The Fiery Angel

by Valery Bruisov

  Question: Did the Devil teach you how to produce thunderstorms, hail, rats, mice, moles, how to change yourself into a she-wolf, how to deprive cows of their milk, how to ruin crops, and make men incapable of marital cohabitation?

  Answer: He taught me all this and much else, in which I acknowledge myself a sinner, before the Lord God and before mankind.

  Question: Tell us, how do you produce thunderstorms?

  Answer: For this purpose one must make a little hollow in a field, in a place where banewort grows, and, squatting over it, cause it to become wet, and say: “In the name of the Devil, rain!” and at once there will come a cloud and rain will follow.

  Question: And how do you deprive men of their strength?

  Answer: For this there are more than fifty means, for example, take the male organs of a newly-slain wolf and go to the threshold of him whom you desire to disable, call him by his name, and, when he answers, wind that which you have in your hands around with white tape—and, anyway, I have no wish to tell you more of them!

  Question: Did you cause by these means, and also in the shape of a she-wolf, or of any other were-beast, hurt to fields, animals, or human beings?

  Answer: A terrible hurt, that it is impossible even to fathom, for we ate a multitude of lambs, ruined crops and orchards, sent hosts of rats into villages, made many women incapable of bearing issue, and, I think, had not remorse come upon us, the whole district would have perished from a failure of crops and other misfortunes! But why do you question me further when, however much you question me, I shall never be able to enumerate the whole number of my sins! Oh, lead me more quickly to the pyre, for even here my enemy does not quit me—even now he is about to seize me! Slay me, quickly, quickly!

  With these last words, Renata began to jerk herself about, as if on the point of flinging herself at the judges, but the two burly guards seized her arms and restrained her from this intention. Then the Archbishop, perhaps rendered uneasy by the behaviour of the accused, or perhaps merely fatigued by the examination, turned to the inquisitor with the following words:

  “Should not the examination be ended, if the accused herself admits that she is guilty and deserving of the stake?”

  Brother Thomas, who had thrown himself into the inquiry as a merry otter dives into water, objected thus:

  “I suggest it as my opinion that it behoves us first to discover the names of the demons with whom this slut has entered into connection, and the exact terms of her pacts with them, and also to worm out of her the identity of her accomplices in all these ungodly deeds. For thus speaks the Apostle: they are from amongst us, ex nobis egressi sunt!”

  Renata, hearing the words of the inquisitor, exclaimed in a strangled voice:

  “You must not ask me any more. I had no accomplices! They whom I met at the Sabbath are afar off. It was not here, but in another land! Merciful Lord Christ, come to my aid!”

  Brother Thomas replied to her:

  “Not so fast, my little chicken, when we jerk you up on the strappado, and roast your heels with a red-hot iron, you will sing us a song in another tune.”

  I clapped my hand to the hilt of my sword, but the Archbishop said firmly:

  “It were better for us to continue the investigation at some other time, for we have yet to question the witnesses, Mother Martha and the other sisters.”

  The Count, who had been silent until now, also took part in the discussion, and he too began to insist that the case be postponed until to-morrow morning, pointing out, among other things, that it was not worth while to begin torture when even the judges themselves were already tired by the examination, but Brother Thomas disagreed:

  “Have you not forgotten, my lord Count, that it is only prohibited to repeat the torture, if no new evidence be manifested, but all the authorities are agreed that it may be continued the next day, or the one after next also, and intellects worthy of respect call on us to proceed in such a case ad continuandum tormenta, non ad iterandum. We might just have begun to-day, and to-morrow we could have continued. …”

  Seeing however that his speech met with no sympathy, Brother Thomas abruptly broke it off, like a spinner a ravelled thread, and though he himself would obviously have been happy to continue questioning day and night—he said in a quite different voice:

  “However, I am entirely obedient to the will of His Reverend Eminence, who knows better than others how this case should be conducted. But nevertheless, methinks you will agree that we should not let this wench go without first having seen whether she have upon her body the stigmata of a witch.”

