The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, volume 2 (of 2): By His Wife, Isabel BurtonBurton, Isabel, Lady
History
The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, volume 2 (of 2): By His Wife, Isabel Burton
Burton, Isabel, Lady
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Scholars -- Great Britain -- Biography
"'Then cried the steward, "My good spirit! when the thirty Masses
shall have been said, come back and give us a sign that they have
helped thee." The ghost rejoined, "Ankha, to thee I will give a sign
upon thy head." Ankha replied, "God have mercy upon me, that must
endure such fright and pain!" But the ghost thus comforted her: "Fear
not, Ankha. The sign which I will show to thee shall not be visible
upon thy head, nor shall it be painful." It added, "Ankha! Ankha! I
pray thee, when thou enterest into any house, tell the inmates that
one unjust kreutzer (farthing) eats up twenty just kreutzers." Then
the ghost began to scratch the wench's cap, or coif; and she, in her
terror, took to praying for help. The ghost comforted her, bade her
feel no fear or anxiety, took leave (_sic_), and was seen no more that
night.
"'_Late on the 21st of January_ the ghost reappeared, and made a
terrible noise with a chair in presence of the lord of the castle,
Sigmund Wilhelm Freiherr, (Baron) von Zetschekher, and of two
ecclesiastics, Georg André Schlebnikh and Lorenz Tsichitsch. Several
others, men and women, were present, and nothing took place till the
candles were put out. Whereupon the said Schlebnikh began to exorcise
the apparition, beginning with the usual formula, "All good spirits,
praise the Lord." The ghost replied, "I also." It would not, however,
answer any questions put by the ghostly man, but began to speak with
Ankha, saying, "Ankha, help me!" She rejoined, "My dear good spirit,
all that lies in my power will I do for thee; only tell me, my spirit,
if the two Masses already said have in any way lessened thy pain."
The ghost answered, "Yea, verily" (_freilich_). Ankha continued,
"How many more Masses must thou still have?" and the reply was,
"Thirty, less two." Then Ankha resumed, "Oh, my good spirit, tell me
thy family name." Quoth the ghost, "My name is Gallenbergerinn." The
wench further asked for a sign of salvation when all the thirty Masses
should have been said; the ghost promised to do so, and disappeared.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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