. 
 
 Win. Vhicent Wallace's new opera, "The Amber 
 wtm produced at Her Majesty's Theater on the 
 28tlfl-boforo an iinmem-e audience, and achieved com- 
 plete eueceaa. Tke Time* sayH : fa 1 lU . -. I ii 9 J/ 
 
 The v ' MI 
 
 K<M'\C3I, ihr- i-inii- 
 
 vc:ry act : and at th* : 
 
 .\i\ to Mr. Chailea , 
 
 tor, who haj tho:vm;..ly well paniect it, for ' 
 
 nn-.v and difficult work tu* 
 'n almost it* complicated tu it ui 
 
 tjful. t: 'dly be accorded to th 
 
 utru and oliornii ondor Mr. H*114' control both, by th 
 r.lurced lorthn oocfllion. Th 
 iLa demonstration* of approval, the up- 1 
 
 ing^rn In nmiilitloTi -t by Mr.* 
 
 :ue uonori 
 did not t?rminte till uearly midnight" 
 

 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 


 
 WILEY AND PUTNAM'S 
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 CHOICE READING. 
 MARY SCHWEIDLER, 
 
 THE A MB E R-VI T C H.
 
 MARY SCHWEIDLER, 
 
 THE AMBER ITCH 
 
 THE MOST INTERESTING TRIAL FOR WITCHCRAFT EVER 
 
 KNOWN, PRINTED FROM AN IMPERFECT MANUSCRIPT 
 
 BY HER FATHER, ABRAHAM SCHWEIDLER, THE 
 
 PASTOR OF COSEROW, IN THE ISLAND 
 
 OF TJSEDOM. 
 
 EDITED 
 
 BY W. ( M E I N H L D, 
 
 DOCTOR Or-THKOLOQY, AND PASTOR, BTC. 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN 
 
 BY LADY DUFF GORDON. 
 
 WILEY AND PUTNAM. 
 1845.
 
 
 R. CRAIQHEAD'S Power Pre, 
 
 112Fulton-rT u
 
 TT 
 
 ri 
 
 PREFACE, 
 00 
 
 IN laying before the public this deeply affecting and roman- 
 tic trial, which I have not without reason called on the title- 
 page the most interesting of all trials for witchcraft ever 
 known, I will first give some account of the history of the 
 manuscript. 
 
 At Coserow, in the Island of Usedom, my former cure, 
 the same which was held by our worthy author some two 
 hundred years ago, there existed under a seat in the choir of 
 the church a sort of niche, nearly on a level with the floor. 
 | had, indeed, often seen a heap of various writings in this 
 recess ; but owing to my short sight, and the darkness of 
 '-'the place, I had taken them for antiquated hymn-books, 
 ^which were lying about in great numbers. But one day, 
 while I was teaching in the church, I looked for a paper 
 mark in the Catechism of one of the boys, which I could not 
 immediately find ; and my old sexton, who was past eighty 
 (and who, although called Appelman, was thoroughly unlike 
 his namesake in our story, being a very worthy, although a 
 most ignorant man), stooped down to the said niche, and 
 took from it a folio volume w r hich I had never before ob- 
 served, out of which he, without the slightest hesitation, 
 tore a strip of paper suited to my purpose, and reached it 
 to me. I immediately seized upon the book, and, after a 
 few minutes' perusal, I know not which was greater, my 
 astonishment or my vexation at this costly prize. The
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 manuscript, which was bound in vellum, was not only defec- 
 tive both at the beginning and at the end, but several leaves 
 had even been torn out here and there in the middle. I 
 scolded the old man as I had never done during the whole 
 course of my life ; but he excused himself, saying that one 
 of my predecessors had given him the manuscript for waste 
 paper, as it had lain about there ever since the memory of 
 man, and he had often been in want of paper to twist round 
 the altar-candles, &c. The aged and half-blind pastor had 
 mistaken the folio for old parochial accounts which could be 
 of no more use to any one.* 
 
 No sooner had I reached home than I fell to work upon 
 my new acquisition, and after reading a bit here an4 there 
 with considerable trouble, my interest was powerfully ex- 
 cited by the contents. 
 
 I soon felt the necessity of making myself better acquaint- 
 ed with the nature and conduct of these witch trials, with 
 the proceedings, nay, even with the history of the whole 
 period in which these events occur. But the more I read 
 of these extraordinary stories, the more was I confounded ; 
 and neither the trivial Becker (die bezauberte Welt, the 
 enchanted world), nor the more careful Horst (Zauberbib- 
 liothek, the library of magic), to which, as well as to several 
 other works on the same subject, I had flown for informa- 
 tion, could resolve my doubts, but rather served to increase 
 them. 
 
