Pictures of German Life in the XVth, XVIth, and XVIIth Centuries, Vol. I.Freytag, Gustav
History
Pictures of German Life in the XVth, XVIth, and XVIIth Centuries, Vol. I.
Freytag, Gustav
Germany -- Civilization; Germany -- Social life and customs
"Then the merchants gave their opinions freely, and one of them said,
'I am a simple layman, and understand little of these disputes, but I
must speak of things as I find them; Luther must either be an angel
from heaven, or a devil out of hell. I would gladly, however, give ten
gulden to confess to him, for I believe he could and would give me good
instruction.' Then the landlord came to us, and said secretly,
'Martinus has paid for your supper:' that gave us much pleasure, not
for the sake of the money and food, but for the hospitality shown us by
this man. After supper the merchants rose and went to the stable to
look after their horses; in the mean while Martinus remained alone with
us in the room; we thanked him for the honour he had done us, as well
as for the gift, and as we did so we showed him that we took him for
Ulrich von Hutten; but he said, 'I am not Hutten.'
"Then the landlord coming in, Martinus said, 'I have become a nobleman
to-night, for these Swiss have taken me for Ulrich von Hutten.' The
landlord replied, 'You are not him, but Martinus Luther.' Then Martinus
laughing as if it were a joke, said, 'These take me for Hutten, you for
Luther, soon I shall become a Markolfus.'[26] After this talk he took a
long glass of beer, and said, according to the custom of the country,
'Drink with me a friendly glass with God's blessing;' and when I was
going to take the glass from him, he changed it, and offered instead a
glass with wine, saying, 'The beer is foreign to you, and you are
unaccustomed to it, drink the wine.' Meanwhile he rose and threw his
tabard over his shoulders, and took leave. He held out his hand to us,
and said, 'If you go to Wittenberg, greet Dr. Jerome Schurf for me.' We
replied, 'We will do that with pleasure, but how must we designate you,
that he may understand your greeting?' He answered, 'Say nothing
further than that he who is coming sends you greeting; he will
immediately understand these words.' So he departed from us and went to
rest.
"Afterwards the merchants returned into the room, and called to the
landlord to bring them something to drink; in the mean while they had
much talk about the guest, and wondered who he could be. The landlord
declared it was Luther, and the merchants were soon convinced of it,
and regretted that they had spoken so unbecomingly before him, and
said, 'They would rise at an early hour in the morning, that they might
see him before he started; and would beg of him not to be angry with
them, as they had not known who he was.' This they did, and found him
in the morning in the stable; but Martinus answered them, 'You said
last night at supper that you would give ten gulden to confess yourself
to Luther; when you do so, you will see and learn if I am Martinus
Luther.' He did not make himself further known, but mounted his horse
and rode off to Wittenberg.
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