THE
HUSBANDMAN AND DEATH
The Husbandman. Chapter One.
Grim destroyer of every being, cruel pursuant of all creation, fell
assassin of
every human, Death, you be accursed! God, your Creator, detest you,
increasing disaster reside with you, misfortune violently visit you: be wholly
dishonoured for ever! Fear, need and misery never leave
your side, wherever you wander; grief, distress and sorrow be your companions all over; painful rancour, disgraceful prospects, shameful disdain beset you with vengeance at every
step; sky, earth, sun, moon, stars, river, mountain, field, valley, mead, the
abyss of Hell and all that has life and breath, be resentful and
hostile
towards you and curse you for all
Eternity! Founder in malice, vanish in ruinous woe, and abide in the severe and irrevocable proscription
of God, of all mankind, and the whole of Creation for all future days! Shameless villain, your evil remembrance
live and persist without end; fear and terror never part from you, be wherever you will!
I and all humanity wring our hands and scream the hue and cry after you!
Death. Chapter Two.
Hark,
hark, hark at the latest marvel! We
are assailed by appalling and incredible plaints. Whence they have come is, in truth,
unknown to Us. But threats, curses,
screams of hue and cry, hand-wringing, and attacks of every kind have never done Us harm hitherto. However, my son, whoever you are, announce yourself, and make known what wrong has befallen you through Us to lead you to treat Us
so unbecomingly, as We are quite unaccustomed to, although We have sent many erudite, noble, beautiful, mighty and eminent people to graze over the edge – causing no shortage of grief to widows and orphans, to countries and people!
You act like a man in earnest, one sorely oppressed by affliction. Your plaint lacks form and lacks rhyme, from which we conclude that
you will not handicap your meaning for their sake. But if you are raging, ranting, misty-minded or
otherwise apart from your senses, then hang fire, refrain, do not be so hasty to utter such terrible curses. Take care that you not be burdened with remorse. Do not
imagine you ever could weaken Our sublime and magnificent power. But name yourself, and do not withhold
those matters in which We have met you with such overwhelming violence.
We wish to be righteous
to you; righteous are Our proceedings. We do not know what crime you are, so rashly, laying to Our name.
The Husbandman. Chapter Three.
I
am a Husbandman by name, my plough is of plumage,[1]
and I live in the land of Bohemia. Always shall I be spiteful, inimical,
adversarial to you: most cruelly have you torn my 12th
letter, my hoard of joys, out of my alphabet;[2]
deplorably have you have weeded the
bright summer flower of my delights out
of the meadow
of my heart; deceitfully have you stolen from me the mainstay of my happiness, my chosen turtle-dove: you have
committed irreparable robbery on me!
Consider for yourself, if I do not rage, storm and cast charges at you with justice: through
you I am robbed of a joyous existence, deprived of the days of a good life, and bereaved of all bliss-bringing gain. I used to be light of heart and merry at all times; short and
joyful were all
my days and nights, the one as rich in delight, as rich
in bliss, as
the other; my every year was a year of grace. Now I am told: Shove off! Remain
on a withered bough with a dismal draught, in sorrow, in darkness,
in despair, and howl without ceasing! The wind drives me so wildly, I am swimming the swell of the wild sea, the waves have won the upper hand, my anchor cannot hold fast anywhere. And so I shall scream without end:
Death, be accursed!
Death. Chapter Four.
We
are seized with wonder at so outrageous a challenge, the like of which We have never encountered. If you are a Husbandman,
living in the land of Bohemia, then it seems to Us that you do Us a heavy
injustice, for it is long since We did any work of
moment in that
land, other than, recently, in a fortified, handsome town, securely situated on a mountain: four letters of the alphabet – the eighteenth, the first, the third, and the twenty-third[3] – weave its name. We
performed our act of grace on a respectable, happy young woman there; her letter was the
twelfth. She was most virtuous and free from
blemish; for We were present at her birth. At that time, Lady Honour
sent her a gusseted mantle and garland of honour in the hands of Lady Happiness. Intact,
untorn, and untarnished, she took the mantle and garland with her to
the grave. Our witness, and hers, is He who knows all hearts. She
was pure of conscience, personable, faithful, honest, and supremely gracious to one and all. –Verily, so
constant and gentle a nature has seldom come
into Our hands. Lest this be the one you mean, We know of none other.
The Husbandman. Chapter Five.
Yes,
sir, I was her loving spouse, and she my beloved. You have taken her away, the most delightful feast for my eyes: she is gone, my peace-shield against adversity; my soothsaying divining
rod has gone. Gone, gone! Here I
stand, poor Husbandman, alone: the shining star of my sky has disappeared; the sun of my salvation has descended to rest: never
again will she rise! My lucent morning star will never rise again, her lustre has faded away, I have no sorrow-banisher more: black
night is all around before my eyes. I do not believe ought exists that could ever bring me true happiness again, for the proud banner of my joys has sunk, alas, to the dust.
Murder! To arms! be yelled from the bottom of my heart, at the accursed
year, at the disastrous day, at the painful hour when my solid and steadfast diamond was shattered, when my true guiding staff was mercilessly
ripped out my hands, when the way to my weal-renewing
fountain of youth was barred me.
Dole without ending, woe without respite, fall everlasting be given to you, Death, to you and yours! Die covered with shame, craving
disgrace, shorn of honour, gnashing your teeth, and rot in Hell! God
deprive you of your power and scatter you as dust! Have a devilish existence for ever!
Death. Chapter Six.
A
fox struck a sleeping lion on the cheek, wherefore his hide was torn to shreds;
a hare pinched a wolf, wherefore
he has no tail to this day; a cat scratched a dog who was wanting to sleep, and so she must bear his enmity always. In like manner will you rub Us the wrong way. However, we believe: the servant remains the servant, the master remains
the master. We will prove that We decide justly, judge justly, and act justly in the world: We
spare none for their title, have no regard for great knowledge, have no esteem for beauty, and do not value talent, love, sorrow, age, youth or any other quality. We do as the sun, which shines over good and evil: We subject good and evil to Our power. All those necromancers who can compel spirits must surrender and relinquish their spirit to Us; sprites and sorceresses cannot withstand Us, and
riding on sticks, riding on goats, avails them nought. The doctors who lengthen the lives of
men must fall to our share: roots,
herbs, ointments, and all kinds
of specifics cannot help them. If we gave account to butterflies and grasshoppers for their families, they would not be satisfied with Our reckoning. Indeed, were we to let people live for enmity or mockery, for love or sorrow, all
the Empires of the world would now be Ours; every King would have
placed his crown on Our head and surrendered his sceptre to Our
hand; the Papal Throne and the three-crowned
mitre would now be in Our power.
Leave be with your curses; do not bring new tales from Babble Rock; do not hew over your head, or shavings will rain into your
eyes!
The Husbandman. Chapter Seven.
Could
I curse, could I rail, could I revile you to bring the worst of evils down upon you, that would be no more than you have deserved of me for your
despicable doings. For bitter plaints must
follow bitter grief; it would be inhuman of me
not to weep for so praiseworthy a gift from God, which
none but God alone can give. Truly,
I shall mourn for evermore: my honourable falcon has
flown away, my virtuous wife. I am
justified in my plaints, for she was noble of birth, rich in honour, and healthy, and she towered over her boon
companions; truthful and demure in speech, chaste of body, good and cheerful in company – I am
silent all the more since I am too weak to tell in full of all her honour and virtue, which God Himself instilled in her: Master Death, you know this
yourself. I arraign you by rights for such shattering heartache.
