The Legend of the Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel in the land of Flanders Part 49

And the cure said to him:

"I will do as you bid. G.o.d bless you. Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"Both," answered Ulenspiegel.

The cure gave him some beer, some bread, and some cheese, and Ulenspiegel when he had eaten and drunk went his way.

And as he walked along he raised his eyes and beheld Claes, his father, seated in glory at the side of G.o.d in heaven where the moon shone so brightly. And thereafter he gazed upon the sea and upon the clouds, and he heard the wind that came blowing stormily from England.

"Alas!" he cried, "O Dusky Clouds that pa.s.s along so rapidly yonder in the sky, be you now for a vengeance on the murderer. And you, O Wind that whistles so sadly in the gorse along the dunes and in the rigging of the ships, be you now the voice of the victims that cry to G.o.d that he should help me on in this enterprise."

And so saying he came down into the valley, stumbling as if he had been a drunken man; and he began to sing, hiccuping all the time, staggering from side to side, yawning, spitting, and then standing still and pretending to be sick. But all the time he was keeping his eyes wide open, and peering this way and that, for he had heard the sharp sound as of a wolf howling. Then, as he stood there vomiting like a dog, he descried the long outline of a wolf moving towards the cemetery in the bright light of the moon.

At that he lurched on again, and came into the path between the hedges of broom. There he pretended to fall down, and as he did so, he placed his trap upon the side from which the wolf was coming. Then he loaded his crossbow, and went forward about ten paces, standing up again in a drunken posture. He still went on staggering to right and to left, nor did he cease to retch and to hiccup, but all the time his mind was taut as a bowstring, and he was all eyes and ears for what might be going to happen. Yet he saw nothing save the dark clouds racing in the sky, and again that large and heavy form of blackness coming down the path towards him. Neither did he hear aught but the dismal wailing of the wind, and the angry thunder of the sea, and the sound that the sh.e.l.ls on the path gave forth beneath a heavy step that tapped upon them. Feigning to be about to sit down, Ulenspiegel fell forwards on to the path, very heavily like a drunken man. After that he heard as it were a piece of iron clinking close to his ear, and then the sound of the trap shutting, and a human voice that cried out in the darkness.

"The werwolf," said Ulenspiegel to himself. "He's got his front paws caught in the trap. Now he is howling and trying to run away, dragging the trap with him. But he shall not escape." And he drew his crossbow and shot an arrow at the legs of the werwolf.

"He's wounded now," said Ulenspiegel, "and he has fallen down."

Thereupon he whistled like a seagull, and straightway the church bell clanged out from the village and a boy's shrill voice was heard crying from afar off:

"Awake! Awake, you sleepers! The werwolf is caught."

"Praise be to G.o.d," said Ulenspiegel.

Now the first to arrive on the scene of the capture were Toria the mother of Betkin, and Lansaen her husband, and her two brothers Josse and Michael. And they brought lanterns with them.

"You have caught him?" they asked.

"Look on the path," answered Ulenspiegel.

"Praise be to G.o.d," they exclaimed, crossing themselves.

"Who is it that is calling out the news in the village?" asked Ulenspiegel.

"It is my eldest boy," Lansaen answered. "The youngster is running through the village knocking on all the doors and crying out that the wolf is caught. Praise be to thee!"

"The ashes beat upon my heart," answered Ulenspiegel.

Suddenly the werwolf began to speak:

"Have mercy on me! Have mercy, Ulenspiegel!"

"This wolf can talk!" they exclaimed, crossing themselves again. "He is a devil in very truth, and knows Ulenspiegel's name already!"

"Have mercy! Have mercy!" the voice cried again. "I am no wolf. Order the bell to stop ringing. For thus it is that it tolls for the dead. And my wrists are torn by the trap. I am old and I am bleeding. Have mercy! And what is this--this shrill voice of a child awakening all the village? Oh pray, have mercy!"

"I have heard your voice before," said Ulenspiegel pa.s.sionately. "You are the fishmonger. The murderer of Claes, the vampire that preys upon poor maids! Have no fear, good mother and father. This is none other than the Dean of the Fishmongers on whose account poor Soetkin died of grief." And with one hand he held the man fast by the neck, and with the other he drew out his cutla.s.s.

But Toria the mother of Betkin prevented him.

"Take him alive," cried she. "Take him alive. Let him pay!"

Meanwhile there were many fisherfolk, men and women of Heyst, who were come out at the news that the werwolf was taken and that he was no devil but a man. Some of these carried lanterns and flaming torches, and all of them cried aloud when they saw him:

"Thief! Murderer! Where hide you the gold that you have stolen from your poor victims?"

"He shall repay it all," said Toria. And she would have beaten him in her rage had she not fallen down there and then upon the sand in a mad fury like unto one dead. And they left her there until she came to herself.

And Ulenspiegel, sad at heart, beheld the clouds racing like mad things in the sky, and out at sea the white crests of the waves, and on the ground at his feet the white face of the fishmonger that looked up at him in the light of the lantern with cruel eyes. And the ashes beat upon his heart.

And they walked for four hours, and came to Damme where was a great crowd a.s.sembled that already was aware of what had happened. Every one desired to see the fishmonger, and they pressed round the fishermen and fisherwives, crying out and singing and dancing and saying: "The werwolf is caught! He is caught, the murderer! Blessed be Ulenspiegel! Long live our brother Ulenspiegel!--Lange leve onzen broeder Ulenspiegel." And it was like a popular rising. And when the crowd pa.s.sed in front of the bailiff's house, he came out, hearing the noise, and said to Ulenspiegel:

"You are the conqueror; all praise to you!"

"It was the ashes of Claes that beat upon my heart," said Ulenspiegel.

Then the bailiff said:

"Half the murderer's fortune shall be yours."

"Let it be given to his victims," answered Ulenspiegel.

Now Lamme and Nele were there too--Nele laughing and crying with joy and kissing her lover; Lamme jumping heavily and striking his belly while he cried out at the same time:

"Brave, trusty, and true! My comrade, my well-beloved! You cannot match him anywhere, you other men of the flat country."

But the fisherfolk laughed and made mock of Lamme.

XXVI

The great bell, the Borgstorm, rang out on the morrow to summon to the Vierschare the aldermen and the clerks of the court. There they sat on four banks of turf under the n.o.ble lime-tree which was called the Tree of Justice. And round about stood the common people. When he was examined the fishmonger would confess nothing. All he did was to repeat continually:

"I am poor and old, have mercy upon me."

But the people howled at him, saying:

"You are an old wolf, destroyer of children; have no pity, sir judges."

"Let him pay! Let him pay!" cried Toria.

But the fishmonger entreated again most piteously: