Told by the Death's Head: A Romantic Tale

  CHAPTER II.

  THE QUICKSANDS.

  My case had been decided by the consistory. I was not the first manwho had had such an experience; and I was philosophical enough toconclude that if other men had survived their disgrace, I might also.

  So, I made up my mind to forgive my wife, and live amicably with her.I acted as if nothing had happened to mar the relations between us,and all would have been well, had not my neighbors tormented me beyondendurance.

  I became furious every time I went into the street. Everybody salutedme as "your majesty." They would inquire how I was getting on with mycrowns--as if I had a dozen! One man would ask me if I had seen aMaimuna lately; another would tell me he had seen a stork with a babyin its bill fly through the air. I received scurrilous letters throughthe post, and bands of singers would stop under my window and chant myshameful history from beginning to end. In short, everything thoseNimeguen citizens could invent to annoy me was done. I boiled withrage, for I was unable to defend myself.

  In any other community I could have defended myself from suchpersecution. I should have challenged the first one who insulted me,and run him through with my sword. That is an effective way tosilence scurrilous tongues. In Nimeguen, however, it would have beenimpossible to find a second to deliver a challenge; and if I had sentit by a messenger the challenged person would have hastened at once tothe burgomaster to complain that I had threatened to murder him.

  If I had tweaked the nose of a fellow for refusing to give mesatisfaction, he would have sued me; and I would have been sentencedto pay three marks for a nose-tweak, and six for a slap on the mouth.This would have resulted in my spending nearly all my time in theburgomaster's office, because of the numerous summons to answer thecharge of assault and battery, and my wife would have been kept busypaying the fines.

  At last, I could endure it no longer. I told my wife I should have togo away, and she decided that we would go together to Vliessingen,where she would drink the medicinal waters.

  I was glad enough to accompany her. I would have gone anywhere to berid of my tormenters. But I was mistaken in believing I should be ridof them at Vliessingen. I received anonymous letters by every post;but I paid no heed to them until one day I received the following:

  "What a stupid fellow you are! Your wife does not need a jinnee tocarry her where she wants to go. You are her Maimuna; and Vliessingenis the Ararat whither Danesh has transported her lover. He has senther a red velvet cap trimmed with gold braid and white lace, andevery time she wears it, she signals to him that you will be away fromhome that day. Oh, stupid dolt that you are!"

  This was more than enough.

  My wife had received just such a cap as was described in the letter;and when she put it on, it always seemed to me that she lookedhappier.

  I began to find fault with the cap. I begged her not to wear it, or atleast not to go out doors when she had it on. But she persisted inwearing it, and ridiculed my anger, until I got to hate the sight ofthe red cap.

  One day I was obliged to go to Antwerp on business. My wife insistedon accompanying me part of the way, as I should have to walk aconsiderable distance from the baths to take a conveyance.

  Something--my white dove mayhap--whispered in my ear not to let her gowith me; that it would be better for both of us if she remained athome.

  But she had set her head on going, and nothing could prevent it. Andshe put on the red cap!

  I remonstrated with her about wearing it, but she laughed at me andsaid:

  "You silly fellow! Of whom are you jealous, here in this sandy desert?Of the gulls, perhaps?--or the moles?"

  Are the honorable gentlemen of the court familiar with that region?No?

  Then it will be necessary to describe it, in order that what I relatemay appear clear to you.

  The entire country thereabout is an arid waste, a seeminglyillimitable stretch of sand dunes, and brackish pools, partly grownwith brown reeds, broom and heath, but so stunted that the horns ofthe cattle grazing there are plainly seen. The herders are obliged towear long stilts. This uninhabited territory is separated by a dikeseveral feet in height from the downs, which is a fearful region.

  There, earth and water are combined against man and beast; the twolife-dispensing elements have become agents of death. The sand blownfrom the shore of the sea settles on the deep pools and dries. Noplants grow there, and woe to the man or beast that strays on to thedowns from the dike, or the heath beyond. The sand will sink beneaththe feet of the incautious wanderer; if he draws up one foot, theother will sink yet deeper. At first, the instability of the earthamuses him; he fancies that, when he shall tire of the amusement, itwill be easy enough to leave the place.

  But the sand into which he is slowly but surely sinking is bottomless.Inch by inch the unfortunate victim is swallowed--as is the dove inthe jaws of the serpent. Not until he has sunk to his waist, doesdespair seize him, and he realizes that escape is impossible. Everyeffort to extricate himself is futile--he only sinks the deeper intothe treacherous sand.