Truly, were there an iota of good in you, you would feel pity yourself. I shall turn my face from you, speak no good word of you, I shall
ever be averse to you with all my might: Godfs entire Creation shall come to assist me to
strive
against you; all that be in Heaven, on Earth and
in Hell, hate and detest you!
Death. Chapter Eight.
God has given Heavenfs
Throne to the good spirits, the Abyss of Hell to the evil ones, and the
terrestrial lands to Our portion.
In Heaven, peace and reward for virtue; in Hell, torment and punishment
for sin; this lump of Earth and the ocean mains with all they contain was
commended Us by the mighty Duke of all the World, with the injunction that We
uproot and weed out everything superfluous. Consider, foolish man, examine, and
chisel into your reason with a burin, and you will find: if We had not eradicated,
ever since the time when the first man was filthily fashioned from clay, the
growth and increase of humans on Earth, of beasts and worms in barren wastes
and on wild heaths, of scaly and slippery fishes in the waters – then no-one
would now exist for gnats, no one would dare venture out for wolves, each man
would devour another, each beast another, each living creature another, for
they would lack food, and the Earth would be too narrow for them. He is foolish who weeps for
mortals. Desist! The living to the living, the dead to
the dead, as it always has been.
Consider harder, you fool, your cause for complaint!
The Husbandman. Chapter Nine.
Irretrievably have I
lost my greatest treasure – should I not be sorrowful and disconsolate? Miserably must I wait for the end of my
days, dispossessed of every delight.
Merciful God, mighty Lord, avenge me on the wicked sorrow-bringer! You have deprived me of every joy, robbed
my life of pleasant days, denuded me of great honour. Great honour was mine when the good, the
pure woman played angels with her children, born in a pure nest. Dead is the hen who reared such chicks. Oh God, mighty Lord, how it warmed my
heart to behold her walking along with such modest steps, always mindful of
decorum, that people cast loving looks at her and said: gMay the gentle woman
be thanked, praised, and honoured; God grant her and her nestlings a world of
good!h If I knew how to rightly
thank God for this, in truth, I would do so most properly. What other poor man had he endowed so
richly, so soon? Let others
say what they will: when God gifts a man a pure, chaste and beautiful wife,
this is a real gift, a gift above every earthly, material gift. O almightiest Count of Heaven, what a
boon you have conferred on the man you have wedded to a pure and untainted
spouse! Rejoice, honest man, to
have a pure wife; rejoice, pure woman, to have an honest husband: God give joy
to you both! What does the fool
know of this, who has never drunk from this fountain of youth? Though overwhelming heartache has
befallen me, yet I thank God sincerely, for that I have known the blameless
lady. You, evil Death, enemy of
mankind, be hateful to God everlastingly!
Death. Chapter Ten.
You have not drunk
from the fountain of wisdom; I mark that from your words. You have not looked into the workings of
Nature; you have not peered into the mixture of worldly things; you have not
beheld the interplay of earthly events: you are an ignorant whelp. Mark how the delightful roses, the
strongly-scented lilies in the gardens, how the nourishing herbs and the
joy-giving flowers in the meadows, how the firm-standing stones and the
high-grown trees in the rugged fields, how the strong bears and the powerful
lions in eerie wildernesses, how the strong, tall-grown warriors, how the
nimble, outstanding, erudite people capable of mastery in all spheres, and how
all earthly creatures, however learned, however zestful, however strong they
may be, however long they endure, however long they continue – one and all must
come to nought and decay. Now when
all human generations who have been or are yet to be must pass from being unto
non-being, why should the Extolled One you beweep benefit from not being done to
as all others are, and all others not being done to as she is? You yourself will not escape Us, however
far this be from your thoughts at this moment. gEveryone come after!h each one
of you must say. Your plaint is futile;
it helps you nought; it issues from a torpid mind.
The Husbandman. Chapter Eleven.
I rest my trust in
God, who has power over me and you, that He will shield me from you, and take
severe revenge on you for the wicked deed you have done to me. You declaim deceptions; you mingle
falsehoods with truth, intent to beat the tremendous sorrow of my senses, of my
mind, and of my heart, out of sight, out of mind, out of senses. You will not succeed, for I feel the
smart of my agonising loss, the which I can never replace. She was tirelessly my healing medicine
for all woe and adversity, servant of God, attendant of my will, carer for my
body, and guardian of my honour and her own by day and by night. Whatever was entrusted to her was
returned entire, pure, and intact, often increased. Honour, propriety, chastity, generosity,
fidelity, moderation, care and modesty always dwelt in her court; delicacy
always held the mirror of honour before her eyes; God was her benevolent
protector. He was also benevolent and
gracious to me for her sake; health, happiness and fortune were mine through
her. This she had earned and
deserved of God, the pure housewife.
May the merciful meed-giver to all faithful followers, most illustrious
of lords, give her reward and wages of grace to her! Be gracious to her, more than I could
wish for her! Oh, oh, oh! shameless
murderer, Master Death, evil blasphemer! the executioner be your judge and tie
you with the words gForgive me!h to the torture cradle![4]
Death. Chapter Twelve.
Could you measure,
weigh, reckon and consider correctly, you would not discharge such words from a
hollow head. You curse and demand
vengeance without cause and without need.
What use is such asininity?
We have said before how all that is erudite, noble, honourable, healthy,
and good, how all that has life, must perish by Our hand. Yet you yap and maintain that all your
felicity lay in your pure and virtuous wife. If felicity lies in wives, as you
believe, then We shall advise you to remain in felicity. But take care that it not turn to infelicity!
Tell Us: at first, when you took your
laudable wife, did you find her excellent, or did you make her excellent? If you found her excellent, then seek
sensibly: you will find many more pure and excellent women on Earth, one of
whom may become your spouse. If,
however, you made her excellent, then rejoice: you are the living master who
can fashion and educate a wife in excellence.
But I
shall tell you something else: the more joy that fell to your share, the more
sorrow will befall you. If you had
abstained from joy, you would be relieved of sorrow now; the greater the joy
you experience, the greater the sorrow of being deprived of joy. Wife, child, riches, and all earthly
goods must bring some measure of joy at first, and a greater of sorrow at last. All pleasure on Earth must turn to
sorrow; sorrow is lovefs end, the end of joy is grief, disgust must follow delight,
the end of onefs desires is repugnance – to such an end all living things must
run. Learn a little more, if you
wish to cackle with wisdom!
The Husbandman. Chapter Thirteen.
