A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Sidonia The Sorceress V2

W >> William Mienhold >> Sidonia The Sorceress V2




Straightway I resolved in my joy to invent a _carmen
gratulatorium_ to his Majesty, whom, by the grace of Almighty
God, I was to see, the which my little daughter might present to
him. I accordingly proposed it to her as soon as I got home, and
she straightway fell on my neck for joy, and then began to dance
about the room. But when she had considered a little, she thought
her clothes were not good enough to wear before his Majesty, and
that I should buy her a blue silk gown, with a yellow apron,
seeing that these were the Swedish colours, and would please his
Majesty right well. For a long time I would not, seeing that I
hate this kind of pride; but she teased me with her kisses and
coaxing words, till I, like an old fool, said yes, and ordered my
ploughman to drive her over to Wolgast to-day to buy the stuff.
Wherefore I think that the just God, who hateth the proud and
showeth mercy on the humble, did rightly chastise me for such
pride. For I myself felt a sinful pleasure when she came back with
two women who were to help her to sew, and laid the stuff before
me. Next day she set to work at sunrise to sew, and I composed my
_carmen_ the while. I had not got very far in it when the
young Lord Rüdiger of Nienkerken came riding up, in order, as he
said, to inquire whether his Majesty were indeed going to march
through Coserow. And when I told him all I knew of the matter,
_item_, informed him of our plan, he praised it exceedingly,
and instructed my daughter (who looked more kindly upon him to-day
than I altogether liked) how the Swedes use to pronounce the
Latin, as _ratscho_ pro _ratio_, _uet_ pro
_ut_, _schis_ pro _scis_ &c., so that she might be
able to answer his Majesty with all due readiness. He said,
moreover, that he had held much converse with Swedes at
Wittenberg, as well as at Griepswald, wherefore if she pleased
they might act a short _colloquium_, wherein he would play
the king. Hereupon he sat down on the bench before her, and they
both began chattering together, which vexed me sore, especially
when I saw that she made but small haste with her needle the
while. But say, dear reader, what was I to do?--Wherefore I went
my ways, and let them chatter till near noon, when the young lord
at last took leave. But he promised to come again on Tuesday when
the king was here, and believed that the whole island would flock
together at Coserow. As soon as he was gone, seeing that my
_vena poetica_ (as may be easily guessed) was still stopped
up, I had the horses put to and drove all over the parish,
exhorting the people in every village to be at the Giant's Stone
by Coserow at nine o'clock on Tuesday, and that they were all to
fall on their knees as soon as they should see the king coming and
that I knelt down; _item_, to join at once in singing the
Ambrosian hymn of praise, which I should lead off as soon as the
bells began to ring. This they all promised to do; and after I had
again exhorted them to it on Sunday in church, and prayed to the
Lord for his Majesty out of the fulness of my heart, we scarce
could await the blessed Tuesday for joyful impatience.




CHAPTER XV.

_Of the arrival of the high and mighty King Gustavus Adolphus,
and what befell thereat._


Meanwhile I finished my _carmen_ in _metrum elegiacum_,
which my daughter transcribed (seeing that her handwriting is
fairer than mine) and diligently learned, so that she might say it
to his Majesty. _Item_, her clothes were gotten ready, and
became her purely; and on Monday she went up to the Streckelberg,
although the heat was such that the crows gasped on the hedges:
for she wanted to gather flowers for a garland she designed to
wear, and which was also to be blue and yellow. Towards evening
she came home with her apron filled with all manner of flowers;
but her hair was quite wet, and hung all matted about her
shoulders. (My God, my God, was everything to come together to
destroy me, wretched man that I am!) I asked, therefore, where she
had been that her hair was so wet and matted; whereupon she
answered that she had gathered flowers round the Kölpin,
[Footnote: a small lake near the sea.] and from thence she had
gone down to the sea-shore, where she had bathed in the sea,
seeing that it was very hot and no one could see her. Thus, said
she, jesting, she should appear before his Majesty to-morrow
doubly a clean maid. This displeased me at the time, and I looked
grave, although I said naught.

