HOW MY DAUGHTER WAS AT LENGTH SAVED BY THE HELP OF THE ALL-MERCIFUL, YEA, OF THE ALL-MERCIFUL GOD
Meanwhile, by of my unbelief, Satan again me, I had so weak that I was to my against the his knees, and not to live till we should come to the mountain; for the last I had was now gone, and I saw that my was in the same plight. Moreover, the Martinus to her, saying that he, too, now saw that all her were lies, and that she storms. Hereupon, she answered with a smile, although, indeed, she was as white as a sheet, "Alas, godfather, do you then that the weather and the no longer our Lord God? Are storms, then, so at this season of the year, that none save the can them? Nay, I have the you once in my name, will I it, as I that God will be to me in my last hour, which is now at hand." But the Martinus his doubtingly, and said, "The Evil One must have promised much, so life's end, and the Lord God; but wait, and soon learn with that the 'is a liar, and the father of it'" (St. John viii.). Whilst he yet this, and more of a like kind, we came to Uekeritze, where all the people, great and small, out of their doors, also Jacob Schwarten his wife, who, as we heard, had only been to the night before, and her came after her to her back, in vain. She told him he was a fool, and had been one for many a day, and that if she had to up the on her knees, she would go to see the parson's burned; that she had upon it for so long, and if he did not let her go, she would give him a on the chaps, etc.
Thus did the and foul-mouthed people around the we sat, and as they not what had befallen, they ran so near us that the wheel over the of a boy. Nevertheless, they all up again, more the lasses, and my her clothes, and would see her shoes and stockings, and asked her how she felt. Item, one asked she would drink somewhat, with many more besides, till at last, when came and asked her for her and her chain, she me and smiled, saying, "Father, I must to speak some Latin again, otherwise the will me no peace." But it was not wanted this time; for our guards, with the pitchforks, had now the hindmost, and, doubtless, told them what had happened, as we presently a great us, for the love of God to turn the did them a mischief; and as Jacob Schwarten his wife it not, but still my child to give her her to make a for her baby, for that it was to let it be burnt, her gave her such a on her with a which he had out of the that she with loud shrieks; and when he to help her up she him by his hair, and, as Martinus said, now what she had threatened; as she him on the nose with her with might and main, until the other people came up to them, and her back. Meanwhile, however, the had almost passed over, and toward the sea.
And when we had gone through the little wood, we saw the Streckelberg us, with people, and the and upon the top, upon the which the tall jumped up when he saw us coming, and with his cap with all his might. Thereat my left me, and my sweet was not much better; for she to and like a reed, and her hands heaven, she once more out:
Rex majestatis!
Qui gratis,
Salva me, pietatis!
And, behold, had she spoken these words, when the sun came out and a right over the most to behold; and it is clear that this was a from the God, such as he often us, but which we and men do not mark. Neither did my child it; for she upon that which our troubles, yet it to her that she now be saved, she so faint, that she no longer the of mercy, and her (for she no longer it upon me, that I my length at the of the cart), till her almost touched my his knees. Thereupon he the driver stop for a moment, and out a small with wine, which he always in his pocket when are to be burnt, in order to them in their terror. (Henceforth, I myself will do the like, for this fashion of my dear me well.) He some of this my throat, and my child's; and we had come to ourselves again, when a noise and among the people us, and they not only out in fear, "The Sheriff is come back! the Sheriff is come again!" but as they neither away or (being of the and of my child them), they ran on either side, some into the coppice, and others into the Achterwater up to their necks. Item, as soon as Dom. Camerarius saw the come out of the with a and a feather, such as the Sheriff wore, on the charger, he under a of in the cart: and Dom. Consul my child again, and the drive on as as they could, should all the die of it, when the us called to him, "It is not the Sheriff, but the lord of Nienkerken, who will surely to save the witch: shall I, then, cut her with my sword?" At these my child and I came to ourselves again, and the had already up his to her, Dom. Consul had him a with his hand, when my dear gossip, who saw it, my child with all his into his lap. (May God him on the day of judgment, for I can.) The would have her as she in his lap; but the lord was already there, and what he was about to do, the boarspear, which he in his hand, in the constable's shoulders, so that he on the earth, and his own sword, by the of the most God, into his on one side, and out again at the other. He there and bellowed, but the lord him not, but said to my child, "Sweet maid, God be that you are safe!" When, however, he saw her hands, he his teeth, and, her judges, he jumped off his horse, and cut the rope with his sword, which he in his right hand, took her hand in his, and said, "Alas, sweet maid, how have I for you! but I not save you, as I myself also in chains, which you may see from my looks."