After injury comes mockery;
those in affliction feel this full well. And in this wise am I, the injured man,
served by you. You have unbedded me
from joy and wedded me to sorrow; so long as God wills, must I suffer this at
your hands. However dull-witted I
may be, however little wisdom I have absorbed from scholars, I yet know fine well
that you are the robber of my honour, the thief of my joy, the stealer of my
good days, the destroyer of my delights, and the devastator of all that
procured and guaranteed me a blissful life. What shall I rejoice at now? Where shall I seek solace now? Where shall I have refuge now? Where shall I find a place of
healing? Where shall I take trusty
counsel? Gone is gone! All my delight has vanished from me
before its time; it has slipped away from me too soon; you have torn her away
from me all too hastily, the faithful one, the lovely one, when you so
ruthlessly made a widower of me and orphans of my children. Miserable, alone, overwhelmed by grief,
I remain without compensation from you;
not yet have I been able to receive amends for your great misdeed. How about you, Master Death, breaker of
every marriage? No-one may gain any
good from you; you will give nobody satisfaction after an evil deed; you will
make amends to none. I find:
compassion does not dwell inside you; curses are your daily fare; you are
merciless without exception. Such
benefactions as you confer on man, such mercy as man receives from you, such
reward as you give man, such an end as you bring man, may He who has power over
life and death send to you! Prince
of Heavenly Hosts, make good to me my tremendous loss, my grievous harm, my unspeakable
sorrow and deplorable orphanhood! Avenge
me on the arch-rogue Death, God, avenger of all evil doing!
Death. Chapter Fourteen.
Idle words! Better to
be silent than to chatter like a fool.
For foolish words must lead to dispute, dispute to enmity, enmity to unrest,
unrest to injury, injury to suffering, and suffering to remorse, for every muddled
man. You declare war on Us. You complain that We have caused you
sorrow through your oh so beloved wife.
Yet she has been served with kindness and mercy. We have taken her into
Our grace in joyful youth, in splendid state, in the prime of her life, in the
highest esteem, at the best time, with honour inviolate. The philosophers extolled this, they
craved this, when they said: gIt is best to die when it is best to live.h He did not die well who desired death;
he has lived too long who calls on Us for death; woe and hardship are his, he
who is overloaded with the burden of age: in the midst of his wealth he is
poor!
In
the year when the way to Heaven was opened, on the Feast Day of Heavenfs Doorkeeperfs
Chains, when 6,599 years were counted since the beginning of the World,[5]
at the birth of a child, We bid the blessed martyr vacate this short-lasting
misery, with the intent that she come full of grace to the everlasting joy, eternal
life, and endless rest, of Godfs inheritance, as she had richly deserved. However hostile you be towards Us, We
shall wish and be glad that your soul abide with hers in the celestial dwelling-place
up there, and your body be united with hers in the terrestrial grave down here. We would stand surety to you that you
will benefit from her good deeds.
Be silent, restrain yourself!
As little as you can take its light away from the sun, its coldness from
the moon, its heat from fire, and its wetness from water, so little can you deprive
Us of Our power.
The Husbandman. Chapter Fifteen.
Truly, a guilty man must
utter extenuating evasions. As you
are doing. It is your custom to
show yourself sweet and sour, gentle and harsh, kind and unkind, to those you
intend to deceive. So much is evident with me, however much you exonerate
yourself. I know that I must live grief-stricken without the honourable, most
beautiful woman because of your wrathful disfavour. I also well know that nobody wields such
power save you and God. But I am
not tormented thus by God: for if I had trespassed against God, which has,
alas, ofttimes happened, He would have taken revenge on me, or the Blameless Lady[6]
would have redeemed me.
You are the malefactor. And so I would like to know who you are,
what you are, where you are, whence you are, and what you are good for, that
you possess so much power and have declared war on me without warning, laid
waste my bliss-covered meadow, undermined and brought down my tower of
strength.
Oh God, Comforter of all sorrowful
hearts, comfort me and compensate me, this poor, grieving, miserable,
lone-sitting man! Send, Lord,
plagues; remove, clap in irons and destroy abominable Death, enemy to you and
to us all! Lord, in Your creation there
is nothing more heinous, nothing more hideous, nothing more harmful, nothing
more bitter, nothing more unjust, than Death! He afflicts and disorders Your entire
earthly realm; he takes the useful away rather than the useless; the harmful,
the old, the infirm, the useless, he often leaves here; the good and the
useful, he snatches away, every one.
Pass judgement, Lord, pass judgement on the false judge!
Death. Chapter Sixteen.
Stupid people name
good what is evil, call evil what is good.
As you are doing. You accuse
Us of passing false judgement; you do Us injustice thereby. We shall enlighten you. You ask who We are: We are Godfs instrument,
Master Death, an honest, active reaper.
Our scythe works its way forward. It cuts down white, black, red, violet,
green, blue, grey, yellow, and all kinds of lustrous flowers and grasses in its
path, paying no heed to their splendour, their strength, their excellences. So the violetfs beautiful colour and
aromatic scent avail it nought. Behold:
that is justice. The Romans and the
poets have classified Us among the just, for they knew Us better than you do.
You ask what We are. We are nothing, and
yet are something. Nothing, because
We have neither life nor being nor substance, and We are not spirit, not
visible, not tangible. Something, because We are the end of life, the end of being,
the beginning of non-being, a midpoint between the two. We are a something that brings all
people down. Huge giants must fall
before Us; all that has life must be transformed by Us.
You ask where We are: We are indeterminable. But Our figure was found in a temple in
Rome, painted on a wall, as a man with bound eyes sitting on an ox[7];
this man held a hoe in his right hand and a shovel in his left hand, with which
he was fighting on the ox. A great
crowd of people was striking him, pelting him, and fighting him, all kinds of
people, each one with the tools of his trade; even a nun with her psalter was
there. They struck and pelted the
man on the ox, he who signified Us; yet Death fought them off and buried them
all. Pythagoras compares Us to the
appearance of a man with the eyes of a basilisk, which roamed to the ends of
the Earth – and every living creature had to die at their glance.
You ask whence We are. We are from the
Earthly Paradise. God created Us
there and called Us by Our true name when he said: gOn the day that thou eatest
of this fruit, thou shalt surely die.h
And for that reason We call ourself: gWe, Death, master and ruler on
Earth, in the air, and in the waters of the sea.h
You ask what We are good for. You have
heard before that We bring the world more benefit than harm. Now cease, rest content, and thank Us
for having done you such a kindness!
The Husbandman. Chapter Seventeen.
An old man may freely
tell new tales; a learned man, unknown tales; a far-travelled man and one
nobody dares gainsay, untruthful tales, for they speak of matters beyond manfs
ken and so cannot be called to account.
Now, if you are one of those old men, you may well be telling untruths. Although you came into existence in the
worldly paradise as a reaper who seeks to be just, your scythe mows unevenly:
it uproots splendid flowers and leaves thistles standing; the weeds remain, the
good herbs must perish. You say
that your scythe cuts straight ahead.
How is it, then, that it leaves unscathed more thistles than flowers, more
mice than camels, more evil people than good ones? Tell me, point them out to me with your
finger: where are the worthy, estimable people of past days? I believe you have snatched them
away. My beloved is away with them
too; only her ashes remain. Where
have they gone, those who lived on Earth and spoke with God, who won grace and
favour and justice from His hands?
Where have they gone, those who dwelt on Earth, who walked around beneath
the stars and characterised the planets?
Where have they gone, the thoughtful, the masterly, the righteous, the vigorous
men, about whom the chronicles have so much to tell? You have murdered them all, and my darling
likewise; the contemptible wretches are still here. Who bears the guilt for that? If you dared acknowledge the truth,
Master Death, you would name yourself.