 Not alone is the demoniacal character, which pervades 
 nearly all these fearful stories, so deeply marked, as to fill 
 
 * The original manuscript does indeed contain several accounts which 
 at first sight may have led to this mistake; besides, the handwriting is 
 extremely difficult to read, and in several places the paper is discolored 
 and decayed.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the attentive reader with feelings of alternate horror and 
 dismay, but the eternal and unchangeable laws of human 
 feeling and action are often arrested in a manner so violent 
 and unforeseen, that the understanding is entirely baffled. 
 For instance, one of the original trials which a friend of 
 mine, a lawyer, discovered in our province, contains the 
 account of a mother, who, after she had suffered the torture, 
 and received the holy Sacrament, and was on the point of 
 going to the stake, so utterly lost all maternal feeling, that 
 her conscience obliged her to accuse as a witch her only 
 dearly loved daughter, a girl of fifteen, against whom no 
 one had ever entertained a suspicion, in order, as she said, 
 to save her poor soul. The court, justly amazed at an event 
 which probably has never since been paralleled, caused the 
 state of the mother's mind to be examined both by clergy- 
 men and physicians, whose original testimonies are still 
 appended to the records, and are all highly favorable to 
 her soundness of mind. The unfortunate daughter, whose 
 name was Elizabeth Hegel, was actually executed on the 
 strength of her mother's accusation.* 
 
 The explanation commonly received at the present day, 
 that these phenomena were produced by means of animal 
 magnetism, is utterly insufficient. How, for instance, could 
 this account for the deeply demoniacal nature of old Lizzie 
 Kolken as exhibited in the following pages ? It is utterly 
 incomprehensible, and perfectly explains why the old pastor, 
 notwithstanding the horrible deceits practised on him in the 
 person of his daughter, retained as firm a faith in the truth 
 of witchcraft as in that of the Gospel. 
 
 During the earlier centuries of the middle ages little was 
 
 
 * It is my intention to publish this trial also, as it possesses very great 
 
 psychological interest. 
 
 1*
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 known of witchcraft. The crime of magic, when it did 
 occur, was leniently punished. For instance, the council 
 of Ancyra (314) ordained the whole punishment of witches 
 to consist in expulsion from the Christian community. The 
 Visigoths punished them with stripes, and Charlemagne, by 
 advice of his bishops, confined them in prison until such time 
 as they should sincerely repent.* It was not until very 
 soon before the Reformation, that Innocent VIII. lamented 
 that the complaints of universal Christendom against the 
 evil practices of these women had become so general and 
 so loud, that the most vigorous measures must be taken 
 against them ; and towards the end of the year 1489, he 
 caused the notorious Hammer for Witches (Malleus Male- 
 ficarum) to be published, according to which proceedings 
 were set on foot with the most fanatical zeal, not only in 
 Catholic, but, strange to say, even in Protestant Christen- 
 dom, which in other respects abhorred everything belonging 
 to Catholicism. Indeed, the Protestants far outdid the 
 Catholics in cruelty, until, among the latter, the noble- 
 minded Jesuit, J. Spee, and among the former, but not 
 until seventy years later, the excellent Thcwnasius, by de- 
 grees put a stop to these horrors. 
 
 After careful examination into the nature and charac- 
 teristics of witchcraft, I soon perceived that among all these 
 strange and often romantic stories, not one surpassed my 
 " amber witch" in lively interest ; and I determined to throw 
 her adventures into the form of a romance. Fortunately, 
 however, I was soon convinced that her story was already 
 in itself the most interesting of all romances ; and that I 
 should do far better to leave it in its original antiquated 
 form, omitting whatever would be uninteresting to modern 
 
 * Horst, Zauberbibliothek, vi., p. 231.
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 readers, or so universally known as to need no repetition. 
 I have therefore attempted, not indeed to supply what is 
 missing at the beginning and end, but to restore those 
 leaves which have been torn out of the middle, imitating, as 
 accurately as I was able, the language and manner of the 
 old biographer, in order that the difference between the 
 original narrative, and my own interpolations, might not be 
 too evident. 
 
 This I have done with much trouble, and after many inef- 
 fectual attempts ; but I refrain from pointing out the parti- 
 cular passages which I have supplied, so as not to disturb 
 the historical interest of the greater part of my readers. 
 For modern criticism, which has now attained to a degree 
 of acuteness never before equalled, such a confession would 
 be entirely superfluous, as critics will easily distinguish the 
 passages where Pastor Schweidler speaks from those writ- 
 ten by Pastor Meinhold. 
 
 I am, nevertheless, bound to give the public some account 
 of what I have omitted, namely, 
 
 1st. Such long prayers as were not very remarkable for 
 Christian unction. 
 
 2d. Well known stories out of the Thirty Years' War. 
 
 3d. Signs and wonders in the heavens, which were seen 
 here and there, and which are recorded by other Pomera- 
 nian writers of these fearful times ; for instance, by Micrae- 
 lius.* But when these events formed part of the tale itself, 
 as, for instance, the cross on the Streckelberg, I, of course, 
 allowed them to stand. 
 
 * Vom Alten Pommerlande (of old Pomerania), book v.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 4th. The specification of the whole income of the church 
 at Coserow, before and during the terrible times of the 
 Thirty Years' War. 
 
 5th. The enumeration of the dwellings left standing, after 
 the devastations made by the enemy in every village 
 throughout the parish. 
 
 6th. The names of the districts to which this or that 
 member of the congregation had emigrated. 
 
 7th. A ground plan and description of the old Manse. 
 
 I have likewise here and there ventured to make a few 
 
 changes in the language, as my author is not always con- 
 
 ' sistent in the use of his words or in his orthography. The 
 
 latter I have, however, with very few exceptions, retained. 
 
 And thus I lay before the gracious reader a work, glow- 
 ing with the fire of heaven, as well as with that of hell. 
 
