Légende d'Ulenspiegel. English

by Charles de Coster

  And all the time they were fighting Ulenspiegel listened attentively,though he kept on crying aloud:

  "Give me back my purse, you rascal!"

  And they seized each other by the neck and by the shoulders, androlled together on the floor, while Lamme went on with his tidingsto Ulenspiegel. Suddenly there appeared on the scene mine host of thetavern of the Bee; and he was followed by seven other men, with whom,however, he apparently had no connexion. As he came in he crowed likea cock and Ulenspiegel whistled like a lark. Then, seeing Ulenspiegeland Lamme still struggling on the floor, he inquired of La Stevenynewho they might be. "Two rascals," she told him, "who ought to beparted from each other instead of being allowed to make all thisdisturbance ere they are brought to the gallows."

  "If any one tries to separate us," said Ulenspiegel, "we will makehim eat of these paving-stones."

  "Yes," said Lamme, "we will make him eat these paving-stones!"

  Then Ulenspiegel whispered something in Lamme's ear. "The innkeeperis come to rescue us." And presently the innkeeper, who must havedivined some mystery was afoot, joined the melee on the floor withhis head down, and Lamme attacked him in the ear with these words:

  "You have come to rescue us? How will you do it?"

  The innkeeper made pretence of pulling Ulenspiegel by the ears,but managed to say to him the while, under his breath:

  "These seven men are on your side ... they are strong men... butchers.... I must be off ... too well known in the town ... butwhen I have gone.... 'T is van te beven de klinkaert.... Break upeverything...."

  "I understand," said Ulenspiegel, rising at the same time from thefloor and kicking out at the innkeeper. The latter struck Ulenspiegelin his turn and Ulenspiegel said:

  "You hit hard, my hearty!"

  "As hard as a hail-storm," said the innkeeper. And quickly seizingthe purse from Lamme he handed it back to Ulenspiegel.

  "You may stand me a drink, you rogue, now you are come into yourright mind again."

  "I'll stand you one, you scandalous scamp," replied Ulenspiegel.

  "See how insolent he is," said La Stevenyne.

  "As insolent as you are beautiful," answered Ulenspiegel.

  Now La Stevenyne was sixty years old at least, and her face was likethe fruit of the medlar, but all yellow with bile, and she had alarge port-wine stain on her left cheek.

  When the innkeeper had had his drink, he paid the bill anddeparted. The seven butchers meanwhile made sundry knowing grimaces atthe constables and La Stevenyne. One of them indicated by a gesturethat he held Ulenspiegel for a simpleton, and that he would be ableto do for him very easily. But all the time that he was putting outhis tongue in mockery to La Stevenyne, who herself was grinning andlaughing, he whispered in Ulenspiegel's ear:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert--it is time to rattle theglasses." Then, in his ordinary tone of voice, and pointing at theconstables:

  "Gentle Reformer," he said, "we are all on your side. Stand us somefood and drink, won't you?"

  And La Stevenyne laughed with pleasure, and put out her tongue atUlenspiegel when his back was turned. And La Gilline, she of thebrocaded gown, she also put out her tongue at Ulenspiegel, and thegirls all began to whisper one to another: "Behold the spy that byher beauty draweth men to the torture and bringeth them at last to adeath more cruel even than torture. Above seven-and-twenty Protestantshath she betrayed already. Gilline is her name, and now she is ina rapture of joy as she thinks of the reward she will get for herinformation--the first hundred caroluses, to wit, from the estate ofeach of her victims. But she will not laugh when she bethinketh herthat she must share one-half of the spoil with La Stevenyne!"

  And every one there present--the constables, the butchers, and thegirls themselves--put out their tongues in mockery of Ulenspiegel. AndLamme sweated great drops of sweat, and became red with anger likethe crest of a cock. But he would not let himself say a word.

  "Come, stand us food and drink," said the butchers and the constables.

  "Very well," said Ulenspiegel, jingling yet again the money in hispurse. "Bring us meat and drink, my sweet Stevenyne; bring us drinkin glasses that can sing!"