But my child answer him a word, and into a again for joy; howbeit, she soon came to herself again, my dear still had a little by him. Meanwhile the dear lord did me some injustice, which, however, I him; for he at me and called me an old woman, who do save and wail. Why had I not after the Swedish king, or why had I not gone to Mellenthin myself to his testimony, as I right well what he about witchcraft? (But, God, how I do otherwise than the judge, who had been there? Others, old women, would have done the same; and I once of the Swedish king; and say, dear reader, how I have after him, and left my own child? But do not think of these they know not what a father feels.)
Meanwhile, however, Dom. Camerarius, having that it was the lord, had again out from the straw, item, Dom. Consul had jumped from the coach and ran us, at him loudly, and him by what power and authority he thus, that he himself had the witch? But the lord pointed with his to his people, who now came out of the coppice, about eighteen strong, with sabres, pikes, and muskets, and said, "There is my authority, and I would let you it on your if I did not know that you were but a ass. When did you any from me against this maiden? You in your if you say you did." And as Dom. Consul and himself, the lord, to the of all, related as follows:--That as soon as he of the which had me and my child, he ordered his to be forthwith, in order to to Pudgla to to our innocence: this, however, his old father would suffer, that his would a if it came to be that his son had with a by night on the Streckelberg. He had him therefore, as prayers and were of no avail, to be hand and foot, and in the donjon-keep, where till an old had him, who to let him escape, he offered him any of money; he into the and at the that blood would be on his account; but that the all-righteous God had him this sorrow; for his father had from vexation, and a-bed all this time, and it so that this very about prayer-time the huntsman, in at a wild in the moat, had by his father's dog, called Packan, which had to his father's bedside, and had died there; the old man, who was weak, was so that he was presently with a fit and gave up the too. Hereupon his people him, and after he had closed his father's and prayed an "Our Father" over him, he set out with all the people he in the in order to save the maiden. For he here himself all, on the word and of a knight, nay, more, by his of salvation, that he himself was that which had appeared to the on the in the shape of a giant; for having by common report that she thither, he to know what she did there, and that from of his hard father he himself in a wolf's skin, so that none might know him, and he had already two nights there, when on the third the came, and he then saw her for on the mountain, and that she did not call upon Satan, but a Latin to herself. This he would have at Pudgla, but, from the aforesaid, he had not been able: moreover, his father had his cousin, Claus Nienkerken, who was there on a visit, in his bed, and him false witness; for as Dom. Consul had not him (I the lord) for many a long year, he had in parts, his father that he might easily be deceived, which happened.
When the lord had this Dom. Consul and all the people, which together on that the lord was no ghost, I as though a had been taken off my heart; and that the people (who had already the from under the cart, and him, like a of bees) to me that he was dying, but to to me, I jumped from the as as a bachelor, and called to Dom. Consul and the lord to go with me, that I easily what he had on his mind. He sat upon a stone, and the blood from his like a (now that they had out the sword); he on me, and said that he had in truth the door to all that old Lizzie had to me, namely, that she herself, together with the Sheriff, had all the on man and beast, to my child, and her to play the wanton. That he had this, that the Sheriff had promised him a great for so doing; but that he would now it freely, since God had my child her to light. Wherefore he my child and myself to him. And when Dom. Consul his head, and asked he would live and die on the truth of this confession, he answered, "Yes!" and on his to the earth and gave up the ghost.