 MEINIIOLD.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Page 
 PREFACE . . . . . . . iii 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . . , 1 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 How the Imperialists robbed me of all that was left, and likewise 
 broke into the Church and stole the Vasa Sacra ; item, what more 
 befel us 4 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 How our need waxed sorer and sorer, and how I sent old Use with 
 another letter to Pudgla, and how heavy a misfortune this brought 
 upon me ........ 13 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 How the old maid-servant humbled me by her faith, and the Lord yet 
 blessed me his unworthy servant . . . . .26 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 How we journeyed to Wolgast, and made good barter there . . 31 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 How I fed all the congregation : item, how I journeyed to the horse- 
 fair at Gtltzkow, and what befel me there . . . .39 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 What further joy and sorrow befel us : item, how Wittich Appelmann 
 rode to Damerow to the wolf-hunt, and what he proposed to my 
 daughter ........ 45
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Page 
 
 What more happened during the Winter : ifem^how in the Spring witch- 
 craft began in the village . . . . . .55 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 How old Seden disappeared all on a sudden ; item, how the great Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus came to Pornerania, and took the- fort at Peene- 
 miinde. ........ 58 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Of the arrival of the high and mighty King Gustavus Adolphus, and 
 what befel thereat ....... 65 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 How little Mary Paasch was sorely plagued of the devil, and the whole 
 parish fell off from me . . . . . . .71 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 How my poor child was taken up for a witch, and was carried to 
 Pudgla ........ 77 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Of the first trial, and what came thereof . . . .81 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 How Satan, by the permission of the most righteous God, sought alto- 
 gether to ruin us, and how we lost all hope . . . .92 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Of the malice of the Governor and old Lizzie : item, of the examina- 
 tion of witnesses . . . . . . .99 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 De confrontations testivm . . . . . .104
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Page 
 
 How the Syndicus Dom. Michelsen arrived, and prepared his defence 
 of my poor child ....... 110 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 How my poor child was sentenced to be put to the question . .117 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 How in my presence the devil fetched old Lizzie Kolken . .128 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 How Satan sifted me like wheat, whereas my daughter withstood him 
 right bravely . . . . . . . .134 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 How I received the holy Sacrament with my daughter and the old maid- 
 servant, and how she was then led for the last time before the court, 
 with* the drawn sword and the outcry, to receive sentence . .141 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Of that which befel us by the way : item, of the fearful death of the 
 Sheriff at the mill . . . . . .151 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 How my daughter was at length saved by the help of the all-merciful, 
 yea, of the all-merciful God . . . . . .158 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Of our next great sorrow, and final joy . . . .170
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE origin of our biographer cannot be traced with any 
 degree of certainty, owing to the loss of the first part of 
 his manuscript. It is, however, pretty clear that he was 
 not a Pomeranian, as he says he was in Silesia in his 
 youth, and mentions relations scattered far and wide, not 
 only at Hamburg and Cologne, but even at Antwerp ; 
 above all, his South-German language betrays a foreign 
 origin, and he makes use of words which are, I believe, 
 peculiar to Swabia. He must, however, have been living 
 for a long time in Pomerania at the time he wrote, as he 
 even more frequently uses Low-German expressions, such 
 as occur in contemporary native Pomeranian writers. 
 
 Since he sprang from an ancient noble family, as he says 
 on several occasions, it is possible that some particulars 
 relating to the Schweidlers might be discovered in the fam- 
 ily records of the seventeenth century which would give a 
 clue to his native country ; but I have sought for that name 
 in all the sources of information accessible to me, in vain, 
 and am led to suspect that our author, like many of his 
 contemporaries, laid aside his nobility and changed his 
 name when he took hcty orders. 
 
 I will not, however, venture on any further conjectures ; 
 the manuscript, of which six chapters are missing, begins 
 with the words " Imperialists plundered," and evidently the 
 2
 
 9 THE AMBER WITCH. [INTROD. 
 
 previous pages must have contained an account of the 
 breaking out of the Thirty Years' War in the Island of 
 Usedom. It goes on as follows : 
 
 "Coffers, chests, and closets were all plundered and broken 
 to pieces, and my surplice also was torn, so that I remained in 
 great distress and tribulation. But my poor little daughter they 
 did not find, seeing that I had hidden her in the stable, which was 
 dark, without which I doubt not they would have made my heart 
 heavy indeed. The lewd dogs would even have been rude to 
 my old maid Use, a woman hard upon fifty, if an old cornet 
 had not forbidden them. Wherefore I gave thanks to my Maker 
 when the wild guests were gone, that I had first saved my- 
 child from their clutches, although not one dust of flour, nor 
 one grain of corn, nor one morsel of meat even of a finger's 
 length was left, and I knew not how I should any longer sup- 
 port my own life, and my poor child's. Item, I thanked God 
 that I had likewise secured the vasa sacra, which I had forth- 
 with buried in the church in front of the altar, in presence of 
 the two churchwardens, Hinrich Seden and Glaus Bulken, of 
 Uekeritze, commending them to the care of God. And now 
 because, as I have already said, I was suffering the pangs of 
 hunger, I wrote to his lordship the Sheriff Wittich v. Appel- 
 rnann, at Pudgla,* that for the love of God and his holy Gospel 
 he should send me that which his highness' grace Philippus Ju- 
 lius had allowed me as prastanda from the convent at Pudgla, 
 to wit, thirty bushels of barley and twenty-five marks of silver, 
 which, howbeit his lordship had always withheld from me hith- 
 erto (for he was a very hard inhuman man, inasmuch as he 
 despised the holy Gospel and the preaching of the Word, and 
 openly, without shame, reviled the servants of God, saying that 
 they were useless feeders, and that Luther had but half cleansed 
 the pigstye of the church God mend it !) But he answered 
 me nothing, and I should have perished from want if Hinrich 
 Seden had not begged for me in the parish. May God reward 
 the honest fellow for it in eternity ! Moreover, he was then 
 
