"
+
+_Illa_.--"The girl had prayed for leave to sit there, because
+the screaming of the young geese in the yard disturbed her;
+besides, she had been only two days with her."
+
+"But who in the devil's name was the girl? It was easy to see she
+had bewitched the hens, for everything against the course of
+nature must be devil's work."
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah, yes! this must be the truth. Let them chase the
+devil away. Now she saw why the girl would not sit in the light,
+and had refused to enter the blessed church with her the day
+before."
+
+"What was her name? They should both be sent to the devil, if she
+did not tell the girl's name."
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! she had forgotten it, but ask herself. Her
+story was, that she had been married to a peasant in Usdom, who
+died lately, and his relations then turned her out, that she was
+now going to Daber, where she had a brother, a fisher in the
+service of the Dewitz family, and wanted to earn a travelling
+penny by spinning, to convey her there."
+
+Now as the rumour of witchcraft spread through the village, all
+the people ran together, from every part, to Trina's house. And a
+pale young man pressed forward from amongst the crowd, to look at
+the supposed witch. When he stood before her, the girl cast down
+her eyes gloomily, and he cried out, "It is she! it is the very
+accursed witch who robbed me of my strength by her sorceries, and
+barely escaped from the fagot--seize her--that is Anna Wolde. Now
+he knew what the elder sticks meant, which he found set up as a
+gallows before his door this morning--the witch wanted to steal
+away his manhood from him again--burn her! burn her! Come and see
+the elder sticks, if they did not believe him!"
+
+So the whole village ran to his cottage, where he had just brought
+home a widow, whom he was going to marry, and there indeed stood
+the elder sticks right before his door in the form of a gallows,
+upon which the sheriff was wroth, and commanded the girl to be
+brought before him with her hands bound.
+
+But as she denied everything, Zabel Bucher, the sheriff, ordered
+the hangman to be sent for, to see what the rack might do in
+eliciting the truth. Further, he bade the people make a fire in
+the street, and burn the elder sticks therein.
+
+So the fire is lit, but no one will touch the sticks. Then the
+sheriff called his hound and bade him fetch them; but Fixlein, who
+was acute enough at other times, pretended not to know what his
+master wanted. In vain the sheriff bent down on the ground,
+pointing with his finger, and crying, "Here, Fixlein! fetch,
+Fixlein!" No, Fixlein runs round and round the elder sticks till
+the dust rises up in a cloud, and yelps, and barks, and jumps, and
+stares at his master, but never touches the sticks, only at last
+seizes a stone in his mouth, and runs with it to the sheriff.
+
+Now, indeed, there was a commotion amongst the people. Not even
+the dog would touch the accursed thing. So at last the sheriff
+called for a pair of tongs, to seize the sticks himself and fling
+them into the fire. Whereupon his wife screamed to prevent him;
+but the brave sheriff, strengthening his heart, advanced and
+touched them; whereupon Fixlein, as if he had never known until
+now what his master wanted, made a grab at them, but the sheriff
+gave him a blow on the nose with the tongs which sent him away
+howling, and then, with desperate courage and a stout heart,
+seizing the elder twigs in the tongs, flung them boldly into the
+fire.
+
+Meanwhile Peter Bollerjahn, the hangman, has arrived, and when he
+hears of the devilry he shakes his head, but thinks he could make
+the girl speak, if they only let him try his way a little. But
+they must first get authority from the mayor. Now the mayor had
+not gone to the hunt, for some friends arrived to visit him, whom
+he was obliged to stay at home and entertain, so the whole crowd,
+with the sheriff, Zabel Bucher, at the head, set off to the
+mayoralty, bringing the witch with them, and prayed his lordship
+to make a terrible example of her, for that witchcraft was
+spreading fearfully in the land, and they would have no peace
+else.
+
+Whereupon he came out with his guests to look at the miserable
+criminal, who, conscious of her guilt, stood there silent and
+glowering; but he could do nothing for them--did they not know
+that his Highness had closed all the courts of justice, therefore
+he could not help them, nor be troubled about their affairs? Upon
+which the sheriff cried out, "Then we shall help ourselves; let us
+burn the witch who bewitches our hens, and sticks up elder sticks
+before people's doors. Come, let us right ourselves!" So the mayor
+said they might do as they pleased, he had no power to hinder
+them, only let them remember that when the courts reopened, they
+would be called to a strict account for all this. And he went into
+his house, but the people shouted and dragged away the witch, with
+loud yells, to the hangman, bidding him stretch her on the rack
+before all their eyes.
+
+When the girl saw and heard all this, and remembered how the old
+Lord Chamberlain at Wolgast had stretched her till her hip was
+broken, she cried out, "I will confess all, only spare me the
+torture, for I dread it more than death."
+
+Upon this, the sheriff said, "He would ask her three questions,
+and pronounce judgment accordingly." (Oh! what evil times for dear
+Pomerania land, when the people could thus take the law into their
+own hands, and pronounce judgment, though no judges were there.
+Had the bailiff given her a little twist of the rack, just to get
+at the truth, it would at least have been more in accordance with
+the usages, although I say not he would have been justified in so
+doing; but without using the rack at all, to believe what this
+devil's wretch uttered, and judge her thereupon, was grossly
+improper and absurd.) _Summa_, here are the three
+questions:--
+
+"First, whether she had bewitched the hens; and for what?"
+
+_Respond_.--"Simply to amuse herself; for the time hung heavy
+in the cellar, and she could see them through the chinks in the
+wall." (Let her wait; Master Peter will soon give her something to
+amuse her.)
+
+"Second, why and wherefore had she stuck up the elder twigs?"
+
+_Respond_.-"Because she had been told that Albert was going
+to marry a widow; for he had promised her marriage, as all the
+world knew, and even called her by his name, Wolde Albrechts, and
+therefore she had put a spell upon him of elder twigs, that he
+might turn away the widow and marry her." (Let her wait; Master
+Peter will soon stick up elder twigs for her.)
+
+"Third, whether she had a devil; and how was he named?"
+
+Here she remained silent, then began to deny it, but was reminded
+of the rack, and Master Peter got ready his instruments as if for
+instant use; so she sighed heavily, and answered, "Yes, she had a
+familiar called Jurge, and he appeared always in the form of a
+man."
+
+Upon this confession the sheriff roared, "Burn the witch!" and all
+the people shouted after him, "Burn the witch! the accursed
+witch!" and she was delivered over to Master Peter.
+
+But he made answer that he had never burned a witch; he would,
+however, go over to Massow in the morning, to his brother-in-law,
+who had burned many, and learn the mode from him. Meanwhile the
+peasants might collect ten or twelve clumps of wood upon the
+Koppenberg, and so would they frighten all women from practising
+this devil's magic. Would they not burn Trina Bergen likewise--the
+old hag who had the witch in her cellar? It would be a right
+pleasant spectacle to the whole town.
+
+This, however, the peasants did not wish. Upon which the carl
+asked what he was to be paid for his trouble? Formerly the state
+paid for the criminal, but the courts now would have nothing to do
+with the business. What was he to get? So the peasants consulted
+together, and at last offered him a sack of oats at Michaelmas,
+just that they might have peace in the village. Whereupon he
+consented to burn her; only in addition they must give him a free
+journey to Massow on the morrow.
+
+_Summa_.--When the third morning dawned, all the village came
+together to accompany the witch up the Koppenberg: the
+schoolmaster, with all his school going before, singing, "Now pray
+we to the Holy Ghost;" then came Master Peter with the witch, he
+bearing a pan of lighted coal in his hand. But, lo! when they
+reached the pile on the Koppenberg, behold it was wet wood which
+the stupid peasants had gathered.
+
+Now the hangman fell into a great rage. Who the devil could burn a
+witch with wet wood? She must have bewitched it. This was as bad
+as the hen business.
+
+Some of the people then offered to run for some dry wood and hay;
+but my knave saw that he might turn the matter to profit, so he
+proposed to sack the witch in place of burning her; "for," said
+he, "it will be a far more edifying spectacle and example to your
+children, this sacking in place of burning. There was a lake quite
+close to the town, and, indeed, he had forgotten yesterday to
+propose it to them. The plan was this. They were to tie her up in
+a leathern sack, with a dog, a cock, and a cat. (Ah, what a pity
+he had killed the wild-cat which he had caught some weeks before
+in the fox-trap.) Then they would throw all into the lake, where
+the cat and dog, and cock and witch, would scream and fight, and
+bite and scratch, until they sank; but after a little while up
+would come the sack again, and the screaming, biting, and fighting
+would be renewed until they all sank down again and for ever.
+Sometimes, indeed, they would tear a hole in the sack, which
+filled with water, and so they were all drowned. In any case it
+was a fine improving lesson to their children; let them ask the
+schoolmaster if the sacking was not a far better spectacle for the
+dear children than the burning."
+
+"Ay, 'tis true," cried the schoolmaster; "sacking is better."
+
+Upon which all the people shouted after him, "Ay, sack her! sack
+her!"
+
+When the knave heard this, he continued--
+
+"Now, they heard what the schoolmaster said, but he could not do
+all this for a sack of oats, for, indeed, leather sacks were very
+dear just now; but if each one added a sack of meal and a goose at
+Michaelmas, why, he would try and manage the sacking. The lake was
+broad and deep, and it lay right beneath them, so that all the
+dear children could see the sight from the hill."
+
+However, the peasants would by no means agree to the sack of meal,
+whereupon a great dispute arose around the pile, and a bargaining
+about the price with great tumult and uproar.
+
+Now the robber-band were in the vicinity, and Sidonia, hearing the
+noise, peeped out through the bushes and recognised Anna Wolde;
+then, guessing from the pile what they were going to do to her,
+she begged of Johann to save the poor girl, if possible; for
+Sidonia and the knave were now on the best of terms, since he had
+chased away the gipsy hag and her daughter for robbing him.
+
+So Johann gives the word, and the band, which now numbered one
+hundred strong, burst forth from the wood with wild shouts and
+cries. Ho! how the people fled on all sides, like chaff before the
+wind! The executioner is the first off, throws away his pan of
+coals, and takes to his heels. _Item_, the schoolmaster, with
+all his school, take to their heels; the sheriff, the women,
+peasants, spectators-all, with one accord, take to their heels,
+screaming and roaring.
+
+The witch alone remains, for she is lame and cannot run; but she
+screams, too, and wrings her hands, crying--
+
+"Take me with you; oh, take me with you; for the love of God take
+me with you; I am lame and cannot run!"
+
+_Summa_.--One can easily imagine how it all ended. The
+witch-girl was saved, and, as she now owed her life a second time
+to Sidonia, she swore eternal fidelity and gratitude to the lady,
+promising to give her something in recompense for all the benefits
+she had conferred on her. Alas, that I should have to say to
+Christian men what this was! [Footnote: Namely, the evil spirit
+Chim. See Sidonia's confession upon the rack, vol. iv. Dahnert's
+Pomeranian Library, p. 244.]
+
+And when Sidonia asked how things went on in Daber, great was her
+joy to hear that the whole castle and town were full of company,
+for the nuptials of Clara von Dewitz and Marcus Bork were
+celebrated there. And the old Duchess from Wolgast had arrived,
+along with Duke Johann Frederick, and the Dukes Barnim, Casimir,
+and Bogislaff. _Item_, a grand cavalcade of nobles had ridden
+to the wedding upon four hundred horses, and lords and ladies from
+all the country round thronged the castle.
+
+Now Johann Appelmann would not credit the witch-girl, for he had
+seen none of all this company upon the roads; but she said her
+brother the fisherman told her that their Graces travelled by
+water as far as Wollin, for fear of the robbers, and from thence
+by land to Daber.
+
+When Sidonia heard this she fell upon Johann's neck, exclaiming--
+
+"Revenge me now, Johann! revenge me! Now is the time; they are all
+there. Revenge me in their blood!"
+
+This seemed rather a difficult matter to Johann, but he promised
+to call together the whole band, and see what could be done. So he
+went his way to the band, and then the evil-minded witch-girl
+began again, and told Sidonia, that if she chose to burn the
+castle at Daber, and make an end of all her enemies at once, there
+was some one hard by in the bush who would help her, for he was
+stronger than all the band put together.
+
+_Illa_.--"Who was her friend? Let her go and bring him."
+
+_Hæc_.--"She must first cross her hand with gold, and give a
+piece of money for him; [Footnote: According to the witches, every
+evil spirit must be purchased, no matter how small the price, but
+something must be given-a ball of worsted, a kerchief, &c.] then
+he would come and revenge her."
+
+Sidonia's eyes now sparkled wildly, and she put some money in the
+woman's hand, who murmured, "For the evil one;" then stepped
+behind a tree, and returned in a short time with a black cat
+wrapped up in her apron.
+
+"This," she said, "was the strong spirit Chim. [Footnote:
+Joachim.] Let her give him plenty to eat, but show him to no one.
+When she wanted his assistance, strike him three times on the
+head, and he would assume the form of a man. Strike him six times
+to restore him again to this form."
+
+Now Sidonia would scarcely credit this; so, looking round to see
+if they were quite alone, she struck the animal three times on the
+head, who instantly started up in the form of a gay young man,
+with red stockings, a black doublet, and cap with stately heron's
+plumes.
+
+"Yes, yes," he exclaimed, "I know thy enemies, and will revenge
+thee, beautiful child. I will burn the castle of Daber for thee,
+if thou wilt only do my bidding; but now, quick! strike me again
+on the head, that I may reassume my original form, for some one
+may see us; and put me in a basket, so can I travel with thee
+wheresoever thou goest."
+
+And thus did Sidonia with the evil spirit Chim, as she afterwards
+confessed upon the rack, when she was a horrible old hag of
+eighty-four years of age.
+
+And he went with her everywhere, and suggested all the evil to her
+which she did, whereof we shall hear more in another place.
+[Footnote: Dahnert.--This belief in the power of evil spirits to
+assume the form of animals, comes to us from remotest
+antiquity--example, the serpent in Paradise. In all religions, and
+amongst all nations, this belief seems firmly rooted; but even if
+we do not see a visible devil, do we not, alas! know and feel that
+there is one ever with us, ever pre-sent, ever suggesting all
+wickedness to us, as this devil to Sidonia?-even our own evil
+nature. For what else is the Christian life, but a warfare between
+the divine within us and this ever-present Satan?--and through
+God's grace alone can we resist this devil.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_Of the adventure with the boundary lads, and how one of them
+promises to admit Johann Appelmann into the castle of Daber that
+same night-Item, of what befell amongst the guests at the
+castle._
+
+
+When Johann and Sidonia proposed to the band that they should
+pillage the castle of Daber, they all shouted with delight, and
+swore that life and limb might be perilled, but the castle should
+be theirs that night. Nevertheless my knave Johann thought it a
+dangerous undertaking, for they knew no one inside the walls, and
+Anna Wolde, the witch, could not come with them, seeing that she
+was lame. So at last he thought of sending Konnemann disguised as
+a beggar, to examine the courtyard and all the out
+offices--perchance he might spy out some unguarded door by which
+they could effect an entrance.
+
+Then Sidonia said she would go too, and although Johann tried hard
+to persuade her, yet she begged so earnestly for leave that
+finally he consented. Yes, she must see the very spot where the
+viper was hatched which had stung her to death. Ah, she would brew
+something for her in return; pity only that the wedding was over,
+otherwise the little bride should never have touched a
+wedding-ring, if she could help it; but it was too late now.
+
+So the three Satan's children slipped out upon the highway from
+the wood, and travelled on so near to the castle that the noise,
+and talking, and laughing, and barking of dogs, and neighing of
+horses, were all quite audible to their ears.
+
+Now the castle of Daber is built upon a hill which is entirely
+surrounded by water, so that the castle can be approached only by
+two bridges--one southwards, leading from the town; the other
+eastwards, leading direct through the castle gardens. The castle
+itself was a noble, lofty pile, with strong towers and
+spires--almost as stately a building as my gracious lord's castle
+at Saatzig.
+
+When Johann observed all this, his heart failed him, and as he and
+his two companions peeped out at it from behind a thorn-bush, they
+agreed that it would be hard work to take such a castle,
+garrisoned, as it was now, by four hundred men or more, with their
+mere handful of partisans.
+
+But Satan knows how to help his own, for what happened while they
+were crouching there and arguing? Behold, the old Dewitz, as an
+offering to the church at Daber upon his daughter's marriage, had
+promised twenty good acres of land to be added to the glebe. And
+he comes now up the hill, with a great crowd of men to dig the
+boundary. So the Satan's children behind the thorn-bush feared
+they would be discovered; but it was not so, and the crowd passed
+on unheeding them.
+
+Old Dewitz now called the witnesses, and bid them take note of the
+position of the boundary. There where the hill, the wild
+apple-tree, and the town tower were all in one line, was the
+limit; let them keep this well in their minds. Then calling over
+six lads, he bid them take note likewise of the boundary, that
+when the old people were dead they might stand up as witnesses;
+but as such things were easily forgotten, he, the priest, and the
+churchwarden would write it down for them, so that it never, by
+any chance, could escape their memory.
+
+Upon which the good knight, being lord and patron, took a stout
+stick the first, and cudgelled the young lads well, asking them
+between terms--
+
+"Where is the boundary?"
+
+To which they answered, screaming and roaring--
+
+"Where the hill, the apple-tree, and the town tower are all in one
+line."
+
+Then the knight, laughing, handed over the stick to the priest,
+saying--
+
+"It was still possible they might forget; they better, therefore,
+have another little memorandum from his reverence."
+
+"No! no!" screamed the boys, "we will remember it to eternity."
+
+However, his reverence just gave them a little touch of the stick
+in fun, till they roared out the boundary marks a second time.
+
+But now stepped forth the churchwarden, to take his turn with the
+stick on the boys' backs. This man had been a forester of the old
+Baron Dewitz, and had often taken note of one of the young fellows
+present, how he had poached and stolen the buck-wheat, so he
+gladly seized this opportunity to punish him for all his misdeeds,
+and laying the cudgel on his shoulders, thrashed and belaboured
+him so unmercifully, that the lad ran, shrieking, cursing,
+howling, and roaring, far away in amongst the bushes to hide
+himself, while the churchwarden cried out--
+
+"Well! if all the other lads forget the boundary, I think my fine
+fellow here will bear the memorandum to the day of judgment."
+
+And so they went away laughing from the place, and returned to the
+castle.
+
+But the devil drew his profit from all this, for where should the
+lad run to, but close to the very spot where the robbers were
+hiding, and there he threw himself down upon the grass, writhing
+and howling, and swearing he would be revenged upon the
+churchwarden. This is a fine hearing for my knave in the bush, so
+he steps forward, and asks--
+
+"What vile Josel had dared to ill-treat so brave a youth? He would
+help him to a revenge upon the base knave, for injustice was a
+thing he never could suffer. The tears really were in his eyes to
+think that such wickedness should be in the world;" and here he
+pretended to wipe his eyes. So the lad, being quite overcome by
+such compassionate sympathy, howled and cried ten times more--
+
+"It was the forester Kell, the shameless hound; but he would play
+him a trick for it."
+
+_Ille_.--"Right. He owed the fellow a drubbing already
+himself, and now he would have a double one, if he could only get
+hold of him."
+
+_Hic_.--"He would run and tell him that a great lord wanted
+to speak to him here in the forest."
+
+_Ille_.-"No, no; that would scarcely answer; but where did
+the fellow live?"
+
+_Hic_.-"In the castle, where his father lived likewise."
+
+_Ille_.-"Who was his father?"
+
+_Hic_.--"His father was the steward."
+
+_Ille_.--"Ah, then, he kept the keys of the castle?"
+
+_Hic_.--"Oh yes, and the key of the back entrance also, which
+led through the gardens. His father kept one key, and the gardener
+the other."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, he would tell him a secret. This very Kell
+had deceived him once, like a knave as he was, and he was watching
+to punish him, but he daren't go up to the castle in the broad
+daylight, particularly now while the wedding was going on. How
+long would it last?"
+
+_Hic_.--"For three days more; it had lasted three days
+already, and the castle was full of company, and great lords from
+all the country round, a great deal grander even than old Dewitz,
+were there."
+
+_Ille_.--"Well, then, it would be quite impossible to go up
+to the castle and flog the churchwarden before all the company--he
+could see that himself. But supposing he let him in at night
+through the garden door, couldn't they get the knave out on some
+pretence, and then drub him to their heart's content?"
+
+So the lad was delighted with the plan, particularly on hearing
+that he was to help in the drubbing; but then if the forester
+recognised him, what was to be done? he would be ruined. To which
+Johann answered--
+
+"Just put on an old cloak, and speak no word; then, neither by
+dress nor voice will he know thee; besides, the night will be
+quite dark, so fear nothing. We'll teach him, I engage, how to
+beat a fine young fellow again, or to rob me of my gold, as he
+did, the base, unworthy knave."
+
+Here the lad laughed outright with joy. "Yes, yes, that would just
+do; and he could put on his father's old mantle, and bring a stout
+crab-stick along with him."
+
+_Hic_.--"All right, young friend; but how was he to get into
+the castle garden? Was there not a drawbridge which was lifted
+every night?"
+
+_Hic._--"Oh yes; but his father very often sent him to draw
+it up, and he could leave it down for tonight; then he would get
+the forester, by some means, into the shrubbery, where it was dark
+as pitch, and they could thrash the dog there without any one
+knowing a word about it."
+
+_Ille._-"Good! Then when the tower-clock struck nine, let him
+come himself and admit him into the garden--time enough after to
+run for the forester, while he was hiding himself in the
+shrubbery, for no one must know a word about his being there."
+Then he gave the lad a knife, and told him if all turned out well
+he should have a piece of gold in addition. "Ah! they would give
+him a warm greeting, this dog of a forester! But after he had
+called him out, the lad must pretend as if he had nothing to do
+with the matter, and go back to the house, or slip down some
+by-path."
+
+So the lad jumped with joy when he got hold of the knife, and
+skipped off to the castle, promising to be at the drawbridge when
+nine o'clock struck from the tower, to admit his good friend into
+the garden.
+
+Meanwhile my gracious Lady of Wolgast was making preparations for
+her departure on the morrow from the castle, for she had been
+attending the wedding festivities with her four sons, and Ulrich,
+the Grand Chamberlain; but previous to taking leave of her dear
+son, Duke Johann Frederick, she wished to make one more attempt to
+induce him to take off the interdict from the country, and allow
+the courts of justice to be re-opened, for thus would the land be
+freed from these wild hordes who haunted every road, and filled
+all hearts with fear.
+
+For this purpose she went up to his own private chamber in the
+castle, bringing old Ulrich along with her; and when they entered,
+old Ulrich, having closed the door, began--"Now, gracious lady,
+speak to your son as befits a mother and your princely Grace to
+do."
+
+Upon which he took his seat at the table, looking around him as
+sour as a vinegar-cruet.
+
+So the Duchess lifted up her voice with many tears, and prayed his
+Highness of Stettin to stem all this violence that raged in the
+land, as a loving Prince and father towards his subjects. He had
+resisted all her entreaties until now, with those of his dear
+brothers and old Ulrich; and had not even his host and the whole
+nobility tried to soften his heart towards his people, who were
+suffering by his hard resolve? But surely he would not refuse her
+now, for she had come to take her leave of him, and had brought
+his old guardian and his brothers to plead along with her;
+besides, who knew what might happen next? For she heard, to her
+astonishment, that Sidonia was not dead at all, as they supposed,
+but roaming through the country with her accursed paramour. Had
+she known this, never would she have permitted this long journey,
+dear even as the bride was to her heart, but would have stayed at
+Wolgast to watch over her heart's dear son, Ernest, and his young
+spouse, who rightly feared to put themselves in danger again,
+after the sore peril they had encountered in the Stettin forest;
+and who knew what might happen to her on the journey homeward? for
+if she encountered Sidonia, what could she expect from her but the
+bitterest death? (weeping.) Ah, this all came upon them because
+the young Duke had despised the admonitions of his blessed father
+upon his death-bed, and thought not of that Scripture which saith,
+"The father's blessing buildeth the children's houses, but the
+curse of the mother pulleth them down." [Footnote: Sirach iii.
+II.] She had never cursed him yet, but that day might come.
+
+Then Duke Johann answered, "He was sad to see his darling mother
+chafe and fret about these same courts of justice, but his
+princely honour was pledged, and he could not retract one word
+until the states came back to their duty, and gave him the gold he
+demanded. For how could he stand before the world as a fool? He
+had begun this castle of Friedrichswald, and had ordered all kinds
+of statues, paintings, &c., from Italy, for which gold must be
+paid. How, then, if he had none?"
+
+"But those were idle follies," his mother answered, "and showed
+how true were the words of Solomon--'When a prince wanteth
+understanding, there is great oppression.'" [Footnote: Prov.
+xxviii. 16.]
+
+Here the Duke grew angry. "It was false; he did not want
+understanding. Well it was that no one had dared to say this to
+him but his mother."
+
+But my gracious lady could not hear him plainly; for his Serene
+Highness, Barnim the younger, who had drunk rather freely at
+dinner, began to snore so loudly, that he snored away a paper
+which lay before old Ulrich, upon which he had been sketching a
+list of _propositions_ for the reconciliation of the Duke and
+the estates of the kingdom.
+
+Hereupon the old chamberlain cursed and swore--"May the seven
+thousand devils take them! One snarls at his mother, and the other
+snores away his paper! Did the Prince think that Pomerania was
+like Saxony, when he began these fine buildings at Friedrichswald?
+His Grace had a house at Stettin; what did he want with a second?
+Was his Grace better than his forefathers? And would not his Grace
+have Oderburg when old Duke Barnim died? and castles and towns all
+round the land?"
+
+But the Duke answered proudly, "That Ulrich should remember his
+guardianship had ended. He knew himself what to do and what to
+leave undone."
+
+Herewith the young Lord Bogislaff broke in--"Yet, dearest brother,
+be advised by us. Bethink you how I resigned my chance of the
+duchy at the Diet of Wollin, and now I am ready to give you up the
+annuity which I then received, if it will help your necessities,
+and that you promise thereupon to release the land from the
+interdict, that all this fearful villainy and lawlessness which is
+devastating the country may have an end."
+
+_Ille_.--"Matters were not so bad as he thought; besides, why
+cannot the people defend themselves, and take care of their own
+skin?"
+
+_Hic_.--"So they do; but this only increased injustice and
+lawlessness." Then he related many examples of how the despairing
+people of the different towns had executed justice, after their
+own manner, upon the robbers who fell into their hands. In
+Stolpschen, for instance, three fellows had been caught plundering
+the corn, and the peasants nailed them up to a tree, and whipped
+them till they dropped down dead. Well might Satan laugh over the
+sin and wickedness that reigned now in poor Pomerania.
+
+_Item_, he related how the peasants in Marienfliess were
+going to burn a witch, without trial or sentence. _Item_, how
+many peasants and villagers had hung up their own bailiffs, or
+strangled them. _Item_, how the priests had been chased away
+from many places, so that they now had to beg their bread upon the
+highway; and in such towns God's service was no more heard, but
+each one lived as it pleased him, and the peasants did as they
+chose. And now he would ask his heart's dear brother, which would
+be more upright and honourable in the sight of the great God--to
+build up this castle of Friedrichswald, or to let it fall, and
+build up the virtue and happiness of his people? He could not
+build the castle without money, and he had none; but he could
+restore his land to peace and happiness by a word. Let him, then,
+open these long-closed courts of justice, for this was his duty as
+a Prince; and let him remember that every prince was ordained of
+God, and must answer to Him for his government.
+
+Hereupon the Stettin Duke made answer--"Pity, good Bogislaff, thou
+wert not a village priest! Hast thou finished thy sermon? Truly
+thou wert never meant for a prince, as we heard from thy own lips,
+the day of the Diet at Wollin. Thou hast no sense of princely
+honour, I see, but I stand by mine; and now, by my princely
+honour, I pledge my princely word, that, until the states give me
+the money, the land shall remain in all things as it is."
+
+Here old Ulrich sprang to his feet (while my gracious lady sobbed
+aloud), clapped the table, and roared--"Seven thousand devils, my
+lord! are we to be robbed and murdered by those vile cut-throats
+that infest the land, and your Grace will fold your hands and do
+nothing, till they drive your Grace yourself out of the land, or
+run a spear through your body, as they would have done to your
+princely brother of Wolgast, only he had faithful vassals to
+defend him? If it is so to be, then must the nobles make their
+petition to the Emperor, and we shall see if his Imperial Majesty
+cannot bring your Grace to reason, though your mother and we all
+have failed to move you."
+
+Here the little Casimir, who was playing with the paper which his
+brother had snored away, ran up to his mother, and pulling her by
+the gown, said, "Gracious lady mamma, what ails my brother, the
+Stettin Duke? Is he drunk, too?"