Next morning at six o'clock all the people were already at the
Giant's Stone, men, women, and children. _Summa_, everybody
that was able to walk was there. At eight o'clock my daughter was
already dressed in all her bravery, namely, a blue silken gown,
with a yellow apron and kerchief, and a yellow hair-net, with a
garland of blue and yellow flowers round her head. It was not long
before my young lord arrived, finely dressed as became a nobleman.
He wanted to inquire, as he said, by which road I should go up to
the Stone with my daughter, seeing that his father, Hans von
Nienkerken, _item_, Wittich Appelmann, and the Lepels of
Gnitze, were also going, and that there was much people on all the
high roads, as though a fair was being held. But I straightway
perceived that all he wanted was to see my daughter, inasmuch as
he presently occupied himself about her, and began chattering with
her in the Latin again. He made her repeat to him the
_carmen_ to his Majesty; whereupon he, in the person of the
king, answered her, "_Dulcissima et venustissima puella, quæ
mihi in coloribus cœli, ut angelus Domini appares, utinam semper
mecum esses, nunquam mihi male caderei_;" whereupon she grew
red, as likewise did I, but from vexation, as may be easily
guessed. I therefore begged that his lordship would but go forward
toward the Stone, seeing that my daughter had yet to help me on
with my surplice; whereupon, however, he answered, that he would
wait for us the while in the chamber, and that we might then go
together. _Summa_: I blessed myself from this young lord; but
what could I do? As he would not go, I was forced to wink at it
all: and before long we went up to the Stone, where I straightway
chose three sturdy fellows from the crowd, and sent them up the
steeple that they might begin to ring the bells as soon as they
should see me get up upon the Stone and wave my napkin. This they
promised to do, and straightway departed; whereupon I sat down on
the Stone with my daughter, thinking that the young lord would
surely stand apart, as became his dignity; albeit he did not, but
sat down with us on the Stone. And we three sat there all alone,
and all the folk looked at us, but none drew near to see my
child's fine clothes, not even the young lasses, as is their wont
to do; but this I did not observe till afterwards, when I heard
how matters stood with us even then. Towards nine o'clock, Hans
von Nienkerken and Wittich Appelmann galloped up, and old
Nienkerken called to his son in an angry voice; and seeing that
the young lord heard him not, he rode up to the Stone, and cried
out so loud that all the folk might hear, "Can'st thou not
hearken, boy, when thy father calls thee?" Whereupon Rüdiger
followed him in much displeasure, and we saw from a distance how
the old lord seemed to threaten his son, and spat out before him;
but knew not what this might signify: we were to learn it soon
enough, though, more's the pity! Soon after the two Lepels of
Gnitze [Footnote: a peninsula in Usedom] came from the Damerow;
and the noblemen saluted one another on the green sward close
beside us, but without looking on us. And I heard the Lepels say
that naught could yet be seen of his Majesty, but that the
coast-guard fleet around Ruden was in motion, and that several
hundred ships were sailing this way. As soon as this news was
known, all the folk ran to the sea-shore (which is but a step from
the Stone); and the noblemen rode thither too, all save Wittich,
who had dismounted, and who, when he saw that I sent old Paasch
his boy up into a tall oak-tree to look out for the king,
straightway busied himself about my daughter again, who now sat
all alone upon the Stone: "Why had she not taken his huntsman? and
whether she would not change her mind on the matter and have him
now, or else come into service with him (the sheriff) himself? for
that if she would not, he believed she might be sorry for it one
day." Whereupon she answered him (as she told me), that there was
but one thing she was sorry for, namely, that his lordship would
take so much useless pains upon her; whereupon she rose with all
haste and came to where I stood under the tree, looking after the
lad who was climbing up it. But our old Ilse said that he swore a
great curse when my daughter turned her back upon him, and went
straightway into the alder-grove close by the high road, where
stood the old witch Lizzie Kolken.

Meanwhile I went with my daughter to the sea-shore and found it
quite true that the whole fleet was sailing over from Ruden and
Oie towards Wollin, and several ships passed so close before us
that we could see the soldiers standing upon them and the flashing
of their arms. _Item_, we heard the horses neigh and the
soldiery laugh. On one ship, too, they were drumming, and on
another cattle lowed and sheep bleated. Whilst we yet gazed we saw
smoke come out from one of the ships, followed by a great noise,
and presently we were aware of the ball bounding over the water,
which foamed and splashed on either side, and coming straight
towards us. Hereupon the crowd ran away on every side with loud
cries, and we plainly heard the soldiery in the ships laugh
thereat. But the ball flew up and struck into the midst of an oak
hard by Paasch his boy, so that nearly two cart-loads of boughs
fell to the earth with a great crash, and covered all the road by
which his Majesty was to come. Hereupon the boy would stop no
longer in the tree, however much I exhorted him thereto, but cried
out to us as he came down that a great troop of soldiers was
marching out of the forest by Damerow, and that likely enough the
king was among them. Hereupon the sheriff ordered the road to be
cleared forthwith, and this was some time a-doing, seeing that the
thick boughs were stuck fast in the trees all around; the nobles,
as soon as all was made ready, would have ridden to meet his
Majesty, but stayed still on the little greensward, because we
already heard the noise of horses, carriages, and voices close to
us in the forest.