 * A castle in Usedom, formerly a celebrated convent
 
 INTROD.] THE AMBER WITCH. 3 
 
 growing old, and was sorely plagued by his wicked wife Lizzie 
 Kolken. Methought when I married them that it would not 
 turn out over well, seeing that she was in common report of 
 having long lived in unchastity with Wittich Appelmann, who 
 had ever been an arch-rogue, and especially an arrant whore- 
 master, and such the Lord never blesses. This same Seflen 
 now brought me five loaves, two sausages, and a goose, which 
 old goodwife Paal, at Loddin, had given him ; also a flitch of 
 bacon from the farmer Jack Tewert. But he said I must shield 
 him from his wife, who would have had half for herself, and 
 when he denied her she cursed him, and wished him gout in 
 his head, whereupon he straightway felt a pain in his right 
 cheek, and it was quite hard and heavy already. At such 
 shocking news I was affrighted, as became a good pastor, and 
 asked whether peradventure he believed that she stood in evil 
 communication with Satan, and could bewitch folks ? But he 
 said nothing, and shrugged his shoulders. So I sent for old 
 Lizzie to come to me, who was a tall, meagre woman of about 
 sixty, with squinting eyes, so that she could not look any one 
 in the face ; likewise with quite red hair, and indeed her good- 
 man had the same. But though I diligently admonished her 
 out of God's word, she made no answer until at last I said, 
 ' Wilt thou unbewitch my goodman (for I saw from the window 
 how that he was raving in the street lijce a madman), or wilt 
 thou that I should inform the magistrate of thy deeds ?" then, 
 indeed, she gave in, and promised that he should soon be better 
 (and so he was) ; moreover she begged that I would give her 
 some bread and some bacon, inasmuch as it was three days 
 since she had had a bit of anything to put between her lips, 
 saving always her tongue. So my daughter gave her half a 
 loaf, and a piece of bacon about two hands-breadths large ; 
 but she did not think it enough, and muttered between her teeth ; 
 whereupon my daughter said, ' If thou art not content, thou 
 old witch, go thy ways and help thy goodman ; see how he has 
 laid his head on Zabel's fence, and stamps with his feet for 
 pain.' Whereupon she went away, but still kept muttering be- 
 tween her teeth, 'Yea, forsooth, I will help him and thee too.' '
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 How the Imperialists robbed me of all that was left, and likewise broke into 
 the Church and stole the Vasa Sacra ; also what more befel us. 
 
 AFTER a few days, when we had eaten almost all our food, my 
 last cow fell down dead (the wolves had already devoured the 
 others, as mentioned above), not without a strong suspicion that 
 Lizzie had a hand in it, seeing that the poor beast had eaten 
 heartily the day before ; but I leave that to a higher judge, see- 
 ing that I would not willingly calumniate any one ; and it may 
 have been the will of God, whose wrath I have well deserved. 
 Summa, I was once more in great need, and my daughter Mary 
 pierced my heart with her sighs, when the cry was raised that 
 another troop of Imperialists was come to Uekeritze, and was 
 marauding there more cruelly than ever, and, moreover, had 
 burnt half the village. Wherefore I no longer thought myself 
 safe in my cottage ; and after I had commended everything to 
 the Lord in a fervent prayer, I went up with my daughter and 
 old Use into the Streckelberg,* where I already had looked out 
 for ourselves a hole like a cavern, well grown over with bram- 
 bles, against the time when the troubles should drive us thither. 
 We therefore took with us all we had left to us for the support of 
 our bodies, and fled into the woods, sighing and weeping, whi- 
 ther we soon were followed by the old men, and the women and 
 children ; these raised a great cry of hunger when they saw 
 my daughter sitting on a log and eating a bit of bread and 
 meat, and the little things came with their tiny hands stretched 
 out and cried, " Have some too, have some too." Therefore, 
 being justly moved by such great distress, I hindered not my 
 daughter from sharing all the bread and meat that remained 
 among the hungry children. But first I made them pray 
 
 * A considerable mountain close to the sea near Coserow.
 
 CHAP, vii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 5 
 
 " The eyes of all wait upon thee ;"* upon which words I then 
 spake comfortably to the people, telling them that the Lord, who 
 had now fed their little children, would find means to fill their 
 own bellies, and that they must not be weary of trusting in him. 
 
 This comfort did not, however, last long ; for after we had 
 rested within and around the cavern for about two hours, the 
 bells in the village began to ring so dolefully, that it went nigh 
 to break all our hearts, the more as loud firing was heard be- 
 tween whiles ; item, the cries of men and the barking of dogs 
 resounded, so that we could easily guess that the enemy was 
 in the village. I had enough to do to keep the women quiet, 
 that they might not by their senseless lamentations betray our 
 hiding-place to the cruel enemy ; and more still when it began 
 to smell smoky, and presently the bright flames gleamed through 
 the trees. I therefore sent old Paasch up to the top of the hill, 
 that he might look around and see how matters stood, but told 
 him to take good care that they did not see him from the vil- 
 lage, seeing that the twilight had but just begun. 
 
