The Legend of Ulenspiegel Volume Ii Part 13

And the Sambre rolled along like a river of steel under the gray sky.

And the snow fell, was.h.i.+ng the blood away.

And they were nevertheless troubled. And Lamme said:

"I would rather kill a chicken than a man."

And they mounted their a.s.ses again.

At the gates of Huy the blood was still flowing; they pretended to fall into quarrel together, got down from their a.s.ses, and fenced and foined with their daggers most cruelly to behold; then having brought the combat to an end, they mounted again and entered into Huy, showing their pa.s.ses at the gates of the city.

The women seeing Ulenspiegel wounded and bleeding, and Lamme playing the victor upon his a.s.s, they looked on Ulenspiegel with pity and showed their fists at Lamme saying: "That one is the rascal that wounded his friend."

Lamme, uneasy, only sought among them whether he did not see his wife.

It was in vain, and he was plunged in melancholy.

XXIII

"Whither are we going?" said Lamme.

"To Maestricht," replied Ulenspiegel.

"But, my son, they say the duke's army is there all about and around, and that he himself is within the city. Our pa.s.ses will not be enough for us. If the Spanish troopers accept them, none the less we shall be held in the town and interrogated. Meanwhile, they will have discovered the death of the preachers, and we shall have finished with living."

Ulenspiegel replied:

"The ravens, the owls, and the vultures will soon have made an end of their meat; already, beyond a doubt, they have faces that could not be recognized. As for our pa.s.ses they may be good; but if they learned of the slaughter, we should, as you say, be taken prisoners. Nevertheless, we must needs go to Maestricht and take Landen on our way."

"They will hang us," said Lamme.

"We shall pa.s.s," replied Ulenspiegel.

Thus talking, they arrived at the Magpie inn, where they found good meals, good beds, and hay for their a.s.ses.

The next day they set out on their way to Landen.

Having arrived at a great farm near the city, Ulenspiegel whistled like the lark, and immediately there answered from within the warlike clarion of a c.o.c.k. A farmer with a goodly face appeared on the threshold of the farmhouse. He said to them:

"Friends, as freemen, long live the Beggar! Come within."

"Who is this one?" asked Lamme.

Ulenspiegel replied:

"Thomas Utenhove, the brave reformer; his serving men and women on the farm work like him for freedom of conscience."

Then Utenhove said:

"Ye are the prince's envoys. Eat and drink."

And the ham began to crackle in the pan and the black puddings also, and the wine went about and gla.s.ses were filled. And Lamme fell to drinking like the dry sand and to eating l.u.s.tily.

Lads and la.s.ses of the farm came in turns and thrust in their noses at the half-open door to look at him labouring with his jaws. And the men, jealous of him, said they could do as well as he.

At the end of the meal Thomas Utenhove said:

"A hundred peasants will go from here this week under pretence of going to work on the d.y.k.es at Bruges and round about. They will travel by bands of five or six and by different ways. There will be boats at Bruges to fetch them by sea to Emden."

"Will they be furnished with weapons and money?" asked Ulenspiegel.

"They will have each ten florins and big cutla.s.ses."

"G.o.d and the prince will reward you," said Ulenspiegel.

"I am not working for reward," replied Thomas Utenhove.

"What do you do," said Lamme, eating big black puddings, "what do you do, master host, to have a dish so savoury, so succulent, and with such fine grease?"

"'Tis because we put in it," the host said, "cinnamon and catnip."

Then speaking to Ulenspiegel:

"Is Edzard, Count of Frisia, is he still the prince's friend?"

Ulenspiegel replied:

"He hides it, while at the same time giving refuge at Emden to his s.h.i.+ps."

And he added:

"We must go to Maestricht."

"You will not be able to do so," said the host; "the duke's army is before the town and in the environs."

Then taking him into the loft, he showed him far away the ensigns and guidons of horse soldiers and footmen riding and marching in the country.

Ulenspiegel said:

"I shall make my way through if you, who are of authority in this place, will give me a permit to marry. As for the woman, she must be pretty, gentle, and sweet, and willing to marry me, if not for always, at least for a week."

Lamme sighed and said:

"Do not do this, my son; she will leave you alone, burning in the fires of love. Your bed, where you now sleep so snugly, will become as a mattress of holly to you, depriving you of sweet slumber."