  At this the girls began to laugh anew; but La Stevenyne went down tothe cellar and brought back with her ham, sausages, black-puddingomelettes, and some of those singing glasses, that are so calledbecause they are mounted on tall stems and can be made to resoundlike a bell when some one strikes them. Then Ulenspiegel said:

  "Let him who is hungry eat, and he who is thirsty let him drink!" Andthe constables, the girls, the butchers, Gilline, and La Stevenyneapplauded these words of Ulenspiegel, clapping their hands and stampingtheir feet; and then they all sat down to the feast. Ulenspiegel,Lamme, and the seven butchers sat at the big table of honour, theconstables and the girls at two smaller tables; and they ate anddrank right heartily. And the constables invited their two comrades,who had been waiting outside the house, to come in and join them.

  La Stevenyne said with a snigger:

  "Remember, no one can leave till he has paid me."

  And she went and locked all the doors, and put the keys in her pocket.

  At this La Gilline raised her glass.

  "The bird is in its cage," she cried. "Let us drink."

  But two of the girls, whose names were Gena and Margot, said to her:

  "Is this yet another man that you are going to lure to his death,you wicked one?"

  "I know not," said Gilline; "let us drink."

  But the girls would not drink with her.

  And Gilline took her viola and sang in French this song:

  Au son de la viole, Je chante nuit et jour; Je suis la fille-folle, La vendeuse d'amour.

  Astarte de mes hanches Fit les lignes de feu; J'ai les epaules blanches, Et mon beau corps est Dieu.

  Je suis froide ou brulante, Tendre au doux nonchaloir: Tiede, eperdue, ardente, Mon homme, a ton vouloir.

  Vois, je vends tout: mes charmes, Mon ame et mes yeux bleus; Bonheur, rires et larmes, Et la Mort si tu veux.

  Au son de la viole, Je chante nuit et jour; Je suis la fille-folle, La vendeuse d'amour.

  As she sang this song La Gilline looked so beautiful, so soft andfragrant, that all the men, the constables and the butchers, Lammeand Ulenspiegel himself, sat smiling there, quite melted and overcomeby her charm.

  All at once La Gilline gave a loud laugh and fixed her gaze onUlenspiegel:

  "And it's thus that the birds are caged," she said. And the spell ofher charm was broken.

  Ulenspiegel, Lamme, and the butchers looked at one another.

  "Well now," said La Stevenyne, "are you going to pay the bill, myLord Ulenspiegel?"

  "We shall pay nothing in advance," said he.

  "Then I shall pay myself later on--out of your inheritance," said LaStevenyne. After that:

  "Let us drink!" she cried.

  "Let us drink!" cried the constables.

  "Let us drink!" cried La Stevenyne. "The doors are shut; the windowsare strongly barred; the birds are in their cage. Let us drink!"

  "Let us drink then," said Ulenspiegel. "And bring us wine of the bestto crown the banquet."

  La Stevenyne brought in more wine. And now they were all seated,drinking and eating, the constables and the girls together. But theseven butchers were at the same table with Ulenspiegel and Lamme,and they kept on throwing pieces of ham, and sausages, omelettes, andbottles of wine to the table of the girls, who themselves caught thefood in mid-flight as carp catch the flies that buzz on the surfaceof a fishpond. And La Stevenyne laughed and grinned, and pointed tothe packets of candles which hung over the counter. And these werethe candles that the gay girls were used to purchase, five to thepound. Then La Stevenyne said to Ulenspiegel:

  "On his way to the stake it is the custom for the condemned man tocarry a wax candle. Shall I make you a present of on
e?"

  "Let us drink!" said Ulenspiegel.

  But La Gilline said: "Look at Ulenspiegel's eyes. They are shininglike the eyes of a swan that is about to die."

  "Wouldn't you like to eat one of the candles?" said La Stevenyne. "Theywould serve you in hell to lighten your eternal damnation."

  "I see clearly enough to admire your ugly mug," said Ulenspiegel.

  Suddenly he struck the stem of his wine-glass and clapped his handstogether with a rhythm like that an upholsterer uses when he beatsthe wool of a mattress with his stick.