+
+At which they all laughed, except Duke Johann, who gave a kick to
+his little brother, and then strode out of the room, exclaiming,
+"Sooner my life than my honour; I shall stay here no longer to be
+tutored and lectured, but will take my journey homewards this very
+night." And so he departed, but by a small side-door, for old
+Ulrich had locked the chief door on entering.
+
+Now, indeed, her Grace wept bitterly: ah! she thought the evil had
+left her house, which the fatal business at her wedding had
+wrought on it, when Dr. Martinus dropped the ring; but, alas! it
+was only beginning now; and yet she could not curse him, for he
+was her son, and she had borne him in pain and sorrow.
+
+_Summa_.--If many were displeased at these proceedings of his
+Grace, so also was the Lord God, as was seen clearly by many
+strange signs; for on that same night Duke Barnim the elder died
+at Oderburg, and all the crosses, knobs, and spires throughout the
+whole town turned quite black, though they had only been newly
+gilded a year before, and no rain, lightning, or thunder had been
+observed. [Footnote: The Duke died 29th September 1573, aged 72
+years.--_Micraelius_. 369.]
+
+But this was all clearly to show the anger of God over the sins of
+the young Duke, and by these signs He would admonish him to
+repentance, as a father might gently threaten a refractory child.
+As to what further happened his Grace when he went out by the
+little door, and the danger that befell him there, we shall hear
+more in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_How the knave Appelmann seizes his Serene Eminence Duke Johann
+by the throat, and how his Grace and the whole castle are saved by
+Marcus Bork and his young bride Clara; also, how Sidonia at last
+is taken prisoner._
+
+
+The castle was now almost quite still, for as the festival had
+already lasted three days, the guests were pretty well tired of
+dancing and drinking, and most of them, like young Prince Barnim,
+had lain down to snore. Yet still there were many drinking in the
+great hall, or dancing in the saloon, for the fiddles fiddled away
+merrily until far in the night.
+
+And it was a beautiful night this one; not too dark, but starry,
+bright, and soft and still, so that Marcus and his young bride
+glided away from the dancing and drinking, to wander in the cool,
+fresh air of the shrubbery, before they retired to their chamber.
+So they passed down the broad path that led from the garden to the
+drawbridge by the water-mill, and seating themselves on a bank
+under the shade of the trees, began to kiss and caress, as may
+well become a young bridal pair to do.
+
+Soon they heard nine o'clock strike from the town, and immediately
+after, stealthy footsteps coming along the shrubbery towards them.
+They held their breath, and remained quite still, thinking it was
+some half-drunken guest from the castle wandering this way; but
+then the drawbridge was lowered, and three persons advanced to a
+youth, as they could see plainly. One said, "Now?" to which
+another answered, "No, when I whistle!" He who had so asked, then
+went back again, but Sidonia and my knave came on with the
+boundary lad over the bridge (for, of course, every one will have
+guessed them) and entered the shrubbery where the young bridal
+pair were seated, but perfectly hidden, by reason of the darkness.
+
+The boundary lad would now have drawn up the bridge, but the knave
+hindered him--"Let him leave it down; how would he escape else, if
+the carl roared, and all came running out of the castle to see
+what was the matter?" Then Sidonia asked the boy, if he thought
+the castle folk would hear him? To which he answered, no. They
+could thrash the hound securely, and he had brought a short cudgel
+with him for the purpose. Upon which my knave murmured to him,
+"Lead on, then; I must get out of this dark place to see what I am
+about. And when we get to the end of it, do you run and bring him
+out here. Then we shall both pay him off bravely."
+
+So they crept on in the darkness towards the castle, but the young
+wedded pair had plenty of time to recognise both Sidonia and
+Appelmann by their voices. Therefore Marcus argued truly that the
+knave and his paramour could be about no good, for the whole land
+rang with their wickedness. And, no doubt, the band was in the
+vicinity, because Appelmann had answered, "No, when I whistle!"
+
+So the good Marcus grew wroth over the villainy of this shameless
+pair, who had evidently resolved on nothing less than the
+destruction of the whole princely race, and even this castle of
+Daber was not to be spared, which belonged to his dear bride's
+father, so that their wicked purposes might be fulfilled. Then he
+whispered, did his dear wife know of any byway that led to the
+castle? as she was born here, perhaps some such little path might
+be known to her, so that she would escape meeting the villain. And
+as she whispered in return, "Yes, there was such a path," he bid
+her run along it quick as thought, have all the bells rung when
+she reached the castle, and even the cannon fired, which was ready
+loaded for the farewell salute to the Lady of Wolgast on the
+morrow; and to gather as many people together, of all stations and
+ages, as could be summoned on the instant, and let them shout
+"Murder! murder!" Meanwhile he would run and draw up the bridge,
+then track the fellow along the shrubbery, and seize him if
+possible.
+
+How Clara trembled and hesitated, as a young girl might; but soon
+collecting herself, she said, although with much agitation, "I
+will trust in God: the Lord is my strength, of whom then should I
+be afraid?" and plunged alone into the darkest part of the
+shrubbery.
+
+Marcus instantly ran down to the garden door, and began to draw up
+the bridge with as little noise as possible. "What are you doing?"
+called out a voice to him from the other side. "I hear steps," he
+answered, "and perchance it is the castellan on his rounds; he
+would discover all." So he draws up the bridge, and then glided
+along the shrubbery after my knave.
+
+Meanwhile Appelmann and Sidonia, with the boundary lad, had
+reached the door of the castle, through which he was determined to
+make good his entrance after the lad by any means.
+
+But at that very instant it opened, and my gracious lord Duke
+Johann Frederick stood before them. For it has been already
+mentioned, that he left the chamber in which the family council
+was held, by a small private door which led down to this portion
+of the castle. Here he was looking about for his court-jester,
+Clas Hinze, to bid him order the carriages to convey him and his
+suite that very night to Freienwald, and by chance opened this
+very door which led out to the shrubbery.
+
+Seeing no one from the darkness, the Duke called out, "Is Clas
+there?" to which Appelmann answered, "Yes, my lord" (for he had
+recognised the Duke by his voice), and at the same time he
+retreated a few steps into the shrubbery, hoping the Duke would
+follow him.
+
+But the Duke called out again, "Where art thou, Clas?" "Here!"
+responded Appelmann, retreating still further. Whereupon the
+boundary lad whispered, "That is not him!" His Grace, however,
+heard the whisper, and called out angrily, while he advanced from
+the door, "What meanest thou, knave? It is I who call! Art thou
+drunk, fool? If so, thou must have a bucket of water on thy head,
+for we ride away this night."
+
+So speaking, his Highness went on still further into the
+shrubbery, upon which my knave makes a spring at his throat and
+hurls him to the ground, while he gives a loud, shrill whistle
+through the fingers of his other hand. Now the boundary lad
+screamed in earnest; but Sidonia threatened him, and bade him hold
+his tongue, and run for the other fellows, and not mind them. But
+she screamed yet louder herself, when a powerful arm seized her
+round the waist, and she found herself in the grasp of Marcus
+Bork.
+
+Appelmann, who had stuffed his kerchief into the Duke's mouth to
+stifle his cries, and placed one knee upon his breast, now sprang
+up in terror at her scream, while at the same instant the bells
+rang, the cannon was fired, and all the court was filled with
+people shouting, "Murder! murder!" So he let go his hold of the
+Duke, and without waiting to release Sidonia, darted down the
+shrubbery, reached the bridge, and finding it raised, plunged into
+the water, and swam to the other side.
+
+And here we see the hand of the all-merciful God; for had the
+bridge been down, the band would have rushed over at their
+captain's whistle, and then, methinks, there would have been a sad
+end to the whole princely race, for, as I have said, half the
+guests were drunk and half were snoring, so that but for Marcus
+this evil and accursed woman would have destroyed them all, as she
+had sworn. True, they were destroyed by her at last, but not until
+God gave them over to destruction, in consequence of their sins,
+no doubt, and of the wickedness of the land.
+
+_Summa_.--When my gracious lord felt himself free, he sprang
+up, crying, "Help! help!" and ran as quick as he could back into
+the castle. Marcus Bork followed with Sidonia, who drew a knife to
+stab him, but he saw the glitter of the blade by the light of the
+lanterns (for one can easily imagine that the bells and the cannon
+had brought all the snorers to their legs), and giving her a blow
+upon the arm that made her drop the knife, dragged her through the
+little door, after the Duke, as fast as he was able.
+
+So the whole princely party stood there, and great and small
+shouted when the upright Marcus appeared, holding Sidonia firmly
+by the back, while she writhed and twisted, and kicked him with
+her heels till the sweat poured down his face.
+
+But when old Ulrich beheld her, he exclaimed, "Seven thousand
+devils!--do my eyes deceive me, or is this Sidonia again?" Her
+Grace, too, turned pale, and all were horrified at seeing the evil
+one, for they knew her wickedness.
+
+Then Marcus must relate the whole story, and how he came to bring
+to nought the counsel of the devil.
+
+And when Duke Johann heard the whole extent of the danger from
+which he had been saved, he fell upon the neck of the loyal
+Marcus, and, pressing him to his heart, exclaimed, "Well-beloved
+Marcus, and dear friend, thou hast saved my brother of Wolgast in
+the Stettin forest, so hast thou saved me this night, therefore
+accept knighthood from my hands; and I make thee governor of my
+fortress of Saatzig."
+
+To which the other answered, "He thanked his Grace heartily for
+the honours; but he had already promised to remain in the service
+of his princely brother of Wolgast; and for that object had made
+purchase of the lands of Crienke."
+
+But his Highness would hear of no refusal. Only let him look at
+Saatzig; it was the finest fortress in the land. What would he do
+in a miserable fishing village? The castle was almost grander than
+his own ducal house at Stettin; and the knights' hall, with its
+stone pillars and carved capitals, was the most stately work of
+architecture in the kingdom. Where would he find such a dwelling
+in his village nest? Old Kleist, the governor, had just died, and
+to whom could he give the castle sooner than to his right worthy
+and loyal Marcus?
+
+When old Dewitz heard this (he was a little, dry old man, with
+long grey hair), he pressed forward to his son-in-law, and bade
+him by no means refuse a Prince's offer; besides, Saatzig was but
+two miles off, and they could see each other every Sunday. Also,
+if they had a hunt, a standard erected on the tower of one castle
+could be seen plainly from the tower of the other, and so they
+could lead a right pleasant, neighbourly life, almost as if they
+all lived together.
+
+Still Marcus will not consent. Upon which his mother-in-law can no
+longer suppress her feelings, and comes forward to entreat him.
+(She was a good, pious matron, and as fat as her husband was
+thin.) So she stroked his cheeks--"And where in the land, as far
+as Usdom, could he find such fine muranes and maranes [Footnote:
+The great marana weighs from ten to twelve pounds, and is a
+species of salmon-trout. The murana is of the same race, but not
+larger than the herring. It must not be confounded with the
+_murana_ of which the Romans were so fond, which was a
+species of eel.]--this fish he loved so much?--and where was such
+fine flax to be had, for his young wife to spin?--no flax in the
+land equalled that of Saatzig!--since ever she was a little girl,
+people talked of the fine Saatzig flax. Let her dear daughter
+Clara come over, and see could she prevail aught with her stern
+husband. Why, they could send pudding hot to each other, the
+castles were so near."
+
+And now the mild young bride approached her husband, and taking
+his hand gently, looked up into his eyes with soft, beseeching
+glances, but spake no word; so that the princely widow of Wolgast
+was moved, and said, "Good Marcus, if you only fear to offend my
+son of Wolgast by taking service at Saatzig, be composed on that
+head, for I myself will make your peace. Great, indeed, would be
+my joy to have you and your young spouse settled at Crienke,
+which, you know, is but half a mile from Pudgla, my dower-castle,
+where I mean to reside; yet these beseeching glances of my little
+Clara fill my heart with compassion, for do I not read in her
+clear eyes that she would love to stay near her dear parents, as
+indeed is natural? Therefore, in God's name accept the offer of
+your Prince. I myself command you."
+
+Hereupon Marcus inclined himself gracefully to the Duchess and
+Duke Johann, and pressed his little wife to his heart. "But what
+need, gracious Prince, of a governor at Saatzig, when all the
+courts are closed and no justice can be done? I shall eat my bread
+in idleness, like a worn-out hound. But, marry, if your Grace
+consents to open the courts, I will accept your offer with thanks,
+and do my duty as governor with all justice and fidelity." Then
+his Grace answered, "What! good Marcus, dost thou begin again on
+that old theme which roused my wrath so lately, and made me fall
+into that peril? But I bethink me of thy bravery, and will say no
+bitter word; only, thou mayest hold thy peace, for I have sworn by
+my princely honour, and from that there is no retreating. However,
+thou hast leave to hold jurisdiction in thy own government, and
+execute justice according to thy own upright judgment."
+
+So Marcus was silent; but the Duchess and the other princes took
+up the subject, and assailed his Highness with earnest
+petitions--"Had he not himself felt and seen the danger of
+permitting these freebooters to get such a head in the land? Had
+not the finger of God warned him this very night, in hopes of
+turning him back to the right path? Let him reflect, for the peace
+of his land was at stake." But all in vain. Even though old Ulrich
+tumbled into the argument with his seven thousand devils, yet
+could they obtain no other answer from his Highness but--"If the
+states give me gold, I shall open the courts; if they give no
+gold, the courts shall remain closed for ever. Were he to be
+brought before the Emperor, or Pontius Pilate himself, it was all
+alike; they might tear him in pieces, but not one nail's breadth
+of his princely word would he retreat from, or break it like a
+woman, for their prayers."
+
+Then he rose, and calling his fool Clas to him, bid him run to the
+old priest, and tell him he would sleep at his quarters that
+night, for he must have peace; but the merry Clas, as he was
+running out, got behind his Highness, and stuck his fool's cap
+upon the head of his Grace, crying out, "Here, keep my cap for
+me."
+
+However, his Highness did not relish the joke, for every one
+laughed; and he ran after the fool, trying to catch him, and
+threatening to have his head cut off; but Clas got behind the
+others, and clapping his hands, cried out, "You can't, for the
+courts are closed. Huzza! the courts are closed!" Whereupon he
+runs out at the door, and my gracious lord after him, with the
+fool's cap upon his head. Nor did he return again to the hall, but
+went to sleep at the priest's quarters, as he had said; and next
+morning, by the first dawn of day, set off on his journey
+homeward.
+
+All this while no one had troubled himself about Sidonia. My
+gracious lady wept, the young lords laughed, old Ulrich swore,
+whilst the good Marcus murmured softly to his young wife, "Be
+happy, Clara; for thy sake I shall consent to go to Saatzig. I
+have decided."
+
+This filled her with such joy that she danced, and smiled, and
+flung herself into her mother's arms; nothing was wanting now to
+her happiness! Just then her eyes rested upon Sidonia, who was
+leaning against the wall, as pale as a corpse. Clara grew quite
+calm in a moment, and asked, compassionately, "What aileth thee,
+poor Sidonia?"
+
+"_I am hungry!_" was the answer. At this the gentle bride was
+so shocked, that the tears filled her eyes, and she exclaimed,
+"Wait, thou shalt partake of my wedding-feast;" and away went she.
+
+The attention of the others was, by this time, also directed to
+Sidonia. And old Ulrich said, "Compose yourself, gracious lady; I
+trust your son, the Prince, will not be so hard and stern as he
+promises; now that the water has touched his own neck, methinks he
+will soon come to reason. But what shall we do now with Sidonia?"
+
+Upon which my Lady of Wolgast turned to her, and asked if she were
+yet wedded to her gallows-bird? "Not yet," was the answer; "but
+she would soon be." Then my gracious lady spat out at her; and,
+addressing Ulrich, asked what he would advise.
+
+So the stout old knight said, "If the matter were left to him, he
+would just send for the executioner, and have her ears and nose
+slit, as a warning and example, for no good could ever come of her
+now, and then pack her off next day to her farm at Zachow; for if
+they let her loose, she would run to her paramour again, and come
+at last to gallows and wheel; but if they just slit her nose, then
+he would hold her in abhorrence, as well as all other men-folk."
+
+During this, Clara had entered, and set fish, and wild boar, and
+meat, and bread, before the girl; and as she heard Ulrich's last
+words, she bent down and whispered, "Fear nothing, Sidonia, I hope
+to be able to protect thee, as I did once before; only eat,
+Sidonia! Ah! hadst thou followed my advice! I always meant well by
+thee; and even now, if I thought thou wouldst repent truly, poor
+Sidonia, I would take thee with me to the castle of Saatzig, and
+never let thee want for aught through life."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she wept, and promised amendment. Only
+let Clara try her, for she could never go to Zachow and play the
+peasant-girl. Upon which Clara turned to her Highness, and prayed
+her Grace to give Sidonia up to her. See how she was weeping;
+misfortune truly had softened her, and she would soon be brought
+back to God. Only let her take her to Saatzig, and treat her as a
+sister. At this, however, old Ulrich shook his head--"Clara,
+Clara," he exclaimed, "knowest thou not that the Moor cannot
+change his skin, nor the leopard his spots? I cannot, then, let
+the serpent go. Think on our mother, girl; it is a bad work
+playing with serpents."
+
+Her Grace, too, became thoughtful, and said at last--
+
+"Could we not send her to the convent at Marienfliess, or
+somewhere else?"
+
+"What the devil would she do in a convent?" exclaimed the old
+knight. "To infect the young maidens with her vices, or plague
+them with her pride? Now, there was nothing else for her but to be
+packed off to Zachow."
+
+Now Clara looked up once again at her husband with her soft,
+tearful eyes, for he had said no word all this time, but remained
+quite mute; and he drew her to him, and said--
+
+"I understand thy wish, dear Clara, but the old knight is right.
+It is a dangerous business, dear Clara! Let Sidonia go."
+
+At this Sidonia crawled forth like a serpent from her corner, and
+howled--
+
+"Clara had pity on her, but he would turn her out to starve--he,
+who bore her own name, and was of her own blood."
+
+Alas! the good knight was ashamed to refuse any longer, and
+finally promised the evil one that she should go with them to
+Saatzig. So her Grace at last consented, but old Ulrich shook his
+grey head ten times more.
+
+"He had lived many years in the world, but never had it come to
+his knowledge that a godless man was tamed by love. Fear was the
+only teacher for them. All their love would be thrown away on this
+harlot; for even if the stout Marcus kept her tight with bit and
+rein, and tried to bring her back by fear, yet the moment his back
+was turned, Clara would spoil all again by love and kindness."
+
+However, nobody minded the good knight, though it all came to pass
+just as he had prophesied.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the castle of Saatzig, and how
+Clara forgets the injunctions of her beloved husband, when he
+leaves her to attend the Diet at Wollin, on the subject of the
+courts--Item, how the Serene Prince Duke Johann Frederick beheads
+his court fool with a sausage._
+
+
+Summa.--Sidonia went to the castle of Saatzig, and her worthy
+cousin Marcus gave her a little chamber to herself, in the third
+story, close to the tower. It was the same room in which she
+afterwards sat as a witch, for some days ere she was taken to
+Oderburg. There was a right cheerful view from the windows down
+upon the lake, which was close to the castle, and over the little
+town of Jacobshagen, as far even as the meadows beyond. Here, too,
+was left a Bible for her, and the _Opera Lutheri_ in
+addition, with plenty of materials for spinning and embroidery,
+for she had refused to weave. _Item_, a serving-wench was
+appointed to attend on her, and she had permission to walk where
+she pleased within the castle walls; but if ever seen beyond the
+domain, the keepers had orders to bring her back by force, if she
+would not return willingly.
+
+In fine, the careful knight took every precaution possible to
+render her presence as little baneful as could be, for, truth to
+say, he had no faith whatever in her tears and seeming repentance.
+
+First, he strictly forbade all his secretaries to interchange a
+word with her, or even look at her. They need not know his reason,
+but any one who transgressed his slightest command in this
+particular, should be chased away instantly from the castle.
+
+Secondly, he prayed his dear wife to let Sidonia eat her meals
+alone, in her own little room, and never to see her but in the
+presence of a third person.
+
+Also, never to accept the slightest gift from her hand--fruit,
+flower, or any kind of food whatsoever. These injunctions were the
+more necessary, as the young bride had already given hopes of an
+heir. Sidonia's rage and jealousy at this prospect of complete
+happiness for Clara may be divined from her words to her maid,
+Lene Penkun, a short time after she reached the castle--
+
+"Ha! they are talking of the baptism already, forsooth; but it
+might have been otherwise if I had come across her a little
+sooner!"
+
+This same maid also she sent to Daber for the spirit Chim, which
+had been left behind at the last resting-place of the robbers,
+never telling her it was a spirit, however, only a tame cat, that
+was a great pet of hers. "It must be half dead with hunger now,
+for it was four days since she had left it in the hollow of an old
+oak in the forest, the poor creature! So let the maid take a flask
+of sweet milk and a little saucer to feed it. She could not miss
+her way, for, when she stepped out of the high-road at Daber into
+the forest, there was a thorn-bush to her left hand, and just
+beyond it a large oak where the ravens had their nests; in a
+hollow of this oak, to the north side, lay her dear little cat.
+But she must not tell any one about the matter, or they would
+laugh at her for sending her maid two miles and more to look for a
+cat. Men had no compassion or tenderheartedness nowadays to each
+other, much less to a poor dumb animal. No; just let her say that
+she went to fetch a robe which her mistress had left in the oak.
+Here was an old gown; take this with her, and it would do to wrap
+up the poor little pussy in it after she had fed it and warmed it,
+so that no one might see it, for what a mock would all these
+pitiless men make of her, if they heard the object of her message;
+but she was not cruel like them."
+
+Now, after some time, it happened that the states of the duchy
+assembled at Wollin, to come to some arrangement with his Highness
+respecting the opening of the courts of justice; and Marcus Bork,
+along with all the other nobles, was summoned to attend the Diet.
+So, with great grief, he had to leave his dear wife, but promised,
+if possible, to return before she was taken with her illness. Then
+he bid her be of good courage, and, above all things, to guard
+herself, against Sidonia, and mind strictly all his injunctions
+concerning her.
+
+Alas! she too soon flung them all to the winds! For, behold,
+scarcely had the good knight arrived at Wollin, when Clara was
+delivered of a little son, at which great joy filled the whole
+castle. And one messenger was despatched to Marcus, and another to
+old Dewitz and his wife, with the tidings; but woe, alas! the good
+old mother was going to stand sponsor for a nobleman's child in
+the neighbourhood, and could not hasten then to save her dear
+daughter from a terrible and cruel death. She cooked some broth,
+however, for the young mother, and pouring it into a silver flask,
+bid the messenger ride back with all speed to Saatzig, that it
+might not be too cold. She herself would be over in the morning
+early with her husband, and let her dear little daughter keep
+herself warm and quiet.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia had heard of the birth, and sent her maid to
+wish the young mother joy, and ask her permission just to give one
+little kiss to her new cousin, for they told her he was a
+beautiful infant.
+
+Alas, alas! that Clara's joy should make her forget the judicious
+cautions of her husband! Permission was given to the murderess,
+and down she comes directly to offer her congratulations; even
+affecting to weep for joy as she kissed the infant, and praying to
+be allowed to act as nurse until her mother came from Daber.
+
+"Why, she had no one about her but common serving-women! How could
+she leave her dearest friend to the care of these old hags, when
+she was in the castle, who owed everything to her dear Clara?"
+
+And so she went on till poor Clara, even if she did not quite
+believe her, felt ashamed to doubt so much apparent affection and
+tenderness.
+
+_Summa_.--She permitted her to remain, and we shall soon see
+what murderous deeds Sidonia was planning against the poor young
+mother. But first I must relate what happened at the Diet of
+Wollin, to which Marcus Bork had been summoned.
+
+His Highness Duke Johann had become somewhat more gracious to the
+states since they had come to the Diet at their own cost, which
+was out of the usage; and further, because, as old Ulrich
+prophesied, he himself had felt the inconveniences resulting from
+the present lawless state of the country.
+
+Still he was ill-tempered enough, particularly as he had a fever
+on him; and when the states promised at last that they would let
+him have the money, he said, "So far good; but, till he saw the
+gold, the courts should not be opened. Not that he misdoubted
+them, but then he knew that they were sometimes as tedious in
+handing out money as a peasant in paying his rent. The courts,
+therefore, should not be opened until he had the gold in his pot,
+so it would be to their own profit to use as much diligence as
+possible." At this same Diet his Grace related how he first met
+Clas, his fool, which story I shall set down here for the reader's
+pastime.
+
+This same fool had been nothing but a poor goose-herd; and one day
+as he was on the road to Friedrichswald with his flock, my
+gracious lord rode up, and growing impatient at the geese running
+hither and thither in his path, bid the boy collect them together,
+or he would strike them all dead.
+
+Upon which the knave took up goose after goose by the throat, and
+stuck them by their long necks into his girdle, till a circle of
+geese hung entirely round his body, all dangling by the head from
+his waist.
+
+This merry device pleased my lord so much, that he made the lad
+court-jester from that day, and many a droll trick he had played
+from that to this, particularly when his Highness was gloomy, so
+as to make him laugh again. Once, for instance, when the Duke was
+sore pressed for money, by reason of the opposition of the states,
+he became very sad, and all the doctors were consulted, but could
+do nothing. For unless his Grace could be brought to laugh (they
+said to the Lady Erdmuth), it was all over with him. Then my
+gracious lady had the fool whipped for a stupid jester, who could
+not drive his trade; for if he did not make the Duke laugh, why
+should he stay at all in the castle?
+
+What did my fool? He collected all the princely soldatesca, and
+got leave from their Graces to review them; and surely never were
+seen such strange evolutions as he put them through, for they must
+do everything he bid them. And when his Highness came forth to
+look, he laughed so loud as never had fool made him laugh before;
+and calling the Duchess, bid him repeat his _experimentum_
+many times for her. In fine, the fool got the good town of
+Butterdorf for his fee, which changed its name in honour of him,
+and is called Hinzendorf to this day (for his name was Hinze).
+
+But Clas Hinze had not been able to cure my Lord Duke of his
+fever, which attacked him at the Diet at Wollin, nor all the
+doctors from Stettin, nor even Doctor Pomius, who had been sent
+from Wolgast by the old Duchess, to attend her dear son; and as
+the doctor (as I have said) was a formal, priggish little man, he
+and the fool were always bickering and snarling.
+
+Now, one day at Wollin, the weather being beautiful, his Grace,
+with several of the chief prelates, and many of the nobility, went
+forth to walk by the river's side, and the fool ran along with
+them; _item_, Doctor Pomius, who, if he could not run, at
+least tried to walk majestically; and he munched a piece of sugar
+all the time, for he never could keep his mouth still a moment.
+Seeing his Grace now about to cross the bridge, the doctor started
+forward with as much haste as was consistent with his dignity, and
+seizing his Highness by the tail of the coat, drew him back,
+declaring, "That he must not pass the water; all water would give
+strength to the fever-devil." But his Highness, who was talking
+Latin to the Deacon of Colberg, turned on the doctor with--"Apage
+te asine!" and strode forward, whilst one of the nobles gave a
+free translation aloud for the benefit of the others, saying, "And
+that means: Begone, thou ass!"
+
+When the fool heard this, he clapped the little man on the back,
+shouting, "Well done, ass! and there is thy fee for curing our
+gracious Prince of his fever."
+
+This so nettled the doctor that he spat out the lump of sugar for
+rage, and tried to seize the fool; but the crowd laughed still
+louder when Clas jumped on the back of an old woman, giving her
+the spur with his yellow boots in the side, and shaking his head
+with the cap and bells at the little doctor in mockery, who could
+not get near him for the crowd. So the woman screamed and roared,
+and the people laughed, till at last the Duke stopped in the
+middle of the bridge to see what was the matter. When the fool
+observed this, he sprang off the old woman's back, and calling out
+to the doctor--"See how I cure our gracious lord's fever," ran
+upon the bridge like wind, and, seizing the Duke with all his
+force, jumped with him into the water.
+
+Now the people screamed from horror, as much as before from mirth,
+and thirty or forty burghers, along with Marcus Bork, plunged in
+to rescue his Highness, whilst others tried to seize the fool,
+threatening to tear him in pieces. This was a joyful hearing to
+Doctor Pomius. He drew forth his knife--"Would they not finish the
+knave at once? Here was a knife just ready."
+
+But the fool, who was strong and supple, swung himself up to the
+bridge, and crouched in between the arches, catching hold of the
+beams, so that no one dared to touch him there, and his Highness
+was soon carried to land. He was in a flaming rage as he shook off
+the water.
+
+"Where is that accursed fool? He had only threatened to cut off
+his head at Daber, but now it should be done in earnest."
