He departed there and then; and by the following morning the citizens
of Antwerp were in arms. But Ulenspiegel and Lamme, having sent
their donkeys to a farmer that was a friend of Simon Simonsen, were
themselves obliged to go into hiding for fear of the Count de Meghen,
who was seeking for them everywhere to have them hanged; for it had
been reported to him that there were two heretics that had drunk of
his wine and eaten of his meat. And he was jealous and spoke concerning
this matter to his lovely dame, who ground her teeth in anger, and wept
and swooned seventeen times. The cook behaved in a similar fashion,
but swooned not so often, and swore by her hope of Paradise and by
the eternal salvation of her soul, that neither she nor her mistress
had done anything wrong unless it had been to give what was left of
their dinner to a couple of poor pilgrims who, mounted on two wretched
donkeys, had stopped for a moment at the kitchen window.
All that day there was a great shedding of tears, so that the floors
of the house became quite damp with them. And when he saw this,
Monsieur de Meghen felt reassured that he was being told the truth
and nothing but the truth.
Lamme did not dare to show himself again there, for the cook always
jeered at him, calling after him, "My wife!" And for this cause he
was very sorry for himself, thinking of all the good food that he was
missing. But Ulenspiegel continued his visits to the beautiful dame,
entering the house by the rue Sainte-Catherine, and hiding himself
in the storeroom. And he always took care to bring back to Lamme some
dainty morsel.
Now one evening the Count de Meghen informed his lady that before
morning dawned he was resolved to lead his men-at-arms into the
city of Bois-le-Duc. When he had told her this he went to sleep. But
the beautiful dame went straightway to the storeroom, and apprised
Ulenspiegel of what had happened.
X
Ulenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food
or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention
of warning the citizens. He reckoned to find a horse at the house
of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried
letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to
Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.
As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming
towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters
which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the
misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the
courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his
beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon
discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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