  Brother Thomas loudly called someone whose name I did not catch, and from the darkness, from beside the horrible post that rose in the depths, there stepped forth a man, broad-shouldered and bearded, in whom it was impossible not to recognise an executioner. At this appearance I clutched my sword for the second time, but encountered immediately the staring gaze of the Count, silently importuning me to keep calm until the last possible moment. Overpowering myself, I watched as my horrible dream became incarnate, saw how the executioner tore the dress of Renata, who in no wise resisted him, and how in the moist subterranean twilight he searched all her body with his coarse hands, her body, that once I covered with reverent kisses.

  At last the attention of the executioner was arrested by a small birthmark on the left shoulder, which I knew so well, and taking a small awl from his pocket, he touched with it on this spot the flesh of Renata, who did not move. Then the executioner exclaimed in a coarse and gruff voice, as though he were shouting through a trumpet:

  “Here it is! No blood has oozed!”

  For the inquisitor and the Archbishop this announcement by the executioner, even though unverified by them, seemed a last and decisive proof, for Brother Thomas at once shrieked, as in bygone days did the High Priest of the Hebrews:

  “What further need have ye of witnesses! Is it not as clear as God’s day that she is a witch!”

  Then he added:

  “And now we have still to singe all the hair on her body with fire, for beneath it she may be concealing spells.”

  However, the Count, seeing clearly that I should suffer no further indignity, intervened firmly, reminding the inquisitor that the Archbishop himself, who presided over our inquiry, had decided to interrupt it until the morning of the morrow, and Brother Thomas, fussing like a mouse in a trap, gave orders for Renata to be led back into her cell. Methinks that at this moment Renata was not in consciousness, for a guard, clumsily pulling over her her monastic garb, lifted her up like a child and dragged her again into the darkness, while I, having no means of following her, almost collapsed, racked by my powerlessness. At this moment, in my fate, I was like the Spaniard whom the Aztecs, after taking prisoner, tied to a tree trunk and, cutting off his eyelids, forced to watch them submitting his comrades to torture before his eyes.

  Despite all my efforts, I was probably not able entirely to conceal the interest that I felt in the fate of the accused, for when our small company, having passed once more through the subterranean passages, had come out again into the fresh air of which Renata was deprived, and when the Archbishop, having given us his blessing, had departed, Brother Thomas asked me, not without suspicion:

  “It must, Master Rupprecht, be the first time you have been present at the prosecution of such fiends: you wear so depressed an air one might think you were sorry for this slut.”

  And I, who had but just now been patient through far heavier trials, could not endure these words, and, suddenly losing mastery over myself, flew at the inquisitor, grabbed him by the collar of his cassock, shouting at him:

  “You are the first to deserve being cast into the flames, accursed pater!”

  Such behaviour on my part might have led to very serious consequences for me, but the Count, rushing quickly to the monk’s rescue, freed him from my hands and said sternly to me:

  “You too must be possessed by some demon, Rupprecht, or else you have lost your reason!” />
  Brother Thomas, whose face had become all distorted with fear when I flew at him, very soon recovered his composure, and, though he tried to keep at a distance from me, also began to soothe me:

  “Or perhaps it is that you do not know me, dear brother Rupprecht? It is I—your meek brother Thomas. How is it that you have thus granted dominion over yourself to the Unclean? The Fiend is strong, but one should be able to withstand him by prayer. Oh, heavy is this task, the combat with the Devil, for he prowls around his judges, and wherever he finds a breach undefended, there he hastens to penetrate: be it through the mouth, through the ears, or through any other opening of the body!”