You boast that you judge justly and the strokes of your scythe fell one
after the other, sparing none. I
stood by and saw with my own eyes two immense hosts – each numbered over three
thousand men – fighting one another on a green heath. They waded in blood up to
their calves. And you were among
them, dashing and crashing with great zest all around. You killed quite a few of the army; you
let quite a few live. I saw more servants
than lords lying dead. You would pick
one out from the rest like so many sleepy pears. Is that how to reap justly? Is that how to judge justly? Is that your scythe cutting straight
ahead? Come here, dear children,
come here! Let us ride out to meet
and offer praise and show honour to Death, who judges so justly! Godfs judgement is hardly so just.
Death. Chapter Eighteen.
Who understands
nothing of the matter, he can say nothing of the matter. And this has happened unto Us. We did not know that you were so excellent
a man. We have known you for a long
time; but We had forgotten you.
We were there when Lady Wisdom informed
you with wisdom; when Solomon, on his death-bed, bequeathed his wisdom to you;[8]
when God bestowed on you all the power He had bestowed on Moses in Egypt; when
you grabbed a lion by the leg and beat it against the wall.[9] We saw you count the stars, enumerate
the grains of sand and fishes in the sea, and tally the raindrops. We saw, with pleasure, you win your race
against the hare. In Babylon, We
saw you feast with great honour and dignity with the Sultan.[10] When you carried the banner before King
Alexander under which he defeated Darius, We looked on and gladly allowed you
the honour. When, in Academia[11]
and in Athens, you disputed marvellous matters with highly erudite masters, who
spoke so learnedly about the divine, and you defeated them with knowledge, then
We were especially delighted. When
you instructed Nero to be righteous and be patient, We listened to you with approval.[12] We were amazed when you bore the Emperor
Julius over the raging sea in a ship of reeds,[13]
defying the stormy gale. We saw you
in your workshop, weaving a noble garment out of rainbows; angels, birds,
animals, fishes, and all kinds of figures – among them the Owl and the Ape –
were woven in the woof. We laughed
especially hard and extolled you when, in Paris,[14]
you sat on the Wheel of Fortune, danced on an oxfs hide,[15]
wrought Black Magic, and exorcised the Devil into a singularly-shaped
glass. When God called you to His
council to discuss the Fall of Lady Eve, then, more than ever before, did We
become aware of your great wisdom.
If We
had known who you were earlier, We would have followed your command; We would
have allowed your wife and all mankind to live for ever. And We would have done this to honour
you alone: for you are, in truth, a wise ass!
The Husbandman. Chapter Nineteen.
Men must often endure
mockery and ill-treatment for the sake of the truth. And so is it with me. You credit me with doing impossible
things, effecting unheard-of works.
You do me exceeding violence, you have treated me most wickedly; and I
am sorely grieved. Yet when I speak
of this, you are hostile to me and swell with rage. Whoever commits evil and will not bend
to accept punishment, but is arrogant and dismissive of all, let him take
special care lest enmity befall him!
Take a leaf out of my book! However insufficiently, however excessively,
however unkindly, however unjustly you have dealt with me, I show forbearance
and do not take vengeance, as I should by rights. Even today I promise amendment: if my behaviour
towards you has been improper or impolite in any way, then inform me: I shall
gladly and readily make amends. But
if this not be the case, then recompense me or instruct me how I can recover
from my great heartache. Truly,
never before has a man fared so badly.
In spite of everything, you shall witness my reasonableness. Either you redress the evil you have done
to my sorrow-averter, to me and my children, or you come with me in this matter
before God, who is the righteous judge of me, and you, and all the world. You might perhaps move me by your
entreaty; I would leave the matter in your hands; I trusted you to recognise
your own unjustness and afterwards give me satisfaction for the grievous misdeed. Act with intelligence! Otherwise the hammer must strike the
anvil, hardness encounter hardness, come what may!
Death. Chapter Twenty.
People are mollified
by gentle words, moderation keeps people contented, patience brings people to
honour. An angry man cannot judge another man. Had you spoken kindly to Us earlier, We
would have kindly instructed you that you may not with good reason lament and beweep
the death of your wife. Do you know
nothing of the philosopher who wished to die in the bath, have you not read in
his books that nobody should lament the death of a mortal?[16] If you know it not, then know it now: as
soon as a human is born, so soon does he drink to seal the contract of death. The end is brother to the
beginning. He who is sent out is
obliged to return. Nobody may set
himself against what must come to pass one day. None may speak against what all humans
must suffer. A man shall return
what he has borrowed. All humans live
as strangers on this Earth. They
must pass from something to nothing.
The life of man runs away on fast feet: this moment, living; in the blink
of an eye, dead.
In short: every human owes us the debt of
death and has death as his inheritance.
If you weep for your wifefs youth, you do wrong; as soon as a human comes
into life, so soon is he old enough to die. Perhaps you think that old age is a
precious treasure? No, it is
infirm, laborious, misshapen, cold, and displeasing to all people. It is good
for nothing and no use for anything: ripe apples easily fall into manure; ripening
pears easily fall into puddles.
If you lament her beauty, you behave like
a child: the beauty of each and every human must be destroyed by either old age
or death. All rose-coloured little
mouths must go ashen; all red little cheeks must turn pale; all bright little
eyes must dim. Have you not read
where Hermes, the philosopher, teaches that a man should beware of beautiful
women, saying: gWhat is beautiful is difficult to keep, even with daily care,
for it is coveted by all; what is ugly is easy to keep, for it is displeasing
to all.h Let it go! Do not lament a loss you cannot retrieve!
The Husbandman. Chapter Twenty-One.
gAccept well-meant
admonition with good grace: that is the act of a wise man,h I hear the sages declare. Your admonition is also bearable. Now, if a good admonisher is also
a good counsellor, then advise and instruct me how I am to excavate, exterminate
and expel such unspeakable pain, such deplorable sorrow, such immeasurable
grief from my heart, from my mind and from my senses. By God, unspeakable heartbreak befell me
when the chaste, faithful and dependable blessing of my house was so hastily
torn away from me. She is dead, I
am a widower, and my children are become orphans.
Oh Master Death, all the world raises a
cry against you, and so do I. Yet
never was there a man so evil that he was not good somehow. Advise me, help me,
direct me how I may cast such heavy sorrow from my heart, and how so pure a
mother may be replaced for my children!
Else must I be always mad with rage and they be sad always. And you need not take this amiss of me;
for I see that, even among the unreasoning beasts, an inborn urge drives one
spouse to mourn the otherfs death.
You owe me help, advice, and redress, for
you have done me harm. If this does
not happen, then even if God in His omnipotence had nowhere the means for
vengeance, it would have to be avenged nonetheless, and should this cause shovel
and hoe to be busy once more.
Death. Chapter Twenty-Two.
Gack, gack, gack,
gabbles the goose; one may preach whatever one wants. And such is the yarn that you spin. We have already explained to you that the
death of the dead should not be lamented.
Since We are a toll-collector, to whom every human must pay the tax and
toll of their lives, why do you resist?
Truly, he who would deceive Us only deceives himself.
Now listen, and let this sink in: life is
created for the sake of Death. Were
there no life, We would not be, and Our office were nought; nor would the world
order exist. Either you are full of
sorrow, or unreason is dwelling within you. If you are without reason, then implore
God to bestow reason on you! If you
are full of sorrow, however, then break off and let go, and hold this in your
mind: manfs life on Earth is but a breath of wind!