+
+So the fool shouted from under the bridge--"Ho! ho! the courts are
+all closed! the courts are all closed!" At which the crowd laughed
+so heartily, that my Lord Duke grew still more angry, and
+commanded them to bring the fool to him dead or alive.
+
+Hearing this, the fool crept forward of himself, and whimpered in
+his Low Dutch, "My good Lord Duke, praise be to God that we've
+made the doctor fly. I'll give him a little piece of drink-money
+for his journey, and then I'll be your doctor myself. For if the
+fright has not cured you, marry, let the deacon be your fool, and
+I will be your deacon as long as I live."
+
+However, my gracious lord was in no humour for fun, but bid them
+carry off the fool to prison, and lock him up there; for though,
+indeed, the fever had really quite gone, as his Highness perceived
+to his joy, yet he was resolved to give the fool a right good
+fright in return.
+
+Therefore, on the third day from that, he commanded him to be
+brought out and beheaded on the scaffold at Wollin. He wore a
+white shroud, bordered with black gauze, over his motley jacket,
+and a priest and melancholy music accompanied him all the way; but
+Master Hansen had directions that, when the fool was seated in the
+chair with his eyes bound, he should strike the said fool on the
+neck with a sausage in place of the sword.
+
+However, no one suspected this, and a great crowd followed the
+poor fool up to the scaffold; even Doctor Pomius was there, and
+kept close up to the condemned. As the fool passed the ducal
+house, there was my lord seated at a window looking out, and the
+fool looked up, saying, "My gracious master, is this a fool's jest
+you are playing me, or is it earnest?"
+
+To which the Duke answered, "You see it is earnest."
+
+Then answered the fool, "Well, if I must, I must; yet I crave one
+boon!"
+
+When the promise was granted, the knave, who could not give up his
+jesting even on the death-road, said, "Then make Doctor Pomius
+herewith to be fool in my place, for look how he is learning all
+my tricks from me--sticking himself close up to my side."
+
+Hereat a great shout of laughter pealed from the crowd, and the
+Duke motioned with the hand to proceed to the scaffold.
+
+Still the poor fool kept looking round every moment, thinking his
+Grace would send a message after them to stop the execution, but
+no one appeared. Then his teeth chattered, and he trembled like an
+aspen leaf; for Master Hansen seized hold of him now, and put him
+down upon the chair, and bound his eyes. Still he asked, with his
+eyes bound, "Master, is any one coming?"
+
+"No!" replied the executioner; and throwing back his red cloak,
+drew forth a large sausage in place of a sword, to the great
+amusement of the people. With this he strikes my fool on the neck,
+who thereupon tumbles down from the stool, as stone dead from the
+mere fright as if his head and body had parted company--yea, more
+dead, for never a finger or a muscle did the poor fool move more.
+
+This sad ending moved his Grace even to tears; and he fell into a
+yet greater melancholy than before, crying, "Woe! alas! He gave me
+my life through fright, and through fright I have taken away his
+poor life! Ah, never shall I meet with so good and merry a fool
+again!"
+
+Then he gave command to all the physicians to try and restore him,
+and he himself stood by while they bled him and felt his pulse,
+but all was in vain; even Doctor Pomius tried his skill, but
+nothing would help, so that my lord cried out angrily--
+
+"Marry, the fool was right. The fools should be doctors, for the
+doctors are all fools. Away with ye all, and your gibberish, to
+the devil!"
+
+After this he had the said fool placed in a handsome black coffin,
+and conveyed to his own town of Hinzendorf, there to be buried;
+and over his grave my lord erected a stately monument, on which
+was represented the poor fool, as large as life, with his cap and
+bells, and staff in his hand; and round his waist was a girdle,
+from which many geese dangled, all cut like life, while at his
+side lay his shepherd's bag, and at his feet a beer-can. The
+figure is five feet two inches long, and bears a Latin inscription
+above it, which I forget; but the initials G. H. are carved upon
+each cheek. [Footnote: His original name was Gürgen Hinze, not
+Clas. The Latin inscription is nearly effaced, but the beginning
+is still visible, and runs thus: "Caput ecce manus gestus que;"
+from which Oelrichs concludes that the whole was written in
+hexameters. (See his estimable work, "Memoirs of the Pomeranian
+Dukes," p. 41.)]
+
+Shortly after the death of the fool a messenger arrived from
+Saatzig to Marcus Bork, bringing him the joyful tidings that the
+Lord God had granted him the blessing of a little son. So he is
+away to my Lord Duke, to solicit permission to leave the Diet and
+return to his castle. This the Duke readily granted, seeing that
+he himself was going away to attend the funeral of the poor fool
+at Hinzendorf. Then he wished Marcus joy with all his heart, which
+so emboldened the knight that he ventured to make one more effort
+about the opening of the courts, praying his Grace to put faith in
+the word of his faithful states, and open the courts and the
+treasury without further delay.
+
+But his Grace is wroth: "What should he be troubled for? The
+states could give the money when they chose, and then all would be
+right. Let the nobles do their duty. He never saw a penny come out
+of their pockets for their Prince."
+
+"But his Highness knew the poor peasants were all beggared; and
+where could the nobles get the money?"
+
+"Let them go to their saving-pots, then, where the money was
+turning green from age; better for them if they had less avarice.
+Why did not he himself bring him some gold, in place of dressing
+up his wife in silks and jewels, finer than the Princess Erdmuth
+herself, his own princely spouse? Then, indeed, the courts might
+be soon opened," &c. So the sorrowing knight took his leave, and
+each went his different way.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_How Sidonia makes poor Clara appear quite dead, and of the
+great mourning at Saatzig over her burial, while Sidonia dances on
+her coffin and sings the 109th psalm--Item, of the sermon and the
+anathema pronounced upon a wicked sinner from the altar of the
+church._
+
+
+I must first state that this horrible wickedness of Sidonia, which
+no eye had seen nor ear heard, neither had it entered into the
+heart of man to conceive (for only in hell could such have been
+imagined), never would have come to light but that she herself
+made confession thereof to Dr. Cramero, thy well-beloved
+godfather, in her last trial. And he, to show how far Satan can
+lead a poor human creature who has once fallen from God, related
+the same to my worthy father-in-law, Master David Reutzio, some
+time superintendent at the criminal court, from whose own lips I
+received the story.
+
+And this was her confession:--That when the messenger returned
+from Daber with the broth, he had ridden so fast that it was
+still, in truth, quite hot, but she (the horrible Sidonia), who
+was standing at the bed of the young mother, along with the other
+women, pretended that it was too cold for a woman in her state,
+and must just get one little heating on the fire.
+
+The poor Clara, indeed, showed unwillingness to permit this, but
+she ran down with it, and secretly, without being seen by any of
+the other women, poured in a philtrum that had been given her by
+the gipsy hag, and then went back again for a moment. This
+philtrum was the one which produced all the appearance of death.
+It had no taste, except, perhaps, that it was a little saltish.
+Therefore Clara perceived nothing wrong, only when she tasted it,
+said, "My heart's dearest mother, in her joy, has put a little too
+much salt into her broth; still, what a heart's dearest mother
+sends, must always taste good!" However, in one hour after that,
+Clara lay as stiff and cold as a corpse, only her breath came a
+little; but even this ceased in a short time, and then a great cry
+and lamentation resounded through the whole castle. No one
+suspected Sidonia, for many said that young women died so often;
+but even the old mother, who arrived a few hours after, and
+hearing the cries from the castle while she was yet far off, began
+to weep likewise; for her mother's heart revealed the cause to her
+ere she had yet descended from the carriage.
+
+But it was a sadder sight next evening, when the husband arrived
+at the castle from Wollin. He could not take his eyes from the
+corpse. One while he kissed the infant, then fixed his eyes again
+upon his dead wife, and sighed and groaned as if he lay upon the
+rack. He alone suspected Sidonia, but when she cried more than
+they all, and wrung her hands, exclaiming, who would have pity on
+her now, for her best friend lay there dead! and flung herself
+upon the seeming corpse, kissing it and bedewing it with her
+tears, and praying to have leave to watch all night beside it, for
+how could she sleep in her sore grief and sorrow? the knight was
+ashamed of his suspicions, and even tried to comfort her himself.
+
+Then came the physicians out of Stargard and other places, who had
+been summoned in all haste, and they gabbled away, saying, "It
+could not have been the broth, but puerperal fever." This at least
+was Dr. Hamster's opinion, who knew all along it would be a bad
+case. Indeed, the last time he was at the castle visiting the
+mower's wife, he was frightened at the look of the poor lady.
+Still, if they had only sent for him in time, this great evil
+could not have happened, for his _pulvis antispasmodicus_ was
+never known to fail; and so he went on chattering, by which one
+can see that doctors have always been the same from that time even
+till now.
+
+_Summa_.--On the third day the poor Clara was laid in her
+coffin, and carried to her grave, with such weeping and
+lamentation of the mourners and bearers as never had been heard
+till then. And all the nobles of the vicinage, with the knights
+and gentlemen, came to attend her funeral at Saatzig Cathedral,
+for she was to be buried in this new church just finished by his
+Grace Duke Johann, and but one corpse had been laid in the vaults
+before her. [Footnote: The beautifully painted escutcheon of Duke
+Johann and his wife, Erdmuth of Brandenburg, is still to be seen
+on the chancel windows of this stately staircase.]
+
+But what does the devil's sorceress do now? She knew that the poor
+Clara would awake the next day (which was Sunday) about noon, and
+if any should hear her cries, her plans would be detected.
+Therefore, about ten of the clock she ran to Marcus, with her hair
+all flowing down her shoulders, saying, that he must let her away
+that very day to Zachow, for what would the world say if she, a
+young unmarried thing, should remain here all alone with him in
+his castle? No; sooner would she swallow the bitter cup her father
+had left her than peril her name. But first, would he allow her to
+go and pray alone in the church? Surely he would not deny her
+this.
+
+Thereupon the simple knight gave her instant leave--"Let her go
+and pray, in God's name. He himself would soon be there to hear
+the Reverend Dr. Wudargensis preach the funeral sermon over his
+heart's dear wife. And after service he would desire a carriage to
+be in readiness to convey her to Zachow."
+
+Then he called to the warder from the window, bidding him let
+Sidonia pass. So she went forth in deep mourning garments, glided
+through the castle gardens, and concealing herself by the trees,
+slipped into the church without any one having perceived her; for
+the sexton had left the door open to admit fresh air, on account
+of the corpse. Then she stepped over to the little grated door
+near the altar, which led down into the vault, and softly lifting
+it, stepped down, drawing the door down again close over her head.
+Clara's coffin was lying beneath, and first she laid her ear on it
+and listened, but all was quite still within. Then removing the
+pall, she sat herself down upon the lid. Time passed, and still no
+sound. The sexton began to ring the bell, and the people were
+assembling in the church above. Soon the hymn commenced, "Now in
+peace the loved one sleepeth," and ere the first verse had ended,
+a knocking was heard in the coffin, then a cry--"Where am I? What
+brought me here? Let me out, for God's sake let me out! I am not
+dead. Where is my child? Where is my good Marcus? Ah! there is
+some one near me. Who is it? Let me out! let me out!" Then (oh!
+horror of horrors!) the devil's harlot on her coffin answered, "It
+is I, Sidonia! this pays thee for acting the spy at Wolgast. Lie
+there and writhe till thou art stifled in thy blood!" Now the
+voice came again from the coffin, praying and beseeching, so that
+many times it went through her stony heart like a sword. And just
+then the first verse of the hymn ended, and the voice of the
+priest was heard asking the lord governor whether they should go
+and sing the remainder over the vault of his dear spouse, for it
+was indeed sung in her honour, seeing she had been ever a mother
+to the orphan, and a holy, pious, and Christian wife; or, since
+the people all knew her worth, and mourned for her with bitter
+mourning, should they sing it here in the nave, that the whole
+congregation might join in chorus? [Footnote: These interruptions
+were by no means unusual at that period.]
+
+To this the governor, in a loud yet mournful voice, gave answer--
+
+"Alas, good friends, do what you will in this sad case; I am
+content."
+
+But Sidonia, this devil's witch, was in a horrible fright, lest
+the priest would come up to the altar to sing the hymn, and so
+hear the knocking within the coffin. However, the devil protects
+his own, for, at that instant, many voices called out--
+
+"Let the hymn be sung here, that we may all join to the honour of
+the blessed soul of the good lady."
+
+And mournfully the second verse was heard pealing through the
+church, from the lips of the whole congregation, so that poor
+Clara's groans were quite smothered. For, when the voice of her
+dear husband reached her ear, she had knocked and cried out with
+all her strength--
+
+"Marcus! Marcus! Alas, dear Lord, will you not come to me!" Then
+again--"Sidonia, by the Jesu cross, I pray thee have pity on me.
+Save me--save me--I am stifling. Oh, run for some one, if thou
+canst not lift the lid thyself!"
+
+But the devil made answer to the poor living corpse--
+
+"Dost thou take me for a silly fool like thyself, that I should
+now undo all I have done?"
+
+And as the voice went on from the coffin, but feebler and
+fainter--
+
+"Think on my husband--on my child, Sidonia!"
+
+She answered--
+
+"Didst thou think of that when, but for thee, I might have been a
+Duchess of Pomerania, and the proud mother of a prince, in place
+of being as I now am."
+
+Then all became still within the coffin, and Sidonia sprang upon
+it and danced, chanting the 109th psalm; [Footnote: Superstition
+has found many sinful usages for this psalm. The Jews, for
+example, took a new vessel, poured a mixture of mustard and water
+therein, and after repeating this psalm over it for three
+consecutive days, poured it out before the door of their enemy, as
+a certain means to ensure his destruction. In the middle ages
+monks and nuns were frequently obliged to repeat it in
+superstitious ceremonies, at the command of some powerful
+revengeful man. And that its efficacy was Considered as something
+miraculously powerful, even by the evangelical Church, is proved
+by this example of Sidonia, who made frequent use of this terrible
+psalm in her sorceries, as any one may see by referring to the
+records of the trial in Dähnert. And other interesting examples
+are found in the treatise of Job. Andreas Schmidii, _Abusus
+Psalmi 109 imprecatorii_; vulgo, _The Death Prayer_,
+Helmstadt, 1708.] and as she came to the words, "Let none show
+mercy to him; let none have pity on his orphans; let his posterity
+be cut off and his name be blotted out," there was a loud knocking
+again within the coffin, and a faint, stifled cry--"I am dying!"
+then followed a gurgling sound, and all became still. At that
+moment the congregation above raised the last verse of the hymn:--
+
+  "In the grave, with bitter weeping,
+    Loving hands have laid her down;
+  There she resteth, calmly sleeping,
+    Till an angel lifts the stone."
+
+But the sermon which now followed she remembered her life long. It
+was on the tears, the soft tears of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. And as her spirit became oppressed by the silence in the
+vault, now that all was still within the coffin, she lifted the
+lid after the exordium, to see if Clara were indeed quite dead.
+
+It was an easy matter to remove the cover, for the screws were not
+fastened; but--O God! what has she beheld? A sight that will never
+more leave her brain! The poor corpse lay all torn and disfigured
+from the writhings in the coffin, and a blood-vessel must have
+burst at last to relieve her from her agony, for the blood lay yet
+warm on the hands as she lifted the cover. But more horrible than
+all were the fixed glassy eyes of the corpse, staring immovably
+upon her, from which clear tears were yet flowing, and blending
+with the blood upon the cheek; and, as if the priest above had
+known what was passing beneath, he exclaimed--
+
+"Oh, let us moisten our couch with tears; let tears be our meat
+day and night. They are noble tears that do not fall to earth, but
+ascend up to God's throne. Yea, the Lord gathers them in His
+vials, like costly wine. They are noble tears, for if they fill
+the eyes of God's chosen in this life, yet, in that other world,
+the Lord Jesus will wipe away tears from off all faces, as the dew
+is dried by the morning sun. Oh, wondrous beauty of those eyes
+which are dried by the Lord Jesus! Oh, blessed eyes! Oh, sun-clear
+eyes! Oh, joyful and ever-smiling eyes!"
+
+She heard no more, but felt the eyes of the corpse were upon her,
+and fell down like one dead beside the coffin; and Clara's eyes
+and the sermon never left her brain from that day, and often have
+they risen before her in dreams.
+
+But the Holy Spirit had yet a greater torment in store for her, if
+that were possible.
+
+For, after the sermon, a consistorium was held in the church upon
+a grievous sinner named Trina Wolken, who, it appeared, had many
+times done penance for her unchaste life, but had in no wise
+amended. And she heard the priest asking, "Who accuseth this
+woman?" To which, after a short silence, a deep, small voice
+responded--
+
+"I accuse her; for I detected her in sin, and though I besought
+her with Christian words to turn from her evil ways, and that I
+would save her from public shame if she would so turn, yet she
+gave herself up wholly to the devil, and out of revenge bewitched
+my best sheep, so that it died the very day after it had brought
+forth a lamb. Alas! what will become of the poor lamb? And it was
+such a beautiful little lamb!"
+
+When Marcus Bork heard this, he began to sob aloud; and each word
+seemed to run like a sharp dagger through Sidonia's heart, so that
+she bitterly repented her evil deeds. And all the congregation
+broke out into loud weeping, and even the priest continued, in a
+broken voice, to ask the sinner what she had to say to this
+terrible accusation.
+
+Upon which a woman's voice was heard swearing that all was a
+malignant lie, for her accuser was a shameless liar and open
+sinner, who wished to ruin her because she had refused his son.
+
+Then the priest commanded the witnesses to be called, not only to
+prove the unchastity, but also the witchcraft. And after this, she
+was asked if she could make good the loss of the sheep? No; she
+had no money. And the people testified also that the harlot had
+nothing but her shame. Thereupon the priest rose up, and said--
+
+"That she had long been notorious in the Christian communion for
+her wicked life, and that all her penance and repentance having
+proved but falsehood and deceit, he was commissioned by the
+honourable consistorium to pronounce upon her the solemn curse and
+sentence of excommunication. For she had this day been convicted
+of strange and terrible crimes, on the testimony of competent
+witnesses. Therefore he called upon the whole Christian
+congregation to stand up and listen to the words of the anathema,
+by which he gave over Trina Wolken to the devil, in the name of
+the Almighty God."
+
+And as he spoke the curse, it fell word by word upon the head of
+Sidonia, as if he were indeed pronouncing it over herself--
+
+"Dear Christian Friends,--Because Trina Wolken hath broken her
+baptismal vows, and given herself over to the devil, to work all
+uncleanness with greediness; and though divers times admonished to
+repentance by the Church, yet hath stiffened her neck in
+corruption, and hardened her heart in unrighteousness, therefore
+we herewith place the said Trina Wolken under the ban of the
+excommunication. Henceforth she is a thing accursed--cast off from
+the communion of the Church, and participation in the holy
+sacraments. Henceforth she is given up to Satan for this life and
+the next, unless the blessed Saviour reach forth His hand to her
+as He did to the sinking Peter, for all things are possible with
+God. And this we do by the power of the keys granted by Christ to
+His Church, to bind and loose on earth as in heaven, in the name
+of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
+
+And now Sidonia heard distinctly the screams of the wretched
+sinner, as she was hunted out of the church, and all the
+congregation followed soon after, and then all was still above.
+
+Now, indeed, terror took such hold of her that she trembled like
+an aspen leaf, and the lid fell many times from her hand with
+great clatter on the ground, as she tried to replace it on the
+coffin. For she had closed her eyes, for fear of meeting the
+ghastly stare of the corpse again. At last she got it up, and the
+corpse was covered; but she would not stay to replace the screws,
+only hastened out of the vault, closing the little grated door
+after her, reached the church door, which had no lock, but only a
+latch, and plunged into the castle gardens to hide herself amongst
+the trees.
+
+Here she remained crouched for some hours, trying to recover her
+self-possession; and when she found that she could weep as well as
+ever when it pleased her, she set off for the castle, and met her
+cousin Marcus with loud weeping and lamentations, entreating him
+to let her go that instant to Zachow. Eat and drink could she not
+from grief, though she had eaten nothing the whole morning. So the
+mournful knight, who had himself risen from the table without
+eating, to hasten to his little motherless lamb, asked her where
+she had passed the morning, for he had not seen her in the church?
+To which she answered, that she had sunk down almost dead on the
+altar-steps; and, as he seemed to doubt her, she repeated part of
+the sermon, and spoke of the curse pronounced upon the girl, and
+told how she had remained behind in the church, to weep and pray
+alone. Upon which he exclaimed joyfully--
+
+"Now, I thank God that my blessed spouse counselled me to take
+thee home with us. Ah! I see that thou hast indeed repented of thy
+sins. Go thy ways, then; and, with God's help, thou shalt never
+want a true and faithful friend while I live."
+
+He bid her also take all his blessed wife's wardrobe with her,
+amongst which was a brocaded damask with citron flowers, which she
+had only got a year before; _item_, her shoes and kerchiefs:
+_summa_, all that she had worn, he wished never to see them
+again. And so she went away in haste from the castle, after having
+given a farewell kiss to the little motherless lamb. For though
+the evil spirit Chim, which she carried under her mantle,
+whispered to her to give the little bastard a squeeze that would
+make him follow his mother, or to let him do so, she would not
+consent, but pinched him for his advice till he squalled, though
+Marcus certainly could not have heard him, for he was attending
+Sidonia to the coach; but then the good knight was so absorbed in
+grief that he had neither ears nor eyes for anything.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_How Sidonia is chased by the wolves to Rehewinkel, and finds
+Johann Appelmann again in the inn, with whom she goes away a
+second time by night._
+
+
+When Sidonia left Saatzig, the day was far advanced, so that the
+good knight recommended her to stop at Daber that night with his
+blessed wife's mourning parents, and, for this purpose, sent a
+letter by her to them. Also he gave a fine one-year-old foal in
+charge to the coachman, who tied it to the side of the carriage;
+and Marcus bid him deliver it up safely to the pastor of
+Rehewinkel, his good friend, for he had only been keeping the
+young thing at grass for him, and the pastor now wished it
+back--they must therefore go by Rehewinkel. So they drove away;
+but many strange things happened by reason of this same foal; for
+it was so restive and impatient at being tied, that many times
+they had to stop and quiet it, lest the poor beast might get hurt
+by the wheel.
+
+This so delayed their journey, that evening came on before they
+were out of the forest; and as the sun went down, the wolves began
+to appear in every direction. Finally, a pack of ten or twelve
+pursued the carriage; and though the coach-man whipped his horses
+with might and main, still the wolves gained on them, and stared
+up in their faces, licking their jaws with their red tongues. Some
+even were daring enough to spring up behind the carriage, but
+finding nothing but trunks, had to tumble down again.
+
+This so terrified Sidonia that she screamed and shrieked, and,
+drawing forth a knife, cut the cords that bound the foal, which
+instantly galloped away, and the wolves after it. How the carl
+drove now, thinking to get help in time to save the poor foal! but
+not so. The poor beast, in its terror, galloped into the town of
+Rehewinkel; and as the paddock is closed, it springs into the
+churchyard, the wolves after it, and runs into the belfry-tower,
+the door of which is lying open--the wolves rush in too, and there
+they tear the poor animal to pieces, before the pastor could
+collect peasants enough to try and save it.
+
+Meanwhile Sidonia has reached the town likewise; and as there is a
+great uproar, some of the peasants crowding into the churchyard,
+others setting off full chase after the wolves, which had taken
+the road to Freienwald, Sidonia did not choose to move on (for she
+must have travelled that very road), but desired the coachman to
+drive up to the inn; and as she entered, lo! there sat my knave,
+with two companions, at a table, drinking. Up he jumps, and seizes
+Sidonia to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Let him not attempt
+to come near her. She had done with such low fellows."
+
+So the knave feigned great sorrow--"Alas! had she quite forgotten
+him--and he treasured her memory so in his heart! Where had she
+come from? He saw a great many trunks and bags on the carriage.
+What had she in them?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! he would, no doubt, like to get hold of them;
+but she would take care and inform the people what sort of robber
+carls they had now in the house. She came from Saatzig, and was
+going to Daber; for as old Dewitz had lost his daughter, he
+intended to adopt her in the place of one. Therefore let him not
+attempt to approach her, for she was now, more than ever, a castle
+and land dowered maiden, and from such a low burgher carl as he
+was, would cross and bless herself."
+
+But my knave knew her well; so he answered--"Woe is me, Sidonia!
+do not grieve me by such words; for know that I have given up my
+old free courses of which you talk; and my father is so pleased
+with my present mode of life, that he has promised to give me my
+heritage, and even this very night I am to receive it at
+Bruchhausen, and am on my way there, as you see. Truly I meant to
+purchase some land in Poland with the money, and then search
+throughout all places for you, that we might be wedded like pious
+Christians. Alas! I thought to have sold your poor cabins at
+Zachow, and brought you home to my castle in Poland; but for all
+my love you only give me this proud answer!"
+
+Now Sidonia scarcely believed the knave; so she called one of his
+comrades aside, and asked him was it true, and where they came
+from. Upon which he confirmed all that Johann had said--"The devil
+had dispersed the whole band, so that only two were left with the
+captain--himself and Konnemann; and they came from Nörenburg,
+where the master had been striking a bargain with Elias von Wedel,
+for a town in Poland. The town was called Lembrowo, and there was
+a stately castle there, as grand almost as the castle of old
+Dewitz at Daber. They were going this very night to Bruchhausen,
+to get gold from the old stiff-neck of Stargard, so that the
+bargain might be concluded next day."
+
+This was a pleasant hearing for Sidonia. She became more friendly,
+and said, "He could not blame her for doubting him, as he had
+deceived her so often; still it was wonderful how her heart clung
+to him through all. Where had he been so long? and what had
+happened since they parted?"
+
+Hereupon he answered, "That he could not speak while the people
+were all going to and fro in the inn; but if she came out with him
+(as the night was fine), they could walk down to the river-side,
+and he would tell her all."
+
+_Summa_.--She went with him, and they sat down upon the green
+grass to discourse, never knowing that the pastor of Rehewinkel
+was hid behind the next tree; for he had gone forth to lament over
+the loss of his poor foal, and sat there weeping bitterly. He had
+got it home to sell, that he might buy a warm coat for the winter,
+which now he cannot do; therefore the old man had gone forth
+mournfully into the clear night, thrown himself down, and wept.
+
+By this chance he heard the whole story from my knave, and related
+it afterwards to the old burgomaster in Stargard. It was as
+follows:--
+
+Some time after his flight from Daber, a friend from Stettin told
+him that Dinnies von Kleist (the same who had spoiled their work
+in the Uckermund forest) had got a great sum of gold in his
+knapsack, and was off to his castle at Dame, [Footnote: A town
+near Polzin, in Lower Pomerania, and an ancient feudal hold of the
+Kleists.] while the rest were feasting at Daber. This sum he had
+won by a wager from the Princes of Saxony, Brandenburg, and
+Mecklenburg. For he had bet, at table, that he would carry five
+casks of Italian wine at once, and without help, up from the
+cellar to the dining-hall, in the castle of Old Stettin. Duke
+Johann refused the bet, knowing his man well, but the others took
+it up; upon which, after grace, the whole noble company stood up
+and accompanied him to the cellar. Here Dinnies took up a cask
+under each arm, another in each hand by the plugs, and a fifth
+between his teeth by the plug also; thus laden, he carried the
+five casks up every step from the cellar to the dining-hall. So
+the money was paid to him, as the lacqueys witnessed, and having
+put the same in his knapsack, he set off for his castle at Dame,
+to give it to his father. And the knave went on--"After I heard
+this news from my good friend, I resolved to set off for Dame and
+revenge myself on this strong ox, burn his castle, and take his
+gold. The band agreed; but woe, alas! there was one traitor
+amongst them. The fellow was called Kaff, and I might well have
+suspected him; for latterly I observed that when we were about any
+business, particularly church-robbing, he tried to be off, and
+asked to be left to keep the watch. Divers nights, too, as I
+passed him, there was the carl praying; and so I ought to have
+dismissed the coward knave at once, or he would have had half the
+band praying likewise before long.
+
+"In short, this arrant villain slips off at night from his post,
+just as we had all set ourselves down before the castle, waiting
+for the darkest hour of midnight to attack the foxes in their den,
+and betrays the whole business to Kleist himself, telling him the
+strength of the band, and how and when we were to attack him, with
+all other particulars. Whereupon a great lamentation was heard in
+the castle, and old Kleist, a little white-headed man, wrung his
+hands, and seemed ready to go mad with fear; for half the
+retainers were at the annual fair, others far away at the
+coal-mines, and finally, they could scarcely muster in all ten
+fighting men. Besides this, the castle fosse was filled with
+rubbish, though the old man had been bidding his sons, for the
+last year, to get it cleared, but they never minded him, the idle
+knaves. All this troubled stout Dinnies mightily; and as he walked
+up and down the hall, his eyes often rested on a painting which
+represented the devil cutting off the head of a gambler, and
+flying with it out of the window.