  I muttered some kind of apology through clenched teeth, and the Count, to dispel the unpleasant impression, entered into a conversation with the inquisitor about the case of Sister Maria, and asked whether it were undoubted that she would here and now be sentenced to the stake. Brother Thomas livened up at once, and began with the greatest readiness to explain to us the law:

  “In the Criminal Code”—he was saying—“printed by the will of His Majesty the Emperor for the use of the whole Empire three years ago, and by which we are now governed, clause 109 declares: ‘Item, if a body by means of sorcery cause evil or misfortune to any other body, he shall be punished for it by death, and execution shall be performed by means of fire. If, however, a body shall have practised sorcery, but yet not caused harm to any other body, he shall be punished according to the circumstances of the case.’ Sister Maria has from her own mouth confessed herself guilty of having caused harm to human beings, and cattle, and crops, and thus she incurs death.”

  The Count also enquired whether one accused must be submitted to torture if she has already confessed all of her own accord, and Brother Thomas answered this also without delay:

  “Unquestionably”—said he—“for clause 44 of the same Constitution of the Emperor Charles says explicitly: ‘Item, if a body has recourse to doubtful matters, deeds and actions which in themselves contain sorcery, and if such a body be but accused thereof, by this fact is given a clear indication of the presence of sorcery, and a sufficient ground for the application of torture.’ Apart from this, you are probably unaware that there is no other means against such fiends as witches, to force them to speak the truth, for the Devil is for ever present at their examinations and often helps them to support the most arduous trials. In cases of such weighty crime, one must perforce have recourse to the most powerful countering methods.”

  I did not listen further to what the inquisitor was saying, for I felt as though I had wandered into some ensorcelled courtyard, from which there was no egress, so that I fruitlessly flung myself from side to side, everywhere meeting stone, insuperable walls. Not saying a word to anyone, I hastened my steps, and almost ran from those talking, having no purpose before me, only desiring to be alone. The Count, however, soon caught up with me, asking me whither I was running, and I replied to him:

  “Dear Count! It behoves us to attempt our enterprise immediately, for every hour of delay may cost Renata her life. Till now I have restrained myself from any crucial action, only because you promised me your assistance. I beseech you not to postpone matters any longer, or, pray, tell me straightway that you are powerless to help me. Then I shall act on my own, even though my attempts may lead me to certain death.”

  The Count replied to me:

  “I pledged you my knightly word, Rupprecht, and I shall keep that oath. Go to our tent and there await my call, while I shall work on your behalf.”

  The voice of the Count was so persuasive, and I was so conscious of my utter impotence, that I had no other course left me but to obey, yet I had not the strength to enter, for a second time, that tent, where, as in a lion’s den, would have lain in watch for me, with greedy jaws and sharp fangs, the same thoughts of sorrow as those of the morning, and perhaps many more, not less bitter.

  I told the Count that I should await him on the shores of the rivulet, and, avoiding all encounters, I made my way through the thick willow growths that lined its course, and there hid in the twilight and the moisture, so placing myself that the convent was visible to me through breaches in the foliage. Here, once more in forced idleness, I spent another period of several hours, breathing the fresh fragrance of the running water, and knowing that Renata, ill, exhausted, was spending these same hours upon clammy earth, amidst lichen, spiders and woodlice.

  I feared that I might lose the power to act with reason if I gave myself up to the waves of despair that pressed upon me, and, accordingly, I stubbornly forced myself not to lose my clearness of thought. As if resolving some problem, I considered all the possible means of saving Renata, yet could think of none but that of gaining possession of the convent by main force, breaking open the doors of her prison and carrying her off, before the Archbishop could have time to assemble a considerable troop. Transported by such dreams, I already imagined to myself all the particulars of the forthcoming fight between the supporters of the Count and the henchmen of the Archbishop, visualised exactly how I should break down the gates of the cloister, composed from the first word to the last the speech that I should address to the frightened nuns persuading them not to oppose the liberation of Sister Maria, and finally, with tears in my voice, I repeated the words I should speak to the rescued Renata.