  In vain he shouts for help. No help will come to him, for, he thathears despairing cries from the downs, will flee in the oppositedirection to get beyond reach of the sound, knowing well that were heto attempt to rescue the sinking wretch he too would be engulfed inthe quicksand.

  When the victim's head has vanished beneath the surface, only afunnel-shaped depression marks the spot where a living creature hasmet death, and this sign will be obliterated by the first wind thatblows across the sands.

  As I have mentioned before, a dike, with a road along its summit,divides the treacherous quicksands and the grazing cattle.

  It was along this dike-road that my wife and I walked arm in arm themorning I started for Antwerp.

  "You see, my love," I said to her, "how happy we are together whenthere is no one to disturb us. I should want for nothing else on earthif you would but promise not to wear that red cap again."

  "And I," she returned, "need only to wear this red cap in order tomake me perfectly contented and happy."

  "Very well, then wear it--wear three red caps, one over the other,only don't wear this one while I am away from you."

  "Well--I won't wear it while you are away."

  "Swear that you won't?"

  "No, I will not swear not to wear it, for if I should forget my oath,and put the cap on, then I should perjure myself--and no cap is worththat!"

  "Then the cap is dearer to you than I am?" I asked.

  "Do you hate the cap so much that you hate me because I wear it?" sheinquired in turn.

  "I have just cause to hate this cap, and I don't want to hate you forthe same reason. Promise not to wear it while I am away."

  "No, I will not promise--you must not be so quarrelsome."

  "I will show you why you ought not wear it. Here, read this letter Ireceived from Nimeguen."

  I took the letter from my pocket, and gave it to her. Her face took onthe hue of her cap as she read, and when she had finished, she stampedher foot, tore the letter into bits and flung them over the downs,exclaiming:

  "Now, I shall wear the cap for spite."

  "No, you shall not wear it," I cried, beside myself with rage.

  I tore the cap from her head and flung it after the letter. Whatfollowed, the honorable gentlemen of the court will be able toconjecture after I have described my wife's figure and disposition.

  In Holland, as well as in some other portions of the globe, marriedpeople occasionally disagree; but I believe that only in Holland is itthe husband who goes to a justice of the peace with a blackened eye tosubstantiate a complaint against his wife.

  My spouse was no exception to her fellow-countrywomen. Taller by halfa head than I, broad-shouldered and with a powerful chest, she couldhold at arm's length a small child seated on her hand--and it was ahand, too, that would render superfluous a _visam repertum_, if itcame in contact with a human face!

  And from this amazon I had dared to snatch a favorite cap, and toss iton the q
uicksands. As I flung the cap away, the woman threw herselfagainst me like an enraged elephant, and sent me staggering backwardto the edge of the embankment, where I turned a somersault down intoone of the bitter, natron-impregnated pools on the heath, in which noteven a leech can exist.

  I had fallen with my head in the water; it sank to the chin in theslimy mud at the bottom, and had it not been for my presence of mind,I should have drowned; for the most expert swimmer will forget hisskill if he finds his eyes, nose, mouth and ears filled with mire--andmire, too, that burns and stings like nettles.

  I managed with great difficulty to wriggle out of the pool, but Icould see neither sky nor earth for several minutes. It tookconsiderable time to cleanse the mire from my mouth, nose, eyes andears; and it was hours before I could hear again.

  I felt like one resuscitated from drowning; my entire body burned asif I were covered from crown to sole with a vesicatory. Then I beganto think of what might have happened while I was sitting on the heathridding myself of the mire.

  I could not see my wife anywhere on the embankment. What had become ofher?

  I was compelled to wade through the pools a considerable distance, inorder to get back to the dike-road, for the embankment where I hadfallen over was too steep to be climbed.

  Therefore, a half hour or more passed before I stood again on thedike-road looking about for my wife. She was nowhere in sight on theroad. Then I turned toward the sands, and what I saw there caused theblood to curdle in my veins--the foolish woman had gone after her cap!

  She had it on her head, which, with her two arms, was all that wasvisible of her body above the sands. It was a horrible sight. Herstaring eyes were fixed on me in accusation, her hands battled vainlywith the empty air, her lips were open, but no sound issued forth. Shewas still alive, but entombed.