Meanwhile time with the people on the mountain, who had come from Coserow, from Zitze, from Gnitze, etc., to see my child burnt, and they all came the hill in long like geese, one after the other, to see what had happened. And among them was my ploughman, Claus Neels. When the saw and what had us, he to for joy; and he too told what he had the Sheriff say to old Lizzie in the garden, and how he had promised a pig in the room of her own little pig, which she had herself to death in order to my child into repute. Summa: all that I have noted above, and which till he had to himself for of the question. Hereat all the people marvelled, and her misfortunes; and many came, among them old Paasch, and would have my her hands and feet, as also mine own, and us now as much as they had us. But thus it is with the people. Wherefore my father used to say:
The people's is death,
Their love a breath!
My dear not from my child, her in his lap, and over her like a father (for I not have more myself than he wept). Howbeit she herself not, but the lord to send one of his to her old maid-servant at Pudgla, to tell her what had us, which he did to her. But the (for Dom. Gamerarius and the had now up a heart, and had come from the coach) was not yet satisfied, and Dom. Consul to tell the lord about the bridge, which none other save my have bewitched. Hereto the lord gave answer that this was a thing, as his own had also a leg thereon, he had taken the Sheriff his horse, which he saw up at the mill; but he did not think that this be to the of the maiden, but that it came about by natural means, as he had already, although he had not had time to search the thoroughly. Wherefore he the and all the people, together with my child herself, to return thither, where, with God's help, he would clear her from this also, and prove her perfect them all.
Thereunto the agreed; and the lord, having the Sheriff his to my to the corpse, which had been across the horse's neck, to Coserow, the lord got into the by us, but did not seat himself my child, but by my dear gossip: moreover, he one of his own people drive us of the old coachman, and thus we in God his name. Custos Benzensis, who, with the children, had in among the by the (my Custos would not have done so, he had more courage), on again with the folks, and by of his the the Ambrosian Te Deum, which moved us all, more my child, that her book was with her tears, and she at length it and said, at the same time her hand to the lord, "How can I thank God and you for that which you have done for me this day?" Whereupon the lord answered, saying, "I have to thank God than yourself, sweet maid, that you have in your unjustly, but I justly, as by my I this upon you. Believe me that this when, in my donjon-keep, I the of the dead-bell, I to have died; and when it for the third time, I should have gone in my grief, had not the Almighty God at that moment taken the life of my father, so that your life should be saved by me. Wherefore I have a new tower, and whatsoe'er may be needful, to the house of God; for more have me on earth than your death, sweet maid, and more sweet than your life!"
But at these my child only and sighed; and when he looked on her, she her and trembled, so that I that my were not yet come to an end, but that another of was just for me, and so it was. Moreover, the of a Custos, having the Te Deum we were come to the bridge, up the next hymn, which was a one, beginning, "The let us now inter." (God be that no has come of it till datum.) My him not a little, and him that for his he should not the money for the shoes which he had promised him out of the Church-dues. But my child him, and promised him a pair of shoes at her own charges, that a was for her than a song of gladness.
And when this the lord, and he said, "How now, sweet maid, you know not how to thank God and me for your rescue, and yet you speak thus?" She answered, sadly, that she had only spoken thus to the Custos. But I saw that she was in earnest, for that she that although she had one fire, she already in another.