  From these imaginings, as from a soothing dream, I was roused by a voice that softly called me by my name, and turning round, I saw that near me stood the Count, and behind him Michael, holding two horses by the reins. The Count’s face was more deeply clouded than I had ever see it before, and in the first instant, thinking that all was over, and that Renata had already been condemned and executed, I involuntarily exclaimed:

  “Can it be that it is too late?”

  The Count replied to me:

  “We must ride at once, Rupprecht, I have convinced myself that such forces as we have here are not sufficient for our undertaking. We must seek allies, whom the Romans, too, did not disdain. In the immediate neighbourhood I know a castle, the seigneur of which maintains a friendship with me. Let us ride thither, and bring back with us a score of stout lads.”

  This appeal accorded so miraculously with my dreams, that I did not for one moment doubt the sincerity of the Count, and it never entered my mind that it would be unwise for us both to leave the cloister; on the contrary, with all eagerness I hastened to my horse and soon both of us were in the saddle. I asked the Count whether our way were long, and he only retorted that we must hurry, but that we had best make the first part of our road along the bed of the rivulet, so that our departure should not be noted in the camp. All this was very convincing, and I was ready at this moment if need be to blaze my way after the Count with my sword.

  Having ridden for about a quarter of an hour in the depths of the valley, we climbed up, and galloped due westward along a bad country lane. My eyes were blinded by the sun, which was now setting, and which built before me, by the frolic of its rays, weird castles from the evening clouds, only to annihilate them immediately, and I felt as though it was in those ghostly palaces that we should find the help that we were seeking. I urged on my horse as though in truth I hoped to gallop to the land where Aurora opens wide the flaming gates to Phœbus, and the wind whistled in my ears, either words of encouragement or prophecies of despair. Gradually the west grew dimmer and dimmer, the red sun went down behind the nethermost cloud, and the air around freshened; the country became more rugged, but no sign of human habitation appeared, and in vain did I scan the horizon for the towers of the promised castle. Several times I asked the Count whether it were yet far for us to ride, but each time I received no answer, and at last, seeing that my horse was tired, and that the road was completely disappearing amidst boulders strewn in disarray, I suddenly drew rein and thus exclaimed:

  “Count! You have deceived me! There is no castle! Whither have you led me?”

  Then the Count, too, stopped his horse, and he answered me in a soft, touching voic
e, which at times he knew how to assume:

  “Yes, I have deceived you. There is no castle.”

  All my flesh grew cold, my hands trembled, and, flinging my horse straight at the Count, ready to assail him in combat, in this forsaken, man-deserted valley, in the hour of the first shadows, I shouted:

  “Why have you done this? What was your purpose? Answer me, or else I slay you where you stand!”

  The Count replied to me calmly:

  “Rupprechte, insanis! Listen first, and threaten afterwards. I discovered that Thomas had appointed a second examination for this evening. Much as I tried, I could not alter this decision. I did not doubt that, had you remained at the convent, you would have committed some rash act, and thereby ruined our whole enterprise. I resolved to take you away for a time, to save both yourself and your beloved.”

  “What!”—I demanded—“the second examination is fixed for this evening? Then that means that it is being conducted at this moment? But the examination will be by ordeal! That means that Renata is even now being subjected to torture, and I am far from her—here, here, here—in this field, and cannot even reply to her moans!”

  With this, the fit of fury left me, and, jumping from the horse, I flung myself face downwards on the boulders moist with evening dew, pressed against them with my cheek, and, once more, tears streamed unchecked from my eyes, for, like a woman or a child, I had no other weapons to combat my fate. I at once represented to myself all the forms of torture of which I had even only sometime heard: the press, the screw, the strings, the pincers, the strappado, the goat, the mare, the ladder, the Spanish boot, the collar, flogging, the insertion of pegs under the nails, torture with water, with fire, with pitch, and all the other horrors invented by man against man. I wept uncontrolledly, and at that moment sincerely desired but one thing only: to be with Renata, at her side; to yield my body to all the torments to which she was being subjected, and it seemed monstrous and incongruous that I should feel no pain while she was languishing beneath her sufferings.