You ask for advice on how to put the
grief from your heart. Long ago, Aristotle
taught you that joy, sorrow, fear, and hope, these four emotions, worry all the
world, especially those who cannot take guard against them. Joy and fear shorten, sorrow and hope
lengthen, the duration of time.
Whoever does not banish these four completely from his mind must be
anxious at all times. After joy, affliction,
after pleasure, sorrow: such is the way of this world. Pleasure and sorrow must always be bound
together. The end of one is the
beginning of the other. Sorrow and pleasure
are nothing other than a man holding a thought fast and refusing to let go; likewise, the
undemanding can never be poor, and the insatiable can never be rich: for contentment
and discontentment are not to be found in possessions, nor in external things,
but only in the mind. Whoever will
not drive all joy from his heart must bear present sorrow at all times. Drive the remembrance of joy from your
heart, from your senses, from your mind, and at once you will be relieved from
sorrow. The moment you have lost
something you cannot regain, make as if it had never been yours! And your sorrow will leave you that
instant.
If you will not do this, then
further grief awaits you. For
heartache will befall you after the death of each child, and heartache all of
them after your death; heartache for you and for them, when the time comes to
part from one another. You want
their mother to be replaced. If you
can bring back years passed, words spoken and maidenhood lost, then you will bring
their mother back to your children.
I have counselled you enough.
Can you understand, Bluntaxe?
The Husbandman. Chapter Twenty-Three.
In time, one gains
awareness of such truth as this: the more you have learned, the more you
understand. Your words are sweet
and pleasant, as I am now beginning to perceive. But if joy, love, delight and amusement were
banished from the world, then the world would be in a bad way. I shall call the Romans to witness. They taught their children to follow
their example and hold joy in honour, to tourney, joust, dance, race, jump, and
pursue all kinds of respectable diversions in their leisure time, to the intent
that this would keep them from doing evil.
For the thoughts of manfs mind cannot be idle. The mind must be thinking
good or evil at all times; not even in sleep may it rest. If good thoughts were taken away from the
mind, evil ones would enter. Good
out, evil in; evil out, good in; and this exchange must last until the end of
the world. Ever since joy, propriety,
modesty, and other good manners have been driven from the world, the world has
overflowed with malice, infamy, faithlessness, mockery and betrayal; as you may
see every day.
Now, if I were to drive the memory of my dearly
beloved from my mind, a bad memory would return to my head: all the more reason
for keeping my dearly beloved in constant remembrance. When great, heartfelt affection is
transformed into great, heartfelt affliction, who can forget that so soon? That is what wicked people do. Good friends think constantly of one
another; distant roads, long years, do not separate close friends. Though she be dead to me in the flesh, she
is ever alive in my memory. Master
Death, you must advise more honestly, if your counsel is to bring any benefit;
or else you must, Master Bat, bear as hitherto the enmity of birds!
Death. Chapter Twenty-Four.
Joy, but none too
great, sorrow, but none too deep, should the wise man keep to during gain or
loss. You are not following this. He who asks for advice but will not
follow the counsel given cannot be advised. Our well-meant advice is lost on
you. Now whether you like it or
loathe it, We shall bring the truth to light for you: listen who will.
Your short understanding, your deficient
mind, your hollow heart, would make more of people than they have the power to
be. Make of a man what you will,
yet he cannot be more than what I shall say to you, begging the leave of all
pure women: a human is conceived in sin, nourished in his motherfs womb with unclean,
unspeakable feculence, he is born naked, he is a besmeared beehive; an object
of utter disgust, a creature of unclean instincts, a manure-barrel, food for
worms, a stinkhouse, a sickening swill-bucket, a rancid carcass, a mildewed
crate, a bottomless sack, a perforated pocket, a bellows, a gluttonous maw, a
reeking clay-crucible, a malodorous pail of slops, a deceptive deathfs face, a
loamy robberfs den, an insatiable water-bucket, a painted phantom. Hearken who will: every completely
created human has nine holes in his body; out of all these there flows such
repellent and loathsome filth that nothing could be more disgusting. Never have you seen so handsome a human that,
had you the eyes of a lynx, and your gaze could penetrate to his insides, you
would not shudder at the sight.
Strip and take away the dressmakerfs finery from a lovely lady, and you
will see a deplorable puppet, a swiftly withering flower, an illusion of little
durance and a soon decomposing clod of earth! Show me a handful of beauty of all the
belles who lived a hundred years ago, excluding those painted on walls, and you
shall have the Kaiserfs crown! Let
love pass away, let grief pass away!
Let the
The Husbandman. Chapter Twenty-Five.
Fie to you, you evil
sack of shame! How you belittle,
maltreat, and dishonour noble mankind, Godfs most beloved creature, thereby detracting
from the deity! Only now do I see
that you are mendacious and were not created in Paradise as you claimed. Had you come into existence in Paradise,
you would know that God created man and all other things, and created in
perfection; He set man above them all, entrusted him with dominion over them
all, and placed them beneath his feet, so that man should rule over the beasts
of the land, the birds of the air, the fishes of the waters, and all fruits of the
soil; as, indeed, he does. Now if
man were as despicable, evil and unclean as you say, then truly, God would have
been bad and futile in His working.
Had Godfs almighty and perfect Hand created so unclean and ordurous a human
as you say, He would be a culpable and tainted Creator. It would not then be true that God had
created all things, and man over them all, in perfection.
Master Death, give up your pointless
yapping! You sully Godfs most exquisite
work. Angels, devils, sprites, and wailers,[17]
all these are spirits who exist under the absolute governance of God; man is the
most worthy, the most skilful, and the most free, of all Godfs works. God formed him in His own image, as He
Himself said at the dawn of Creation.
Where has a master-builder ever created
so skilled and versatile, so artful and small, a sphere as the human head? Inside it there are marvellous powers, hidden
from all spirits. In the eyeball is
the sense of sight, the most reliable of witnesses, masterfully fashioned in
the form of a mirror; it penetrates as far as the clear circle of the heavens. In the ears is the far-reaching sense of
hearing, insurpassably covered with a thin membrane to perceive and distinguish
many kinds of sweet sounds. In the
nose is the sense of smell, entering and leaving through two holes, cleverly
furnished for the pleasant enjoyment of all sweet and delightful scents; that
is nourishment for the soul. In the
mouth are teeth, baggers which devour the bodyfs aliment every day; also, the
tonguefs thin blade to bring peoplefs thoughts clearly to others; and the sense
of taste, pleasurably testing every kind of food. Besides, in the head, are the thoughts
coming from the depths of the heart, through which mankind rapidly reaches as
far as he wills; with his thoughts, man climbs hand over hand towards, and even
beyond, the divine. Man alone
possesses reason, that noble treasure.
He alone has the consummate form whose like none but God is able to fashion,
in which all masterly accomplishments, all aptitudes and skills, are wisely set
in motion. Give up, Master Death! you
are the enemy of man: and so you speak no good of him.
Death. Chapter Twenty-Six.
Rebukes, curses, and imprecations,
no matter how many, can fill no sack, no matter how small. Moreover: one will get nowhere
contending with words against garrulous people. Be it as it may with your claim that man
is brimful of knowledge, beauty and dignity: he must, notwithstanding, fall
into Our net; he must be drawn into Our snare.[18] Grammar, the fundament of all proper
speech, will not help him with her precise and carefully selected
locutions. Rhetoric, the flowery
foundation of eloquence, will not help him with her ornate and neatly-embellished
phrases. Logic, the subtle
arbitrator of truth and untruth, will not help him with her subliminal
distortion, with the crooked ways that bend truth out of shape. Geometry, the ascertainer, assessor, and
surveyor of the Earth, will not help him with her unerring measurements, or with
her accurate plumb-level.