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert," he said; "it is time to make theglasses shiver--the glasses which resound...."

  And this, in Flanders, is the signal that the drinkers make when theyare angry, and when they are like to ransack and despoil in theirwrath the houses of ill fame. So even now did Ulenspiegel raise hisglass and drink, and then did he made it vibrate upon the table,crying yet again:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert."

  And the seven butchers did likewise.

  Then a great stillness fell upon the company. La Gilline grew pale;La Stevenyne looked astonished. The constables said:

  "Are the seven with them too?" But the butchers winked their eyesand reassured them; yet all the time they continued without ceasing,and louder and louder as Ulenspiegel led them:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert. 'T is van te beven de klinkaert."

  La Stevenyne took another draught of wine to give herself courage.

  Then Ulenspiegel struck his fist on the table in that regular rhythmwhich the upholsterers use as they beat their mattresses; and theseven did likewise; and the glasses, jugs, trenchers, flagons, andgoblets began to dance upon the table, slowly at first, but beginningsoon to knock against each other, and to break and to heel over onone side as they fell. And all the time echoed and re-echoed, moresternly menacing, with every monotonous repetition:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert."

  "Alas!" said La Stevenyne, "they will break everything." And her teethseemed to show farther out from her lips than ever. And the hot bloodof their fury and of their anger began to flame in the souls of theseven butchers, and in the souls of Lamme and Ulenspiegel. Till atlast, without ceasing once their melancholy and monotonous chant,all they that were sitting at Ulenspiegel's table took their glasses,and brake them upon the table, and at the same moment they drew theircutlasses and leapt upon the chairs. And they made such a din withtheir song that all the windows in the house shook. Then like a bandof infuriated devils they went round the room, visiting each tablein turn, crying without ceasing:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert."

  And the constables rose up trembling with terror and seized their ropesand chains. But the butchers, together with Lamme and Ulenspiegel,thrust their knives quickly back into their cases, and sprang up torun nimbly through the chamber, hitting out right and left with theirchairs as though they had been cudgels. And they spared nothing thereexcept the girls, for everything else they brake in pieces--furniture,windows, chests, plates, pots, trenchers, glasses, and flagons, hittingout at the constables without mercy, and crying out all the time in therhythm of the mattress-beaters: "'T is van te beven de klinkaert. 'Tis van te beven de klinkaert." And Ulenspiegel, who had given LaStevenyne a blow on the nose with his fist, and had taken all her keysand put them into his satchel, was now amusing himself by forcing herto eat those candles of hers. And the girls laughed at the sight ofher as she sneezed with anger and tried to spit out the candles--butin vain, for her mouth was too full. And all the time Ulenspiegel andthe seven butchers did not cease the rhythm of their dire refrain:"'T is van te beven de klinkaert." But at last Ulenspiegel made a sign,and when silence had at last been restored he spake, saying:

  "You are here, my friends, in our power. It is a dark night and theRiver Lys is close at hand, where a man drowns easily if he is oncepushed in. And the gates of Courtrai are shut." Then turning to theseven butchers:

  "You are bound for Peteghen, to join the Beggarmen?"

  "We were ready to go there when the news came to us that you werehere."

  "And from Peteghen you were going to the sea?"

  "Yes," they said.

  "Do you think there are one or two among these constables whom itwould be safe to release for our service?"

  "There are two," they said, "Niklaes and Joos by name, who have neveras yet been guilty of persecuting the poor Reformers."

  "You can trust us!" said Niklaes and Joos.

  "Very well then," said Ulenspiegel. "Here are twenty caroluses for you,twice as much, that is, as you would have got for an act of shamefulbetrayal." And at that the other five constables cried out as one man:

  "Twenty florins! We will serve the Prince for twenty florins. TheKing's pay is bad. Only give us half as much and we will tell thejudge any tale you please." But Lamme and the butchers kept mutteringunder their breath:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert. 'T is van te beven de klinkaert."

