Felicitas: A Tale of the German Migrations: A.D. 476

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER XV.

  Far away from the hidden fugitives, in the south-east side of the town,strife and tumult were meanwhile raging.

  Many of the revolted slaves, after revenging themselves on theirmasters, had thrown down their arms; but the _wildest_ spirits,restrained by the Germans from further incendiarism, murder, androbbery, and driven by them from street to street, had now crowdedtogether for a last resistance.

  Here lay the large imperial magazines for the building of boats andrafts for the traffic of the Ivarus, especially the salt-trade: alsoimmense stores of well-dried wood, sail-cloth, pitch, and tar. Thesefavourites of the fire-god the mad creatures wished to set on fire.They hoped, in their blind destructive fury, that the conflagrationwould from there spread its red and black wings over the whole city.

  But the magazines were covered with slates on the flat roofs, wereprotected by high stone walls, and shut in with strong oak doors; thefew guards round about had, certainly, long since fled, but, evenundefended, stone and iron-bound wood would for some time resist thefury of the assailants.

  But now came Keix, the leader of the host, from the bath of Amphitrite,close by, which was in flames, swinging in one hand a blue and in theother a green pitch torch, such as were used in the illumination of theornamental gardens.

  "Ha!" cried he; "now see! We will have to-day the richest fire-works!The Christian emperors have indeed forbidden the Saturnalia, but wewill introduce them again, but this time to the honour of Vulcan andChaos!"

  And he propped both torches against the oak panels of the door, whichimmediately began to smoulder. But now the pursuing Bajuvaren hadreached the spot.

  The barricades in the streets they had, after a short, wild conflictwith their defenders, thrown down; and they now rushed forward in aclose wedge with Duke Garibrand at their head.

  "We have you, incendiaries! Down with your arms! Extinguish thoseflames instantly; or, by the spear of Wotan, no man among you shallremain alive."

  Instead of answering, Kottys lifted up the heavy iron rod--the longbolt which he had torn from his own slave prison--and screamed:

  "Dost thou think we wish to change our masters? We will be free, andmasters ourselves. And all shall be destroyed on this whole earthlyball that reminds us of the time of our slavery. Come on, yebarbarians, if you want to fight with desperate men."

  And now a furious rage threatened to break forth.

  Suddenly a loud, powerful voice cried: "Stop. Peace be with you all!"Between the combatants stepped the venerable form of Johannes; behindhim appeared his ecclesiastical brethren; they, assisted by some of theburghers of Juvavum, were carrying on barrows and litters, woundedslaves, Moors, Isaurians, and also some Germans.

  "Make way for us! Let us take these wounded--they belong to you all whoare here fighting--to my church."

  The words, the look, had immediately a silencing, an appeasing effect.At the sign of their Duke, the Bajuvaren lowered their lifted weapons;most of the slaves did the same. Fearlessly Johannes walked into thethickest part of the crowd; all reverently shrunk back. The women--forthere were many women amongst the mob--knelt down and kissed the hem ofhis garment. He stepped straight towards the door which had now caughtfire.

  Kottys alone tried to turn him away.

  "Back, priest!" he cried, and threw the iron bar; and as Johannesquietly walked on, the iron struck him on the shoulder. He sank--hisblood flowed on the ground.

  "Woe to thee, brother!" cried Keix. "Thou hast murdered the onlyprotector of the poor and miserable--our father's best friend!"

  And the wild man knelt by the priest, holding him in his arms.

  To do this he was obliged to throw away his weapon, an iron trident,which he had torn from the hand of a Neptune at the fountain. Nearlyall his comrades followed this example. Kottys threw the rod on theground, and entreated:

  "Pardon me, Father Johannes!"

  The priest raised himself. "Thou hast repented, therefore God hasforgiven thee. Who am I--a sinner--that _I_ should forgive?"

  He now stepped unhindered to the door, threw down the torches, pickedup one of the broad shields, pressed it with the right hand against theburning door, raised imploringly the left towards heaven, and said:

  "Fire! thou also art a creature and a servant of God the Lord! Icommand thee--I adjure thee, thou hellish demon of flame, retire henceinto hell."

  The fire was then extinguished. Johannes let the shield fall, andturned again to the crowd; his face was radiant with the glory of thedeepest conviction.

  "A wonder! A miracle of the Lord by the hand of the devout Johannes!"sounded out from the whole host of slaves. The most defiant now threwaway their weapons and sank on their knees, crossing themselves. Amongthe Germans many also made the sign of the cross and bent the knee; butKeix and Kottys raised their hands towards Johannes as if in worship.Duke Gariband then advanced to the Presbyter, and spoke slowly:

  "Thou hast well done, old man. Here, my hand. But say," continued he,and a sly smile flashed across his lips, "if thou hadst full confidencein the magic of the Runic words that thou didst utter to the fire, whydidst thou also use the shield?"

  The priest so addressed stood erect and said: "Because we should nottempt God. Not that the Lord needed my arm or the shield to extinguishthe fire."

  "It has never yet happened," said the Duke, thoughtfully nodding hishead, "that one of you Christian priests was at a loss for an answer.You have--and thou especially hast--power over souls, more than mysword over the conquered, use it ever as at this time. I know well howpowerful you are, ye men of the cross, on the Danube there rules one,Severinus by name; he has more authority by his word than Rome and thebarbarians. We shall be good friends; I shall respect thee. But hearthis. I shall allow you to worship Christ as you will; take thou carenot to hinder my people from sacrificing as they will. No, no, old man,do not shake thy head; I suffer no contradiction!" And he lifted hisfinger threateningly.

  But undaunted, Johannes said:

  "If the Lord will call the wanderers to Himself through my mouth, fearof thee will not close it. Thy duchess is already won to the Lord.Verily, I tell thee--thou, and thy people--you will not escape Him. Butyou, rise," said he, turning to the slaves. "I will entreat for youwith the victors, who are now the rulers of this land. I will teachthem, that ye also, created in the image of God, are also theirbrethren, and that your immortal souls are redeemed by the death ofChrist. I will teach them, that he who sets his slaves free wins thewarmest place in the heart of the Father of heaven."

  "But he who has still to remain in servitude," interrupted the Duke,"let him know, that we Germans are noble-minded masters; we do notburden and punish the slave according to the caprice and temper of themaster; as our free people are judged by the free, so the bond peopleare judged by their fellows--in the court of justice, according to thelaw. You stand henceforth under the protection of the strongestjudicial fortress--the law, and the tribunal of your own comrades! Sobe comforted: you serve noble masters."