+
+"Again and again he looked at the picture, then called out for a
+hound, stuck him under his arm, and cut off his head, as if it had
+been only a dove; then he called for a calf from the stall, put it
+under his arm likewise, and cut off the head. Then he asked for
+the mask which represented the devil, and which he had got from
+Stettin to frighten his dissolute brothers, when they caroused too
+late over their cups. The young Johann, indeed, had sometimes
+dropped the wine-flask by reason of it, but Detloff still ran
+after the young maidens as much as ever, though even he had got
+such a fright that there was hope for his poor soul yet. So the
+mask was brought, and all the proper disguise to play the
+devil--namely, a yellow jerkin slashed with black, a red mantle,
+and a large wooden horse's foot.
+
+"When Dinnies beheld all this, and the man who played the devil
+instructed him how to put them on, he rejoiced greatly, and
+declared that now he alone could save the castle. I knew nothing
+of all this at the time," said Johann, "nor of the treason,
+neither did the band. We were all seated under a shed in the wood,
+that had been built for the young deer in the winter time, and had
+stuck a lantern against the wall while we gamed and drank, and our
+provider poured us out large mugs of the best beer, when, just at
+midnight, we heard a report like a clap of thunder outside, so
+that the earth shook under us (it was no thunder-clap, however,
+but an explosion of powder, which the traitor had laid down all
+round the shed, for we found the trace of it next day).
+
+"And as we all sprang up, in strode the devil himself bodily, with
+his horse's foot and cocks' feathers, and a long calf's tail,
+making the most horrible grimaces, and shaking his long hair at
+us. Fire came out of his mouth and nostrils, and roaring like a
+wild boar, he seized the little dwarf (whom you may remember,
+Sidonia), tucked him under his arm like a cock--and just as he was
+uttering a curse over his good game being interrupted--and cut his
+head clean off; then, throwing the head at me, growled forth--
+
+  "'Every day one,
+  Only Sundays none"
+
+and disappeared through the door like a flash of lightning,
+carrying the headless trunk along with him.
+
+"When my comrades heard that the devil was to carry off one of
+them every day but Sunday, they all set up a screaming, like so
+many rooks when a shot is fired in amongst them, and rushed out in
+the night, seizing hold of horses or waggons, or whatever they
+could lay their hands on, and rode away east and west, and west
+and east, or north and south, as it may be.
+
+"_Summa_.--When I came to my senses (for I had sunk down
+insensible from horror, when the head of the dwarf was thrown at
+me), I found that the said head had bit me by the arm, so that I
+had to drag it away by force; then I looked about me, and every
+knave had fled--even my waggon had been carried off, and not a
+soul was left in the place of all these fine fellows, who had
+sworn to be true to me till death.
+
+"This base desertion nearly broke my heart, and I resolved to
+change my course of life and go to some pious priest for
+confession, telling him how the devil had first tempted me to sin,
+and then punished me in this terrible manner (as, indeed, I well
+deserved).
+
+"So next morning I took my way to the town, after observing, to my
+great annoyance, that the castle could have been as easily taken
+as a bird's nest; and seeing a beer-glass painted on a sign-board,
+I guessed that here was the inn. Truth to say, my heart wanted
+strengthening sorely, and I entered. There was a pretty wench
+washing crabs in the kitchen, and as I made up to her, after my
+manner, to have a little pastime, she drew back and said,
+laughing, 'May the devil take you, as he took the others last
+night in the barn!' upon which she laughed again so loud and long,
+that I thought she would have fallen down, and could not utter a
+word more for laughing.
+
+"This seemed a strange thing to me, for I had never heard a
+Christian man, much less a woman, laugh when the talk was of the
+bodily Satan himself. So I asked what there was so pleasant in the
+thought? whereupon she related what the young knight Dinnies
+Kleist had done to save his castle from the robbers. I would not
+believe her, but while I sat myself down on a bench to drink, the
+host comes in and confirmed her story. _Summa_, I let the
+conversion lie over for a time yet, and set about looking for my
+comrades, but not finding one, I fell into despair, and resolved
+to get into Poland, and take service in the army there--especially
+as all my money had vanished."
+
+Here the old parson said that Sidonia cried out, "How now, sir
+knave, you are going to buy castle and lands forsooth, and have no
+money? Truly the base villain is deceiving me yet again."
+
+But my knave answered, "Alas! woe that thou shouldst think so
+hardly of me! Have I not told thee that my father is going to give
+me my heritage? So listen further what I tell thee:--In Poland I
+met with Konnemann and Stephen Pruski, who had one of my waggons
+with them, in which all my gold was hid, and when I threatened to
+complain to the authorities, the cowards let me have my own
+property again, on condition that I would take them into my
+service, when I went to live at my own castle. This I promised;
+therefore they are here with me, as you see. And Konnemann went
+lately to my father at my request, and brought me back the joyful
+intelligence that he would assign me over my portion of his goods
+and property."
+
+So far the Pastor Rehewinkelensis heard. What follows concerning
+the wicked knave was related by his own sorrowing father to my
+worthy father-in-law, along with other pious priests, and from him
+I had the story when I visited him at Marienfliess.
+
+For what was my knave's next act? When he returned to the town,
+and heard from his comrades that the coachman of Saatzig was
+snoring away there in the stable with open mouth, he stuffed in
+some hay to prevent him screaming, and tied him hands and feet,
+then drew his horses out of the stall, yoked them to the carriage,
+and drove it himself a little piece out of the town down into the
+hollow, then went back for Sidonia, telling her that her stupid
+coachman had made some mistake and driven off without her, but he
+had put all her baggage on his own carriage, which was now quite
+ready, if she would walk with him a little way just outside the
+town. Hereupon she paid the reckoning, mine host troubling himself
+little about the affair of the waggon, and they set off on foot.
+
+When they reached the carriage, Sidonia asked if all her baggage
+were really there, for she could not see in the darkness. And when
+she felt, and reckoned all her bundles and trunks, and found all
+right, my knave said, "Now, she saw herself that he meant truly by
+her. Here was even a nice place made in the straw sack for her,
+where he had sat down first himself, that she might have an easy
+seat. _Item_, she now saw his own carriage which he had
+fished up in Poland and kept till now, that he might travel in it
+to Bruchhausen to receive his heritage, and he was going there
+this very night. She saw that he had lied in nothing."
+
+Whereupon Sidonia got into the carriage with him, never
+discovering his knavery on account of the darkness, and about
+midnight they reached the inn at Bruchhausen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_How a new leaf is turned over at Bruchhausen in a very fearful
+manner--Old Appelmann takes his worthless son prisoner, and
+admonishes him to repentance--Of Johann's wonderful conversion,
+and execution next morning in the churchyard, Sidonia being
+present thereby._
+
+
+My knave halted a little way before they reached the inn, for he
+had his suspicions that all was not quite right, and sent on the
+forenamed Pruski to ascertain whether the money was really come
+for him. For there was a bright light in the tap-room, and the
+sound of many voices, which was strange, seeing that it was late
+enough for every one to be in bed. Pruski was back again
+soon--yes, it was all right. There were men in there from
+Stargard, who said they had brought gold for the young
+burgomaster.
+
+Marry! how my knave jumped down from the carriage, and brought
+Sidonia along with him, bidding Pruski to stay and watch the
+things. But, behold, as my knave entered, six men seized him,
+bound him firmly, and bid him sit down quietly on a bench by the
+table, till his father arrived. So he cursed and swore, but this
+was no help to him; and when Sidonia saw that she had been
+deceived again, she tried to slip out and get to the carriage, but
+the men stopped her, saying, unless she wished a pair of handcuffs
+on, she had better sit down quietly on another bench opposite
+Johann. And she asked in vain what all this meant. _Item_, my
+knave asked in vain, but no one answered them.
+
+They had not long been waiting, when a carriage stopped before the
+door, more voices were heard, and, alas! who should enter but the
+old burgomaster himself, with Mag. Vito, Diaconus of St. John's.
+And after them came the executioner, with six assistants bearing a
+black coffin.
+
+My knave now turned as white as a corpse, and trembled like an
+aspen leaf; no word could he utter, but fell with his back against
+the wall. Then a dead silence reigned throughout the chamber, and
+Sidonia looked as white as her paramour.
+
+When the assistants had placed the coffin on the ground, the old
+father advanced to the table, and spake thus--"Oh, thou fallen and
+godless child! thou thrice lost son! how often have I sought to
+turn thee from evil, and trusted in thy promises; but in place of
+better, thou hast grown worse, and wickedness has increased in
+thee day by day, as poison in the young viper. On thy infamous
+hands lie so many robberies, murders, and seductions, that they
+cannot be reckoned. I speak not of past years, for then truly the
+night would not be long enough to count them; I speak only of thy
+last deeds in Poland, as old Elias von Wedel related them to me
+yesterday in Stargard. Deny, if thou darest, here in the face of
+thy death and thy coffin, how thou didst join thyself to the
+Lansquenets in Poland, and then along with two vile fellows got
+entrance into Lembrowo, telling the old castellan, Elias von
+Wedel, that thou wast a labourer, upon which he took thee into his
+service. But at night thou (O wicked son!) didst rise up and beat
+the old Elias almost unto death, demanding all his money, which,
+when he refused, thou and thy robber villains seized his cattle
+and his horses, and drove them away with thee. _Item_, canst
+thou deny that on meeting the same old Elias at Norenberg by the
+hunt in the forest, thou didst mock him, and ask, would he sell
+his castle of Lembrowo in Poland, for thou wouldst buy it of him,
+seeing thy father had promised thee plenty of gold?
+
+"_Item_, canst thou deny having written me a threatening
+letter, declaring that if by this very night a hundred dollars
+were not sent to thee here at Bruchhausen, a red beacon should
+rise up from my sheepfolds and barns, which meant nothing else
+than that thou wouldst burn the whole good town of Stargard, for
+thou knowest well that all the sheepfolds and barns of the
+burghers adjoin one to the other? Canst thou deny this, O thou
+lost son? If so, deny it now."
+
+Here Johann began again with his old knavery. He wept, and threw
+himself on the ground, crawling under the table to get to his
+father's feet, then howled forth, that he repented of his sins,
+and would lead a better life truly for the future, if his hard,
+stern father would only forgive him now.
+
+But Sidonia screamed aloud, and as the burgomaster in his sorrow
+had not observed her before, he turned his eyes now on her, and
+exclaimed, "Woe, alas! thou godless son, hast thou this noble
+maiden with thee yet? I thought she was at Saatzig; or perchance
+thou hast made her thy wife?"
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, no; but he would marry her soon, to make
+amends for the wrong he had done her."
+
+_Hic_.--"This thou hast ten times promised, but in vain, and
+thy sins have increased a hundredfold; because, like all
+profligates, thou hast shunned the holy estate of matrimony, and
+preferred to wallow in the mire of unchastity, with any one who
+fell in the way of thy adulterous and licentious eyes."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas! his heart's dearest father was right; but he
+would amend his evil life; and, in proof of it, let the reverend
+deacon, M. Vitus, here present, wed him now instantly to Sidonia."
+
+_Hic_.--"It is too late. I counsel thee rather to wed thy
+poor soul to the holy Saviour, like the repentant thief on the
+cross. See--here is a priest, and there is a coffin."
+
+Here the executioner broke in upon the old, deeply afflicted
+father, telling him the coffin was too short, as, indeed, his
+worship had told him, but he would not believe the young man was
+so tall. Where could he put the head? It must be stuck between his
+feet, or under his arm, cried out another. So some proposed one
+thing and some another, till a great uproar arose.
+
+Upon which the old mourning father cried out--"Do you want to
+break my heart? Is there not time enough to talk of this after?"
+
+Then he turned again to his profligate son, and asked him--
+
+"Would he not repent, and take the holy body and blood of our Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a passport with him on this long
+journey? If so, let him go into the little room and pray with the
+priest, and repent of his sins; there was yet time."
+
+_Ille_.--"Alas, he had repented already. What had he ever
+done so wicked that his own bodily father should thirst after his
+blood? The courts were all closed, and law or justice could no man
+have in all Pomerania. What wonder then if club-law and the right
+of the strongest should obtain in all places, as in the olden
+time?"
+
+_Hic_.--"That law and justice had ceased in the land was,
+alas! but too true. However, he was not to answer for this, but
+his princely Grace of Stettin. And because they had ceased in the
+land, was he, as an upright magistrate, called upon to do his duty
+yet more sternly, even though the criminal were his own born son.
+For the Lord, the just Judge, the Almighty and jealous God, called
+to him daily, from His holy Word--'Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is
+God's.' [Footnote: Deut. i. 17.] Woe to the land's Prince who had
+not considered this, but compelled him, the miserable judge, to
+steep his father's hands in the blood of his own son. But
+righteous Abraham conquered through faith, because he was obedient
+unto God, and bound his own innocent son upon the altar, and drew
+forth his knife to slay him. Therefore he, too, would conquer
+through faith, if he bound his _guilty_ son, and drew out the
+sword against him, obedient to the words of the Lord. Therefore
+let him prepare himself for death, and follow the priest into the
+adjoining little chamber."
+
+When Johann found that his father could in no wise be softened, he
+began horribly to curse him and the hour of his birth, so that the
+hair of all who heard him stood on end. And he called the devil to
+help him, and adjured him to come and carry away this fierce and
+unnatural father, who was more bloodthirsty than the wild beasts
+of the forest--for who had ever heard that they murdered their own
+blood?
+
+"Come, devil," he screamed; "come, devil, and tear this
+bloodthirsty monster of a father to pieces before my eyes, so will
+I give myself to thee, body and soul! Hearest thou, Satan! Come
+and destroy my father, and all who have here come out to murder
+me, only leave me a little while longer in this life to do thy
+service, and then I am thine for eternity!"
+
+Now all eyes were turned in fear and horror to the door, but no
+Satan entered, for the just God would not permit it, else,
+methinks, he would have run to catch such a morsel for his supper.
+However, the old man trembled, and seemed dwindling away into
+nothing before the eyes of the bystanders as his son uttered the
+curse. But he soon recovered, and laying his quivering hands upon
+the head of the imprecator, broke forth into loud weeping, while
+he prayed thus--
+
+"O Thou just and Almighty God, who bringest the devices of the
+wicked to nought, close Thine ears against this horrible curse of
+my false son; remember Thine own word--'Into an evil soul wisdom
+cannot enter, nor dwell in a body subject unto sin.' [Footnote:
+Wisdom i. 4.] Thou alone canst make the sinful soul wise, and the
+body of sin a temple of the Holy Ghost. O Lord Jesus Christ, hast
+Thou no drop of living water, no crumb of strengthening manna for
+this sinful and foolish soul? Hast Thou no glance of Thy holy eyes
+for this denying Peter, that he may go forth and weep bitterly?
+Hast Thou no word to strike the heart of this dying thief--of this
+lost son, who, here bound for death, has cursed his own father,
+and given himself up, body and soul, to the enemy of mankind? O
+blessed Spirit, who comest and goest as the wind, enter the
+heavenly temple, which is yet the work of Thy hands, and make it,
+by Thy presence, a temple of the Most High! O Lord God, dwell
+there but one moment, that so in his death-anguish he may feel the
+sweetness of Thy presence, and the heaven-high comfort of Thy
+promise! O Thou Holy Trinity, who hast kept my steps from falling,
+through so much care and trouble, through so much shame and
+disgrace, through so much watching and tears, and even now through
+these terrible curses of my son, come and say Amen to this my last
+blessing, which I, poor father, give him for his curse.
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee in the death hour.
+The Lord shed his grace on thee, and give thee peace in thy last
+agonies!
+
+"Yes, Johann; the Lord bless thee and keep thee, and give thee
+peace upon earth, and peace above the earth! Amen, amen, amen!"
+
+When the trembling old man had so prayed, many wept aloud, and his
+son trembled likewise, and followed the priest, silently and
+humbly, into the neighbouring chamber.
+
+Then the old man turned to Sidonia, and asked why she had left her
+worthy cousin Marcus of Saatzig?
+
+Upon which she told him, weeping, how his son had deceived her, in
+order to get her once more into his power, in order that he might
+rob her, and all she wanted now was to be let go her way in peace
+to her farm-houses in Zachow.
+
+But this the old man refused.
+
+"No; this must not be yet. She was as evil-minded as his own son,
+and needed an example to warn her from sin. Not a step should she
+move till his head was off."
+
+And, for this purpose, he bid two burghers seize hold of her by
+the hands, and carry her to the scaffold when the execution was
+going to take place. The grave must be nearly ready now, which he
+bade them dig in a corner of the churchyard close by, and he had
+ordered a car-load of sand likewise to be laid down there, for the
+execution should take place in the churchyard.
+
+Meanwhile the poor criminal has come out of the inner chamber with
+M. Vitus, and going up to the bench where the poor father had sunk
+down exhausted by emotion, he flings himself at his feet,
+exclaiming, with the prodigal son in the parable--
+
+"Father, I have sinned before heaven and in thy sight, and am no
+more worthy to be called thy son."
+
+Then he kissed his feet, and bedewed them with his tears.
+
+Now the father thought this was all pretence, as formerly, so he
+gave no answer. Upon which the poor sinner rose up, and reached
+his hand to each one in the chamber, praying their forgiveness for
+all the evil he had done, but which he was now going to expiate in
+his blood. _Item,_ he advanced to Sidonia, sighing--
+
+"Would not she too forgive him, for the love of God? Woe, alas!
+She had more to forgive than any one; but would not she give him
+her pardon, for some comfort on this last journey; and so would he
+bear her remembrance before the throne of God?"
+
+But Sidonia pushed away his hand.
+
+"He should be ashamed of such old-womanish weakness. Did he not
+see that his father was only trying to frighten him? For were he
+in earnest, then were he more cruel even than her own unnatural
+father, who, though he had only left her two cabins in Zachow, out
+of all his great riches, yet had left her, at least, her poor
+life."
+
+Hereupon the poor sinner made answer--
+
+"Not so; I know my father; he is not cruel; what he does is right;
+therefore I willingly die, trusting in my blessed Saviour, whose
+body will sanctify my body in the grave. For had I committed no
+other sin, yet the curse I uttered just now is alone sufficient to
+make me worthy of death, as it is written--'He that curseth father
+or mother shall surely be put to death.'" [Footnote: Exodus xxi.
+17.]
+
+When the old man heard such-like words, he resolved to put his
+son's sincerity to the test, for truly it seemed to him impossible
+that the Almighty God should so suddenly make the crooked
+straight, and the dead to live, and a child of heaven out of a
+child of hell. So he spake--
+
+"Thy repentance seemeth good unto me, my son, what sayest thou?
+will it last, think you, if I now bestow thy life on thee?"
+
+Hereat Sidonia laughed aloud, exclaiming--
+
+"Said I not right? It was all a jest of thy dear father's." But
+the poor sinner would not turn again to his wallowing in the mire.
+He sat down upon a bench, covering his face with his hands, and
+sobbed aloud. At last he answered--
+
+"Alas! father, life is sweet and death is bitter; but since the
+Holy Spirit hath entered into me with the body of our Lord, I say,
+death is sweet and life is bitter. No; off with my head! 'I find a
+law in my members warring against the law of my spirit, and making
+me a prisoner under the law of sin;' [Footnote: Romans vii. 23.]
+for if I see my neighbour rich and I am poor, then the demon of
+covetousness rises in me, and my fingers itch to seize my share.
+Or, if the foaming flask is before me, how can I resist to drain
+it, for the spirit of gluttony is within me? Or, if I see a
+maiden, the blood throbs in my veins, and the demon of lust has
+taken possession of me. 'Oh, wretched man that I am, who will
+deliver me from the body of this death?' You will, dearest father.
+You will release me from this life, as you once gave it to me, for
+it is now a life in death. Ah! show mercy! Come quickly, and
+release me from the body of this death!"
+
+When he ceased, the old man sprung up like a youth, and pressing
+his lost son to his heart, sobbed forth like him of the Gospel--
+
+"O friends, see! 'This my son was dead, but is alive again; he was
+lost, and is found.' Yea, yea, see all that nothing is impossible
+with God. O Thou Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now I
+have nothing more to ask, but that I too may soon be released from
+the body of this death, and go forth to meet my new-found son
+amidst the bright circle of the Holy Angels."
+
+Then the son answered--
+
+"Let me go now, father. See, the morning dawn shines already
+through the window; so hath the loving mercy of my God come to me,
+who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. Farewell, father; let
+me go now. Away with this head in the clear early morning light,
+so that my feet be fixed for evermore upon the path to peace."
+
+And so speaking, he seized M. Vitus by the hand, who was sobbing
+loudly, as well as most of the burghers, and the executioner with
+his assistants bearing the coffin were going to follow, when the
+old man, who had sunk down upon a bench, called back his son,
+though he had already gone out at the door, and prayed the
+executioner to let him stay one little while longer. For he
+remembered that his son had a welt upon his neck, and he must see
+whether it would interfere with the sword. Woe, woe! if he should
+have to strike twice or thrice before the head fell!
+
+So the executioner removed the neck-cloth from the poor sinner
+(who, by the great mercy of God, was stronger than any of them),
+and having felt the welt, said--
+
+"No; the welt was close up to the head, but he would take the neck
+in the middle, as indeed was his usual custom. His worship may
+make his mind quite easy; he would stake his life on it that the
+head would fall with the first blow. This was his one hundred and
+fiftieth, and he never yet had failed."
+
+Then the unhappy criminal tied his cravat on again, took M. Vitus
+by the hand, and said--
+
+"Farewell, my father; once more forgive me for all that I have
+done!"
+
+After which he went out quickly, without waiting to hear a word
+more from his father, and the executioner followed him.
+
+Meanwhile the afflicted father was sore troubled in mind. Three
+times he repeated the text--"Ye shall not respect persons in
+judgment, nor be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is
+God's." Then he called upon God to forgive the Prince who, by
+taking away law and justice from the land, had obliged him to be
+the judge and condemner of his son. How the Lord dealt with the
+Prince we shall hear farther on. One while he sent mine host to
+look over the hedge, and tell him if the head were off yet. Then
+he would begin to pray that he might soon follow this poor son,
+who had never given him one moment of joy but through his death,
+and pass quickly after him through the vale of tears.
+
+The son, however, is steadfast unto the end. For when they reached
+the churchyard, he stood still a while gazing on the heap of sand.
+Then he desired to be led to the spot where his grave was dug; and
+near this same grave there being a tombstone, on which was figured
+a man kneeling before a crucifix, he asked--
+
+"Who was to share his grave bed here?"
+
+Whereupon M. Vitus replied--
+
+"He was a _rector scholæ_ out of Stargard, a very learned
+man, who had retired from active life, and settled down here at
+Bruchhausen, where he died not long since."
+
+Whereat the poor sinner stood still a while, and then repeated
+this beautiful distich, no doubt by the inspiration of the Holy
+Ghost, to warn all learned sinners against that demon of pride and
+vain-glory which too often takes possession of them.
+
+  "Quid juvat innumeros scire atque evolvere casus
+   Si facieuda fugis et fugienda facis?"
+
+   ["What is the use of knowledge and all our infinite learning,
+    If we fly what is right and do what we ought to fly?"]
+
+Then he looked calmly at his grave, and only prayed the
+executioner not to put his head between his feet; after which he
+returned to the sand-heap and exclaimed--
+
+"Now to God!"
+
+Upon which, M. Vitus blessed him yet again, and spake--
+
+"O God, Father, who hast brought back this lost son, and filled
+this foolish soul with wisdom; ah! Jesus, Saviour, who, in truth,
+hast turned Thy holy eyes on him as on the denying Peter and on
+the dying thief. O Holy Spirit, who hast not scorned to make this
+poor vessel a temple for Thyself to dwell in, that in the
+death-anguish this sinner may find the sweetness of Thy presence
+and the heaven-high comfort of Thy promises! O Thou Holy
+Trinity--to Thee--to Thee--to Thee--to Thy grace, Thy power, Thy
+protection, we resign this dying mortal in his last agonies. Help
+him, Lord God! _Kyrle Eleison!_ Give Thy holy angels command
+to bear this poor soul into Abraham's bosom. O come, Lord Jesus;
+help him, O Lord our God. _Kyrie Eleison!_ Amen."
+
+And hereupon he pronounced a last blessing over him. And when the
+executioner took off his upper garment and bound the kerchief over
+his eyes, M. Vitus again spake--
+
+"Think on the holy martyrs, of whom Basilius Magnus testifies that
+they exclaimed, when undressing for their death--_Non vestes
+exuimus, sed veterem hommem deponimus." [Footnote: "We lay not off
+our clothes, but the old man."--Basil the Great, Archbishop of
+Caesarea, A.D. 379.]
+
+Upon which he answered from under the kerchief something in Latin,
+but the executioner had laid the cloth so thickly even over his
+mouth and chin, that no one could catch the words. Then he kneeled
+down, and while the executioner drew his sword, M. Vitus chanted--
+
+  "When my lips no more can speak,
+     May Thy Spirit in me cry;
+   When my eyes are faint and weak,
+     May my soul see Heaven nigh!
+
+   When my heart is sore dismayed,
+     This dying frame has lost its strength,
+   May my spirit, with Thy aid,
+     Cry--Jesu, take me home at length!"
+
+And all who stood round saw, as it were, a wonderful sign from
+God; for as the executioner let the sword fall, head and sun
+appeared at the same moment--the head upon the earth, the sun
+above the earth; and there was a deep silence. Sidonia alone
+laughed out loud, and cried, "So ends the conversion!" And while
+the psalm was singing, "Now, pray we to the Holy Ghost," the
+executioner acting as clerk, she disappeared, and for thirty
+years, as we shall hear presently, no one could ascertain where
+she went to or how she lived; though sometimes, like a horrible
+ghost, she was seen occasionally here and there.
+
+_Summa_.--The miserable criminal was laid in his coffin, and
+as, in truth, it was too short for the corpse, and the poor sinner
+had requested that his head might not be placed between his feet,
+so it was laid upon his chest, with his hands folded over it, and
+thus he was buried.
+
+The old father rejoiced greatly that his son remained steadfast in
+the truth until the last, and thanked God for it. Then he returned
+to Stargard; and I may just mention, to conclude concerning him,
+that the merciful God heard the prayer of this His faithful
+servant, for he scarcely survived his son a year, but, after a
+short illness, fell asleep in Jesus. [Footnote: For further
+particulars concerning this truly worthy man, who may well be
+called the Pomeranian Manlius, see Friedeborn, "Description of Old
+Stettin," vol. ii. p. 113; and Barthold, "Pomeranian History," pp.
+46, 419.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+_Of Sidonia's disappearance for thirty years--Item, how the
+young Princess Elizabeth Magdelene was possessed by a devil, and
+of the sudden death of her father, Ernest Ludovicus of
+Pomerania._
+
+
+I have said that Sidonia disappeared after the execution at
+Bruchhausen, and that for thirty years no one knew where she lived
+or how she lived. At her farm-house at Zachow she never appeared;
+but the _Acta Criminalia_ set forth that during that period
+she wandered about the towns of Freienwald, Regenwald, Stargard,
+and other places, in company with Peter Konnemann and divers other
+knaves.
+
+However, the ducal prosecutor, although he instituted the
+strictest inquiries at the period of her trial, could ascertain
+nothing beyond this, except that, in consequence of her evil
+habits and licentious tongue, she was held everywhere in fear and
+abhorrence, and was chased away from every place she entered after
+about six or eight o'clock. Further, that some misfortune always
+fell upon every one who had dealings with her, particularly young
+married people. To the said Konnemann, she betrothed herself after
+the death of her first paramour, but afterwards gave him fifty
+florins to get rid of the contract, as she confessed at the
+seventeenth question upon the rack, according to the _Actis
+Lothmanni_. Meantime her brother and cousins were so completely
+turned against her, that her brother even took those two
+farm-houses to himself; and though Sidonia wrote to him, begging
+that an annuity might be settled on her, yet she never received a
+line in answer--and this was the manner in which the whole
+cousinhood treated her in her despair and poverty.
+
+I myself made many inquiries as to her mode of life during those
+thirty years, but in vain. Some said that she went into Poland and
+there kept a little tavern for twenty years; some had seen her
+living at Riigen at the old wall, where in heathen times the
+goddess Hertha was honoured. Some said she went to Riiden, a
+little uninhabited island between Riigen and Usdom, where the wild
+geese and other birds flock in the moulting season and drop their
+feathers. Thence, they said, she gathered the eggs, and killed the
+birds with clubs. At least this was the story of the Usdom
+fishermen, but whether it were Sidonia or some other outcast
+woman, I cannot in strict verity declare. Only in Freienwald did I
+hear for certain that she lived there twelve years with some earl
+whom she called her shield-knight; but one day they quarrelled,
+and beat each other till the blood flowed, after which they both
+ran out of the town, and went different ways.
+
+_Summa._--On the 1st of May 1592, when the witches gather in
+the Brocken to hold their Walpurgis night, and the princely castle
+of Wolgast was well guarded from the evil one by white and black
+crosses placed on every door, an old wrinkled hag was seen about
+eight o'clock of the morning (just the time she had returned from
+the Blocksberg, according to my thinking), walking slowly up and
+down the great corridor of the princely castle. And the providence
+of the great God so willed it that at that moment the young and
+beautiful Princess Elizabeth Magdalena (who had been betrothed to
+the Duke Frederick of Courland) opened her chamber-door and
+slipped forth to pay her morning greetings to her illustrious
+father, Duke Ernest, and his spouse, the Lady Sophia Hedwig of
+Brunswick, who sat together drinking their warm beer, [Footnote:
+Before the introduction of coffee or chocolate, warm beer was in
+general use at breakfast] and had sent for her.
+
+So the hag advanced with much friendliness and cried out, "Hey,
+what a beautiful young damsel! But her lord papa was called 'the
+handsome' in his time, and wasn't she as like him as one egg to
+another. Might she take her ladyship's little hand and kiss it?"
+Now as the hag was bold in her bearing, and the young Princess was
+a timid thing, she feared to refuse; so she reached forth her
+hand, alas! to the witch, who first three times blew on it,
+murmuring some words before she kissed it; then as the young
+Princess asked her who she was and what she wanted, the evil hag
+answered, "I would speak with your gracious father, for I have
+known him well. Ask his princely Grace to come to me, for I have
+somewhat to say to him." Now the Princess, in her simplicity,
+omitted to ask the hag's name, whereby much evil came to pass, for
+had she told her gracious father that SIDONIA wished to speak to
+him, assuredly he never would have come forth, and that fatal and
+malignant glance of the witch would not have fallen upon him.
+
+However, his Serene Grace, having a mild Christian nature, stepped
+out into the corridor at the request of his dear daughter, and
+asked the hag who she was and what she wanted. Upon this, she
+fixed her eyes on him in silence for a long while, so that he
+shuddered, and his blood seemed to turn to ice in his veins.
+[Footnote: This belief in the witchcraft of a glance was very
+general during the witch period. And even the ancients notice it
+(Pliny, Hist. Nat. vii. 2), also Aul. Gell. Noct. Attic, ix. 4;
+and Virgil, Eclog. in. 103. The glance of a woman with double
+pupils was particularly feared.] At last she spake: "It is a
+strange thing, truly, that your Grace should no longer remember
+the maiden to whom you once promised marriage." At this his Grace
+recoiled in horror, and exclaimed, "Ha, Sidonia! but how you are
+changed." "Ah!" she answered, with a scornful laugh, "you may well
+triumph, now that my cheek is hollow, and my beauty gone, and that
+I have come to you for justice against my own brother in Stramehl,
+who denies me even the means of subsistence--you, who brought me
+to this pass."
+
+Upon which his Grace answered that her brother was a subject of
+the Duke of Stettin. Let her go then to Stettin, and demand
+justice there.
+
+_Illa._--"She had been there, but the Duke refused to see
+her, and to her request for a _proebenda_ in the convent of
+Marienfliess had returned no answer. She prayed his Grace,
+therefore, out of old good friendship, to take up her cause, and
+use his influence with the Lord Duke of Stettin to obtain the
+_proebenda_ for her, also to send a good scolding to her
+brother at Stramehl under his own hand."
+
+Now my gracious Prince was so anxious to get rid of her, that he
+promised everything she asked. Whereupon she would kiss his hand,
+but he drew it back shuddering, upon which she went down the great
+castle steps again, murmuring to herself.
+
+But her wickedness soon came to light; for mark--scarcely a few
+days had passed over, when the beautiful young Princess was
+possessed by Satan; she rolls herself upon the ground, twists and
+writhes her hands and feet, speaks with a great coarse voice like
+a common carl, blasphemes God and her parents; and what was more
+wonderful than all, her throat swelled, and when they laid their
+hand on it, something living seemed creeping up and down in it.
+Then it went up to her mouth, and her tongue swelled so, that her
+eyes seemed starting from their sockets, and the gracious young
+lady became fearful to look at.
+
+_Item,_ then she began to speak Latin, though she had never
+learned this tongue, whereupon many, and in particular Mag.
+Michael Aspius, the court chaplain (for Dr. Gerschovius was long
+since dead) pronounced that Satan himself verily must be in the
+maiden. [Footnote: The ancients name three distinguishing marks of
+demoniacal possession:--
+
+1st, When the patient blasphemes God and cannot repeat the leading
+articles of his Christian belief.
+
+2nd, When he foretells events which afterwards come to pass.
+
+3rd, When he speaks in a strange tongue, which it can be proved he
+never learned.
+
+Now the somnambulists of our day fulfil the second and third
+conditions without dispute; and some account for the divining
+power by saying it is the effect of the increased activity of the
+soul. They also assert that the patient speaks in a strange tongue
+only when the magnetiser with whom he is in _en rapport_
+understands the tongue himself, and the patient speaks it because
+all the thoughts, feelings, words, &c., of the operator become
+his--in short, their souls become one. This explanation, however,
+is very improbable, and has not been confirmed by facts; for the
+phenomenon of speaking in a strange tongue often appears before a
+perfect _rapport_ has been obtained between the patient and
+the operator. Indeed, Psellus gives an instance to show that it is
+not even at all necessary. (Psellus lived about the eleventh
+century, and wrote _De Operatione Doemonum,_ also _De
+Mysteriis AEgyptiorum,_ his works are very remarkable, and well
+worth a perusal.) He states that a sick woman all at once began to
+speak in a strange and barbarous tongue no one had ever heard
+before. At last some of the women about her brought an Armenian
+magician to see her, who instantly found that she spoke Armenian,
+though she had never in her life beheld one of that nation.
+Psellus describes him as an old lean wrinkled man. He acted quite
+differently from our modern magnetisers, for he never sought to
+place himself in sympathetic relation with her by passes or
+touches; on the contrary, he drew his sword, and placing himself
+beside the bed, began tittering the most harsh and cruel words he
+could think of in the Armenian tongue _(acriter conviciatus
+est)_. The woman retorted in the Armenian tongue likewise, and
+tried to get out of bed to fight with him. Then the barbarian grew
+as if mad, and endeavoured to stab her, upon which she shrunk back
+terrified and trembling, and soon fell into a deep sleep. Psellus
+seems to have witnessed this, for he says the woman was wife to
+his eldest brother. As further regards demoniacal possession, the
+New Testament is full of examples thereof; and though in the last
+century the reality of the fact was assailed, yet Franz Meyer has
+again defended it with arguments that cannot be overthrown.
+Remarkable examples of possession in modern times we find in the
+_Didiskalia,_ No. 81, of the year 1833, and in Berner's
+"History of Satanic Possession," p. 20.] This was fully proved on
+the following Sunday; for during divine service in the Church of
+St. Peter, the young Princess was carried in on a litter and laid
+down before the altar, whereupon she commenced uttering horrible
+blasphemies, and mocking the holy prayer in a coarse bass voice,
+while she foamed and raged so violently, that eight men could
+scarcely hold her in her bed. Whereat the whole Christian
+congregation were admonished to pray to the Lord for this poor
+maiden, that she might be freed from the devil within her; and
+during the week all priests throughout the land were commanded to
+offer up prayers day and night for her princely Grace. But on
+Sundays all the people were to unite in one common supplication to
+the throne of grace for the like object.
+
+And it seemed, after some weeks, as if God had heard their
+prayers, and commanded Satan to leave the body of the young
+maiden, for she had now rest for fourteen days, and was able to
+pray again. Also her rosy cheeks began to bloom once more, so that
+her parents were filled with joy, and resolved to hold a
+thank-festival throughout the land, and receive the Holy Sacrament
+in St. Peter's Church with their beloved daughter.
+
+But what happened? For as the godly discourse had ended, and their
+Graces stepped to the altar to make a rich offering on the plate
+which lay upon the little desk, free of approach from all sides,
+my knave Satan has again begun his work. Truly, he waited with
+cunning till her Grace had swallowed the Sacrament, that his
+blasphemies might seem more horrible. And this was the way he
+manifested himself.
+
+After the court marshal and the castellan had laid down a black
+velvet carpet, embroidered in gold with the Pomeranian and
+Brandenburg arms, for their Graces to kneel upon, they took
+another black velvet cloth, on which the Holy Supper was
+represented embroidered in silver, to hold before their Graces
+like a serviette, while they received the blessed elements. Then
+advanced the priest with the Sacrament, but scarcely had the
+gracious young Princess swallowed the same, when she uttered a
+loud cry and fell backwards with her head upon the ground, while
+Satan raged so in her that it might have melted the heart of a
+stone.
+
+So M. Aspius bade the organ cease, and then placed the young lady
+upon a seat, after which he called upon their Graces and the whole
+congregation to join him in offering up a prayer. Then he solemnly
+adjured the evil spirit to come out of her; it, however, had grown
+so daring that it only laughed at the priest; and when asked where
+it had been for so long, and in particular where it had lain while
+the Jesu bride was wedded to her Holy Saviour in the Blessed
+Sacrament, it impatiently answered that it had lain under her
+tongue; many knaves might lie under a bridge while an honourable
+seigneur passed overhead, and why should not it do the like? And
+here, to the unspeakable horror of the whole congregation, it
+seemed to move up and down in the chest and throat of the young
+Princess, like some animal.
+
+But the long-suffering of God was now at an end, for while the
+Reverend Dr. Aspius was talking himself weary with adjurations,
+and gaining no good by it, for the evil spirit only mocked and
+jeered him, crying, "Look at the fat parson how he sweats, maybe
+it will help as much as his chattering over the wine," who should
+enter the church (sent no doubt by the all-merciful God) but the
+Reverend Dr. Joel, Professor at Grypswald, for he had heard how
+this lusty Satan had taken possession of the princely maiden. When
+the devil saw him, he began to tremble through all the limbs of
+the young Princess, and exclaimed in Latin, _"Consummatum
+est."_ [Footnote: "It is over."] For this Dr. Joel was a
+powerful man, and learned in all the cunning shifts of the
+arch-enemy, having many times disputed de Magis. [Footnote: Of
+Witchcraft; see Barthold, iv. 2, 412.]
+
+Now when he advanced to the young Princess, and saw how the evil
+spirit ran up and down her poor form, like a mouse in a net, he
+was filled with horror, and removing his hat, exclaimed, without
+taking much heed of his Latin, _"Deus misereatur
+peccatoris."_ Upon which the devil, in a deep bass voice,
+corrected him, crying, _"Die peccatricls, die peccatricls."_
+[Footnote: Peccatoris is masculine, Peccatricis feminine.]
+
+However, Satan himself felt that his hour had come; for when
+Doctor Joel laid his hand upon the maiden, and repeated a powerful
+adjuration from the _Clavilcula Salomonis,_ Satan immediately
+promised to obey if he were allowed to take away the
+oblation-cloth which lay upon the desk.
+
+_Ille._--"What did he want with the oblation-cloth?"
+
+_Satanas._--"There was a coin in it which vexed him."
+
+_Ille._--"What coin could it be, and wherefore did it vex
+him?"
+
+_Satanas._--"He would not say."
+
+_Ille._--(Adjures him again.)
+
+_Satanas._--"Let him have it, or he would tear the young
+maiden to pieces." And here he began to foam and rage so horribly,
+that her eyes turned in her head, and she gnashed with her teeth,
+so that father and mother had to cover their eyes not to see her
+great agony. Whereupon Doctor Joel bent down and wrote with his
+finger upon her breast the Tetragrammaton, crying out-- [Footnote:
+The four letters which compose the name Jehovah ( [Hebrew Text]).
+It was employed by the Theurgists in all their most powerful
+conjurations.]
+
+"Away, thou unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost!"
+
+Upon which the young maiden sank down as quiet as a corpse, and
+the oblation-cloth, which lay upon the desk, whirled round of
+itself in the middle of the church with great noise and clatter,
+as if seized by a storm-wind, and the money therein was all
+scattered about the church, so that the old wives who sat upon the
+benches fell down upon the floor, right and left, to try and catch
+it. Great horror and amazement now filled the whole congregation;
+yet as some had expressed an opinion that the young Princess was
+only afflicted by a sickness, and not possessed at all, Doctor
+Joel thought it needful to admonish them in the following words:--
+
+"Those wise persons who, forsooth, would not credit such a thing
+as Satanic possession, might see now of a truth, by the
+oblation-cloth, that Satan bodily had been amongst them. He knew
+there were many such wise knaves in the church; therefore let them
+hold their tongue for evermore, and remember that such signs had
+been permitted before of God, to testify of the real bodily
+presence of the devil. Example (Matt. viii.), where, on the
+command of Christ, a legion of devils went into the swine of the
+Gergasenes; so that these animals, contrary to their nature, ran
+down into the sea and were drowned. But the wise people of this
+day little heed these divine signs; so he will add two from
+historical records which he happened to remember.
+
+"First, the Jew Josephus relates that, in presence of the
+world-renowned Roman captain Vespasian, of his son Titus, also of
+all the officers and troops of the army, an acquaintance of his,
+by name Eleazer, adjured the devil out of one possessed by means
+of the ring of Solomon, repeating at the same time the powerful
+spell which, no doubt, the great king himself employed to control
+the demons, and which, probably, was the very one he had just now
+exorcised the devil with, out of the _Clavicula Salomonis._
+And to show the bystanders that it was indeed a devil which he had
+exorcised out of the nose of the patient, the said Eleazer bid
+him, as he was passing, to overturn a vessel of water that lay
+there, which indeed was done, to the great wonderment of all
+present. Thus even the blind heathen were convinced, though the
+would-be wise of the present day ignorantly doubted.
+
+"But people might say this happened in old times, and was only
+told by a stupid Jew; therefore he would give a modern example.
+
+"There was a woman named Kronisha (she was still well remembered
+by the old people of Stralsund), who was sorely given to pomp and
+vanity, wherefore a devil was sent into her to punish her; and
+after the preacher at St. Nicholas had exorcised him to the best
+of his power, the wicked spirit said, mockingly, that he would go
+if they gave him a pane of glass out of the window over the tower
+door; and this being granted, one of the panes was instantly
+scattered with a loud clang, and the devil flew away through the
+opening. [Note: See Sastrowen, his family, birth, and adventures.
+Edited by Mohnike, part i. 73.]
+
+"So the Christian congregation might now see what silly fools
+these wise people were who presumed to doubt," &c. Then Doctor
+Joel admonished the Prince himself to keep a diligent eye over
+this Satan, who, day by day, was growing more impudent in the
+land--no doubt because the pure doctrine of Dr. Luther vexed him
+sorely.
+
+And indeed his Highness, to show his gratitude for the recovery of
+his dear daughter, did not cease in his endeavours to banish
+witches from the land, knowing that Sidonia had brought all the
+evil upon the young Princess. Fifteen were seized and burned at
+this time, to the great joy of the country; but, alas! these truly
+princely and Christian measures little helped among the godless
+race, for evil seemed still to strengthen in the land, and many
+wonderful signs appeared, one of which I would not set down here,
+as it was only seen by the court-fool, but that events confirmed
+it.
+
+I mean that strange thing, along with a three-legged hare, which
+appeared eighty years before at the death of Duke Bogislaus the
+Great, and since at the death of each Duke of his house. By a
+strange whim of Satan's, this apparition was only visible to
+fools; until indeed (as we shall hear anon) it appeared to the
+nuns at Marienfliess, who bore witness of it.
+
+_Summa._--On the very day wherein the devil's brides were
+burned at Wolgast, the fool was walking at evening time up and
+down the great corridor, when a little manikin, hardly three hands
+high, started out from behind a beer-barrel, riding on a
+three-legged hare. He was dressed all in black, except little red
+boots which he had on, and he rides up and down the corridor--hop!
+hop! hop!--stares at my fool and makes a face at him; then rides
+off again--hop! hop! hop!--till he vanished behind the barrel.
+
+No one would believe the fool's story; but woe, alas! it soon
+became clear what the little manikin Puck denoted. For my gracious
+Prince, who had grown quite weak ever since this horrible
+witch-work, which had been raging for some weeks--so that
+Pomerania never had seen the like--became daily worse, and not
+even the fine Falernian wine from Italy, which used to cure him,
+helped him now. So he died on the 17th July 1591, aged forty-six
+years, seven months, and fifteen days, leaving his only son,
+Philippus Julius, a child of eight years old, to reign in his
+place. Whereupon the deeply afflicted widow placed the boy under
+the tutelage and guardianship of his uncle, the princely Lord of
+Stettin; but, woe! woe! the guardian must soon follow his dear
+brother! and all through the evil wickedness of Sidonia, as we
+shall hear in the following chapters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+_How Sidonia demeans herself at the Convent of
+Marienfliess--Item, how their Princely and Electoral Graces of
+Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg, went on sleighs to
+Wolgast, and of the divers pastimes of the journey._
+
+
+After this, Sidonia disappeared again for a couple of years, and
+no man knew whither she had flown or what she did, until one
+morning she appeared at the convent of Marienfliess, driving a
+little one-horse waggon herself, and dressed no better than a
+fish-wife. On driving into the court, she desired to speak with
+the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf; and when she came, Sidonia
+ordered the cell of the deceased nun, Barbara Kleist, to be got
+ready for her reception, as his Highness of Stettin had presented
+her to a _præbenda_ here.
+
+So the pious old abbess believed the story, and forthwith
+conducted her to the cell, No. 11; but Sidonia spat out at it,
+said it was a pig-sty, and began to run clattering through all the
+cells till she reached the refectory, a large chamber where the
+nuns assembled for evening prayer. This, she said, was the only
+spot fit for her to put her nose in, and she would keep it for
+herself. Meanwhile, the whole sisterhood ran together to the
+refectory to see Sidonia; and as most of them were girls under
+twenty, they tittered and laughed, as young women-folk will do
+when they behold a hag. This angered her.
+
+"Ha!" she exclaimed, "the flesh and the devil have not been
+destroyed in them yet, but I will soon give them something else to
+think of than their lovers."
+
+And here, as one of them laughed louder than the rest, Sidonia
+gave her a blow on the mouth.
+
+"Let that teach the peasant-girl more respect for a castle and
+land dowered maiden."
+
+When the good abbess saw and heard all this, she nearly fainted
+with shame, and had to hold by a stool, or she would have fallen
+to the ground. However she gained fresh courage, when, upon asking
+for Sidonia's documents, she found that there were none to show.
+Without more ado, therefore, she bade her leave the convent; and,
+amidst the jeers and laughter of all the sisterhood, Sidonia was
+obliged to mount her one-horse cart again, or the convent porter
+had orders to force her out.
+
+By this all may perceive that, in place of repenting, Sidonia had
+fallen still further in the mire, wherein she wallowed yet for
+many years, as if it were, indeed, her true and natural element,
+like that beetle of which Albertus Magnus speaks, that died if one
+covered it with rose-leaves, but came to life again when laid in
+dung.
+
+Hardly had she left the convent-gate when the old abbess bade a
+carl get ready a carriage, and flew in it to Stettin herself, to
+lay the whole case before my gracious Prince, and entreat him,
+even on her knees, not to send such a notorious creature amongst
+them; for what blessing could the convent hope to obtain if they
+harboured such an infamous sinner? So his Grace wonders much over
+the daring of the harlot; for he had given her no
+_proebenda,_ though she was writing to him constantly
+requesting one. Nor would he ever think of giving her one; for why
+should he send such a hell-besom to sweep the pious convent of
+Marienfliess? The good abbess might rise up, for as long as he
+lived Sidonia should never enter the convent.
+
+And his Grace held by his word, though it cost him his life, as I
+shall just now relate with bitter sighs.
+
+It happened that, A.D. 1600, there was a terribly hard winter, so
+that the fresh Haff [Footnote: The river Haff] was quite frozen
+over, and able to bear heavy beams. Now, as the ice was smooth and
+beautiful as a mirror, my Lord of Stettin proposed to his
+guests--Joachim Friedrich, Elector of Brandenburg, his
+brother-in-law, and old Duke Ulrich of Mecklenburg, his uncle, to
+go over the Haff in sleighs, and pay a visit to the princely widow
+and her little son.
+
+Their Graces were well pleased at the idea. Whereupon his Highness
+of Stettin gave orders to have such a procession formed as never
+had been seen in Pomerania before for magnificence and beauty, and
+therefore I shall note down some particulars here.
+
+There were a hundred sleighs, some drawn by reindeer caparisoned
+like horses, and all decorated gaily. The three ducal sleighs in
+particular were entirely girded and lined with sable skin; each
+was drawn by four Andalusian horses; and my Lady Erdmuth, who was
+a great lover of show and pomp, had hers hung with little tinkling
+bells and chains of gold, so that no one to look at them could
+imagine how very little of the dear gold her gracious lord and
+husband had in his purse, by reason of the hardness of the times.
+
+The adornments of the other sleighs were less costly. Upon them
+came the ministers, the officials, and others pertaining to the
+retinue of the three princes: _item_, the ladies-in-waiting,
+and divers of the reverend clergy; last of all came the Duke's
+henchman, with a pack of wolf-dogs in leash: _item,_ several
+live hares and foxes; a live bear, which they purposed to let
+slip, for the pleasure and pastime of their Graces. But the young
+men out of the town, fifty head strong, and many of the knights,
+ran along on skates, headed by Dinnies Kleist, that mighty man,
+who bore in one hand the blood-banner of Pomerania, and in the
+other that of Brandenburg. Barthold von Ramin ran by his side with
+the Mecklenburg standard. He was a strong knight too. But ah! my
+God! how my Ramin, with his ox-head, was distanced by the wild men
+of Pomerania, as they ran upon the ice over the Haff! [Footnote:
+The blood-standard was granted by the Emperor Maximilian II. to
+Duke Johann Friedrich of Pomerania because he carried the imperial
+banner during the Turkish war of 1566. It only differed from the
+old banner by having a red ground--from thence its name. Both
+Pomerania and Brandenburg had wild men in their escutcheon, while
+Mecklenburg bore an ox's head.] Two reserve sleighs, drawn by six
+Frisian horses, finished the procession; they were laden with
+axes, planks, ropes, and dry garments, both for men and women.
+
+When their Graces mounted the sleighs amidst the ringing of bells
+and roaring of cannon, great was their astonishment to see their
+own initials stamped into the hard ice by Dinnies Kleist, as thus:
+F. U. J. E. J. F., which, however, afterwards caused much dismay
+to the honest burghers, for one of them--M. Faber, _a
+præceptor_--mistaking the J. for a G., read plainly upon the
+ice: "Fuge, J. F."--that is, "Fly, Johann Frederick!"
+
+Ah! truly has the gracious Prince flown from thence; but it is to
+a bitter death.
+
+During the journey, Duke Johann had much jesting with his
+brother-in-law, the Elector, who was filled with wonder at the
+strength of Dinnies Kleist, for he kept ahead even of the
+Andalusian stallions, and waved aloft the two banners of Pomerania
+and Brandenburg, while his long hair floated behind him; and
+sometimes he stopped, kissed the banners, and then inclined them
+to their Serene Princely Graces. Whereupon Duke Johann exclaimed,
+"Ay, brother, you might well give me a thousand of your
+wide-mouthed Berliners for this carl; though, methinks, if he had
+his will, he would make their wide mouths still wider." At this,
+his Electoral Grace looked rather vexed, and began to uphold the
+men of Cologne. Upon which his Highness cut him short, saying,
+"Marry, brother, you know the old proverb--
+
+   'The men of Cologne
+   Have no hues of their own,
+   But the men of Stettin
+   Are the true ever-green.'
+
+For where truly could your fellows find the true green in their
+sandy dust-box? Marry, cousin, one Pomerania is worth ten
+Margravates; and I will show your Grace just now that my land in
+winter is more productive than yours even in autumn."
+
+His Grace here alluded to the fisheries; for along the way, for
+twelve or fourteen miles, the fishermen had been ordered to set
+their nets by torchlight the night before, in holes dug through
+the ice, so that on the arrival of the princely party the nets
+might be drawn up, and the draught exhibited to their Graces.
+
+Now, when they entered the fresh Haff, which lay before them like
+a large mirror, six miles long and four broad, his Grace of
+Pomerania called out--
+
+"See here, brother, this is my first storeroom; let us try what it
+will give us to eat."
+
+Upon which he signed to Dinnies Kleist to steer over to the first
+heap of nets, which lay like a black wood in the distance. These
+belonged to the Ziegenort fishermen, as the old schoolmaster,
+Peter Leisticow, himself told me; and as they had taken a great
+draught the day before, many people from the towns of Warp,
+Stepenitz, and Uckermund were assembled there to buy up the fish,
+and then retail it, as was their custom, throughout the country.
+They had made a fire upon a large sheet of iron laid upon the ice,
+while their horses were feeding close by upon hay, which they
+shook out before them. And having taken a merry carouse together,
+they all set to dancing upon the ice with the women to the
+bagpipe, so that the encampment looked right jovial as their
+Graces arrived.
+
+Now when the grand train came up, the peasants roared out--
+
+"Donnerwetter, [Note: A common oath.] look at the plötz-eaters!
+See the cursed plötz-eaters! Donnerwetter, what plötz-eaters!"
+[Note: Plötz-eaters was a nickname given by the Pomeranians to the
+people of the Margravates. For the plötz (_Cyprinus
+Exythrophthalmus_) is a very poor tasteless fish, while the
+rivers of Pomerania are stocked with the very finest of all kinds.
+In return, the men of the Marks called the Pomeranians
+"Feather-heads," from the quantity of moor-palms (_Eriophorum
+vaginatum_) which grow in their numerous rich meadows.]
+
+And now they observed, during their shouting, that the water had
+risen up to their knees; and when the ducal procession rushed up,
+the abyss re-echoed with a noise like thunder, so that the foreign
+princes were alarmed, but soon grew accustomed thereto. Then the
+pressure of such a crowd upon the ice caused the water to spout
+out of the holes to the height of a man. So that by the time they
+were two bowshots from the nets, all the folk, the women and
+children especially, were running, screaming, in every direction,
+trying to save themselves on the firm ice, to the great amusement
+of their Graces, while a peasant cried out to the sleigh drivers--
+
+"Stop, stop! or ye'll go into the cellar!"
+
+Hereupon his Grace of Pomerania beckoned over the Ziegenort
+schoolmaster, and asked him what they had taken, to which he
+answered--
+
+"Gracious Prince, we have taken bley; the nets are all loaded;
+we've taken seventy schümers, [Footnote: A schümer was a measure
+which contained twelve bushels.] and your Grace ought to take one
+with you for supper."
+
+Now his Highness the Elector wished to see the nets emptied, so
+they rested a space while the peasants shovelled out the fish, and
+pitched them into the aforesaid schümers. But ah! woe to the
+fish-thieves who had come over from Warp and other places; for the
+water having risen up and become all muddy with fish-slime, they
+never saw the great holes, and tumbled in, to the great amusement
+of the peasants and pastime of their Graces.
+
+How their Highnesses laughed when the poor carls in the water
+tried to get hold of a net or a rope or a firm piece of ice, while
+they floundered about in the water, and the peasants fished them
+up with their long hooks, at the same time giving many of them a
+sharp prod on the shoulder, crying out--
+
+"Ha! will ye steal again? Take that for your pains, you robbers!"
+
+Now when their Graces were tired laughing and looking at the fish
+hauled, they prepared to depart; but the schoolmaster prayed his
+Highness of Stettin yet again to take a schümer of fish for their
+supper, as their Graces were going to stop for the night in
+Uckermund.
+
+"But what could I do with all the fish?" quoth the Duke.
+
+To which the carl answered in his jargon--
+
+"Eh! gracious master, give them to the plotz-eaters; that will be
+something new for them. Never fear but they'll eat them all up!"
+
+Hereupon his Highness the Elector grew nettled, and cried out--
+
+"Ho! thou damned peasant, thinkest thou we have no bley?"
+
+"Well, ye've none here," replied the man cunningly.
+
+So their Graces laughed, and ordered a couple of bushels of the
+largest to be placed upon the safety sleigh.
+
+Now when they had gone a little farther and found the ice as
+smooth as glass, the henchman let loose the bear and the wolf-dogs
+after it. My stout Bruin first growls and paws the ice, then sets
+himself in earnest for the race, and, on account of his sharp
+claws, ran on straight for Uckermund without ever slipping, while
+the hounds fell down on all sides, or tumbled on their backs,
+howling with rage and disappointment.
+
+Yet more pleasant was the hare-hunt, for hounds and hares both
+tumbled down together, and the hares squeaked and the hounds
+yelped; some hares indeed were killed, but only after infinite
+trouble, while others ran away after the bear.
+
+After the hunt they came to another fishery, and so on till they
+reached Uckermund, passing six fisheries in succession, whereof
+each draught was as large as the first, so that his Grace the
+Elector marvelled much at the abundance, and seeing the nets full
+of zannats at the last halting-place, cried out--
+
+"Marry, brother, your storeroom is well furnished. I might grow
+dainty here myself. Let us take a bushel of these along with us
+for supper, for zannat is the fish for me!"
+
+This greatly rejoiced his Grace of Stettin, who ordered the fish
+to be laid on the sumpter sleigh, and in good time they reached
+the ducal house at Uckermund, Dinnies Kleist still keeping
+foremost, and waving his two banners over his head, while Barthold
+Barnim and the other skaters hung weary and tired upon the backs
+of the sleighs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+_How Sidonia meets their Graces upon the ice--Item, how Dinnies
+Kleist beheads himself, and my gracious lord of Wolgast perishes
+miserably._
+
+
+The next morning early the whole train set off from Uckermund in
+the highest spirits, passing net after net, till the Duke of
+Mecklenburg, as well as the Elector, lifted their hands in
+astonishment. From the Haff they entered the Pene, and from that
+the Achterwasser. [Footnote: A large bay formed by the Pene.] Here
+a great crowd of people stood upon the ice, for the town of
+Quilitz lay quite near; besides, more fish had been taken here
+than had yet been seen upon the journey, so that people from
+Wolgast, Usdom, Lassahn, and all the neighbouring towns had run
+together to bid for it. But what happened?
+
+Alas! that his Grace should have desired to halt, for scarcely had
+his sleigh stopped, when a little old woman, meanly clad, with
+fisher's boots, and a net filled with bley-fish in her hand,
+stepped up to it and said--
+
+"My good Lord, I am Sidonia von Bork; wherefore have you not
+replied to my demand for the _proebenda_ of Barbara von
+Kleist in Marienfliess?"
+
+"How could he answer her? He knew nothing at all of her mode of
+living, or where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"She had bid him lay the answer upon the altar of
+St. Jacob's in Stettin. Why had he not done so?"
+
+"That was no place for such letters, only for the words of the
+Holy Spirit and the Blessed Sacrament of his Saviour; therefore,
+let her say now where she dwelt."
+
+_Illa._--"The richest maiden in Pomerania could ill say where
+the poorest now dwelt," weeping.
+
+"The richest maiden had only herself to blame if she were now the
+poorest; better had she wept before. The _proebenda_ she
+could never have; let her cease to think of it; but here was an
+alms, and she might now go her ways."
+
+_Illa_.--(Refuses to take it, and murmurs.) "Your Grace will
+soon have bitter sorrow for this."
+
+As she so menaced and spat out three times, the thing angered
+Dinnies Kleist (who held her in abhorrence ever since the
+adventure in the Uckermund forest), and as he had lost none of his
+early strength, he hit her a blow with the blood-standard over the
+shoulder, exclaiming, "Pack off to the devil, thou shameless hag!
+What does the witch mean by her spittings? The _proebenda_ of
+my sister Barbara shall thou never have!"
+
+However, the hag stirred not from the spot, answered no word, but
+spat out again; and as the illustrious party drove off she still
+stood there, and spat out after them.
+
+What this devil's sorcery denoted we shall soon see; for as they
+approached Ziemitze, and the ducal house of Wolgast appeared in
+sight, Dinnies Kleist started on before the safety sleigh; and as
+soon as the high towers of the castle rose above the trees, he
+waved the two banners above his head, and brought them together
+till they kissed. Having so held them for a space, he set forward
+again with giant strides, in order to be the first to
+arrive--although, indeed, the town was aware of the advance of the
+princely train, for the bells were ringing, and the blood-standard
+waved from St. Peter's and the three other towers.
+
+But woe, alas! Dinnies, in his impatience, never observed a
+windwake direct in his path, and down he sank, while the sharp ice
+cut his head clean off, as if an executioner had done it; and the
+head, with the long hair, rolled hither and thither, while the
+body remained fast in the hole, only one arm stuck up above the
+ice--it was that which held the Brandenburg standard, but the
+blood-banner of Pomerania had sunk for ever in the abyss.
+[Footnote: A windwake is a hole formed by the wind in the thawing
+season, and which afterwards becomes covered with a thin coating
+of ice by a subsequent frost.]
+
+When his Grace of Stettin beheld this, he was filled with more
+sorrow than even at the death of his fool; and, weeping bitterly,
+commanded seven sleighs to return and seize the evil hag; then
+with all speed, and for a terrible example, to burn her upon the
+Quilitz mountain.
+
+But when many present assured his Grace that such-like accidents
+were very common, and many skaters had perished thus, whereof even
+Duke Ulrich named several instances, so that his Grace of Stettin
+need not impute such natural accidents to witchcraft or the power
+of the hag, he was somewhat calmed. Still he commanded the seven
+sleighs to return and bring the witch bound to Wolgast, that he
+might question her as to wherefore she had spat out.
+
+So the sleighs returned, but the vile sorceress was no longer on
+the ice, neither did any one know whither she had gone; whereupon
+the sleighs hastened back again after the others.
+
+Now it was the Friday before Shrove Tuesday, about mid-day, when
+the princely party arrived at Wolgast; and Prince Bogislaff of
+Barth was there to receive them, with his five sons--namely,
+Philip, Franz, George, Ulrich, and Bogislaff. [Footnote: Marginal
+note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"This is not true; for I had a fever
+at the time, and remained at home."] And there was a great uproar
+in the castle--some of the young lords playing ball in the castle
+court with the young Prince, Philip Julius, others preparing for
+the carnival mummeries, which were to commence next evening by a
+great banquet and dance in the hall. Indeed, that same evening
+their Graces had a brave carouse, to try and make Duke Johann
+forget his grief about his well-beloved Dinnies Kleist: and his
+Grace thus began to discourse concerning him:--
+
+"Truly, brothers, who knows what the devil may have in store for
+us? for it was a strange thing how my blood-standard sunk in the
+abyss, while that of my brother of Brandenburg floated above it.
+Think you that our male line will become extinct, and the heritage
+of fair Pomerania descend to Brandenburg? For, in truth, it is
+strange that, out of five brothers, two of us only have
+heirs--Bogislaff and Ernest Ludovicus, who has left indeed but one
+only son."
+
+Then Duke Bogislaff (whom our Lord God had surely blessed for his
+humility in resigning the government, and also because of his
+dutiful conduct ever towards his mother, even in his youth having
+brought her a tame seagull) made answer, laughingly: "Dear
+brother, I think Herr Bacchus has done more to turn Frau Venus
+against our race than Sidonia or any of her spells, therefore ye
+need not wonder if ye have no heirs. However, if my five young
+Princes listen to my warnings and shun the wine-cup, trust me the
+blood-standard will be lifted up again, and our ancient name never
+want a fitting representative."
+
+Meanwhile, as they so discoursed, and the gracious ladies looked
+down for shame upon the ground, young Lord Philip began a Latin
+argument with the Rev. Dr. Glambecken, court chaplain at Wolgast
+_de monetis;_ and pulled out of his pocket a large bag of old
+coins, which had been presented to him by Doctor Chytraeus,
+professor of theology at Rostock, with whom his Grace interchanged
+Latin epistles. [Foonote: See the Latin letters of the talented
+young Prince in Oelrich's "Contributions to the Literary History
+of the Pomeranian Dukes," vol. i. p. 67. He fell a victim to
+intemperance, though his death was imputed likewise to Sidonia,
+and formed the subject of the sixth torture examination.]
+
+This gave the conversation a new turn, and the ladies particularly
+were much pleased examining the coins; but the devil himself
+surely must have anagrammatised one of them, for over the letters,
+Pomerania, figures were scratched  356412789
+--thus--Pomerania--giving the terrible meaning, _rape omnia_
+(rob all); and many said that this must have been the very coin
+which the devil took that time he rent the oblation-table, at the
+exorcism of the young Princess.
+
+This discovery filled the Pomeranian Duke with strong
+apprehensions, and young Prince Franz handed over the coin to the
+Elector of Brandenburg, saying bitterly, "Yes, rob all! Doctor
+Joel of Grypswald has long since told me that it would all end
+this way--even as Satan himself has scratched down here--but my
+lord father will not credit him, he is so proud of his five sons.
+Doctor Joel, however, is a right learned man, and no one knows the
+mysteries of the black art better; besides, who reads the stars
+more diligently each night than he?"
+
+And behold, while he is speaking, the fool runs into the hall,
+pale, and trembling in every limb.
+
+"Alas! Lord Franz," he exclaimed, "I have seen the manikin again
+on his three-legged hare, which appeared at the death of Duke
+Ernest Ludovicus."
+
+But the young lord boxed him, crying, "Away, thou knave! must thy
+chatter help to make us more melancholy?"
+
+However Duke Bogislaff bid the fool stay, and tell them when and
+where he had seen the imp.
+
+My fool wiped his eyes, and began: "The young Lord Franz had bid
+him put on his best jacket (that which had been given him as a
+Christmas-box) for the carnival mummings on Shrove Tuesday; so he
+went up to the garret to get it himself out of the trunk, but,
+before he had quite reached the trunk, the black dwarf, with his
+little red boots, rode out from behind it on his three-legged
+hare--hop! hop! hop!--made a frightful face at him, and after a
+little while rode back again--hop! hop! hop! behind his old boots,
+which stood in a corner, and disappeared!"
+
+What the malicious Puck denoted we shall soon see--Oh, woe! woe!
+
+Next day all sorts of amusements were set on foot, to chase away
+gloomy thoughts out of the hearts of the illustrious guests--such
+as tilting with lances, dancing upon stilts, wrestling,
+rope-dancing. _Item,_ pickleherring and harlequins. Amongst
+these last the fool showed off to great advantage, for who could
+twist his face into more laughable grimaces? _Item,_ in the
+evening there was a mask of mummers, in which one fellow played
+the angel, and another dressed as Satan, with a large horse's foot
+and cock's plume, spat red fire from his mouth, and roared
+horribly when the angel overcame him (but withal I think the
+gloomy thoughts stayed there yet).
+
+And mark what in truth soon happened! When the drums and trumpets
+struck up the last mask dance in the great Ritter Hall, which
+every one joins in, old and young, his Grace, Duke Johann, went to
+the room of his dear cousin Hedwig, the princely widow, and prayed
+her to tread the dance with him; but she refuses, and sits by the
+fire and weeps.
+
+"Let not my dear cousin fret," said the Duke, "about the chatter
+of the fool."
+
+To which she replied, "Alas! wherefore not? For surely it betokens
+death to my darling little son, Philip Julius."
+
+"No," exclaimed the Duke quickly, "it betokens mine!" and he fell
+flat upon the ground.
+
+One can easily imagine how the gracious lady screamed, so that all
+ran in from the Knight's Hall in their masks and mumming-dresses,
+to see indeed the mumming of the true bodily Satan; and Doctor
+Pomius, who was at the mask likewise, ran in with a
+smelling-bottle, but all was in vain. His Grace lingered for three
+days, and then having received the Holy Sacrament from Doctor
+Glambecken, died in the same chamber in which he was born, having
+lived fifty-seven years, five months, twelve days, and fourteen
+hours. How can I describe the lamentations of the princely
+company--yea, indeed, of the whole town; for every one saw now
+plainly that the anger of God rested upon this ancient and
+illustrious Pomeranian race, and that He had given it over
+helplessly to the power of the evil one.
+
+_Summa._--On the 9th February the princely corse was laid in
+the very sleigh which had brought it a living body, and, followed
+by a grand train of princes, nobles, and knights, along with a
+strong guard of the ducal soldatesca, was conveyed back to
+Stettin; and there, with all due and befitting ceremonies, was
+buried on Palm Sunday in the vault of the castle church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+_How Barnim the Tenth succeeds to the government, and how
+Sidonia meets him as she is gathering bilberries. Item, of the
+unnatural witch-storm at his Grace's funeral, and how Duke Casimir
+refuses, in consequence, to succeed him._
+
+
+Now Barnim the Tenth succeeded to that very duchy about which he
+had been so wroth the day of the Diet at Wollin, but it brought
+him little good. He was, however, a pious Prince, and much beloved
+at his dower of Rügenwald, where he spent his time in making a
+little library of all the Lutheran hymn-books which he could
+collect, and these he carried with him in his carriage wherever he
+went; so that his subjects of Rügenwald shed many tears at losing
+so pious a ruler.
+
+_Item,_ the moment his Grace succeeded to the government, he
+caused all the courts to be reopened, along with the treasury and
+the chancery, which his deceased Grace had kept closed to the
+last; and for this goodness towards his people, the states of the
+kingdom promised to pay all his debts, which was done; and thus
+lawlessness and robbery were crushed in the land.
+
+But woe, alas!--Sidonia can no man crush! She wrote immediately to
+his Grace, soliciting the _proebenda,_ and even presented
+herself at the ducal house of Stettin; but his Grace positively
+refused to lay eyes on her, knowing how fatal a meeting with her
+had proved to each of his brothers, who no sooner met her evil
+glance than they sickened and died.
+
+Therefore his Highness held all old women in abhorrence. Indeed,
+such was his fear of them, that not one was allowed to approach
+the castle; and when he rode or drove out, lacqueys and squires
+went before with great horsewhips, to chase away all the old women
+out of his Grace's path, for truly Sidonia might be amongst them.
+From this, it came to pass that as soon as it was rumoured in the
+town, "His Grace is coming," all the old mothers seized up their
+pattens, and scampered off, helter-skelter, to get out of reach of
+the horsewhips.
+
+But who can provide against all the arts of the devil? for though
+it is true that Sidonia destroyed his two brothers, also his Grace
+himself, along with Philip II., by her breath and glance, yet she
+caused a great number of other unfortunate persons to perish,
+without using these means, as we shall hear further on; whereby
+many imagined that her familiar Chim could not have been so weak a
+spirit as she represented him, on the rack, in order to save her
+life, but a strong and terrible demon. These things, however, will
+come in their proper place.
+
+_Summa._--After Duke Barnim had reigned several years, with
+great blessing to his people, it happened that word came from
+Rügenwald how that his brother, Duke Casimir, was sick. This was
+the Prince whom, we may remember, Sidonia had whipped with her
+irreverent hands upon his princely _podex,_ when he was a
+little boy.
+
+Now Duke Barnim had quarrelled with the estates because they
+refused funds for the Turkish war; however, he became somewhat
+merrier that evening with the Count Stephen of Naugard, when the
+evil tidings came to him of his beloved brother (yet more bitter
+sorrow is before him, I think). So the next morning the Duke set
+off with a train of six carriages to visit his sick brother, and
+by the third evening they reached the wood which lies close beside
+Rügenwald. Here there was a large oak, the stem of which had often
+served his Grace for a target, when he amused himself by
+practising firing. So he stopped the carriage, and alighted to see
+if the twenty or thirty balls he had shot into it were still
+there.
+
+But alas! as he reached the oak, that devil's spectre (I mean
+Sidonia) stepped from behind it; she had an old pot in her hand
+filled with bilberries, and asked his Grace, would he not take
+some to refresh himself after his journey.
+
+His Highness, however, recoiled horror-struck, and asked who she
+was.
+
+She was Sidonia von Bork, and prayed his Grace yet once more for
+the _proebenda_ in Marienfliess.
+
+Hereat the Duke was still more horrified, and exclaimed, "Curse
+upon thy _proebenda,_ but thou shalt get something else, I
+warrant thee! Thou art a vile witch, and hast in thy mind to
+destroy our whole noble race with thy detestable sorceries."
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! no one had called her a witch before; how
+could she bewitch them? It was a strange story to tell of her."
+
+_The Duke._--"How did it happen, then, that he had no
+children by his beloved Amrick?" [Footnote: Anna Maria, second
+daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg.]
+
+_Illa_ (laughing).--"He better ask his beloved Amrick
+herself. How could she know?"
+
+But here she began to contort her face horribly, and to spit out,
+whereupon the Duke called out to his retinue--"Come here, and hang
+me this hag upon the oak-tree; she is at her devil's sorceries
+again! And woe! woe! already I feel strange pains all through my
+body!"
+
+Upon this, divers persons sprang forward to seize her, but the
+nimble night-bird darted behind a clump of fir-trees, and
+disappeared. Unluckily they had no bloodhounds along with them,
+otherwise I think the devil would have been easily seized, and
+hung up like an acorn on the oak-tree. But God did not so will it,
+for though they sent a pack of hounds from Rügenwald, the moment
+they arrived there, yet no trace of the hag could be found in the
+forest.
+
+And now mark the result: the Duke became worse hour by hour, and
+as Duke Casimir had grown much better by the time he arrived, and
+was in a fair way of recovery, his Grace resolved to take leave of
+him and return with all speed to his own house at Stettin; but on
+the second day, while they were still a mile from Stettin, Duke
+Barnim grew so much worse, that they had to stop at Alt-Damm for
+the night. And scarcely had he laid himself down in bed when he
+expired. This was on the 1st of September 1603, when he was
+fifty-four years, six months, sixteen days, and sixteen hours old.
+
+But the old, unclean night-bird would not let his blessed Highness
+go to his grave in peace (probably because he had called her an
+accursed witch). For the 18th of the same month, when all the
+nobles and estates were assembled to witness the ceremonial of
+interment, along with several members of the ducal house, and
+other illustrious personages, such a storm of hail, rain, and
+wind, came on just at a quarter to three, as they had reached the
+middle of the service, that the priest dropped the book from his
+hands, and the church became so suddenly dark, that the sexton had
+to light the candles to enable the preacher to read his text.
+Never, too, was heard such thunder, so that many thought St.
+Jacob's Tower had fallen in, and the princes and nobles rushed out
+of the church to shelter themselves in the houses, while the most
+terrific lightning flashed round them at every step.
+
+Yet truly it must have been all witch-work, for when the funeral
+was over, the weather became as serene and beautiful as possible.
+
+And a great gloom fell upon every one in consequence, for that it
+was no natural storm, a child could have seen. Indeed, Dr. Joel,
+who was wise in these matters, declared to his Highness Duke
+Bogislaff XIII. that without doubt it was a witch-storm, for the
+doctor was present at the funeral, as representative of the
+University of Grypswald. And respecting the clouds, he observed
+particularly that they were formed like dogs' tails, that is, when
+a dog carries his tail in the air so that it forms an arc of a
+circle. And this, indeed, was the truth.
+
+_Summa._--As by the death of Duke Barnim the government
+devolved upon Duke Casimir of Rügenwald, the estates proceeded
+thither to offer him their homage, but the Prince hesitated, said
+he was sickly, and who could tell whether it would not go as ill
+with him as with his brothers? But the estates, both temporal and
+spiritual, prayed him so earnestly to accept the rule, that he
+promised to meet them on the next morning by ten of the clock, in
+the great Rittersaal (knights' hall), and make them acquainted
+with his decision.
+
+The faithful states considered this a favourable answer, and were
+in waiting next morning, at the appointed hour, in the Rittersaal.
+But what happened? Behold, as the great door was thrown open, in
+walked the Duke, not with any of the insignia of his princely
+station, but in the dress of a fisherman. He wore a linen jacket,
+a blue smock, a large hat, and great, high fisher's boots,
+reaching nearly to his waist. _Item,_ on his back the Duke
+carried a fisherman's basket; six fishermen similarly dressed
+accompanied him, and others in a like garb followed.
+
+All present wondered much at this, and a great murmur arose in the
+hall; but the Duke threw his basket down by his side, and leaned
+his elbow on it, while he thus went on to speak: "Ye see here, my
+good friends, what government I intend to hold in future with
+these honest fishers, who accompanied me up to my dear brother's
+funeral. I shall return this day to Rügenwald. The devil may rule
+in Pomerania, but I will not; if you kill an ox there is an end of
+it, but here there is no end. Satan treats us worse than the poor
+ox. Choose a duke wheresoever you will; but as for me, I think
+fishing and ruling the rudder is pleasanter work than to rule your
+land."
+
+And when the unambitious Prince had so spoken, he drew forth a
+little flask containing branntwein [Footnote: Whisky] (a new drink
+which some esteemed more excellent than wine, which, however, I
+leave in its old pre-eminence; I tasted the other indeed but once,
+but it seemed to me to set my mouth on fire--such is not for my
+drinking), and drank to the fishers, crying, "What say you,
+children--shall we not go and flounder again upon the Rügenwald
+strand?" Upon which they all shouted, "Ay! ay!"
+
+His Grace then drank to the states for a farewell, and leaving the
+hall, proceeded with his followers to the vessel, which he
+ascended, singing gaily, and sailed home directly to his new
+fishing-lodge at Neuhausen.
+
+Such humility, however, availed his Grace nothing in preserving
+him from the claws of Satan; for scarcely a year and a half had
+elapsed when he was seized suddenly, even as his brothers, and
+died on the 10th May 1605, at the early age of forty-eight years,
+one month, twenty-one days, and seventeen hours.
+
+But to return to the states. They were dumb with grief and despair
+when his Grace left the hall. The land marshal stood with the
+staff, the court marshal with the sword, and the chancellor with
+the seals, like stone statues there, till a noble at the window
+called out--
+
+"Let us hasten quickly to Prince Bogislaff, before he journeys
+off, too, with his five sons, and we are left without any ruler.
+See, there are the horses just putting to his carriage!"
+
+Upon this, they all ran out to the coach, and the chancellor
+asked, in a lamentable voice, "If his Grace were indeed going to
+leave them, like that other gracious Prince who owned the dukedom
+by right? The states would promise everything he desired--they
+would pay all his debts--only his Grace must not leave them and
+their poor fatherland in their sore need."
+
+Hereat his Grace laughed, and told them, "He was not going to his
+castle of Franzburg, only as far as Oderkrug, with his dear sons,
+to look at the great sheep-pens there, and drink a bowl of ewe's
+milk with the shepherds under the apple-tree. He hoped to arrive
+there before his brother Casimir in his boat, and then they might
+discuss the _casus_ together; indeed, when he showed him the
+sheep-pens, it was not probable that he would refuse a duchy which
+had a fold of twenty thousand sheep, for his brother Casimir was a
+great lover of sheep as well as of fish."
+
+Upon this, the states and privy council declared that they would
+follow him to Oderkrug to learn the result, but meanwhile begged
+of his Grace not to delay setting off, lest Duke Casimir might
+have left Oderkrug before he reached it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+Duke Bogislaff XIII. accepts the government of the duchy, and
+gives Sidonia at last the long-desired
+_proebenda_--_Item,_ of her arrival at the convent of
+Marienfliess.
+
+
+Now my gracious Lord Bogislaff had scarcely alighted at Oderkrug
+from his carriage, and drunk a bowl of milk under the apple-tree,
+when he spied the yellow sails of his brother's boat above the
+high reeds; upon which he ran down to the shore, and called out
+himself--
+
+"Will you not land, brother, and drink a bowl of ewe's milk with
+us, or take a glance at the great sheep-pen? It is a rare wonder,
+and my lord brother was always a great lover of sheep!"
+
+But Prince Casimir went on, and never slackened sail. Whereupon
+his Highness called out again, "The states and privy councillors
+are coming, brother, and want to have a few words with you."
+
+Hereat Prince Casimir laughed in the boat, and returned for
+answer--"He knew well enough what they wanted; but no--he had no
+desire to be bewitched to death. Just give him the lands of
+Lauenburg and Butow as an addition to his dower, and then his dear
+Bogislaff might take all Pomerania to himself if he pleased."
+
+After which, doffing his hat for an _addio,_ he steered
+bravely through the _Pappenwasser_.
+
+When young Prince Franz heard this, he laughed loud, and said,
+"Truly our uncle is the wisest--he will not be bewitched to death,
+as he says--but what will my lord father do now, for see, here
+come the states already in their carriages over the hill!"
+
+Duke Bogislaff answered, "What else remains for me to do but to
+accept the government?"
+
+_Ille._--"Yes, and be struck dead by witchcraft, like my
+three uncles! Ah, my gracious lord father, before ever you accept
+the rule of the duchy, let the witch be seized and burned. Doctor
+Joel hath told me much about these witches; and believe me, there
+is no wiser man in all Pomerania than this magister. He can do
+something more than eat bread." Then he fell upon his father's
+neck, and caressed him--"Ah, dear father, do not jump at once into
+the government; burn the witch first: we cannot spare our dear
+lord father!"
+
+And the two young Princes George and Ulrich prayed him in like
+manner; but young Philip Secundus spake--"I think, brothers, it
+were better if our dear father gave this long-talked-of
+_proebenda_ to the witch at once; then, whether she bewitches
+or not, we are safe at all events."
+
+Hereupon his Highness answered--"My Philip is right; for in truth
+no one can say whether your uncles died by Sidonia's sorceries or
+by those of the evil man Bacchus. Therefore I warn you, dear
+children, flee from this worst of all sorcerers; not starting at
+appearances, as a horse at a shadow, for appearance is the shadow
+of truth. Be admonished, therefore, by St. Peter, and 'gird up the
+loins of your spirit: be sober, and watch unto prayer.' Then ye
+may laugh all witches to scorn; for God will turn the devices of
+your enemy to folly."
+
+Meanwhile the states have arrived; and having alighted from their
+coaches at the great sheep-pen, they advanced respectfully to the
+Duke, who was seated under the apple-tree--the land marshal first,
+with the staff, then the court marshal with the sword, and lastly
+the chancellor with the seals.
+
+The had seen from the hill how Duke Casimir sailed away without
+waiting to hear them, and prayed and hoped that his Highness would
+accept the insignia which they here respectfully tendered, and not
+abandon his poor fatherland in such dire need. The devil and
+wicked men could do much, but God could do more, as none knew
+better than his Highness.
+
+Herewith his Grace sighed deeply, and taking the insignia, laid
+staff and sword beside him; then, taking up the sword hastily
+again, he held it in his hand while he thus spake:--
+
+"My faithful, true, and honourable states, ye know how that I
+resigned the government, out of free will, at the Diet at Wollin,
+because I thought, and still think, that nothing weighs heavier
+than this sword which I hold in my hand. Therefore I went to my
+dower at Barth, and have founded the beautiful little town of
+Franzburg to keep the Stralsund knaves in submission, and also to
+teach our nobles that there is some nobler work for a man to do in
+life than eating, drinking, and hunting. _Item,_ I have
+encouraged commerce, and especially given my protection to the
+woollen trade; but all my labours will now fall to the ground, and
+the Stralsund knaves be overjoyed; [Footnote: The apprehension was
+justified by the event; for on the departure of Duke Bogislaff,
+Franzburg fell rapidly to a mere village, to the great joy of the
+Stralsunders, who looked with much envy on a new town springing up
+in their vicinity.] however, I must obey God's will, and not kick
+against the pricks. Therefore I take the sword of my father,
+hoping that it will not prove too heavy for me, an old man;
+[Footnote: The Duke was then sixty.] and that He who puts it into
+my hand (even the strong God) will help me to bear it. So let His
+holy will be done. Amen."
+
+Then his Highness delivered back the insignia to the states, who
+reverently kissed his hand, and blessed God for having given so
+good and pious a Prince to reign over them. Then they approached
+the five young lords, and kissed their hands likewise, wishing at
+the same time that many fair olive-branches might yet stand around
+their table. This made the old Duke laugh heartily, and he prayed
+the states to remain a little and drink ewe's milk with them for a
+pleasant pastime; the shepherds would set out the bowls.
+
+Duke Philip alone went away into the town to examine the library,
+and all the vases, pictures, statues, and other costly works of
+art, which his deceased uncle, Duke Johann Frederick, had
+collected; and these he delivered over to the marshal's care, with
+strict injunctions as to their preservation. But a strange thing
+happened next day; for as the Duke and his sons were sitting at
+breakfast, and the wine-can had just been locked up, because each
+young lord had drunk his allotted portion, namely, seven glasses
+(the Duke himself only drank six), a lacquey entered with a note
+from Sidonia, in which she again demanded the _proebenda,_
+and hoped that his Highness would be more merciful that his dead
+brothers, now that he had succeeded to the duchy. Let him
+therefore send an order for her admission to the cloister of
+Marienfliess. The answer was to be laid upon St. Mary's altar.
