The Legend of the Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel in the land of Flanders Part 12

"Put her nearer the fire," said the alderman.

Then he inquired of her:

"How often, pray, have you ridden on a broom to the Witches'

Sabbath? And how many times have you caused the corn to wither in the ear, and the fruit on the tree, and the babe in the womb of its mother? And turned most loving brothers into sworn enemies, and sisters into rivals full of hatred?"

Katheline would have answered if she had been able. But she could only move her arms, as if to say "No." But the alderman said:

"I see she will not speak till she has felt her witch's fat all melting in the fire. Put her nearer."

Katheline cried out. But the alderman said:

"You had better ask Satan, your friend, to refresh you."

And now her shoes were beginning to smoke in the heat of the fire, so that she made a gesture as if to try and take them off.

"Ask Satan to help you," said the alderman.

Ten o'clock struck. It was the madman's dinner hour. And he retired with the torturer and the clerk of the court, leaving Katheline alone in front of the fire in the place of torture.

An hour later they returned. Katheline was still sitting there stiff and motionless. The clerk said:

"I think she is dead."

The alderman commanded the torturer to remove Katheline from the coffin-lid, and to take off the shoes from her feet. This he could not do, so that he was forced to cut them, and Katheline's feet were exposed to view, all red and bleeding. The alderman, whose thoughts were still with his dinner, gazed at her without a word. But after a while she came to her senses, and fell upon the ground, nor was she able to get up again in spite of many attempts. Then she said to the alderman:

"Once you desired me for your wife. But now you shall have none of me! Four times three is the sacred number, and my husband is the thirteenth."

The alderman was going to answer her, but she forestalled him:

"Be silent. His hearing is more delicate than that of the archangel in heaven who counts the heart-beats of the just. Why are you so late? Four times three is the sacred number. He killeth those who hold me in desire."

The alderman said:

"It seems she welcomes the devil to her bed!"

"The pains of the torture have turned her brain," said the clerk.

So Katheline was taken back into prison. And three days later there was a meeting of the aldermen in the Council Hall; and after some deliberation Katheline was condemned to suffer the ordeal by fire.

She was taken to the grand market of Damme by the torturer and his a.s.sistants. There she was made to mount the scaffold. In the square were a.s.sembled the provost, the herald, and the judges. The herald sounded his trumpet thrice, then turned towards the crowd and made the following announcement:

"The Council of Damme," he cried, "having taken pity upon the woman Katheline, have decreed that punishment shall not be exacted to the full extremity of the rigour of our laws. Nevertheless, in witness that she is a sorceress, her hair shall be burned, she shall pay a fine of twenty carolus d'or, and she shall be banished from the territory of Damme for the s.p.a.ce of three years, under penalty of losing one of her limbs."

And at this rough gentleness the people broke into applause.

Then the torturer tied Katheline to the stake, placed on her shorn scalp a wig of tow, and held it in the fire. And the tow burned for a long time, and Katheline cried aloud and wept.

Then they released her, and she was put in a cart and taken away outside the territory of Damme. She could not walk at all, because of her feet that were burned.

XXVI

Ulenspiegel, meanwhile, had arrived in his wanderings at the fish-market at Liege. There he descried a tall young fellow carrying under his arm a net filled with all sorts of poultry, and another net also which he was rapidly filling with haddock, trout, eels, and pike.

Ulenspiegel recognized him as none other than his old friend Lamme Goedzak.

"What are you doing here, Lamme?" he said.

"You must know," Lamme answered, "that many people have lately emigrated from Flanders to this gentle land of Liege. As for me, I follow my loves. And you?"

"I am on the look-out for a master to serve for my daily bread,"

said Ulenspiegel.

"Bread is a dry sort of nourishment," said Lamme. "You would do better to try a chaplet of ortolans with a thrush for the Credo."

"You have plenty of money?" Ulenspiegel inquired.

Lamme Goedzak made answer:

"I have lost my father and mother, and that young sister of mine that used to beat me so. I shall inherit all their property, and now I am living with a one-eyed servant who is very learned in the n.o.ble art of making frica.s.sees."

"Would you like me to carry your fish and your poultry for you?" suggested Ulenspiegel.

"Yes," said Lamme.

And together they began to wander through the market. All at once Lamme said to his companion:

"You are mad. Do you know why?"

"No," said Ulenspiegel.

"Because you go carrying fish and poultry in your hand instead of in your stomach."

"You are right, Lamme," said Ulenspiegel; "but since I have lacked bread, ortolans will not even look at me."

"You shall eat your fill of them," said Lamme, "and serve me too, if my cook takes a fancy to you."

While they were walking along, Lamme pointed out to Ulenspiegel a beautiful young girl, who was walking through the market. She wore a silk dress and gazed at Lamme with sweet and gentle eyes. An old man, her father, walked just behind, carrying two nets, one filled with fish, the other with game.

"See that girl?" said Lamme, pointing at her. "I am going to marry her."

"Oh!" said Ulenspiegel, "I know her. She is a Flemish maid from Zotteghem. She lives in the rue Vinave-d'Isle, and the neighbours say that she lets her mother sweep the road in front of the house in her stead, while her own father irons her underclothing."