  I thought of nothing but saving her. I sprang down the embankment, butwhen the sinking woman saw me coming toward her, she began to beat thesand furiously with her hands, as if she were trying to prevent myapproach. I could not have saved her. I had made but fifty stepstoward her when I too began to sink. Recognizing the futility offurther effort on my part, I flung myself face down on the sand, thatmy entire weight might not rest on my feet, and thus I managed topropel my body slowly, painfully, toward the stable earth.

  "Thus I managed to propel my body slowly, painfullytoward the stable earth"]

  A seemingly endless time elapsed before I reached the foot of theembankment, and all the while there was a sound in my ears as of wavesdashing against rocks, each wave crying hoarsely: "Curse you!" "Curseyou!"

  When at last, dripping with ice-cold perspiration and quivering withhorror, I reached the top of the dike, I could see only the redvelvet cap on the sands; and as I looked, a sudden gust of windsweeping up from the sea, seized it and bore it toward me.

  Overcome by terror I turned and fled like a madman down the road. Allday long I continued my flight over pathless wastes; through witheredcopses, which had been destroyed by frequent inundations; acrossmarshes filled with croaking frogs, and nesting storm-petrels; thelurking place of weasels and others, and from every corner I heardvoices calling after me: "Murder!" "Murder!" The frogs croaked it fromthe water, the birds piped it from the air. The withered trees moanedit, and stretched their branches threateningly toward me; and thebriars trailing along the ground caught at my feet and cried: "Stop,stop! let me bind you, murderer!"

  All things animate and inanimate joined in accusing me; and at last awall rose before me to hinder further flight.

  It was only a broken dike; but to me it seemed a prison. Foot-sore andweary, I lay down amid the stones fallen from the wall. They werecovered with thick moss, and it was a relief to stretch my tired limbsamong them.

  I began to collect my scattered senses, to think calmly over what hadhappened, and after awhile I began to excuse myself to the frogs andthe petrels, the moles and the sparse-branched withered trees thatstood around me staring at me as if they would say:

  "Come, murderer, decide which of us will best suit you."

  I defended myself: "I am not a murderer; I am not going to hangmyself. I did not lay a finger on the woman--it was she who thrust meover the dike into a pool where I nearly drowned. She was foolishenough to go where certain death awaited her--she alone is to blame!"

  "But, why did you throw her cap on the sands?" questioned the frogs,the storm-birds, and the moles. "Had not I a right to do it? Hadn't Ia right to prevent her from wearing the cap which disgraced her andme? Had not she brought dishonor on me once before? Was I to permit ita second time? By throwing the cap away I was only defending my honorand her virtue. I did not kill her--she alone is to blame for herdeath!"

  "Ha, ha, ha!" sneered every animate creature. "Ha, ha, ha!" scoffedthe breeze sweeping over the moor. No one--nothing in the wide worldtook sides with me. The elements were against me; every human being onthe globe--large, small, white, black, olive-hued--all were againstme. Cities, towns, villages; houses palaces, huts--all were myenemies; I must flee from every human habitation.

  And yet, I am not guilty. All the world will say that I am. My wifewill be missed; she was seen going away in my company; her cap will befound beside the dike. It will be said that I murdered her, and thrusther body into the quicksands.

  I am not my wife's murderer. Did no one see her thrust me over thedike? Will no one testify for me?

  A fluttering wing brushed my cheek:

  "Ah, my white dove! Are you there? You will speak for me. You willtell all the world that I am innocent--that I did not murder my wife?"

  Filled with hope and joy, I turned my eyes toward my shoulder. Thewhite dove was not perched there, but a coal black raven, and hecroaked:

  "Thou didst it!"

  "At last," exclaimed the mayor as he shook the ink from the pen withwhich he had authenticated the protocol. "At last we have a confessionthat cannot be rendered invalid by a pharasaical _referrata mentalis_!At last the executioner will get something to do! _Uxoricidiumaequale_: quartering, _praecedente_: the right hand to be severed fromthe wrist."

  "I don't agree with your honor," interposed the prince. "There is alaw that was promulgated by _Sanctus Ladislaus rex_--he was aHungarian king, to be sure, but he is a saint for all that; andbecause he was canonized his law is held sacred by all christendom; itreads something like this: 'If a man finds his wife guilty ofinfidelity, and takes her life, he is answerable to God alone for thedeed--'"

  "Of course!" angrily exclaimed the chair, "I'll warrant the knavenever dreamed that _Sanctus Ladislaus rex_ would drag him by the hairof his head out of limbo!--Let it be added to the rest of the miraclesperformed by Saint Ladislas!"

  PART XI.

  IN SATAN'S REALM.