Arithmetic, skilled balancer of numbers, will not help him with her
calculation, with her reckoning, with her dexterous ciphers. Astronomy, Mistress of the Heavenly
Bodies, will not help him with her astral power, with the influence of the
planets. Music, the handy arranger
of song and voice, will not help him with her sweet melodies, with her
harmonious voices. Philosophy,
field of wisdom, tilled and sown, and grown ripe, for cognition of Nature and
the creation of ethical living; Physic, with her various salutary draughts;
Geomancy, skilful respondent to all kinds of questions from the configuration
of the planets and the signs of the zodiac; Pyromancy, creator of swift and
truthful prophecies from fire; Hydromancy, designer of the future by dint of
the movements of water; Astrology, expositor of earthly events through the
course of the Heavens; Chiromancy, splendid soothsayer from the hand and the
lines of the palm; Necromancy, mighty power which compels spirits through
sacrifices and rings and seals; Alchemy, with the marvellous transformation of
metals; the Ars Notoria,[19]
with its sweet prayers, with its strong incantations; the Augur, versed in the
language of birds and so the true prophet of future events; the Haruspex,[20]
interpreting the future from the smoke of the altar-sacrifice; Paedomancy,[21]
sorceress with childrenfs instestines, and Ornithomancy, sorceress with a black
henfs guts; the lawyer, the unscrupulous Christian, will not help him with his
just and unjust pleadings or with his crooked judgements. These arts here described, and all those
related, all avail nought: every man must be undone by Us one day, fulled in
Our fulling-trough and scoured in Our cleaning-barrel. Believe it, you haughty plough-jobber!
The Husbandman. Chapter Twenty-Seven.
One should not recompense
evil for evil;[22] man
should practise patience, as the teachings of virtue prescribe. I shall tread this path; perchance this
will turn your impatience to patience.
I gather from your speech: you believe
that you have advised me most truly.
Now if truthfulness dwells in you, advise me truly, as though bound by
oath: what direction shall my life take now? Previously I lived in dear and happy
wedlock; whither should I turn now?
To the secular or the spiritual order? Both stand open to me. In my mind, I considered all kinds of
human existence, then examined and assessed them with care: I found them to be imperfect,
frail and somewhat sinful. I am in
doubt where to turn: every human station is tainted with defects. Master Death, advise, advice is of the
essence! In my thoughts I find,
imagine and believe, that never again will any soul know so pure and divine a
home and existence. I declare: if I
could know that I would thrive in marriage as I formerly did, I would live in
that state for as long as my life lasted.
Blissful, joyful, merry and cheerful is the man with a respectable wife,
wherever he may be. It is a
pleasure for such a man to struggle and strive for his bread; it is also a
pleasure for him to requite honour with honour, fidelity with fidelity, and blessing
with blessing. He does not need to
watch over her; the best watch is that which a chaste wife imposes on herself. He who cannot believe and trust his wife
must live perpetually caught in care.
Lord of the Heavenly Lands, Prince of the
Many Mansions,[23]
happy the man you endow with so pure a bedfellow! He should look up to Heaven and thank
you with upraised hands every day.
Do what is best, Master Death,
multipotent lord!
Death. Chapter Twenty-Eight.
To praise without end,
to revile without purpose, that is the custom of many whatever they undertake. Praise and abuse should be meet and
measured, so they be ready at hand when the need for either arises.
You praise married life beyond measure. But We shall inform you about the
conjugal state, not wishing to offend all pure women. As soon as a man takes a wife, so soon does
he and his other enter Our prison. All
at once a man has an obligation, a dependent, a pull-sledge, a yoke, a harness,
a burden, a heavy load, a nagging shrew, a daily rasp, which he cannot rightly
rid himself of unless We grant him Our grace. A married man has thunder and
hailstorms, foxes and snakes, in his house every day. A wife strives all her days to become
the master. If he pulls up, she
pulls down; if he wants it this wise, she wants it otherwise; if he wants to go
here, she wants to go there – he will grow weary of this game and suffer defeat
every day. She can deceive, hoodwink,
flatter, intrigue, caress, grouch, laugh and weep in the twinkling of an eye; all
this is innate to her. Sick for
work, but healthy for lust; and tame or wild, as suits her purpose. She needs no adviser to give contrary
replies. At all times she endeavours
not to do what she is bidden, and to do what is forbidden. This is too sweet for her, and that is
too sour; this is too much, and that is too little; now it is too early, now it
is too late – in this way, everything is denigrated. If she ever praises anything, it must be
turned on a lathe with reproach; and then the praise will be larded with
mockery. No remedy can help a man
living in wedlock: if he is too kind, if he is too harsh, he is punished either
way. Being kind and severe, half and half, is also no remedy: it will always
incur harm or blame. Every day, a
new imposition or bickering; every week, displeasing demands or sulks; every month, new pollution
or terrors; every year, new clothes or wrangling day after day: all these must
a married man endure, do whatever he may.
We shall draw a veil over the shortcomings of the night, for Our age
fills Us with shame. Did We not
wish to spare the decent women, we could sing and say much more about the
indecent ones. Consider what you
are praising: you cannot tell gold from lead!
The Husbandman. Chapter Twenty-Nine.
gThose who disparage
women are perforce disparaged themselves,h say the masters of truth. How does it fare with you now, Master
Death? Your irrational reviling of
women, though it be done with their leave, truly brings infamy upon you and
ignominy upon them. In the writings
of many a wise master, one finds that, without a woman at the helm, no man may
be steered to happiness; having a wife and child is not the slightest part of
earthly joy. With this truth did
Philosophy, the wise Mistress, bring peace to the mind of Boethius, the consolation-giving
Roman. Every outstanding and reasonable
man will bear me witness: no male virtue can continue to exist unless it be
directed by female virtue. Let people
say what they will: a respectable, beautiful, chaste woman without a trace of
dishonour is the finest feast for the eyes in this world. I never yet saw a man so manly and
spirited that he did not take courage from a womanfs guiding encouragement. Wherever the virtuous gather, one sees
every day: in all open spaces, at every court, in every tournament, with every
army on the march, women always bring out what is best. Whoever is in a ladyfs service must refrain
from every misdeed. Worthy ladies
teach proper behaviour and respectability in their school. Women hold earthly delight in their power;
they cause all courtly deeds and diversions on Earth to be done in their
honour. A pure ladyfs wagging
finger exhorts and chastises a good man more than any weapon. Without rhetorical embellishment, and in
few words: noble ladies are the support, the security, and the increase of all
the world.
Now, there must be lead among gold,
corncockles among wheat, counterfeits among all kinds of coins, and wenches
among women. But the good should
not suffer for the bad. Mark my
words, Captain of Conflict!
Death. Chapter Thirty.
A fool takes a cob for
a nugget of gold, a knuckle for topaz, a pebble for a ruby; the idiot calls a
barn a haystack, the Danube the Sea, a buzzard a falcon. Just so do you praise what delights the
eyes, while paying no thought to causes. For you do not know that everything in
the world is either the desire of the flesh, or the desire of the eyes, or the
arrogance of life. The desire of
the flesh is inclined to lust; the desire of the eyes to possessions or estate;
and the arrogance of life to honour.