Meanwhile we were come to the again, and all the still, and open-mouthed, when the lord jumped from the cart, and after his horse, which still kicking on the bridge, on his knees, and here and there with his hand. At length he called to the to near, for that he had out the witchcraft. But none save Dom. Consul and a out of the crowd, among was old Paasch, would him; item, my dear and myself, and the lord, us a of about the size of a large walnut, which on the ground, and the whole had been smeared, so that it looked white, but, which all the in their had taken for out of the mill; item, with some other materia, which like fitchock's dung, but what it was we not out. Soon after a another of tallow, and it to the people; I cried, "Aha! none done this but that miller's man, in for the which the Sheriff gave him for my child." Whereupon I told what he had done, and Dom. Consul, who also had thereof, sent for the miller. He, however, did as though he of the matter, and only said that his man had left his service about an hour ago. But a lass, the miller's maid-servant, said that that very morning, daybreak, when she had got up to let out the cattle, she had the man the bridge. But that she had it no heed, and had gone to sleep for another hour; and she to know no more than the the was gone. When the lord had this news, he got up into the cart, and to address the people, to them no longer to in witchcraft, now that they had what it was. When I this, I was horror-stricken (as was but right) in my conscience, as a priest, and I got upon the cartwheel, and into his ear, for God his sake, to this materia, that if the people no longer the devil, neither would they our Lord God.
The dear lord did as I would have him, and only asked the people they now my child to be perfectly innocent? and when they had answered, "Yes!" he them to go home, and to thank God that he had saved blood. That he, too, would now return home, and that he that none would me and my child if he let us return to Coserow alone. Hereupon he her, took her hand and said: "Farewell, sweet maid, I trust that I shall soon clear your the world, but do you thank God therefor, not me." He then did the like to me and to my dear gossip, he jumped from the cart, and and sat Dom. Consul in his coach. The also a to the people, and my child and me to him (and I must say it to his honour, that the ran his the while), but he was so by the lord that he his discourse, and they off over the little bridge, without so much as looking back. Only Dom. Consul looked once, and called out to me, that in his he had to tell the that no one was to be to-day: I was therefore to send the of Uekeritze up the mountain, to say so in his name; the which I did. And the was still on the mountain, he had long since what had befallen; and when the gave him the orders of the court, he to so that it might have the dead; moreover, he off his cap, and it under foot, so that any one might have what he felt.
But to return to ourselves, my child sat as still and as white as a of salt, after the lord had left her so and so unawares, but she was when the old maid-servant came with her up to her knees, and her shoes and in her hands. We her off, as the had stopped, for joy, and she at least three times on the bridge, but at last she got over safe, and now mine and now my child her hands and feet; us only not to turn her away, but to keep her until her life's end; the which we promised to do. She had to climb up where the had sat, that my dear would not me until I should be in mine own manse. And as the lord his had got up the coach, old Paasch us home, and all the who had waited till ran the cart, and as much as they had and us. Scarce, however, had we passed through Uekeritze, when we again of "Here comes the lord, here comes the lord!" so that my child started up for joy, and as red as a rose; but some of the ran into the buckwheat, by the road, again, it was another ghost. It was, however, in truth, the lord who up on a black horse, calling out as he near us, "Notwithstanding the I am in, sweet maid, I must return and give you safe-conduct home, that I have just that the people you by the way, and I know not you are yet safe." Hereupon he old Paasch to his pace, and as his kicking and did not make the trot, the lord the saddle-horse from time to time with the of his sword, so that we soon the village and the manse. Howbeit, when I prayed him to a while, he would not, but himself, saying that he must still through Usedom to Anclam, but old Paasch, who was our bailiff, to watch over my child as the apple of his eye, and should anything he was to the town-clerk at Pudgla, or Dom. Consul at Usedom, thereof, and when Paasch had promised to do this, he his hand to us, and off as fast as he could.
But he got the by Pagel his house, he for the third time: and when we thereat, he said we must him, his to-day.
That I had told him that I still had my of nobility, the which he me to him for a time. Hereupon I answered that I must for it, and that he had best the while. But he would not, and again himself, saying he had no time. He therefore without the door, until I him the patent, he thanked me and said, "Do not wonder hereat, you will soon see what my purpose is." Whereupon he his into his horse's and did not come again.