 This he promised, and soon returned with the news that about 
 twenty horsemen had galloped out of, the village towards the 
 Damerow, but that half the village was in flames. Item, he 
 told us that by a wonderful dispensation of Gdd a great number 
 of birds had appeared in the juniper-bushes and elsewhere, and, 
 that if we could catch them they would be excellent food for 
 us. I therefore climbed up the hill myself, and having found 
 everything as he had said, and also perceived that the fire had, 
 by the help of God's mercy, abated in the village ; item, that 
 my cottage was left standing, far beyond my merits and de- 
 serts ; I came down again and comforted the people, saying, 
 " The Lord hath given us a sign, and he will feed us, as he fed 
 the people of Israel in the wilderness ; for he has sent us a fine 
 flight of fieldfares across the barren sea, so that they whirr out 
 of every bush as ye come near it. Who will now run down into 
 the village, and cut off the mane and tail of my dead cow which 
 lies out behind on the common ?" (for there was no horsehair 
 in all the village, seeing that the enemy had long since carried 
 
 * Ps. cxlv. 15, 16.
 
 6 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vir. 
 
 off or stabbed all the horses). But no one would go, for fear 
 was stronger even than hunger, till my old Use spoke, and said, 
 i I will go, for I fear nothing, when I walk in the ways of God ; 
 only give me a good stick." When old Paasch had lent her his 
 staff, she began to sing, " God the Father be with us," and was 
 soon out of sight among the bushes. Meanwhile I exhorted the 
 people to set to work directly, and to cut little wands for springes, 
 and to gather berries while the moon still shone ; there were a 
 great quantity of mountain-ash and elder-bushes all about the 
 mountain. I myself and my daughter Mary stayed to guard 
 the little children, because it was not safe there from wolves. 
 We therefore made a blazing fire, sat ourselves around it, and 
 heard the little folks say the Ten Commandments, when there 
 was a rustling and crackling behind us, and my daughter 
 jumped up and ran into the cavern, crying, " Proh dolor hos- 
 tisf"* But it was only some of the able-bodied men who had 
 stayed behind in the village, and who now came to bring us 
 word how things stood there. I therefore called to her directly, 
 " Emergas amid," whereupon she came skipping joyously out, 
 and sat down again by the fire, and forthwith my warden Hin- 
 rich Seden related all that had happened, and how his life had 
 only been saved by means of his wife Lizzie Kolken ; but that 
 Jurgen Flatow, Chim Burse, Glaus Peer and Chim Seideritz 
 were killed, and the last named of them left lying on the church 
 steps. The wicked incendiaries had burned down twelve sheds, 
 and it was not their fault that the whole village was not 
 destroyed, but only in consequence of the wind not being in the 
 quarter that suited their purpose. Meanwhile they tolled the 
 bells in mockery and scorn, to see whether any one would come 
 and quench the fire ; and that when he and the three other 
 young fellows came forward they fired off their muskets at 
 them, but, by God's help, none of them were hit. Hereupon 
 his three comrades jumped over the paling and escaped ; but 
 him they caught, and had already taken aim at him with their 
 firelocks, when his wife Lizzie Kolken came out of the church 
 with another troop and beckoned to them to leave him in peace. 
 
 * Our author afterwards explains the learned education of the maiden.
 
 CHAP, vii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 
 
 But they stabbed Lene Hebers as she lay in childbed, speared 
 the child, and flung it over Glaus Peer's hedge among the net- 
 tles, where it was yet lying when they came away. There 
 was not a living soul left in the village, and still less a morsel 
 of bread, so that unless the Lord took pity on their need they 
 must all die miserably of hunger. 
 
 (Now who is to believe that such people can call themselves 
 Christians !) 
 
 I next inquired, when he had done speaking (but with many 
 sighs, as any one may guess), after my cottage ; but of that they 
 knew naught save that it was still standing. I thanked the 
 Lord therefore with a quiet sigh ; and having asked old Seden 
 what his wife had been doing in the church, I thought I should 
 have died for grief when I heard that the villains came out of 
 it with both the chalices and patens in their hands. I there- 
 fore spoke very sharply to old Lizzie, who now came slinking 
 through the bushes ; but she answered insolently, that the 
 strange soldiers had forced her to open the church, as her good- 
 man had crept behind the hedge, and nobody else was there ; 
 that they had gone straight up to the altar, and seeing that one 
 of the stones was not well fitted (which, truly, was an arch- 
 lie), had begun to dig with their swords till they found the chal- 
 ices and patens ; or somebody else might have betrayed the spot 
 to them, so I need not always to lay the blame on her, and rate 
 her so hardly. 
 
 Meanwhile the old men and the women came with a good 
 store of berries ; item, my old maid, with the cow's tail and 
 mane, who brought word that the whole house was turned up- 
 side down, the windows all broken, and the books and writings 
 trampled in the dirt in the midst of the street, and the doors torn 
 off their hinges. This, however, was a less sorrow to me than 
 the chalices ; and I only bade the people make springes and snares, 
 in order next morning to begin our fowling, with the help of 
 Almighty God. I therefore scraped the rods myself until near 
 midnight ; and when we had made ready a good quantity, I told 
 old Seden to repeat the evening blessing, which we all heard on 
 our knees ; after which I wound up with a prayer, and then ad- 
 monished the people to creep in under the bushes to keep them
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vii. 
 
