"Kind sirs," she began, "what is it that you are looking for in ourpoor dwelling? If it is my son you want, he is far away. Do you feelequal to a long journey?"
And she felt quite pleased at the way she was handling the matter. Butit was at this very moment that Nele began to cry aloud for help,and when Soetkin had made her way into the garden, it was to seeher husband seized by the collar and fighting on the pathway nearthe hedge.
"Hit hard and kill them!" she cried, and then: "O Ulenspiegel, whereare you?"
And she was about to go to the assistance of her man when one ofthe sergeants caught hold of her, not indeed without some dangerto himself. And Claes was fighting and hitting out so forcibly thathe would certainly have escaped had not the two sergeants with whomSoetkin had been talking come out to aid their fellows in the nick oftime. So at last they were able to tie the hands of Claes together,and to carry him back to the kitchen, whither Nele and Soetkin hadalready come, crying and sobbing.
"Sir Provost," Soetkin said, "what crime has he committed that youare binding my poor husband thus with cords?"
"He is a heretic," said one of the sergeants.
"Heretic!" cried Soetkin, looking towards her husband. "You aheretic! These devils are lying!"
Claes answered:
"I resign myself into God's keeping."
And they took him away. Nele and Soetkin followed behind, in tears,believing that they also would be summoned before the judge. Theywere joined by many of their friends and neighbours, but when theseheard that it was on a charge of heresy that Claes was walking thus inchains, fear came upon them and they returned incontinently to theirhouses, closing their doors behind them. Only a few young girls hadthe courage to approach Claes and say to him:
"Whither are you going to, Charcoal-burner, in these bonds!"
"I go unto the grace of God, my girls," he answered them.
So they took him away to the town gaol, and Nele and Soetkin satthemselves down upon the threshold. And towards evening Soetkinbesought Nele to leave her and to go and see if Ulenspiegel hadperchance returned.
XXXVIII
The news spread quickly through the neighbourhood that a man hadbeen taken prisoner on a charge of heresy, and that the inquisitorTitelman, Dean of Renaix, surnamed the Inquisitor without Pity,had been appointed judge. Now at this time Ulenspiegel was livingat Koolkerke, in the intimate favour of a farmer's widow, a sweetand gentle person who refused him nothing of what was hers to give.He was very happy there, petted and made much of, until one day atreacherous rival, an alderman of the village, lay in wait for himearly in the morning when he was coming out of the tavern, and wouldhave beaten him with a wooden club. But Ulenspiegel, thinking to coolhis rival's anger, threw him into a duck-pond that was full of water,and the alderman scrambled out as best he could, green as a toad anddripping like a sponge.
As a result of this mighty deed Ulenspiegel found it convenient todepart from Koolkerke, and off he went to Damme as fast as his legswould carry him, fearing the vengeance of the alderman.
The night fell cold, and Ulenspiegel ran quickly. For he was longingto be home again, and already he saw in imagination Nele sewing by thefire, Soetkin getting ready the supper, Claes binding up his sticks,and Schnouffius gnawing at a bone.
A tramping pedlar met him on the road and asked him whither he wasoff to so fast and at that time of night.
"To my home in Damme," Ulenspiegel told him.
The tramp said:
"That town is no longer safe. They are arresting the Reformers there."And he passed on.
Presently Ulenspiegel arrived at the inn of the Roode Schildt andwent in for a glass of dobbel kuyt. The innkeeper said to him:
"Are you not the son of Claes?"
"I am," said Ulenspiegel.
"Make haste then," said the innkeeper, "for the hour of evil fortunehas sounded for your father."
Ulenspiegel asked him what he meant by these words, and the innkeepertold him that he would know soon enough. So Ulenspiegel left the innand continued on his way, running apace.
When he arrived at the outskirts of Damme, the dogs that stood by thedoorways came running round his legs, jumping up at him, yelping andbarking. Hearing this noise, the women also came out of their houses,and when they saw who it was they all began talking at once.
"Whence come you?" they cried. "And have you any news of yourfather? And do you know where your mother is? Is she in prisontoo? Alas! Heaven send they do not bring him to the stake!"
