"Now one stormy night a poor, sinful creature was wandering about the
streets, with her babe in her arms, and she was hungry, and cold, and
no soul in Andernach would take her in. And when she came to the
church, where the great crucifix stands, she saw no light in the little
chapel at the corner; but she sat down on a stone at the foot of the
cross and began to pray, and prayed, till she fell asleep, with her
poor little babe on her bosom. But she did not sleep long; for a bright
light shone full in her face; and, when she opened her eyes, she saw a
pale man, with a lantern, standing right before her. He was almost
naked; and there was blood upon his hands and body, and great tears in
his beautiful eyes, and his face was like the face of the Saviour on
the cross. Not a single word did he say to the poor woman; but looked
at her compassionately, and gave her a loaf of bread, and took the
little babe in his arms, and kissed it. Then the mother looked up to
the great crucifix, but there was no image there; and she shrieked and
fell down as if she were dead. And there she was found with her child;
and a few days after they both died, and were buried together in one
grave. And nobody would have believed her story, if a woman, who lived
at the corner, had not gone to the window, when she heard the scream,
and seen the figure hang the lantern up in its place, and then set the
ladder against the wall, and go up and nailitself to the cross. Since
that night it has never moved again. Ach! Herr Je!"
Such was the legend of the Christ of Andernach, as the old woman in
spectacles told it to Flemming. It made a painful impression on his
sick and morbid soul; and he felt now for the first time in full force,
how great is the power of popular superstition.
The post-chaise was now at the door, and Flemming was soon on the road
to Coblentz, a city which stands upon the Rhine, at the mouth of the
Mosel, opposite Ehrenbreitstein. It is by no means a long drive from
Andernach to Coblentz; and the only incident which occurred to enliven
the way was the appearance of a fat, red-faced man on horseback,
trotting slowly towards Andernach. As they met, the mad little
postilion gave him a friendly cut with his whip, and broke out into an
exclamation, which showed he was from Münster;
"Jesmariosp! my friend! How is the Man in the Custom-House?"
Now to any candid mind this would seem a fair question enough; but not
so thought the red-faced man on horseback; for he waxed exceedingly
angry, and replied, as the chaise whirled by;
"The devil take you, and your Westphalian ham, and pumpernickel!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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