 from the cold (seeing that it was now about the end of Septem- 
 ber, and the wind blew very fresh from the sea), the men apart, 
 and the women also apart by themselves. I myself went up 
 with my daughter and my maid into the cavern, where I had not 
 slept long before I heard old Seden moaning bitterly because, 
 as he said, he was seized with the colic. I therefore got up and 
 gave him my place, and sat down again by the fire to cut 
 springes, till I fell asleep for half an hour ; and then morning 
 broke, and by that time he had got better, and I woke the peo- 
 ple to morning prayer. This time old Paasch had to say it, but 
 could not get through with it properly, so that I had to help 
 him. Whether he had forgot it, or whether he was frightened, 
 I cannot say. Summa. After we had all prayed most devoutly, 
 we presently set to work, wedging the springes into the trees, 
 and hanging berries all around them ; while my daughter took 
 care of the children, and looked for blackberries for their 
 breakfast. Now we wedged the snares right across the wood 
 along the road to Uekeritze ; and mark what a wondrous act of 
 mercy befel from gracious God ! As I stepped into the road 
 with the hatchet in my hand (it was Seden his hatchet, which 
 he had fetched out of the village early in the morning), I caught 
 sight of a loaf as long as my arm which a raven was pecking, 
 and which doubtless one of the Imperial troopers had dropped 
 out of his knapsack the day before, for there were fresh hoof- 
 marks in the sand by it. So I secretly buttoned the breast of 
 my coat over it, so that none should perceive anything, although 
 the aforesaid Paasch was close behind me ; item, all the rest fol- 
 lowed at no great distance. Now, having set the springes so 
 very early, towards noon we found such a great number of birds 
 taken in them, that Katy Berow, who went beside me while I 
 took them out, scarce could hold them all in her apron ; and at 
 the other end old Pagels pulled nearly as many out of his 
 doublet and coat-pockets. My daughter then sat down with the 
 rest of the womankind to pluck the birds ; and as there was no 
 salt (indeed it was long since most of us had tasted any), she 
 desired two men to go down to the sea, and to fetch a little salt- 
 water in an iron pot borrowed from Staffer Zuter ; and so they 
 did. In this water we first dipped the birds, and then roasted
 
 CHAP, vir.] ' THE AMBER WITCH. 9 
 
 them at a large fire, while our mouths watered only at the 
 sweet savor of them, seeing it was so long since we had tasted 
 any food. 
 
 And now when all was ready, and the people seated on the 
 earth, I said, " Behold how the Lord still feeds his people Israel 
 in the wilderness with fresh quails : if now he did yet more, 
 and sent us a piece of manna bread from heaven, what think 
 ye ? Would ye then ever weary of believing in him, and not 
 rather willingly endure all want, tribulation, hunger and thirst, 
 which he may hereafter lay upon you according to his gracious 
 will ?" Whereupon they all answered and said, " Yea, surely !" 
 Ego : " Will you then promise me this in truth ?" And they 
 said again, " Yea, that will we !" Then with tears I drew 
 forth the loaf from my breast, held it on high, and cried, " Be- 
 hold, then, thou poor believing little flock, how sweet a manna 
 loaf your faithful Redeemer hath sent ye through me !" 
 Whereupon they all wept, sobbed, and groaned ; and the little 
 children again came running up and held out their hands, cry- 
 ing, " See, bread, bread !" But as I myself could not pray for 
 heaviness of soul, I bade Paasch his little girl say the Gratias 
 the while my Mary cut up the loaf and gave to each his share. 
 And now we all joyfully began to eat our meat from God in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 Meanwhile I had to tell in what manner I had found the 
 blessed manna bread, wherein I neglected not again to exhort 
 them to lay to heart this great sign and wonder, how that God 
 in his mercy had done to them as of old to the prophet Elijah, 
 to whom a raven brought bread in his great need in the wilder- 
 ness ; as likewise this bread had been given to me by means of 
 a raven, which showed it to me, when otherwise I might have 
 passed it by in my heaviness without ever seeing it. 
 
 When we were satisfied with food, I said the thanksgiving 
 from Luke xii. 24, where the Lord saith, " Consider the ravens : 
 for they neither sow nor reap ; which neither have storehouse 
 nor barn ; and God feedeth them : hfow much more are ye better 
 than the fowls ?" But our sins stank before the Lord. For old 
 Lizzie, as I afterwards heard, would not eat her birds because 
 she thought them unsavory, but threw them among the juniper
 
 10 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. VH. 
 
 bushes ; whereupon the wrath of the Lord was kindled against 
 us as of old against the people of Israel, and at night we found 
 but seven birds in the snares, and next morning but two. Nei- 
 ther did any raven come again to give us bread. Wherefore I 
 rebuked old Lizzie, and admonished the people to take upon 
 themselves willingly the righteous chastisement of the Most 
 High God, to pray without ceasing, to return to their desolate 
 dwellings, and to see whether the all-merciful God would per- 
 adventure give them more on the sea. That I also would call 
 upon him with prayer night and day, remaining for a time in 
 the cavern with my daughter and the maid to watch the springes, 
 and see whether his wrath might be turned from us. That they 
 should meanwhile put my manse to rights to the best of their 
 power, seeing that the cold was become very irksome to me. 
 This they promised me, and departed with many sighs. What 
 a little flock ! I counted but twenty-five souls where there used 
 to be above eighty ; all the rest had been slain by hunger, 
 pestilence, or the sword.* I then abode awhile alone and sor- 
 rowing in the cave, praying to God, and sent my daughter with 
 the maid into the village to see how things stood at the manse ; 
 item, to gather together books and papers, and also to bring me word 
 whether Hinze the carpenter, whom I had straightway sent back 
 to the village, had knocked together some coffins for the poor 
 corpses, so that I might bury them next day. I then went to 
 look at the springes, but found only one single little bird, 
 whereby I saw that the wrath of God had not yet passed away. 
 Howbeit, I found a fine blackberry bush, from which I gathered 
 nearly a pint of berries, and put them, together with the bird, 
 in Staffer Zuter his pot, which the honest fellow had left with 
 us for a while, and set them on the fire for supper against my 
 child and the maid should return. It was not long before they 
 mine through the coppice, and told me of the fearful devasta- 
 tion which Satan had made in the village and manse by the 
 permission of all-righteous God. My child had gathered to- 
 
 This took place in the year 1028, and the horrors of the Thirty Years' 
 War were spread most fearfully over this island : pity that the description 
 of the old vicar, which he doubtless gave in the preceding pages; has been 
 lost.
 