Possessions bring avarice and greed, lust leads to lewdness and lechery,
and honour brings ambition and vanity.
Fear and audacity must always grow from possessions, malice and sin from
lust, vanity from honour. Could you
comprehend this, you would find frivolity all over the world; and should joy or
sorrow then befall you, you would suffer it in patience and leave Us unreproached.
As well as an ass can play the lyre, so
well do you grasp the truth. That
is why you give us so much trouble.
When We parted the youth Pyramus from the maiden Thisbe, who were one
heart and one soul; when we deprived King Alexander of world dominion; when we destroyed
Paris of Troy and Helen of Greece: we were not rebuked so severely as we are
now by you. We did not meet with
such vexation for Emperor Charlemagne, Markgrave William, Dietrich von Bern,
Boppe the Strong, or horn-skinned Siegfried.[24] Many lament Aristotle and Avicenna to
this day; yet We have remained unimpeached. When David, the patient King, and
Solomon, the Shrine of Wisdom, died, We were thanked more than cursed. Those who were in days of yore have all
gone; you and all who are now or are yet to be, must follow them. Yet We, Death, remain, the master here!
The Husbandman. Chapter Thirty-One.
A man is often condemned
by his own words, especially he who says now one thing, now something else. You stated earlier that you were
something and yet not a spirit, but you were the end of life and all those on
Earth were entrusted to you. But now
you say that we must all be no more and you, Master Death, remain the master
here. Two contradictory statements
cannot both be true. If all of us
are to depart this life, and if all life on earth is to have an end, and you
are, as you say, the end of life, then I deduce: when there is life no longer,
there will be dying and death no longer – So where will you go then, Master
Death? You may not dwell in Heaven,
it is kept only for good spirits, and you, according to your own words, are no
spirit. Now when you have nothing
more to do on Earth, and Earth exists no more, then you must straight to Hell; and
there you must groan without end.
There, both the quick and the dead will be avenged on you. No-one can shape his course by your flighty
words.
Have all earthly beings really been
created and fashioned so evil, wretched and useless? That accusation has never been levelled
against the eternal Creator since the dawn of the world. God has loved virtue, hated evil, and noticed
and punished sin hitherto. I
believe He will continue to do so henceforth. Ever since the days of my youth, I have
heard it read and have learnt how God created everything. You say that all earthly creatures must
have an end. Plato and other philosophers
teach that: in all things, the destruction of one is the birth of another; all
things are founded upon eternity; and the whole course of events in the heavens
and on Earth is creation through transmutation from the one to the other
everlastingly. With your wavering
words on which nobody may depend, you would frighten me from my complaint. So I appeal to God, my Redeemer, to
appear with you, Master Death, my undoer! God give you a dire Amen!
Death. Chapter Thirty-Two.
Often a man, having
launched into speech, believes he cannot cease unless he be interrupted. And you are cut from this cloth. We have said and We say it still – and
let this be the end of it –: the Earth, and all it contains, is founded upon inconstancy. In this age, she has become changeable,
for all things are turned upside-down: the back has moved to the front, and the
front to the back; depths have shifted to mountains, and heights to valleys; wrong
has been made right: all through the agency of the great multitude of
mankind. I have thrust the whole
human race into firefs lasting flame.
The chance of finding a good, true, and constant friend is almost as slight
on this Earth as that of grasping a beam of light. All humans are more inclined to evil
than to good. When someone does any
good nowadays, he is acting out of fear of Us. All people, with all their works, are nought
but vanity today. Their bodies, their
wives, their children, their honour, their possessions, and all their powers,
all fly away; they disappear in a moment; they dissipate in the wind, neither shine
nor shadow can remain. Look, see,
observe and note, what the children of men are doing on this Earth: how they search
through hill and vale, wood and field, mountain and wilderness, the bottom of
the sea, the bowels of the Earth, for the sake of earthly goods, in rain,
winds, thunder, showers, and in every foul weather; how they drive straight
shafts and deep tunnels and mines down into the earth, bore through Earthfs
veins, seek glittering ores, which they love before all things on account of
their rarity; how they fell trees in forests, weave garments, paste houses
together like swallows, plant and graft orchards, till the earth, grow vines,
build mills, increase tithes, practise fishing, venery and hunting, drive large
herds of cattle, keep a great many maids and manservants, ride high on horseback,
possess chests and houses full of gold, silver, precious stones, costly
garments and all kinds of other goods, indulge in lust and pleasure, which they
pursue and strive after day and night – what is all this? All is vanity and a harming of the soul,
as transitory as the yesterday that has gone. They gain this through war and rapine;
the more that is possessed, the more that is robbed. They bequeath it to further disputes and
discord. Oh, mortal man is constantly
in anxiety, in affliction, in sorrow, in care, in fear, in horror, in suffering,
in sickness, in distress, in mourning, in sadness, in grief, in misery, and in all
kinds of reverses; and the more worldly wealth a man has, the more reverses he
meets. But the worst of all is that
a human cannot know when, where or how We shall suddenly pounce upon him and
drive him down the way of all flesh.
This burden must be borne by masters and servants, husbands and wives,
rich and poor, good and evil, young and old. O painful prospect, and how little heed
the witless pay you; when it is too late, then they would all be virtuous. It is all vanity over vanity and troubling
of the soul.
So have done with your plaint! Enter whichever estate you will, you will
find failings and vanity! Now depart
from evil, and do good; seek peace, and hold to it with constancy;[25]
love a pure and clean conscience above all earthly things! And to prove that we have advised you
correctly, We shall accompany you to God, the Eternal, the Great, and the
Mighty.
the judgement of god. Chapter Thirty-Three.
Springtide,
summer, autumn and winter, the four revivers and supporters of the year, fell
into disaccord and fiery dispute.
Every one of them boasted of the beneficence in their workings, and
every one would be the best.
Spring
said that he revives all fruit and makes it luscious. Summer said that he ripens and readies
all fruit for harvest. Autumn said
that he gathers and brings all fruit into barns, cellars and houses. Winter said that he consumes and expends
all fruit and drives all poisonous vermin away. They boasted and quarrelled with
vehemence. But they had forgotten
that they were boasting of delegated powers.
And
this is exactly what both of you are now doing. The plaintiff laments his loss, as
though it were his rightful heritage; he does not consider that it was granted
him by Us. Death boasts of mighty dominion,
which he has only received in fief from Us. This one laments the loss of what does
not belong to him, that one boasts of a power that does not come from himself. However, the quarrel is not entirely without
reason, and you have both contested well: the one is compelled by his sorrow to
bring his plaint, the other by the plaintifffs contestation to tell the
truth. So plaintiff, yours is the
honour; Death, yours is the victory!
Every man is obliged to deliver his life to Death, his body to the
earth, and his soul to Us.
Chapter Thirty-Four. the
husbandmanfs prayer for the soul of his wife.
[26]Ever-watchful Watchman over the world, God of
gods, wonderful Lord of lords, almighty Spirit of spirits, Prince of all princedoms,
fountain from which all goodness flows, Saint of saints, Crowner and Crown, Rewarder
and Reward, Elector in whose electorate lies all electoral privilege: happy the
man who has Thee as his liege lord!