  "In order that you may be kept from too much talking," Ulenspiegelcontinued, "the seven will lead you in handcuffs to Peteghen, and thereyou will be given over into the hands of the Beggarmen. The florinswill be handed to you at sea, and if you prove brave in battle youwill have your share of the spoil. If you attempt to desert you willbe hanged."

  "We will serve him who pays us," they said.

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert! 'T is van te beven de klinkaert,"murmured the seven.

  "You will also take with you," said Ulenspiegel, "La Gilline, LaStevenyne and the girls. If any one of them tries to escape you willsew her in a sack and throw her into the river."

  "He has not killed me yet!" cried La Gilline, jumping up from hercorner and brandishing her viola in the air. And she began to sing:

  Sanglant etait mon reve. Le reve de mon coeur. Je suis la fille d'Eve Et de Satan vainqueur.

  But La Stevenyne and the others seemed as if they were going to cry.

  "Do not be afraid, my sweets," said Ulenspiegel. "You are so prettyand so tender that all men will love to caress you wherever you go,and after every victory you will have your share in the spoils." Butthe three girls turned upon La Gilline:

  "You that were her daughter, her breadwinner, sharing with La Stevenynethe shameful rewards of her espionage, do you still dare to flauntyourself before us and to insult us with your dress of brocade? Verilyit is the blood of the victims and nothing else that has clothed youso richly. But now let us take her dress from her, so she may be liketo us."

  "That shall not be," said Ulenspiegel.

  And the girls looked jealously at Ulenspiegel, saying:

  "He is mad about her, like all the rest."

  And La Gilline played upon her viola and sang, and the seven butchersdeparted for Peteghen, taking with them the constables and thegirls. And they passed along by the River Lys. And as they went theykept muttering:

  "'T is van te beven de klinkaert! 'T is van te beven de klinkaert!" Andat break of day they came to the camp, and sang out like the lark andwere answered straightway by a cockcrow. The girls and the constableswere put under a strong guard, but in spite of these precautions LaGilline was found dead at noon on the third day, her heart piercedby a long needle. The three girls accused La Stevenyne of havingdone this deed, and she was brought before the captain. There sheconfessed that she had committed the crime out of jealousy and angerat the way the girl had treated her. And La Stevenyne was hanged andburied in the wood.

  La Gilline also was buried, and prayers were said over her sweet body.

  XXIV

  Warm was the air, and not a breath of wind was wafted from thecalm sea. The trees on the Damme canal were motionless, and thegrasshoppers were busy in the meadows, while from many a church andabbey the men came into the fields to fetch that "thirteenth partof the harvest" which was claimed by the cures and the abbes wholived round about. From the depths of a blue and blazing sky the sunpoured down his heat, and Nature slept bene
ath that radiance like somebeautiful girl that has swooned away beneath the caresses of her lover.

  From far off, Lamme and Ulenspiegel descried the high, square,massive tower of Notre Dame, and Lamme said:

  "There, my son, is the home both of your loves and of yoursorrows." But Ulenspiegel made no answer.

  "In a little while," continued Lamme, "I shall be seeing my old home,and perhaps my wife!" But Ulenspiegel did not answer.

  "You man of wood," said Lamme, "you heart of stone, will nothing moveyou--neither the near approach to the place where you passed yourchildhood, nor yet the dear memory of poor Claes and Soetkin, the twomartyrs? What! You are not sad, neither are you merry; who can it bethat has thus hardened your heart? Look at me, how anxious and uneasyI am, and how my belly heaves with nervousness; look at me I say!"

  But Lamme looked at Ulenspiegel and saw that his face was drawnand pale, and his lips were trembling with tears, and he said not aword. And now Lamme also held his peace.

  They walked along in this way without speaking till they came toDamme, which they entered by the rue Heron; and they saw no oneabout because of the heat. Only the dogs lay on their sides onthe doorsteps of many a house, gasping, with their tongues out,while Lamme and Ulenspiegel passed right in front of the Town Hallwhere Claes had been burnt to death; and here the lips of Ulenspiegeltrembled the more, and his tears dried up. And at last they were cometo the house of Claes himself, which was now occupied by a mastercharcoal-burner. Ulenspiegel entered in and said: