silent for a moment, and then resumed: "Where have you been studying hitherto?"--"At Basle."--"Is Erasmus of Rotterdam still there? what is he doing?" They replied to his questions, and there was another pause. The two Swiss knew not what to think. "Is it not strange," thought they, "that this knight talks to us of Schurff, Melancthon, and Erasmus, and on the necessity of learning Greek and Hebrew."--"My dear friends," said the unknown suddenly, "what do they think of Luther in Switzerland?"--"Sir," replied Kessler, "opinions are very divided about him there as everywhere else. Some cannot extol him enough; and others condemn him as an abominable heretic."--"Ha! the priests, no doubt," said the stranger. [128] See the narrative of Kessler, with all its details, and in the simple language of the times, in _Bernet, Johann Kessler_, p. 27. Hahnhard Erzählungen, iii. 300, and Marheinecke Gesch. der Ref. ii. 321, 2d edition. [129] In einem rothem Schlöpli, in blossen Hosen und Wamms......Hahn-hard Erzählungen, iii. 300, and Marheinecke Gesch. der Ref. ii. 321, 2d edition. The knight's cordiality had put the students at their ease. They longed to know what book he was reading at the moment of their arrival. The knight had closed it, and placed it by his side. At last Kessler's companion ventured to take it up. To the great astonishment of the two young men, it was the Hebrew Psalter! The student laid it down immediately, and as if to divert attention from the liberty he had taken, said: "I would willingly give one of my fingers to know that language."--"You will attain your wish," said the stranger, "if you will only take the trouble to learn it." A few minutes after, Kessler heard the landlord calling him; the poor Swiss youth feared something had gone wrong; but the host whispered to him: "I perceive that you have a great desire to see and hear Luther; well! it is he who is seated beside you." Kessler took this for a joke, and said: "Mr. Landlord, you want to make a fool of me."--"It is he in very truth," replied the host; "but do not let him see that you know him." Kessler made no answer, but returned into the room and took his seat at the table, burning to repeat to his comrade what he had just heard. But how could he manage it? At last he thought of leaning forward, as if he were looking towards the door, and then whispered into his friend's ear: "The landlord assures me that this man is Luther."--"Perhaps he said Hütten," replied his comrade; "you did not hear him distinctly."--"It may be so," returned Kessler; "the host said: It is Hütten; the two names are pretty much alike, and I mistook one for the other."