It was not long before the cannons broke through the brushwood
with the three guides seated upon them. And seeing that one of
them was known to me (it was Stoffer Krauthahn, of Peenemünde), I
drew near and begged him that he would tell me when the king
should come. But he answered that he was going forward with the
cannon to Coserow, and that I was only to watch for a tall dark
man, with a hat and feather and a gold chain round his neck, for
that that was the king, and that he rode next after the great
standard whereon was a yellow lion.

Wherefore I narrowly watched the procession as it wound out of the
forest. And next after the artillery came the Finnish and Lapland
bowmen, who went clothed all in furs, although it was now the
height of summer, whereat I greatly wondered. After these there
came much people, but I know not what they were. Presently I
espied over the hazel-tree which stood in my way, so that I could
not see everything as soon as it came forth out of the coppice,
the great flag with the lion on it, and, behind that, the head of
a very dark man with a golden chain round his neck, whereupon
straightway I judged this must be the king. I therefore waved my
napkin toward the steeple, whereupon the bells forthwith rang out,
and while the dark man rode nearer to us, I pulled off my
skull-cap, fell upon my knees, and led the Ambrosian hymn of
praise, and all the people plucked their hats from their heads and
knelt down on the ground all around singing after me; men, women,
and children, save only the nobles, who stood still on the
greensward, and did not take off their hats and behave with
attention until they saw that his Majesty drew in his horse. (It
was a coal-black charger, and stopped with its two forefeet right
upon my field, which I took as a sign of good fortune.) When we
had finished, the sheriff quickly got off his horse, and would
have approached the king with his three guides who followed after
him; _item_, I had taken my child by the hand, and would also
have drawn near to the king. Howbeit, his Majesty motioned away
the sheriff and beckoned us to approach, whereupon I wished his
Majesty joy in the Latin tongue, and extolled his magnanimous
heart, seeing that he had deigned to visit German ground for the
protection and aid of poor persecuted Christendom; and praised it
as a sign from God that such had happened on this the highest
festival of our poor Church, and I prayed his Majesty graciously
to receive what my daughter desired to present to him; whereupon
his Majesty looked on her and smiled pleasantly. Such gracious
bearing made her bold again, albeit she trembled visibly just
before, and she reached him a blue and yellow wreath whereon lay
the _carmen_, saying, "_Accipe hanc vilem coronam et
hæc_," whereupon she began to recite the _carmen_.
Meanwhile his Majesty grew more and more gracious, looking now on
her and now on the _carmen_, and nodded with especial
kindness towards the end, which was as follows:--

"Tempus erit, quo tu reversus ab hostibus ultor
Intrabis patriæ libera regna meæ;
Tune meliora student nostræ tibi carmina musæ,
Tunc tua, maxime rex, Martia facta canam.
Tu modo versiculis ne spernas vilibus ausum
Auguror et res est ista futura brevi!
Sis fœlix, fortisque diu, vive optlme princeps,
Omnia, et ut possis vincere, dura. Vale!"

[Footnote:
Thou shall return chastier of the foe,
To the freed kingdoms of my native land!
Then shall our song with loftier cadence flow,
Boasting the deeds of thy heroic hand!
Scorn not, meanwhile, the feeble lines which thus
Thy future glory and success foretell.
Live, prince beloved! be brave, be prosperous;
Conquer, howe'er opposed,--and fare thee well!]

As soon as she held her peace his Majesty said, "_Propius
accedas, patria virgo, ut te osculer_;" whereupon she drew near
to his horse, blushing deeply. I thought he would only have kissed
her forehead, as potentates commonly use to do; but not at all, he
kissed her lips with a loud smack, and the long feathers on his
hat drooped over her neck, so that I was quite afraid for her
again. But he soon raised up his head, and taking off his gold
chain, whereon dangled his own effigy, he hung it round my child's
neck with these words, "_Hocce tuæ pulchritudini! et si favente
Deo redux fuero victor, promissum carmen et præterea duo oscula
exspecto_."

Hereupon the sheriff, with his three men, again came forward and
bowed down to the ground before his Majesty. But as he knew no
Latin, _item_, no Italian nor French, I had to act as
interpreter. For his Majesty inquired how far it was to Swine, and
whether there was still much foreign soldiery there? And the
sheriff thought there were still about 200 Croats in the camp.
Whereupon his Majesty spurred on his horse, and, nodding
graciously, cried "_Valete_!" And now came the rest of the
troops, about 3000 strong, out of the coppice, which likewise had
a valiant bearing, and attempted no fooleries, as troops are wont
to do, when they passed by us and the women, but marched on in
honest quietness, and we followed the train until the forest
beyond Coserow, where we commended it to the care of the Almighty,
and every one went on his way home.




CHAPTER XVI.

_How little Mary Paasch was sorely plagued of the devil, and the
whole parish fell off from me._


Before I proceed any further, I will first mark that the
illustrious king Gustavus Adolphus, as we presently heard, had cut
down the 300 Croats at Swine, and was thence gone by sea to
Stettin. May God be for ever gracious to him! Amen.

But my sorrows increased from day to day, seeing that the devil
now played pranks such as he never had played before. I had begun
to think that the ears of God had hearkened to our ardent prayers,
but it pleased Him to try us yet more hardly than ever. For, a few
days after the arrival of the most illustrious king Gustavus
Adolphus, it was bruited about that my child her little
god-daughter was possessed of the evil one, and tumbled about most
piteously on her bed, insomuch that no one was able to hold her.
My child straightway went to see her little god-daughter, but
presently came weeping home. Old Paasch would not suffer her even
to come near her, but railed at her very angrily, and said that
she should never come within his doors again, as his child had got
the mischief from the white roll which she had given her that
morning. It was true that my child had given her a roll, seeing
that the maid had been, the day before, to Wolgast, and had
brought back a napkin full of them.

Such news vexed me sore, and after putting on my cassock I went to
old Paasch his house, to exorcise the foul fiend, and to remove
such disgrace from my child. I found the old man standing on the
floor by the cockloft steps, weeping; and after I had spoken "The
peace of God," I asked him first of all, whether he really
believed that his little Mary had been bewitched by means of the
roll which my child had given her? He said "Yes!" And when I
answered, That in that case I also must have been bewitched,
_item_, Pagel his little girl, seeing that we both had eaten
of the rolls, he was silent, and asked me with a sigh, whether I
would not go into the room, and see for myself how matters stood.
I then entered with "The peace of God," and found six people
standing round little Mary her bed; her eyes were shut, and she
was as stiff as a board; wherefore Kit Wels (who was a young and
sturdy fellow) seized the little child by one leg, and held her
out like a hedge-stake, so that I might see how the devil plagued
her. I now said a prayer, and Satan, perceiving that a servant of
Christ was come, began to tear the child so fearfully that it was
pitiful to behold; for she flung about her hands and feet, so that
four strong men were scarce able to hold her; _item_, she was
afflicted with extraordinary risings and fallings of her belly, as
if a living creature were therein, so that at last the old witch
Lizzie Kolken sat herself upon her belly, whereupon the child
seemed to be somewhat better, and I told her to repeat the
Apostles' Creed, so as to see whether it really were the devil who
possessed her. [Footnote: It was imagined in those fearful times
that when the sick person could repeat the three articles of
belief, and especially some passages from the Bible bearing
particular reference to the work of redemption, he was not
possessed, since "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by
the Holy Ghost" (I Cor, xii. 3).] She straightway grew worse than
before, and began to gnash her teeth, to roll her eyes, and to
strike so hard with her hands and feet that she flung her father,
who held one of her legs, right into the middle of the room, and
then struck her foot so hard against the bedstead that the blood
flowed, and Lizzie Kolken was thrown about on her belly, as though
she had been in a swing. And as I ceased not, but exorcised Satan
that he should leave her, she began to howl and to bark like a
dog, _item_, to laugh, and spoke at last, with a gruff bass
voice like an old man's, "I will not depart." But he should soon
have been forced to depart out of her, had not both father and
mother besought me, by God's holy Sacrament, to leave their poor
child in peace, seeing that nothing did her any good, but rather
made her worse. I was therefore forced to desist, and only
admonished the parents to seek for help like the Canaanitish
woman, in true repentance and incessant prayer, and with her to
sigh in constant faith, "Have mercy upon me, O Lord, thou son of
David, my daughter is grievously vexed of a devil" (Matt. xv.);
that the heart of our Lord would then melt, so that He would have
mercy on their child, and command Satan to depart from her.
_Item_, I promised to pray for the little child on the
following Sunday with the whole congregation, and told them to
bring her, if it were any ways possible, to the church, seeing
that the ardent prayer of the whole congregation has power to rise
beyond the clouds. This they promised to do, and I then went home
sorely troubled, where I soon learned that she was somewhat
better; thus it still is sure that Satan hates nothing so much,
after the Lord Jesus, as the servants of the Gospel. But wait, and
I shall even yet "bruise thy head with my heel" (Gen. iii.);
naught shall avail thee.