Ulenspiegel ran on faster than ever. He met Nele.
"Tyl," she said, "you must not go home. They have set guards in ourhouse in the name of His Majesty."
Ulenspiegel stopped running.
"Nele," he said, "is it true that Claes, my father, is in prison?"
"It is true," Nele said, "and Soetkin sits weeping at the gaol door."
Then the heart of the prodigal son swelled with grief, and he said:"I must go to them."
"No," said Nele. "First you must do what Claes told me, just beforehe was taken away. 'Look to the money,' he said, 'it is hidden at theback of the grate. You must make sure of that first of everything,for it is the inheritance of poor Soetkin.'"
But Ulenspiegel would not hear aught and ran on quickly to thegaol. There he found Soetkin sitting at the gate. She embraced himwith many tears, and they cried on one another's neck.
Knowing that they were there, the populace began to crowd in front ofthe prison. Then the sergeants arrived and told Soetkin and Ulenspiegelthat they were to go away at once. So mother and son returned to Nele'scottage, which was next door to their own, and was being guarded byone of the foot-soldiers who had been sent for from Bruges in casethere might be trouble during the trial and execution of Claes. Forit was well known that the people of Damme loved him exceedingly.
The soldier was sitting on the pavement in front of the door,draining the last drops of brandy from a flask. Finding it was allgone he threw the flask away and was amusing himself by dislodgingthe stones on the path with the point of his dagger.
Soetkin went in to Katheline, crying most bitterly.
But Katheline said: "Fire! Fire! Make a hole! My soul wants toget out!" And she kept wagging her head.
XXXIX
Borgstorm, the great bell of Damme, had summoned the judges tojudgment. It was four o'clock, and now they were collected togetherat the Vierschare, around the Tree of Justice.
Claes was brought before them. Seated upon the dais was the highbailiff of Damme, and by his side, opposite Claes, the mayor, thealderman, and the clerk of the court.
The populace ran together at the sound of the bell. A great crowdthey were, and many of them were saying that the judges were thereto do--not justice--but merely the will of His Imperial Majesty....
After certain preliminaries, the high bailiff began to makeproclamation of the acts and deeds for which Claes had been summonedbefore that tribunal.
"The informer," he said, "had been staying by chance at Damme, notwishing to spend all his money at Bruges in feasting and festivity asis too often the case during these sacred occasions. On a time, then,when he was taking the air soberly on his own doorstep, he saw a manwalking towards him along the rue Heron. This man Claes also saw,and went up to him and greeted him. The stranger, who was dressedall in black, entered the house of Claes, leaving the door into thestreet half open. Curious to find out who the man was, the informerwent into the vestibule, and heard Claes talking to the stranger in thekitchen. The talk was all about a certain Josse, the brother of Claes,who it seems had been made prisoner among the army of the Reformers,and had suffered the punishment of being broken alive on the wheelof torture, not far from Aix. The stranger said that he had broughtClaes a sum of money which his brother had desired to leave him, whichmoney having been gained from the ignorant and poverty-stricken, itbehoved Claes to spend it in bringing up his own son in the ReformedFaith. He also urged Claes to quit the bosom of our Holy MotherChurch, and spake also many other impious wo
rds to which the onlyreply vouchsafed by Claes was this: 'The cruel brutes! Alas, my poorJosse!' So did the prisoner blaspheme against our Holy Father the Popeand against His Royal Majesty, accusing them of cruelty in that theyrightly had punished heresy as a crime of treason against God andman. When the stranger had finished the meal that Claes put beforehim, our agent heard Claes cry out again: 'Alas, poor Josse! May Godkeep thee in his glory! How cruel they were to thee!' And thus did heaccuse God himself of impiety by this suggestion that He could receivea heretic into His heaven. Nor did Claes ever cease to cry aloud:'Alas! Alas! My poor Josse!' The stranger then, launching out intoa frenzy, like a preacher beginning his sermon, fell to revile mostshamefully our Holy Mother the Church. 