 CHAP, vii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 11 
 
 gether a few books, which she brought with her, above all, a 
 Virgilius and a Greek Bible. And after she had told me that 
 the carpenter would not have done till next day, and we had 
 satisfied the cravings of hunger, I made her read to me again, 
 for the greater strengthening of my faith, the locus about the 
 blessed raven from the Greek of Luke, at the 12th chapter ; 
 also, the beautiful locus parallelus, Matt. vi. After which the 
 maid said the evening blessing, and we all went into the cave 
 to rest for the night. When I awoke next morning, just as the 
 blessed sun rose out the sea and peeped over the mountain, I 
 heard my poor hungry child already standing outside the cave, 
 reciting the beautiful verses about the joys of paradise which 
 St. Augustine wrote and I had taught her.* She sobbed for 
 grief as she spoke the words : 
 
 Uno pane vivunt cives utriusque patriffi 
 Avidi et semper pleni, quod habent desiderant 
 Non sacietas fastidit, neque fames cruciat 
 Inhiantes semper edunt, et edentes inhiant 
 Flos perpetuus rosarum ver agit perpetuum, 
 Candent lilia, rubescit crocus, sudat balsamum, 
 Virent prata, vernant sata, rivi mellis influunt 
 Pigmentorum spirat odor liquor et aromatum, 
 Pendent poma floridorum non lapsura nemorum 
 Non alternat luna vices, sol vel cursus syderum 
 Agnus est fcelicis urbis lumen inocciduum."f 
 
 * This is an error. The following verses are written by the Cardinal 
 Bishop of Ostia, Peter Damianus (d. 23rd Feb., 1072), after Augustine's 
 prose. 
 
 t The following version is from the pen of a friend. Trans. 
 " In that far land the citizens all share one equal bread, 
 
 And keep desire and hunger still, although to fulness fed : 
 
 Unwearied by satiety, unracked by hunger's strife, 
 
 The air they breathe is nourishment, and spiritual life ! 
 
 Around them, bright with endless Spring, perpetual roses bloom ; 
 Warm balsams gratefully exude luxurious perfume ; 
 
 Red crocuses, and lilies white, shine dazzling in the sun ; 
 
 Green meadows yield them harvests green, and streams with honey run ; 
 
 Unbroken droop the laden boughs, with heavy fruitage bent, 
 
 Of incense and of odors strange the air is redolent ; 
 
 And neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, dispense their changeful light, 
 
 But the Lamb's eternal glory makes the happy city bright !"
 
 12 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vn. 
 
 At these words my own heart was melted ; and when she 
 ceased from speaking, I asked, " What art thou doing, my 
 child ?" Whereupon she answered, " Father, I am eating." 
 Thereat my tears now indeed began to flow, and I praised her 
 for feeding her soul, as she had no meat for her body. I had 
 not, however, spoken long, before she cried to me to come and 
 look at* the great wonder that had risen out of the sea, and 
 already appeared over the cave. For behold a cloud, in shape 
 just like a cross, came over us, and let great heavy drops, as 
 big or bigger than large peas, fall on our heads, after which it 
 sank behind the coppice. I presently arose, and ran up the 
 mountain with my daughter to look after it. It floated on 
 towards the Achterwater,* where it spread itself out into a long 
 blue streak, whereon the sun shone so brightly that it seemed 
 like a golden bridge, on which, as my child said, the blessed 
 angels danced. I fell on my knees with her, and thanked the 
 Lord that our cross had passed away from us ; but, alas ! our 
 cross was yet to come, as will be told hereafter. 
 
 * A wash formed by the River Peene in the neighborhood.
 
 CHAP, viii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 13 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 How our need waxed sorer and sorer, and how I sent old Use with another 
 letter to Pudgla, and how heavy a misfortune this brought upon me. 
 
 NEXT day, when I had buried the poor corpses amid the la- 
 mentations of the whole village (by the same token that they 
 were all buried under where the lime-tree overhangs the 
 wall*), I heard with many sighs that neither the sea nor the 
 Achterwater would yield anything. It was now ten days since 
 the poor people had caught a single fish. I therefore went out 
 into the field, musing how the wrath of the just God might be 
 turned from us, seeing that the cruel winter was now at hand, 
 and neither corn, apples, fish nor flesh, to be found in the vil- 
 lage, nor even throughout all the parish. There was indeed 
 plenty of game in the forests of Corserow and Uekeritze ; but 
 the old forest ranger, Zabel Nehring, had died last year of the 
 plague, and there was no new one in his place. Nor was there 
 a musket nor a grain of powder to be found in all the parish ; 
 the enemy had robbed and broken everything : we were there- 
 fore forced, day after day, to see how the stags and the roes, the 
 hares and the wild boars, et cet., ran past us, when we would 
 so gladly have had them in our bellies, but had no means of 
 getting at them : for they were too cunning to let themselves be 
 caught in pit-falls. Nevertheless, Glaus Peer succeeded in 
 trapping a roe, and gave me a piece of it, for which may God 
 reward him. Item, of domestic cattle there was not a head 
 left ; neither was there a dog nor a cat, which the people had 
 not either eaten in their extreme hunger, or knocked on the 
 head, or drowned long since. Albeit old farmer Paasch still 
 owned two cows ; item, an old man in Uekeritze was said to 
 
 * This exists no longer.
 