Howbeit, before the blessed Sunday came I perceived that many of
my people went out of my way, both in the village and elsewhere in
the parish, where I went to visit sundry sick folks. When I went
to Uekeritze to see young Tittelwitz, there even befell me as
follows. Claus Pieper the peasant stood in his yard chopping wood,
and on seeing me he flung the axe out of his hand so hastily that
it stuck in the ground, and he ran towards the pig-stye, making
the sign of the cross. I motioned him to stop, and asked why he
thus ran from me his confessor? Whether, peradventure, he also
believed that my daughter had bewitched her little godchild?
_Ille_. Yes, he believed it, because the whole parish did.
_Ego_. Why, then, had she been so kind to her formerly, and
kept her like a sister, through the worst of the famine?
_Ille_. This was not the only mischief she had done.
_Ego_. What, then, had she done besides? _Ille_. That
was all one to me. _Ego_. He should tell me, or I would
complain to the magistrate. _Ille_. That I might do, if I
pleased. Whereupon he went his way insolently. Any one may guess
that I was not slow to inquire everywhere, what people thought my
daughter had done; but no one would tell me anything, and I might
have grieved to death at such evil reports. Moreover, not one
child came during this whole week to school to my daughter; and
when I sent out the maid to ask the reason, she brought back word
that the children were ill, or that the parents wanted them for
their work. I thought and thought, but all to no purpose, until
the blessed Sunday came round, when I meant to have held a great
Sacrament, seeing that many people had made known their intention
to come to the Lord's Table. It seemed strange to me that I saw no
one standing, as was their wont, about the church door; I thought,
however, that they might have gone into the houses. But when I
went into the church with my daughter, there were not more than
six people assembled, among whom was old Lizzie Kolken; and the
accursed witch no sooner saw my daughter follow me, than she made
the sign of the cross and ran out of the door under the steeple;
whereupon the five others, among them mine own churchwarden Claus
Bulken (I had not appointed any one in the room of old Seden),
followed her. I was so horror-struck that my blood curdled, and I
began to tremble, so that I fell with my shoulder against the
confessional. My child, to whom I had as yet told nothing, in
order to spare her, then asked me, "Father, what is the matter
with all the people? are they, too, bewitched?" Whereupon I came
to myself again, and went into the churchyard to look after them.
But all were gone save my churchwarden Claus Bulken, who stood
under the lime-tree whistling to himself. I stepped up to him, and
asked what had come to the people? whereupon he answered, he could
not tell; and when I asked him again, why, then, he himself had
left the church, he said, What was he to do there alone, seeing
that no collection could be made? I then implored him to tell me
the truth, and what horrid suspicion had arisen against me in the
parish? But he answered, I should very soon find it out for
myself; and he jumped over the wall and went into old Lizzie her
house, which stands close by the churchyard.

My child had made ready some veal broth for dinner, for which I
mostly use to leave everything else; but I could not swallow one
spoonful, but sat resting my head on my hand, and doubted whether
I should tell her or no. Meanwhile the old maid came in, ready for
a journey, and with a bundle in her hand, and begged me with tears
to give her leave to go. My poor child turned pale as a corpse,
and asked in amaze what had come to her? but she merely answered,
"Nothing!" and wiped her eyes with her apron. When I recovered my
speech, which had well-nigh left me at seeing that this faithful
old creature was also about to forsake me, I began to question her
why she wished to go; she who had dwelt with me so long, and who
would not forsake us even in the great famine, but had faithfully
borne up against it, and indeed had humbled me by her faith, and
had exhorted me to stand out gallantly to the last, for which I
should be grateful to her as long as I lived. Hereupon she merely
wept and sobbed yet more, and at length brought out that she still
had an old mother of eighty, living in Liepe, and that she wished
to go and nurse her till her end. Hereupon my daughter jumped up,
and answered with tears, "Alas, old Ilse, why wilt thou leave us,
for thy mother is with thy brother! Do but tell me why thou wilt
forsake me, and what harm have I done thee, that I may make it
good to thee again." But she hid her face in her apron, and
sobbed, and could not get out a single word; whereupon my child
drew away the apron from her face, and would have stroked her
cheeks, to make her speak. But when Ilse saw this she struck my
poor child's hand, and cried "Ugh!" spat out before her, and
straightway went out at the door. Such a thing she had never done
even when my child was a little girl, and we were both so shocked
that we could neither of us say a word.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.