'She will fall,' he shouted,'she will fall, the mighty Babylon, the whore of Rome, and she willbecome the abode of demons, and the haunt of every bird accursed.' AndClaes meanwhile continued the same old cry: 'Cruel brutes! Alas, poorJosse!' And the stranger went on in the same way as he had begun,saying: 'Verily an angel shall appear that shall take a stone thatis great as a millstone, and shall cast it into the sea, crying:"Thus shall it be done to Babylon the mighty, and she shall be nomore seen."' Whereupon, 'Sir,' says Claes, 'your mouth is full ofbitterness; but tell me, when cometh that kingdom in which theythat are gentle of heart shall be able to dwell in peace upon theearth?' 'Never,' answered the stranger, 'while yet my Lord Antichristrules, that is the Pope, who is to-day the enemy to all truth.' 'Ah,'said Claes, 'you speak with little respect of the Holy Father. Buthe, surely, is ignorant of the cruel punishments which are meted outto poor Reformers.' 'Not at all,' answered the stranger, 'and farfrom it, for it is he who initiates the decrees and causes them tobe put into force by the Emperor, now by the King. The latter enjoysall the benefits of confiscation, inherits the property of the dead,and finds it easy to bring charges of heresy against those who haveany wealth.' Claes said: 'Indeed I know that such things are freelyspoken of in the land of Flanders, and one may well believe them, forthe flesh of man is weak, even though the flesh be royal flesh. O mypoor Josse!' And by this did Claes give to understand that hereticsare punished because of a vile desire on the part of His Majesty forfilthy lucre. The stranger wished to argue the matter further, butClaes said: 'Please, sir, do not let us continue this conversation,for if it were overheard I might easily find myself involved in someawkward inquiry.' Then Claes got up to go to the cellar, whence hepresently returned with a pot of beer. 'I am going to shut the door,'said he, and after that the informer heard nothing more, for he hadto make his way out of the house as quickly as he could. Not tillit was night was the door again opened, and then the stranger cameforth. But he soon returned, knocking at the door and calling to Claes:'It is very cold, and I know not where I am to lodge this night. Giveme shelter, pray. No one has seen me. The town is deserted.' Claeswelcomed him in, lit a lantern, and last of all he was seen to beleading the heretic up the staircase into a little attic room witha window that looked out on to the country."
At this Claes cried out: "And who could have reported all this butyou, you wicked fishmonger! I saw you on Sunday, standing at yourdoor, as straight as a post, gazing up, like the hypocrite you are,at the swallows in their flight!"
And as he spoke, he pointed with his finger at Josse Grypstuiver,the Dean of the Fishmongers, who showed his ugly phiz in the crowdof people. And the fishmonger gave an evil smile when he saw Claesbetraying himself in this way. And the people in the crowd, men,women, and maids, looked one at the other and said: "Poor good man,his words will be the death of him without a doubt."
But the clerk continued his depositions.
"Claes and the heretic stayed talking together for a long time thatnight, and so for six other nights, during which time the stranger wasseen to make many gestures of menace or of benediction, and to lift uphis hands to heaven as do his fellow-heretics. And Claes appeared toapprove of what he said. And there is no doubt that throughout thesedays and nights they were speaking together opprobriously of the Mass,of the confessional, of indulgences, and of the Royal Majesty...."
"No one heard it," said Claes, "and I cannot be accused in this waywithout any evidence."
The clerk answered:
"There is something else that was overheard. The evening that thestranger left your roof, seven days after he had first come to you,you went with him as far as the end of Katheline's field. There heasked you what you had done with the wicked idols"--here the bailiffcrossed himself--"of Madame the Virgin, and of St. Nicholas andSt. Martin. You replied that you had broken them all up and thrownthem into the well. They were, in fact, found in the well last night,and the pieces are now in the torture-chamber."
At these words Claes appeared to be quite overcome. The bailiffasked if he had nothing to answer. Claes made a sign with his headin the negative.
The bailiff asked him if he would not recant the accursed thoughtswhich had led him to break the images, and the impious delusionwhereby he had spoken such evil words against Pope and Emperor,who were both divine personages.