Joy and Delight of angels, Impresser of the highest forms, Greyhead and
Fresh-Faced Youth: hear my prayer!
O Light, which receives none other light;
Light, which dims and darkens all external light; Radiance, by which all other radiance
is occulted; Radiance, compared with which all lights are as darkness; Light,
in which every shadow shines bright; Light, which spake in the Beginning: gLet
there be light!h; Fire, which burns forever, unextinguished; Beginning and End:
hear my prayer!
Salvation and Bliss over all salvation
and bliss; Path without pitfalls to life everlasting; Best, without which there
is no better; Life, for which all things live; Truth of all truths; Wisdom,
which comprises all wisdom; Ruler of all potentates; right and just Hand; Watcher
over and healer of all infirmities; Disposer of every power; Warrantor, whom
all good things approach and hold fast to, like bees to their queen; Cause of
all things: hear my prayer!
Doctor healing every sickness; Master of
Masters; only Father of all Creation; Overseer always and everywhere present; autonomous Guide from the motherfs womb into the earthly
grave; Shaper of every form; Fundament of all good works; Lover of cleanliness,
Hater of filthiness, Rewarder of all good deeds; the only just Judge; the One,
from whose Beginning nothing is ever lost in eternity: hear my prayer!
Helper in every anxiety; firm Knot,
which none can untie; perfect Being, potent in every perfection; true Knower of
all secret matters hidden from all; Dispenser of eternal joys, Disturber of
earthly delights; Host, Retainer, and Household Companion of all good people;
Hunter, to whom every trail is visible; choice Infusion of all minds; Ruler and
central point who holds all spheres together; gracious Hearkener to all who cry
to You: hear my prayer!
Helper
at hand for all those in need; Releaser from mourning for all who hope in You;
Replenisher of the hungry; Refreshment of the needy; Seal of the very highest
Majesty; Maintainer of the harmony of Heaven; only Knower of all human
thoughts, incomparable Creator of all dissimilar human faces; sovereign Planet
of planets; all-powerful Influence over the stars; mighty and winsome Steward
of the Heavenly Court; Law, through which all heavenly order may never move out
of its eternal hinges; resplendent Sun: hear my prayer!
Eternal Lamp, eternal everlight; true-steering
Skipper, your cog never founders; Standard-bearer, beneath whose banner nobody
knows defeat; Founder of Hell, Creator of Earth; Restrainer of the sea, Compounder
of the changeful breezes; Fanner of firefs heat; Creator of every element; only
Master-smith of thunder, lightning, mist, hail, snow, rain, rainbow, mildew,
wind, frost, and all their actions; mighty Duke of the whole heavenly host; Emperor,
whose command none can disobey; gentlest, strongest, most merciful Creator:
take pity and hear my prayer!
Treasure, from which all treasures issue
forth; Source, from which all pure springs flow; Guide, with whom none can go
astray; only Creator with power to make something from nothing and nothing from
something; omnipotent Invigorator, Preserver, and Annihilator of all ephemeral
beings, limited-life beings, and everlasting beings, whose Being, in its
immanence, none can ascertain, outline, design or depict; highest Good over all
goods; most perfect eternal Lord Jesus: receive with grace the spirit, receive
in mercy the soul of my dearly beloved wife! Grant her eternal rest, refresh her with
the dew of Your grace, take her into care under the shadow of Your wings, take
her, Lord, into perfect contentment, where the lowest find content as do the
greatest! Let her live, Lord,
whence she had come, in Your kingdom with the eternal and blessèd spirits!
I ache for Margaretha, my
chosen wife. Grant her, gracious
Lord, that she eternally behold, contemplate, and take delight in herself in the
mirror of Your Almighty, Eternal Divinity, in which all choirs of angels find
their light!
All that belongs beneath the
Eternal Standard-Bearerfs banner, whatever kind of creature it be, help me in
saying blissfully and devoutly, from the bottom of my heart: Amen!
[1] gvon vogelwat is mein pflugh: that is, he is a eploughman
of the penf – a clerk.
[2] The twelfth letter is eMf for Margaretha, eJf not
being counted as a separate letter in the Latin alphabet.
[3] Sacz, or Saaz: Now Zatec in the Czech Republic.
[4] In many places it was the custom for the torturer/executioner
to ask forgiveness of the tortured/condemned.
[5] The Feast Day of St. Peterfs Chains is August 1. The year referred to is 1400, which was
intended to be a year of Plenary Indulgences, as 1350 and 1390 had been.
[6] The Virgin Mary.
[7] Oxen were draught animals for carts which carried
corpses in times of plague.
[8] An ironic reference to Solomonfs son Rehoboam, known
for his folly.
[9] The Lion-slayer may be Samson (Judges 14:5-6), but a
closer parallel is the late 12th century German poem König Rother, in which the giant Asprian, dining at the table of Emperor Constantine,
picks up the Emperorfs lion by the leg when it tries to eat his food and
smashes it against the wall (ll. 1456-1152).
[10] Possibly a reference to Haman (Esther 3-7) who,
wishing the destruction of the Jews, ends up being hung on the high gallows he
had intended for Mordecai. (Notes 8-10 are taken from Hilda Swinburne, eChapter
XVIII of the gAckermann aus Böhmen,h Modern Language
Review 48:2 (1953), pp.
159-166).
[11] Tepl misconstrues Platofs Academy as a town.
[12] The philosopher who taught Nero was the Stoic, Seneca
(1 B.C. – A.D. 65).
[13] Another misunderstanding is the gship of reedsh: the
boatman in question, Amyclas, lived in a reed hut.
[14]
[15] It was believed that sitting on an ox-skin would give
insights into the future.
[16] Seneca.
[17] gklagemuterh – similar to banshees.
[18] Cf. Ecclesiastes 9:12.
[19] A 13th-century Latin book of magic.
[20] A religious official in ancient Rome who divined the
future from examining the entrails of sacrificed animals.
[21] Here: foretelling the future from inspecting the
entrails of murdered small boys.
[22] Romans 12:17.
[23] Cf. John 14:2.
[24] Markgrave William, the hero of Wolfram von Eschenbachfs
poem Willehalm (ca.1215-18),
is Saint William of Gellone (c.755-812/814), Count of Toulouse, who fought the
Saracens in the south of France.
Dietrich von Bern, based on misty reminiscences of the Ostrogothic King
of Italy Theodoric the Great (reigned 493-526), is the hero of the first cycle
of poems in Das Heldenbuch, a
collection of metrical romances of the 13th century. Boppe the Strong is an often named but
elusive hero. Horn-skinned
Siegfried is eDer gehörnte Siegfriedf, the hero of an
ultimately disappointing Volksbuch
and, originally, of an ancient poem, eDas Lied vom Hürnen Seyfridf (eThe Lay of
Horn-skinned Siegfriedf), which presents a more positive image of the hero
Siegfried than is found in the Nibelungenlied.
[25] gkere von dem bosen vnd tue das gute; suche den fride
vnd tue in stete.h Cf. Lutherfs
Bible, Psalm 34:15: gLaß ab vom Bösen und tu Gutes; suche Frieden und jage him nach!h
In the Authorised Version, this is line 14: eDepart
from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue itf.
[26] In the German, the first letter of every paragraph
forms an acrostic of the authorfs name: either Johan, or Johannes, or Johannes
MA, depending on the editor.