+
+Here young Lord Francis grew quite pale, and dropped the fork from
+his hands, then spake--"Now truly we see this hag learns of the
+devil, for how else could she have known that our gracious father
+had accepted the government, unless Satan had visited her in her
+den? But let his dearest father be careful. In his opinion, the
+Duke should promise her the _proebenda;_ but as soon as the
+accursed hag showed herself at the cloister (for the devil now
+kept her concealed), let her be seized and burned publicly, for a
+terrible warning and example."
+
+This advice did not please the old Duke. "Franz," he said, "thou
+art a fool, and God forbid that ever thou shouldst reign in the
+land; for know that the word of a Prince is sacred. Yes, Sidonia
+shall have the _proebenda;_ but I will not entrap my enemy
+through deceit to death, but will try to win her over by
+gentleness. The chancellor shall answer her instantly, and write
+another letter to the abbess of Petersdorf; and Sidonia's shall be
+laid upon the altar of St. Mary's this night, as she requested, by
+one of my lacqueys."
+
+Then Duke Philip kissed his pious father's hand, and the tears
+fell from the good youth's eyes as he exclaimed--
+
+"Alas, if she should murder you too!"
+
+And here are the two letters, according to the copies which are
+yet to be seen in the princely chancery. _Sub. Hit. Marienfliess
+K, No. 683._
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, POMERANIA,
+CASSUBEN, AND WENDEN; PRINCE OF RUGEN; COUNT OF CUTZKOW, OF THE
+LANDS OP LAUENBURG AND BUTOW; LORD, &c.
+
+"In consequence of your repeated entreaties for a _proetenda_
+in the cloister of Marienfliess, We, of our great goodness, hereby
+grant the same unto you; hoping that, in future, you will lead an
+humble, quiet life, as beseems a cloistered maiden, and, in
+especial, that you will always show yourself an obedient and
+faithful servant of our princely house. So we commit you to God's
+keeping!
+
+Signatum, Old Stettin, the 2oth October 1603. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The other letter, to the abbess of Petersdorf, was sent by a
+salmon lad to the convent, as we shall hear further on, and ran
+thus:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, &c.
+
+"WORTHY ABBESS, TRUSTY AND WELL-BELOVED FRIEND!
+
+"Hereby we send to you a noble damsel, named Sidonia von Bork, and
+desire a cell for her in your cloisters, even as the other nuns.
+We trust that misery may have softened her heart towards God; but
+if she do not demean herself with Christian sobriety, you have our
+commands to send her, along with the fish peasants and others, to
+our court for judgment.
+
+"God keep you; pray for us! Signatum, &c. "BOGISLAFF."
+
+The letter to Sidonia was, in truth, laid that same night upon the
+altar of St. Mary's, by a lacquey, who was further desired to hide
+himself in the church, and see what became of it. Now, the fellow
+had a horrible dread of staying alone in the church by night, so
+he took the cook, Jeremias Bild, along with him; and after they
+had laid the letter down upon the altar, they crept both of them
+into a high pew close by, belonging to the Aulick Counsellor,
+Dieterick Stempel.
+
+Now mark what happened. They had been there about an hour, and the
+moon was pouring down as clear as daylight from the high altar
+window; when, all at once, the letter upon the altar began to move
+about of itself, as if it were alive, then it hopped down upon the
+floor, from that danced down the altar steps, and so on all along
+the nave, though no human being laid hands on it the while, and
+not a breath or stir was heard in the church. [Footnote: Something
+similar is related in the _Seherin of Prevorst_, where a
+glass of water moved of its own accord to another place.]
+
+Our two carls nearly died of the fright, and solemnly attested by
+oath to his Highness the truth of their relation. Thereby young
+Lord Franz was more strengthened in his belief concerning
+Sidonia's witchcraft, and had many arguments with his father in
+consequence.
+
+"His lord father might easily know that a letter could not move of
+itself without devil's magic. Now, this letter had moved of
+itself; _ergo_," &c.
+
+Whereupon his Highness answered--
+
+"When had he ever doubted the power of Satan? Ah, never; but in
+this instance who could tell what the carls in their fright had
+seen or not seen? For, perhaps, Sidonia, when she observed them
+hiding in the pew, had stuck a fish-hook into the letter, and so
+drawn it over to herself. He remembered in his youth a trick that
+had been played on the patron--for this patron always went to
+sleep during the sermon. So the sexton let down a fish-hook
+through the ceiling of the church, which, catching hold of the
+patron's wig, drew it up in the sight of the whole congregation,
+who afterwards swore that they had seen the said wig of their
+patron carried up to the roof of the church by witchcraft, and
+disappear through a hole in the ceiling, as if it had been a bird.
+Some time after, however, the sexton confessed his knavery, and
+the patron's flying wig had been a standing joke in the country
+ever since."
+
+But the young lord still shook his head--
+
+"Ah, they would yet see who was right. He was still of the same
+opinion."
+
+But I shall leave these arguments at once, for the result will
+fully show which party was in the right.
+
+_Summa._--Sidonia, next day, drove in her one-horse cart
+again to the convent gate at Marienfliess, accompanied by another
+old hag as her servant. Now the peasants had just arrived with the
+salmon, which the Duke despatched every fortnight as a present to
+the convent, and the letter of his Grace had arrived also. So,
+many of the nuns were assembled on the great steps looking at the
+fish, and waiting for the abbess to divide it amongst them, as was
+her custom. Others were gathered round the abbess, weeping as she
+told them of the Duke's letter, and the good mother herself nearly
+fainted when she read it.
+
+So Sidonia drove straight into the court, as the gates were lying
+open, and shouted--
+
+"What the devil! Is this a nuns' cloister, where all the gates lie
+open, and the carls come in and out as if it were a dove-cot?
+Shame on ye, for light wantons! Wait; Sidonia will bring you into
+order. Ha! ye turned me out; but now ye must have me, whether ye
+will or no!"
+
+At such blasphemies the nuns were struck dumb. However, the abbess
+seemed as though she heard them not, but advancing, bid Sidonia
+welcome, and said--
+
+"It was not possible to receive her into the cloister, until she
+had command from his Grace so to do, which command she now held in
+her hand."
+
+This softened Sidonia somewhat, and she asked--
+
+"What are the nuns doing there with the fish?"
+
+"Dividing the salmon," was the answer.
+
+Whereupon she jumped out of the cart, and declared that she must
+get her portion also, for salmon was a right good thing for
+supper.
+
+Whereupon the sub-prioress, Dorothea von Stettin, cut her off a
+fine large head-piece, which Sidonia, however, pushed away
+scornfully, crying--
+
+"Fie! what did she mean by that? The devil might eat the
+head-piece, but give her the tail. She had never in her life eaten
+anything but the tail-piece; the tail was fatter."
+
+So the abbess signed to them to give her the tail-end; after
+which, she asked to see her cell, and, on being shown it, cried
+out again--
+
+"Fie on them! was that a cell for a lady of her degree? Why, it
+was a pig-sty. Let the abbess put her young litter of nuns there;
+they would be better in it than running up and down the convent
+court with the fish-carls. She must and will have the refectory."
+
+And when the abbess answered--
+
+"That was the prayer-room, where the sisters met night and morning
+for vespers and matins," she heeded not, but said--
+
+"Let them pray in the chapel--the chapel is large enough."
+
+And so saying, she commanded her maid, who was no other than Wolde
+Albrechts, though not a soul in the convent knew her, to carry all
+her luggage straight into the refectory.
+
+What could the poor abbess do? She had to submit, and not only
+give her up the refectory, but, finding that she had no bed, order
+one in for her. _Item,_ seeing that Sidonia was in rags, she
+desired black serge for a robe to be brought, and a white veil,
+such as the sisterhood wore, and bid the nuns stitch them up for
+her, thinking thus to win her over by kindness. Also she desired
+tables, stools, &c., to be arranged in the refectory, since she so
+ardently desired to possess this room. But what fruit all this
+kindness brought forth we shall see in _liber tertius_.
+
+
+END OF SECOND BOOK.
+
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+
+FROM THE RECEPTION OF SIDONIA INTO THE CONVENT AT MARIENFLIESS UP
+TILL HER EXECUTION, AUGUST 19th, 1620.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_How the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, visits Sidonia and
+extols her virtue--Item, of Sidonia's quarrel with the dairywoman,
+and how she beats the sheriff himself, Eggert Sparling, with a
+broom-stick._
+
+
+MOST EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE!--Your Serene Highness will
+surely pardon me if I pass over, in _libra tertio_, many of
+the quarrels, bickerings, strifes, and evil deeds, with which
+Sidonia disturbed the peace of the convent, and brought many a
+goodly person therein to a cruel end; first, because these things
+are already much known and talked of; and secondly, because such
+dire and Satanic wickedness must not be so much as named to gentle
+ears by me.
+
+I shall therefore only set down a few of the principal events of
+her convent life, by which your Grace and others may easily
+conjecture much of what still remains unsaid; for truly wickedness
+advanced and strengthened in her day by day, as decay in a rotting
+tree.
+
+The morning after her arrival in the convent, while it was yet
+quite early, and Wolde Albrechts, her lame maid, was sweeping out
+the refectory, the sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin, came to pay her
+a visit. She had a piece of salmon, and a fine haddock's liver, on
+a plate, to present to the lady, and was full of joy and gratitude
+that so pious and chaste a maiden should have entered this
+convent. "Ah, yes! it was indeed terrible to see how the convent
+gates lay open, and the men-folk walked in and out, as the lady
+herself had seen yesterday. And would sister Sidonia believe it,
+sometimes the carls came in bare-legged? Not alone old Matthias
+Winterfeld, the convent porter, but others--yea, even in their
+shirt-sleeves sometimes--oh, it was shocking even to think of! She
+had talked about it long enough, but no one heeded her, though
+truly she was sub-prioress, and ought to have authority. However,
+if sister Sidonia would make common cause with her from this time
+forth, modesty and sobriety might yet be brought back to their
+blessed cloister."
+
+Sidonia desired nothing better than to make common cause with the
+good, simple Dorothea--but for her own purposes. Therefore she
+answered, "Ay, truly; this matter of the open gates was a grievous
+sin and shame. What else were these giddy wantons thinking of but
+lovers and matrimony? She really blushed to see them yesterday."
+
+_Illa._--"True, true; that was just it. All about love and
+marriage was the talk for ever amongst them. It made her heart die
+within her to think what the young maidens were nowadays."
+
+_Hæc._--"Had she any instances to bring forward; what had
+they done?"
+
+_Illa._--"Alas! instances enough. Why, not long since, a nun
+had married with a clerk, and this last chaplain, David Grosskopf,
+had taken another nun to wife himself."
+
+_Hæc._--"Oh, she was ready to faint with horror."
+
+_Illa _ (sobbing, weeping, and falling upon Sidonia's
+neck).--"God be praised that she had found one righteous soul in
+this Sodom and Gomorrah. Now she would swear friendship to her for
+life and death! And had she a little drop of wine, just to pour on
+the haddock's liver? it tasted so much better stewed in wine! but
+she would go for some of her own. The liver must just get one turn
+on the fire, and then the butter and spices have to be added. She
+would teach her how to do it if she did not know, only let the old
+maid make up the fire."
+
+_Hæc_.--"What was she talking about? Cooking was child's play
+to her; she had other things to cook than haddocks' livers."
+
+_Illa_ (weeping).--"Ah! let not her chaste sister be angry;
+she had meant it all in kindness."
+
+_Hæc_.--"No doubt--but why did she call the convent a Sodom
+and Gomorrah? Did the nuns ever admit a lover into their cells?"
+
+_Illa_ (screaming with horror).--"No, no, fie! how could the
+chaste sister bring her lips to utter such words?"
+
+_Hæc_.--"What did she mean, then, by the Sodom and Gomorrah?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Alas! the whole world was a Sodom and Gomorrah,
+why, then, not the convent, since it lay in the world? For though
+we do not sin in words or works, yet we may sin in thought; and
+this was evidently the case with some of these young things, for
+if the talk in their hearing was of marriage, they laughed and
+tittered, so that it was a scandal and abomination!"
+
+_Hæc_.--"But had she anything else to tell her--what had she
+come for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! she had forgotten. The abbess sent to say, that
+she must begin to knit the gloves directly for the canons of
+Camyn. Here was the thread."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Thousand devils! what did she mean?" _Illa_
+(crossing herself).--"Ah! the pious sister might let the devils
+alone, though (God be good to us) the world was indeed full of
+them!"
+
+_Hæc_.--"What did she mean, then, by this knitting--to talk
+to her so--the lady of castles and lands?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the matter was thus. The reverend canons of
+Camyn, who were twelve in number, purchased their beer always from
+the convent--for such had been the usage from the old Catholic
+times--and sent a waggon regularly every half-year to fetch it
+home. In return for this goodness, the nuns knit a pair of thread
+gloves for each canon in spring, and a pair of woollen ones in
+winter."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Then the devil may knit them if he chooses, but she
+never will. What! a lady of her rank to knit gloves for these old
+fat paunches! No, no; the abbess must come to her! Send a message
+to bid her come."
+
+And truly, in a little time, the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf,
+came as she was bid; for she had resolved to try and conquer
+Sidonia's pride and insolence by softness and humility.
+
+But what a storm of words fell upon the worthy matron!
+
+"Was this treatment, forsooth, for a noble lady? To be told to
+knit gloves for a set of lazy canons. Marry, she had better send
+the men at once to her room, to have them tried on. No wonder that
+levity and wantonness should reign throughout the convent!"
+
+Here the good mother interposed--
+
+"But could not sister Sidonia moderate her language a little? Such
+violence ill became a spiritual maiden. If she would not hold by
+the old usage, let her say so quietly, and then she herself, the
+abbess, would undertake to knit the gloves, since the work so
+displeased her."
+
+Then she turned to leave the room, but, on opening the door,
+tumbled right against sister Anna Apenborg, who was stuck up close
+to it, with her ear against the crevice, listening to what was
+passing inside. Anna screamed at first, for the good mother's head
+had given her a stout blow, but recovering quickly, as the two
+prioresses passed out, curtsied to Sidonia--
+
+"Her name was Anna Apenborg. Her father, Elias, dwelt in
+Nadrensee, near Old Stettin, and her great-great-grandfather,
+Caspar, had been with Bogislaff X. in the Holy Land. She had come
+to pay her respects to the new sister, for she was cooking in the
+kitchen yesterday when the lady arrived, and never got a sight of
+her, but she heard that this dear new sister was a great lady,
+with castles and lands. Her father's cabin was only a poor thing
+thatched with straw," &c.
+
+All this pleased the proud Sidonia mightily, so she beckoned her
+into the room, where the aforesaid Anna immediately began to stare
+about her, and devour everything with her eyes; but seeing such
+scanty furniture, remarked inquiringly--
+
+"The dear sister's goods are, of course, on the road?"
+
+This spoiled all Sidonia's good-humour in a moment, and she
+snappishly asked--
+
+"What brought her there?"
+
+Hereupon the other excused herself--
+
+"The maid had told her that the dear sister was going to eat her
+salmon for her lunch, with bread and butter, but it was much
+better with kale, and if she had none, her maid might come down
+now and cut some in the garden. This was what she had to say. She
+heard, indeed, that the sub-prioress and Agnes Kleist ate their
+salmon stewed in butter, but that was too rich; for one should be
+very particular about salmon, it was so apt to disagree. However,
+if sister Sidonia would just mind her, she would teach her all the
+different ways of dressing it, and no one was ever the worse for
+eating salmon, if they followed her plan."
+
+But before Sidonia had time to answer, the chatterbox had run to
+the door and lifted the latch--
+
+"There was a strange woman in the courtyard, with something under
+her apron. She must go and see what it was, but would be back
+again instantly with the news."
+
+In a short time she returned, bringing along with her Sheriff
+Sparling's dairy-woman, who carried a large bundle of flax under
+her apron. This she set down before Sidonia--
+
+"And his worship bid her say that she must spin all this for him
+without delay, for he wanted a new set of shirts, and the thread
+must be with the weaver by Christmas."
+
+When Sidonia heard this, she fell into a right rage in earnest--
+
+"May the devil wring his ears, the peasant carl! To send such a
+message to a lady of her degree!"
+
+Then she pitched the flax out of the door, and wanted to shove the
+dairy-woman out after it, but she stopped, and said--
+
+"His worship gave all the nuns a bushel of seed for their trouble,
+and sowed it for them; so she had better do as the others did."
+
+Sidonia, however, was not to be appeased--
+
+"May the devil take her and her flax, if she did not trot out of
+that instantly."
+
+So she pushed the poor woman out, and then panting and blowing
+with rage, asked Anna Apenborg to tell her what this boor of a
+sheriff was like?
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a strange man. Ate fish every day, and
+always cooked the one way, namely, in beer. How this was possible
+she could not understand. To-day she heard he was to have pike for
+his dinner."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Was she asking the fool what he ate? What did she
+care about his dinners? But what sort of man was he, and did all
+the nuns, in truth, spin for him?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, except Barbara Schetzkow; she was dead
+now. But once when he went storming to her cell, she just turned
+him out, and so she had peace ever after. For he roared like a
+bear, but, in truth, was a cowardly rabbit, this same sheriff. And
+she heard, that one time, when he was challenged by a noble, he
+shrank away, and never stood up to his quarrel."
+
+But just then in walked the sheriff himself, with a horse-whip in
+his hand. He was a thick-set, grey-headed fellow, and roared at
+Sidonia--
+
+"What! thou old, lean hag--so thou wilt spin no flax? May the
+devil take thee, but thou shalt obey my commands!"
+
+While he thus scolded, Sidonia quietly caught hold of the broom,
+and grasping it with both hands, gave such a blow with the handle
+on the grey pate of the sheriff, that he tumbled against the door,
+while she screamed out--
+
+"Ha! thou peasant boor, take that for calling me a hag--the lady
+of castle and lands!"
+
+Then she struck him again and again, till the sheriff at last got
+the door open and bolted out, running down the stairs as hard as
+he could, and into the courtyard, where, when he was safely
+landed, he shook the horsewhip up at Sidonia's windows, crying
+out--
+
+"I will make you pay dear for this. Anna Apenborg was witness of
+the assault. I will swear information this very day before his
+Highness, how the hag assaulted me, the sheriff, and
+superintendent of the convent, in the performance of my duty, and
+pray him to deliver an honourable cloister from the presence of
+such a vagabond."
+
+Then he went to the abbess, and begged her and the nuns to sustain
+him in his accusation--
+
+"Such wickedness and arrogance had never yet been seen under the
+sun. Let the good abbess only feel his head; there was a lump as
+big as an egg on it. Truly, he had had a mind to horsewhip her
+black and blue; but that would have been illegal; so he thanked
+God that he had restrained himself."
+
+Then he made the abbess feel his head again; also Anna Apenborg,
+who happened to come in that moment. But the worthy mother knew
+not what to do. She told the sheriff of Sidonia's behaviour as she
+drove into the convent; also how she had possessed herself of the
+refectory by force, refused to knit or spin, and had sent for her,
+the abbess, bidding her come to her, as if she were no better than
+a serving-wench.
+
+At last the sheriff desired all the nuns to be sent for, and in
+their presence drew up a petition to his Highness, praying that
+the honourable convent might be delivered from the presence of
+this dragon, for that no peace could be expected within the walls
+until this vagabond and evil-minded old hag were turned out on the
+road again, or wherever else his Highness pleased. Every one
+present signed this, with the exception of Anna Apenborg and the
+sub-prioress, Dorothea Stettin. And many think that in
+consideration of this gentleness, Sidonia afterwards spared their
+lives, and did not bring them to a premature grave, like as she
+did the worthy abbess and others.
+
+For the next time that she caught Anna at her old habit of
+listening, Sidonia said, while boxing her--
+
+"You should get something worse than a box on the ear, only for
+your refusal to sign that lying petition to his Highness."
+
+_Summa_.--After a few days, an answer arrived from his Grace
+the Duke of Stettin, and the abbess, with the sheriff, proceeded
+with it to Sidonia's apartment.
+
+They found her brewing beer, an art in which she excelled; and the
+letter which they handed to her ran thus, according to the copy
+received likewise by the convent:--
+
+"WE, BOGISLAFF, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, DUKE OF STETTIN, &c.
+
+"Having heard from our sheriff and the pious sisterhood of
+Marienfliess, of thy unseemly behaviour, in causing uproars and
+tumults in the convent; further, of thy having struck our worthy
+sheriff on the head with a broom-stick--We hereby declare, desire,
+and command, that, unless thou givest due obedience to the
+authorities, lay and spiritual, doing this well, with humility and
+meekness, even as the other sisters, the said authorities shall
+have full power to turn thee out of the convent, by means of their
+bailiffs or otherwise, as they please, giving thee back again to
+that perdition from which thou wast rescued. Further, thou art
+herewith to deliver up the refectory to the abbess, of which We
+hear thou hast shamefully possessed thyself.
+
+"Old Stettin, 10th November, 1603.
+
+"BOGISLAFF."
+
+Sidonia scarcely looked at the letter, but thrust it under the pot
+on the fire, where it soon blazed away to help the brewing, and
+exclaimed--
+
+"They had forged it between them; the Prince never wrote a line of
+it. Nor would he have sent it to her by the hands of her enemies.
+Let it burn there. Little trouble would she take to read their
+villainy. But never fear, they should have something in return for
+their pains."
+
+Hereupon she blew on them both, and they had scarcely reached the
+court, after leaving her apartment, when both were seized with
+excruciating pains in their limbs; both the sheriff and the abbess
+were affected in precisely the same way--a violent pain first in
+the little finger, then on through the hand, up the arm, finally,
+throughout the whole frame, as if the members were tearing
+asunder, till they both screamed aloud for very agony. Doctor
+Schwalenberg is sent for from Stargard, but his salve does no
+good; they grow worse rather, and their cries are dreadful to
+listen to, for the pain has become intolerable.
+
+So my brave sheriff turns from a roaring ox into a poor cowardly
+hare, and sends off the dairy-woman with a fine haunch of venison
+and a sweetbread to Sidonia: "His worship's compliments to the
+illustrious lady with these, and begged to know if she could send
+him anything good for the rheumatism, which had attacked him quite
+suddenly. The Stargard doctor was not worth the air he breathed,
+and his salve had only made him worse in place of better. He would
+send the illustrious lady also some pounds of wax-lights; she
+might like them through the winter, but they were not made yet."
+
+When Sidonia heard this she laughed loudly, danced about, and
+repeated the verse which was then heard for the first time from
+her lips; but afterwards she made use of it, when about any evil
+deed:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+  Meine Hunde und meine Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    My dogs and my cats."]
+
+The dairy-woman stood by in silent wonder, first looking at
+Sidonia, then at Wolde, who began to dance likewise, and
+chanted:--
+
+  "Also kleien und also kratzen,
+   Unsre Hunde und unsre Katzen."
+
+  ["So claw and so scratch,
+    Our dogs and our cats."]
+
+At last Sidonia answered, "This time I will help him; but if he
+ever bring the roaring ox out of the stall again, assuredly he
+will repent it."
+
+Hereon the dairy-mother turned to depart, but suddenly stood quite
+still, staring at Anne Wolde; at length said, "Did I not see thee
+years ago spinning flax in my mother's cellar, when the folk
+wanted to bring thee to an ill end?"
+
+But the hag denied it all--"The devil may have been in her
+mother's cellar, but she had never seen Marienfliess in her life
+before, till she came hither with this illustrious lady."
+
+So the other seemed to believe her, and went out; and by the time
+she reached her master's door, his pains had all vanished, so that
+he rode that same day at noon to the hunt.
+
+The poor abbess heard of all this through Anna Apenborg, and
+thereupon bethought herself of a little embassy likewise.
+
+So she bid Anna take all sorts of good pastry, and a new kettle,
+and greet the Lady Sidonia from her--"Could the dear sister give
+her anything for the rheumatism?" She heard the sheriff was quite
+cured, and all the doctor's salves and plasters were only making
+her worse. She sent the dear sister a few dainties--_item_, a
+new kettle, as her own kettle had not yet arrived. _Item_,
+she begged her acceptance of all the furniture, &c., which she had
+lent her for her apartment.
+
+At this second message, the horrible witch laughed and danced as
+before, repeating the same couplet; and the old hag, Wolde, danced
+behind her like her shadow.
+
+Now Anna Apenborg's curiosity was excited in the highest degree at
+all this, and her feet began to beat up and down on the floor as
+if she were dying to dance likewise; at last she exclaimed, "Ah,
+dear lady! what is the meaning of that? Could you not teach it to
+me, if it cures the rheumatism? that is, if there be no devil's
+work in it (from which God keep us). I have twelve pounds of wool
+lying by me; will you take it, dear lady, for teaching me the
+secret?"
+
+But Sidonia answered, "Keep your wool, good Anna, and I will keep
+my secret, seeing that it is impossible for me to teach it to you;
+for know, that a woman can only learn it of a man, and a man of a
+woman; and this we call the doctrine of sympathies. However, go
+your ways now, and tell the abbess that, if she does my will, I
+will visit her and see what I can do to help her; but, remember,
+my will she must do."
+
+Hereupon sister Anna was all eagerness to know what her will was,
+but Sidonia bade her hold her tongue, and then locked up the
+viands in the press, while Wolde went into the kitchen with the
+kettle, where Anna Apenborg followed her slowly, to try and pick
+something out of the old hag, but without any success, as one may
+easily imagine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_How Sidonia visits the abbess, Magdalena von Petersdorf, and
+explains her wishes, but is diverted to other objects by a sight
+of David Ludeck, the chaplain to the convent._
+
+
+When Sidonia went to visit the abbess, as she had promised, she
+found her lying in bed and moaning, so that it might have melted
+the heart of a stone; but the old witch seemed quite
+surprised--"What could be the matter with the dear, good mother?
+but by God's help she would try and cure her. Only, concerning
+this little matter of the refectory, it might as well be settled
+first, for Anna Apenborg told her the room was to be taken from
+her; but would not the good mother permit her to keep it?"
+
+And when the tortured matron answered, "Oh yes; keep it, keep it,"
+Sidonia went on--
+
+"There was just another little favour she expected for curing her
+dear mother (for, by God's help, she expected to cure her). This
+was, to make her sub-prioress in place of Dorothea Stettin; for,
+in the first place, the situation was due to her rank, she being
+the most illustrious lady in the convent, dowered with castles and
+lands; secondly, because her illustrious forefathers had helped to
+found this convent; and thirdly, it was due to her age, for she
+was the natural mother of all these young doves, and much more
+fitted to keep them in order and strict behaviour than Dorothea
+Stettin."
+
+Here the abbess answered, "How could she make her sub-prioress
+while the other lived? This was not to be done? Truly sister
+Dorothea was somewhat prudish and whining, this she could not
+deny, for she had suffered many crosses in her path; but, withal,
+she was an upright, honest creature, with the best and simplest
+heart in the world; and so little selfishness, that verily she
+would lay down her life for the sisterhood, if it were necessary."
+
+_Illa_.--"A good heart was all very well, but what could it
+do without respect? and how could a poor fool be respected who
+fell into fits if she saw a bride, particularly here, where the
+young sisters thought of nothing but marriage from morning till
+night."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Yet she was held in great respect and honour by all
+the sisterhood, as she herself could testify."
+
+_Illa_.--"Stuff! she must be sub-prioress, and there was an
+end of it, or the abbess might lie groaning there till she was as
+stiff as a pole."
+
+"Alas! Sidonia," answered the abbess, "I would rather lie here as
+stiff as a pole--or, in other words, lie here a corpse, for I
+understand thy meaning--than do aught that was unjust."
+
+_Illa_.--"What was unjust? The old goose need not be turned
+out of her office by force, but persuaded out of it--that would be
+an easy matter, if she were so humble and excellent a creature."
+
+_Hæc_.--"But then deceit must be practised, and that she
+could never bring herself to."
+
+_Illa_.--"Yet you could all practise deceit against me, and
+send off that complaint to his Highness the Prince."
+
+_Hæc_.--"There was no falsehood there nor deceit, but the
+openly expressed wish of the whole convent, and of his worship the
+sheriff."
+
+_Illa_.--"Then let the whole convent and his worship the
+sheriff make her well again; she would not trouble herself about
+the matter."
+
+Whereupon she rose to depart, but the suffering abbess stretched
+out her hands, and begged, for the sake of Jesus, that she would
+release her from this torture! "Take everything--everything thou
+wishest, Sidonia--only leave me my good conscience. Thy dying hour
+must one day come too; oh! think on that."
+
+_Illa_.--"The dying hour is a long way off yet" (and she
+moved to the door).
+
+_Hæc _(murmuring):--
+
+  "Why should health from God estrange thee?
+  Morning cometh and may change thee;
+  Life, to-day, its hues may borrow
+  Where the grave-worm feeds to-morrow."
+
+_Illa_.--"Look to yourself then. Speak! Make me sub-prioress,
+and be Cured on the instant."