Claes replied that his body was the Emperor's, but that his soul wasChrist's, whose law he desired to obey. The bailiff asked him if thislaw were the same as that of Holy Mother Church. Claes answered:
"The law of Christ is written in the Holy Gospel."
When ordered to answer the question as to whether the Pope is therepresentative of God on earth, he answered, "No."
When asked if he believed that it was forbidden to adore images of OurLady and of the saints, he replied that such was idolatry. Questionedas to whether the practice of auricular confession was a good andsalutary thing, he answered: "Christ said, confess your sins oneto another."
He spoke out bravely, though at the same time it was evident that hewas ill at ease and in his heart afraid.
At length, eight o'clock having sounded and evening coming on,the members of the tribunal retired, deferring their judgment untilthe morrow.
XL
The next day the great bell, Borgstorm, clanged out its summonsto the judges of the tribunal. When they were all assembled at theVierschare, seated upon the four benches that were set around thelime-tree, Claes was cross-examined afresh, and asked if he waswilling to recant his errors.
But Claes lifted his hand towards heaven:
"The Lord Christ beholdeth me from on high," he said, "and when my sonUlenspiegel was born I also gazed upon His Sun. Where is Ulenspiegelnow? Where is he now, the vagabond? O Soetkin, sweet wife, will yoube brave in the day of trouble?"
Then looking at the lime-tree he cursed it, saying: "South wind anddrouth, I adjure you to make the trees of our fathers perish one andall where they stand, rather than that beneath their shade freedomof conscience shall be judged to death! O Ulenspiegel, my son, whereare you? Harsh was I unto you in days gone by. But now, good sirs,take pity on me, and be merciful to me in your judgment, even as OurLord would be merciful."
And all that heard him wept, save only the judges.
Then Claes asked them a second time if they would not pardon him,saying:
"Truly I was always a hard-working man, and one that gained little forall his toil. I was good to the poor and kind to every one. And if Ihave left the Roman Church it is only in obedience to the spirit ofGod that spake to me. I ask for no grace except that the pain of firemay be commuted to a sentence of perpetual banishment from the land ofFlanders. Banishment for life! A sufficient punishment that, surely!"
And all they that were present cried aloud:
"Have pity upon him! Have mercy!"
But Josse Grypstuiver held his peace.
Now the bailiff made a sign to the company that they should keepsilence, adding that the placards contained a clause which expresslyforbade the petitioning of mercy for heretics. But he said that ifClaes would abjure his heresy he should be executed by hanging insteadof by burning. And the people murmured:
"What matters burning or hanging, they both mean death!"
And the women wept and the men murmured under their bre
ath.
Claes said:
"I will abjure nothing. Do to my body whatsoever is pleasing toyour mercy."
Then spoke the Dean of Renaix, Titelman by name:
"It is intolerable that these vermin of heretics should raise up theirheads in this way before their judges. After all, the burning of thebody is but a passing pain, and torture is necessary for the saving ofsouls, and for the recantation of error, lest the people be given thedangerous spectacle of heretics dying in a state of final impenitence."
At these words the women wept still more, and the men said: "In thosecases where the crime is confessed punishment may be rightly inflicted,but torture is illegal!"
The tribunal decided that since indeed it was a fact that theordinances did not order torture to be applied in such cases, therewas no occasion to insist that Claes should suffer it. He was askedonce more if he would not recant.
"I cannot," he answered.
Then, in accordance with the ordinances, sentence was passed uponhim. He was declared guilty of simony in that he had taken part inthe sale of indulgences, and he was also declared to be a heretic anda harbourer of heretics, and as such he was condemned to be burnedalive before the hoardings of the Town Hall. His body was to be lefthanging on the stake for the space of two days as a warning to others,and afterwards it was to be interred in the place set apart for thebodies of executed criminals. To the informer, Josse Grypstuiver(whose name had never been mentioned throughout the whole trial),the tribunal ordered to be paid the sum of fifty florins calculatedon the first hundred florins of the inheritance of the deceased,and a tenth part of the remainder.