+
+_Hæc _ (turning herself back upon the pillow).--"No, no,
+temptress; begone:--
+
+  "'Softest pillow for the dying,
+  Is a conscience void of dread.'
+
+Go, leave me; my life is in the hand of God. 'For if we live, we
+live unto the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord. Living,
+therefore, or dying, we are the Lord's.'"
+
+So saying, the pious mother turned her face to the wall, and
+Sidonia went out of the chamber.
+
+In a little while, however, she returned--"Would the good mother
+promise, at least, to offer no opposition, if Dorothea Stettin
+proposed, of her own free will, to resign the office of
+sub-prioress? If so, let her reach forth her hand; she would soon
+find the pains leave her."
+
+The poor abbess assented to this, and oh, wonder! as it came, so
+it went; first out of the little finger, and then by degrees out
+of the whole body, so that the old mother wept for joy, and
+thanked her murderess.
+
+Just then the door opened, and David Ludeck, the chaplain, whom
+the abbess had sent for, entered in his surplice. He was a fine
+tall man, of about thirty-five years, with bright red lips and
+jet-black beard.
+
+He wondered much on hearing how the abbess had been cured by what
+Sidonia called "sympathies," and smelled devil's work in it, but
+said nothing--for he was afraid; spoke kindly to the witch-hag
+even, and extolled her learning and the nobility of her race;
+declaring that he knew well that the Von Borks had helped mainly
+to found this cloister.
+
+This mightily pleased the sorceress, and she grew quite friendly,
+asking him at last, "What news he had of his wife and children?"
+And when he answered, "He had no wife nor children," her eyes lit
+up again like old cinders, and she began to jest with him about
+his going about so freely in a cloister, as she observed he did.
+But when she saw that the priest looked grave at the jestings, she
+changed her tone, and demurely asked him, "If he would be ready
+after sermon on Sunday to assist at her assuming the nun's dress;
+for though many had given up this old usage, yet she would hold by
+it, for love of Jesu." This pleased the priest, and he promised to
+be prepared. Then Sidonia took her leave; but scarcely had she
+reached her own apartment when she sent for Anna Apenborg. "What
+sort of man was this chaplain? she saw that he went about the
+convent at his pleasure. This was strange when he was unmarried."
+
+_Illa_.--"He was a right friendly and well-behaved gentleman.
+Nothing unseemly in word or deed had ever been heard of him."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Then he must have some private love-affair."
+
+_Illa_.--"Some said he was paying court to Bamberg's sister
+there in Jacobshagen."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Ha! very probable. But was it true? for otherwise he
+should never go about amongst the nuns the way he did. It was
+quite abominable: an unmarried man; Dorothea Stettin was right.
+But how could they ascertain the fact?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was easily done. She was going next morning to
+Jacobshagen, and would make out the whole story for her. Indeed,
+she herself, too, was curious about it."
+
+_Hæc_.--"All right. This must be done for the honour of the
+cloister. For according to the rules of 1569, the court chaplain
+was to be an old man, who should teach the sisters to read and
+write. Whereas, here was a fine carl with red lips and a black
+beard--unmarried too. Did he perchance ever teach any of them to
+read or write?"
+
+_Illa_.--"No; for they all knew how already."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Still there was something wrong in it. No, no, in
+such matters youth has no truth; Dorothea Stettin was quite right.
+Ah, what a wonderful creature, that excellent Dorothea! Such
+modesty and purity she had never met with before. Would that all
+young maidens were like her, and then this wicked world would be
+something better."
+
+_Illa_ (sighing).--"Ah, yes; but then sister Dorothea went
+rather far in her notions."
+
+_Hæc_.--"How so? In these matters one could never go too
+far."
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, when a couple were called in church, or a
+woman was churched, Dorothea nearly fainted. Then, there was a
+niche in the chancel for which old Duke Barnim had given them an
+Adam and Eve, which he turned and carved himself. But Dorothea was
+quite shocked at the Adam, and made a little apron to hang before
+him, though the abbess and the whole convent said that it was not
+necessary. But she told them, that unless Adam wore his apron,
+never would she set foot in the chapel. Now, truly this was going
+rather far. _Item_, she has been heard to wonder how the Lord
+God could send all the animals naked into the world; as cats,
+dogs, horses, and the like. Indeed, she one day disputed sharply
+on the matter with the chaplain; but he only laughed at her,
+whereupon Dorothea went away in a sulk."
+
+Here Sidonia laughed outright too; but soon said with grave
+decorum, "Quite right. The excellent Dorothea was a treasure above
+all treasures for the convent. Ah, such chastity and virtue were
+rarely to be met with in this wicked world."
+
+Now Anna Apenborg had hardly turned her back, to go and chatter
+all this back again to the sub-prioress, when Sidonia proceeded to
+tap some of her beer, and called the convent porter to her,
+Matthias Winterfeld, bidding him carry it with her greetings to
+the chaplain, David Ludeck. (For her own maid, Wolde, was lame,
+ever since the racking she got at Wolgast. So Sidonia was in the
+habit of sending the porter all her messages, much to his
+annoyance.) When he came now he was in his shirt-sleeves, at which
+Sidonia was wroth--"What did he mean by going about the convent in
+shirt-sleeves? Never let him appear before her eyes in such
+unseemly trim. And was this a time even for shirt-sleeves, when
+they were in the month of November? But winter or summer, he must
+never appear so,"
+
+Hereupon the fellow excused himself. He was killing geese for some
+of the nuns, and had just put off his coat, not to have it spoiled
+by the down; but she is nothing mollified--scolds him still, so
+the fellow makes off without another word, fearing he might get a
+touch of the rheumatism, like the abbess and his worship the
+sheriff, and carries the beer-can to the reverend chaplain; from
+whom he soon brings back "his grateful acknowledgments to the Lady
+Sidonia."
+
+Two days now passed over, but on the third morning Anna Apenborg
+trotted into the refectory full of news. She was quite tired from
+her journey yesterday; for the snow was deep on the roads, but to
+pleasure sister Sidonia (and besides, as it was a matter that
+concerned the honour of the convent) she had set off to
+Jacobshagen, though indeed the snow lay ankle-deep. However, she
+was well repaid, and had heard all she wanted; oh, there was great
+news!
+
+_Illa_.--"Quick! what? how? why? Remember it is for the
+honour and reputation of the entire convent."
+
+_Hæc_.--"She had first gone to one person, who pretended not
+to know anything at all of the matter; but then another person had
+told her the whole story--under the seal of the strictest secrecy,
+however."
+
+_Illa_.--"What is it? what is it? How she went on chattering
+of nothing."
+
+_Hæc_.--"But will the dear sister promise not to breathe it
+to mortal? She would be ruined with her best friend otherwise."
+
+_Illa_.--"Nonsense, girl; who could I repeat it to? Come, out
+with it!"
+
+So Anna began, in a very long-winded manner, to explain how the
+burgomaster's wife in Jacobshagen said that her maid said that
+Provost Bamberg's maid said, that while she was sweeping his study
+the other morning, she heard the provost's sister say to her
+brother in the adjoining room, that she could not bear the
+chaplain, David Ludeck, for he had been visiting there off and on
+for ever so long, and yet never had asked her the question. He was
+a faint-hearted coward evidently, and she hated faint-hearted men.
+
+Sidonia grew as red as a lire-beacon when she heard this, and
+walked up and down the apartment as if much perturbed, so that
+Anna asked if the dear sister were ill? "No," was the answer. "She
+was only thinking how best to get rid of this priest, and prevent
+him running in and out of the convent whenever he pleased. She
+must try and have an order issued, that he was only to visit the
+nuns when they were sick. This very day she would see about it.
+Could the good Anna tell her what the sheriff had for lunch
+to-day?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Ay, truly, could she; for the milk-girl, who had
+brought her some fresh milk, told her that he had got plenty of
+wild fowl, which the keeper had snared in the net; and there was
+to be a sweetbread besides. But what was the dear sister herself
+to eat?"
+
+_Hæc_.--"No matter--but did she not hear a great ringing of
+bells? What could the ringing be for?"
+
+_Illa_.--"That was a strange thing, truly. And there was no
+one dead, nor any child to be christened, that she had heard of.
+She would just run out and see, and bring the dear sister word."
+
+_Illa_.-"Well then, wait till evening, for it is near noon
+now, and I expect a guest to lunch."
+
+_Hæc_.--"Eh? a guest!--and who could it be?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Why, the chaplain himself. I want to arrange about
+his dismissal."
+
+So, hardly had she got rid of the chatterbox, when Sidonia called
+the porter, Matthias, and bid him greet the reverend chaplain from
+her, and say, that as she had somewhat to ask him concerning the
+investiture on Sunday, would he be her guest that day at dinner?
+She hoped to have some game with a sweetbread, and excellent beer
+to set before him.
+
+When the porter returned with the answer from his reverence,
+accepting the invitation, she sent him straight to the sheriff
+with a couple of covered dishes, and a message, begging his
+worship to send her half-a-dozen brace or so of game, for she
+heard that a great many had been taken in his nets; and a
+sweetbread, if he had it, for she had a guest to-day at dinner.
+
+So the dishes came back full--everything just ready to be served;
+for the cunning hag knew well that he dare not refuse her; and
+immediately afterwards the priest arrived to dinner. He was very
+friendly, but Sidonia caught him looking very suspiciously at a
+couple of brooms which she had laid crosswise under the table. So
+she observed, "I lay these brooms there, to preserve our dear
+mother and the sheriff from falling again into this sickness. It
+is part of the doctrine of sympathies, and I learned it out of my
+Herbal, as I can show you." Upon which she went to her trunk and
+got the book for the priest, whose fears diminished when he saw
+that it was _printed_; but he could not prevail on her to
+lend it to him.
+
+_Summa_.--The priest grew still more friendly over the good
+eating and drinking; and she, the old hypocrite, discoursed him
+the while about her heavenly bridegroom, and threw up her eyes and
+sighed, at the same time pressing his hand fervently. But the
+priest never minded it, for she was old enough to be his mother,
+and besides, he remembered the Scripture--"No man can call Jesus
+Lord, except through the Holy Ghost." So as her every third word
+was "Jesus," he looked upon her as a most discreet and pious
+Christian, and went away much satisfied by her and the good
+dinner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Sidonia tries another way to catch the priest, but fails
+through a mistake--Item, of her horrible spell, whereby she
+bewitched the whole princely race of Pomerania, so that, to the
+grievous sorrow of their fatherland, they remain barren even unto
+this day._ [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--"Ay, and
+will to the last day, _vaeh mihi_."]
+
+
+As soon as the pious abbess was able to leave her bed, she sent
+for the priest, for she had strange suspicions about Sidonia, and
+asked the reverend clerk, if indeed her cure could have been
+effected by sympathy? and were it not rather some work of the
+bodily Satan himself? But my priest assured her concerning
+Sidonia's Christian faith; _item_, told, to the great
+wonderment of the abbess, that she no longer cared for the
+sub-prioret (we know why--she would sooner have the priest than
+the prioret), but was content to let Dorothea Stettin keep it or
+resign it, just as she pleased.
+
+After this, the investiture of Sidonia took place, and the priest
+blessed her at the altar, and admonished her to take as her model
+the wise virgins mentioned Matt. xxv. (but God knows, she had
+followed the foolish virgins up to that period, and never ceased
+doing so to the end of her days).
+
+Even on that very night, we shall see her conduct; for she bid her
+maid, Wolde, run and call up the convent porter, and despatch him
+instantly for the priest, saying that she was very ill, and he
+must come and pray with her. This excited no suspicion, since she
+herself had forbade the priest entering the convent, unless any of
+the sisters were sick. But Anna Apenborg slipped out of bed when
+she heard the noise, and watched from the windows for the porter's
+return. Then she tossed up the window, though the snow blew in all
+over her bed, and called out, "Well, what says he? will he come?
+will he come?"
+
+And when the fellow grunted in answer, "Yes, he's coming," she
+wrapped a garment round her, and set herself to watch, though her
+teeth were chattering from cold all the time. In due time the
+priest came, whereupon the curious virgin crept out of her garret,
+and down the stairs to a little window in the passage which looked
+in upon the refectory, and through which, in former times,
+provisions were sometimes handed in. There she could hear
+everything that passed.
+
+When the priest entered, Sidonia stretched out her meagre arms
+towards him, and thanked him for coming; would he sit down here on
+the bed, for there was no other seat in the room? she had much to
+tell him that was truly wonderful. But the priest remained
+standing: let her speak on.
+
+_Illa_.--"Ah! it concerned himself. She had dreamt a strange
+dream (God be thanked that it was not a reality), but it left her
+no peace. Three times she awoke, and three fell asleep and dreamt
+it again. At last she sent for him, for there might be danger in
+store for him, and she would turn it away if possible."
+
+_Hic_.--"It was strange, truly. What, then, had she dreamed?"
+
+_Illa_.--"It seemed to her that murderers had got up into his
+room through the window, and just as they were on the point of
+strangling him, she had appeared and put them to flight,
+whereupon--" (here she paused and sighed).
+
+_Hic _(in great agitation).--"Go on, for God's sake go
+on--what further?"
+
+_Illa_.--"Whereupon--ah! she must tell him now, since he
+forced her to do it. Whereupon, out of gratitude, he took her to
+be his wife, and they were married" (sighing, and holding both
+hands before her eyes).
+
+_Hic_ (clasping his hands).--"Merciful Heaven! how strange! I
+dreamt all that precisely myself." [Footnote: The power of
+producing particular dreams by volition, was recognised by the
+ancients and philosophers of the Middle Ages. _Ex._ Albertus
+Magnus relates (_De Mirabilibus Mundi_ 205) that horrible
+dreams can be produced by placing an ape's skin under the pillow.
+He also gives a receipt for making women tell their secrets in
+sleep (but this I shall keep to myself). Such phenomena are
+neither physiologically nor psychologically impossible, but our
+modern physiologists are content to take the mere poor form of
+nature, dissect it, anatomise it, and then bury it beneath the
+sand of their hypotheses. Thus, indeed, "the dead bury their
+dead," while all the strange, mysterious, inner powers of nature,
+which the philosophers of the Middle Ages, as Psellus, Albertus
+Magnus, Trithemius, Cardanus, Theophastus, &c., did so much to
+elucidate, are at once flippantly and ignorantly placed in the
+category of "Superstitions," "Absurdities," and "Artful
+Deceptions."]
+
+Upon which Sidonia cried out, "How can it be possible? Oh, it is
+the will of God, David--it is the will of God" (and she seized him
+by both hands).
+
+But the priest remained as cold as the snow outside, drew back his
+head, and said, "Ah! no doubt these absurdities about marriage
+came into my head because I had been thinking so much over our
+young Lord Philip of Wolgast, who was wedded to-day at Berlin."
+
+Sidonia started up at this, and screamed in rage and anger--"What!
+Duke Philip married to-day in Berlin? The accursed prioress told
+me the wedding was not to be for eight days after the next new
+moon."
+
+The priest now was more astonished at her manner than even at the
+coincidence of the dreams, and he started back from the bed.
+Whereupon, perceiving the mistake she had made, the horrible witch
+threw herself down again, and letting her head fall upon the
+pillow, murmured, "Oh! my head! my head! She must have locked up
+the moon in the cellar. How will the poor people see now by
+night?--why did the prioress lock up the moon? Oh! my head! my
+head!" Then she thanked the priest for coming--it was so good of
+him; but she was worse--much worse. "Ah! her head! her head!
+Better go now--but let him come again in the morning to see her."
+So the good priest believed in truth that the detestable hag was
+very ill, and evidently suffering from fever; so he went his way
+pitying her much, and without the least suspicion of her wicked
+purposes.
+
+Scarcely, however, had he closed the door, when Sidonia sprang
+like a cat from her bed, and called out, "Wolde, Wolde!" And as
+the old witch hobbled in with her lame leg, Sidonia raged and
+stamped, crying out, "The accursed abbess has lied to me. Ernest
+Ludovicus' brat was married to-day at Berlin. Oh! if I am too late
+now, as on his father's marriage, I shall hang myself in the
+laundry. Where is Chim--the good-for-nothing spirit?--he should
+have seen to this." And she dragged him out and beat him, while he
+quaked like a hare.
+
+Whereupon Wolde called out, "Bring the padlock from the trunk."
+The other answered, "What use now?--the bridal pair are long since
+wedded and asleep." To which the old witch replied, "No; it is
+twelve o'clock here, but in Berlin it wants a quarter to it yet.
+There is time. The Berlin brides never retire to their apartment
+till the clock strikes twelve. There is time still."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Sidonia, "since the devil cannot tell me on what
+day they hold bridal, I will make an end now of the whole accursed
+griffin brood, in all its relationships, branch and root, now and
+for evermore, in Wolgast as in Stettin; be they destroyed and
+rooted out for ever and for ever." Then she took the padlock, and
+murmured some words over it, of which Anna Apenborg could only
+catch the names, Philip, Francis, George, Ulrich, Bogislaff, who
+were all sons to Duke Bogislaff XIII., and, in truth, died each
+one without leaving an heir. And, during the incantation, the
+light trembled and burned dim upon the table, and the thing which
+she had beaten seemed to speak with a human voice, and the bells
+on the turret swung in the wind with a low sound, so that Anna
+fell on her knees from horror, and scarcely dared to breathe. Then
+the accursed sorceress gave the padlock and key to Wolde, bidding
+her go forth by night and fling it into the sea, repeating the
+words:--
+
+   "Hid deep in the sea
+   Let my dark spell be,
+   For ever, for ever!
+   To rise up never!"
+
+Then Wolde asked, "Had she forgotten Duke Casimir?" Whereat
+Sidonia laughed and said, "The spell had long been on him." And
+immediately after, Anna Apenborg beheld _three_ shadows, in
+place of two, thrown upon the white wall opposite the little
+window. So she strengthened her heart to look in, and truly there
+was _another_ form present now. And the three danced
+together, and chanted strange rhymes, while the shadows on the
+wall danced up and down likewise. Then a deep bass voice called
+out, "Ha! there is Christian flesh here! Ha! there is Christian
+flesh!" Whereupon Anna, though nearly dead with fright, crept up
+to her garret on her knees, while loud laughter resounded behind
+her; and it seemed as if old pots were flung up the stairs after
+her. [Footnote: Note of Duke Bogislaff XIV.--Incredibile sane, et
+tamen verum. Cur, mi Deus?--(It seems impossible, and yet how
+true. Wherefore, my God?)
+
+The spell by knotting the girdle is noticed by Virgil, 8th
+eclogue:
+
+  "Necte tribus nodis ternos Amarylli colores;
+  Necte Amarylli modo, et Veneris die vincula necto."
+
+  [In three knots Amaryllis weaves three different colours;
+  Amaryllis knots and says: I knot the girdle of Venus.]
+
+The use of the padlock is not mentioned until the Middle Ages,
+when it seems to have been so much employed that severe ordinances
+were directed against its use.] For the rest of that night she
+could not close her eyes.
+
+Next morning, one can easily imagine with what eagerness she
+hurried to the abbess, to relate the past night's horrible tale.
+Sidonia likewise is astir early, for by daybreak she despatched
+her old lame Wolde to the chaplain (the porter was not up yet)
+with a can of beer for his great trouble the night before, and
+trusted it would strengthen his heart. In this beer she had poured
+her detestable love-philtrum, to awaken a passion for herself in
+the breast of the reverend David, but it turned out quite
+otherwise, and ended after the most ludicrous fashion, no doubt
+all owing to the malice of the spirit Chim, in revenge for the
+blows she had given him the night previous; for, behold, as soon
+as the priest had swallowed a right good draught of beer, he began
+to stare at the old hag and murmur; then he passed his hand over
+his eyes, and motioned her to remain. Again he looked at
+her--twice, thrice--put some silver into her hand, and at last
+spake--"Ah! Wolde, what a beautiful creature you are! Where have
+my eyes been, that I never discovered this before?"
+
+The cunning hag saw now plainly what the drink had done, and which
+way the wind blew. So she sat herself down simpering, by the
+stove, and my priest crept up close beside her; he took her
+hand--"Ah! how fat and plump it was--such a beautiful hand."
+
+But the old hag drew it back, saying, "Let me go, Mr. David!" To
+which he answered, "Yes, go, my treasure! I love to see you walk!
+What an exquisite limp! How stupid are men nowadays not to see all
+the beauty of a limp! Ah! Venus knew it well, and therefore chose
+Vulcan, for he, too, limped like my Wolde. Give me a kiss then,
+loveliest of women! Ah! what enchanting snow-white hair, like the
+purest silver, has my treasure on her head."
+
+No wonder the old lame hag was tickled with the commendations,
+for, in all the sixty years of her life, she never had heard the
+like before. But she played the prude, and pushed away the priest
+with her hand, just as, by good fortune, a messenger from the
+abbess knocked at the door, with a request that the chaplain would
+come to the good mother without delay. So the old hag went away
+with the maid of the abbess, and the priest stopped to dress
+himself more decently.
+
+But in some time the abbess, who was on the watch, saw him
+striding past her door; so she opened the window and called out to
+know "Where was he going? Had he forgotten that she lived there?"
+To which he answered, "He must first visit Sidonia." At this the
+worthy matron stared at him in horror; but my priest went on; and
+as he cared more for the maid than the mistress now, ran at once
+into the kitchen, without waiting to see Sidonia in the refectory;
+and seizing hold of Wolde, whispered, "That she must give him the
+kiss now--she need not be such a prude, for he had no wife. And
+what beautiful hair! Never in his life had he seen such beautiful
+white hair!" But the old hag still resisted; and in the struggle a
+stool, on which lay a pot, was thrown down.
+
+Sidonia rushed in at the noise; and behold! there was my priest
+holding Wolde by the hand. She nearly fainted at the sight. What
+was he doing with her maid? Then seizing a heavy log of wood, she
+began to lay it on Wolde's shoulders, who screamed and roared,
+while my priest slunk away ashamed, without a word; and as he ran
+down the steps, heard the blows and the screams still resounding
+from the kitchen.
+
+As he passed the door of the abbess's room, again she called him
+in; but as he entered, she exclaimed in terror, "My God, what ails
+your reverence? You look as black and red in the face as if you
+had had a fit, and had grown ten years older in one night!"
+
+"Nothing ails me," he answered; then sighed, and walked up and
+down the room, murmuring, "What is the world to me? Why should I
+care what the world thinks?" Then falls flat on the ground as if
+he were dead, while the good abbess screams and calls for help. In
+runs Anna Apenborg--_item_, several other sisters with their
+maids, and they stretch the priest out upon a bench near the
+stove, where he soon begins to foam at the mouth, and throw up all
+the beer, with the love-philtrum therein, which he had drunk
+(Sidonia's power effected this, no doubt, since she saw how
+matters stood).
+
+Then he heaved a deep sigh, opened his eyes, and asked, "Where am
+I?" Whereupon, finding that his reason and clear understanding had
+been restored to him, he requested the sisterhood to depart (for
+they had all rushed in to hear what was going on) and leave him
+alone with the abbess, as he had matter of grave import to discuss
+with her. Whereupon they all went out, except Anna Apenborg, who
+said that she, too, had matter of grave import to relate. So
+finding she would not stir, the priest took her by the hand, and
+put her out at the door along with the others.
+
+Now when they were both left alone, we can easily imagine the
+subject of their conversation. The poor priest made his
+confession, concealing nothing, only lamenting bitterly how he had
+disgraced his holy calling; but he had felt like one in a dream,
+or under some influence which he could not shake off. In return,
+the abbess told him of the horrible scene witnessed by Anna
+Apenborg the night before; upon which they both agreed that no
+more accursed witch and sorceress was in the world than their poor
+cloister held at that moment. Finally, putting all the
+circumstances together, the reverend David began to perceive what
+designs Sidonia had upon him, particularly when he heard of Anna
+Apenborg's visit to Jacobshagen, and the news which she had
+brought back from thence. So to destroy all hope at once in the
+accursed sorceress, and save himself from further importunity and
+persecution on her part, he resolved to offer his hand the very
+next day to Barbara Bamberg, for, in truth, he had long had an eye
+of Christian love upon the maiden, who was pious and discreet, and
+just suited to be a pastor's wife.
+
+Then they agreed to send for the sheriff, and impart the whole
+matter to him, he being cloister superintendent; but his answer
+was, "Let them go to him, if they wanted to speak to him; for, as
+to him, he would never enter the convent again--his poor body had
+suffered too much there the last time."
+
+Whereupon they went to him; but he could give no counsel, only to
+leave the matter in the hands of God the Lord; for if they
+appealed to the Prince, the sorceress would surely bewitch them
+again, and they would be screaming day and night, or maybe die at
+once, and then what help for them, &c.
+
+Sidonia meanwhile was not idle; for she sent messages throughout
+the whole convent that she lay in her bed sick unto death, and
+they must needs come and pray with her, along with the priest,
+before they assembled in the chapel for service. At this open
+blasphemy and hypocrisy, a great fear and horror fell upon the
+abbess, likewise upon the priest, since the witch had specially
+named him, and desired that he would come _before_ service to
+pray with her. For a long while he hesitated, at last promised to
+visit her _after_ service; but again bethought himself that
+it would be more advisable to visit her before, for he might
+possibly succeed in unveiling all her iniquities, or if not, he
+could pray afterwards in the church, "that if indeed Sidonia were
+really sick, and a child of God, the just and merciful Father
+would raise her up and strengthen her in her weakness; but if she
+were practising deceit, and were no child of God, but an accursed
+limb of Satan, then he would give her up into the hands of God for
+punishment, for had He not said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will
+repay, saith the Lord'? (Romans xii. 19.)"
+
+This pleased the abbess, and forthwith the reverend David
+proceeded to the refectory.
+
+Now Sidonia had not expected him so early, and she was up and
+dressed, busily brewing another hellish drink to have ready for
+him by the time he arrived; but when his step sounded in the
+passage, she whipped into bed and covered herself up with the
+clothes, not so entirely, however, but that a long tail of her
+black robe fell outside from under the white sheet--this,
+unluckily for herself, she knew nothing of. The priest, however,
+saw it plainly, and had, moreover, heard the jump she gave into
+bed just as he opened the door; but he made no remark, only
+greeted her as usual, and asked what she wanted with him.
+
+_Illa.--"Ah! she was sick, sick unto death--would he not pray
+for her? for the night before she was too ill to pray, and no
+doubt the Lord was angry with her, by reason of the omission. This
+morning, indeed, she had crept out of bed, just to scold her
+awkward maid for breaking all the pots and pans, as he himself
+saw, but had to go to bed again, and was growing weaker and weaker
+every quarter of an hour. But the good priest must taste her beer;
+let him drink a can of it first to strengthen his heart. It was
+the best beer she had made yet, and her maid had just tapped a
+fresh barrel."
+
+Here the reverend David made answer--"He thanked her for her beer,
+but would drink none. He could not believe, either, that she was
+as ill as she said, and had been lying in bed all the morning."
+
+But she persisted so vehemently in her falsehoods that the very
+boards under her must have felt ashamed, if they had possessed any
+consciousness. Whereupon the priest shuddered in horror and
+disgust, bent down silently, and lifted up the piece of her robe
+which lay outside.
+
+"What did this mean? did she wear her nun's dress in bed? or was
+she not rather making a mock of him, and the whole convent, by her
+pretended sickness?"
+
+Here Sidonia grew red with shame and wrath; but, ere she could
+utter a word, the priest continued with a holy and righteous
+anger--
+
+"Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou art a byword amongst the people.
+Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thou hast passed thy youth in wantonness
+and thy old age in sin. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for thy hellish arts
+brought thy mother the abbess, and thy father the superintendent,
+nearly to their graves. Woe to thee, Sidonia! for this past night
+thou hast taken a horrible revenge upon the whole princely race,
+and cursed them by the power which the devil gives thee. Woe to
+thee, Sidonia! for by thy hellish drink thou didst seek to destroy
+me, the servant of the living God, to thy horrible maid still more
+horribly attracting me. Woe to thee, Sidonia! accursed witch and
+sorceress, blasphemer of God and man! Behold, thy God liveth, and
+thy Prince liveth, and they will rain fire and brimstone upon thy
+infamous head. Woe to thee! woe to thee! woe to thee! thou false
+serpent--thou accursed above all the generations of vipers--how
+wilt thou escape eternal damnation?"
+
+When the righteous priest of God had ended his fearful
+malediction, he started at himself, for he knew not how the words
+had come into his mouth; then turned from the bed and went out,
+while a peal of laughter followed him from the room. But no evil
+happened to him at that time, as he had fully expected, from
+Sidonia (probably she feared to exasperate the convent and the
+Prince against her too much); but she treasured up her vengeance
+to another opportunity, as we shall hear further on.
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Sidonia The Sorceress V1, by William Mienhold
+
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