 14 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 have one little pig : this was all. Thus, then, nearly all the 
 people lived on blackberries and other wild fruits ; the which 
 also soon grew to be scarce, as may easily be guessed. Be- 
 sides all this, a boy of fourteen was missing (old Labahn his 
 son) and was never more heard of, so that I shrewdly think that 
 the wolves devoured him. 
 
 And now let any Christian judge by his own heart in what 
 sorrow and heaviness I took my staff in my hand, seeing that 
 my child fell away like a shadow from pinching hunger ; al- 
 though I myself, being old, did not, by the help of God's mer- 
 cy, find any great failing in my strength. While I thus went 
 continually weeping before the Lord, on the way to Uekeritze, 
 I fell in with an old beggar with his wallet, sitting on a stone, 
 and eating a piece of God's rare gift, to wit, a bit of bread. 
 Then truly did my poor mouth so fill with water, that I was 
 forced to bow my head and let it run upon the earth before I 
 could ask, " Who art thou ? and whence comest thou ? seeing 
 that thou hast bread." Whereupon he answered that he was 
 a poor man of Bennemin, from whom the enemy had taken all ; 
 and as he had heard that the Lieper Winkel* had long been in 
 peace, he had travelled thither to beg. I straightway answer- 
 ed him, " Oh, poor beggarman, spare to me, a sorrowful ser- 
 vant of Christ, who is poorer even than thyself, one little slice 
 of bread for his wretched child ; for thou must know that I am 
 the pastor of this village, and that my daughter is dying of 
 hunger. I beseech thee by the living God not to let me depart 
 without taking pity on me, as pity also hath been shown to thee !" 
 But the beggarman would give me none, saying that he hiju- 
 self had a wife and four children, who were likewise stagger- 
 ing towards death's door under the bitter pangs of hunger ; 
 that the famine was sorer far in Bennemin than here, where we 
 still had berries ; whether I had not heard that but a few 
 days ago a woman (he told me her name, but horror made me 
 forget it) had there killed her own child, and devoured it from 
 
 * A remote part of the Island of Usedom.
 
 CHAP, viii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 15 
 
 hunger ?* That he could not therefore help me, and I might go 
 to the Lieper Winkel myself. 
 
 I was horror-stricken at his tale, as is easy to guess, for we 
 in our own trouble had not yet heard of it, there being little or 
 no traffic between one village and another ; and thinking on 
 Jerusalem,f and sheer despairing because the Lord had visited 
 us, as of old that ungodly city, although we had not betrayed 
 or crucified him, I almost forgot all my necessities, and took 
 my staff in my hand to depart. But I had not gone more than 
 a few yards when the beggar called me to stop, and when I 
 turned myself round he came towards me with a good hunch 
 of bread which he had taken out of his wallet, and said, 
 " There ! but pray for me also, so that I may reach my home ; 
 for if on the road they smell that I have bread, my own brother 
 would strike me dead, I believe." This I promised with joy, 
 and instantly turned back to take to my child the gift hidden 
 in my pocket. And behold, when I came to the road which 
 leads to Loddin, I could scarce trust my eyes (before I had 
 overlooked it in my distress) when I saw my glebe, which 
 could produce seven bushels, ploughed, sown, and in stalk ; the 
 blessed crop of rye had already shot lustily out of the earth a 
 finger's length in height. I could not choose but think that the 
 Evil One had deceived me with a false show, yet however hard I 
 rubbed my eyes, rye it was, and rye it remained. And seeing 
 that old Paasch his piece of land which joined mine was in like 
 manner sown, and that the blades had shot up to the same 
 height, I soon guessed that the good fellow had done this deed, 
 seeing that all the other land lay waste. Wherefore, I readily 
 forgave him for not knowing the morning prayer ; and thank- 
 ing the Lord for so much love from my flock, and earnestly 
 beseeching him to grant me strength and faith to bear with 
 them steadfastly and patiently all the troubles and adversities 
 which it might please him henceforward to lay upon us, accord- 
 ing to his divine pleasure, I ran rather than walked back into 
 the village to old Paasch his farm, where I found him just about 
 
 * Micraelius also mentions this horrible event in his history of Pomerania 
 t Where, according to Josephus, the same thing occurred.
 
 16 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 to kill his cow, which he was slaughtering from grim hunger. 
 " God bless thee," said I, " worthy friend, for sowing my field, 
 how shall I reward thee ?" But the old man answered, "Let 
 that be, and do you pray for us ;" and when I gladly promised 
 this, and asked him how he had kept his corn safe from the 
 savage enemy, he told me that he had hidden it secretly in the 
 caves of Streckelberg, but that now all his store was used up. 
 Meanwhile he cut a fine large piece of meat from the top of the 
 loin, and said, " There is something for you, and when that is 
 gone you can come again for more." As I was then about to 
 go with many thanks, his little Mary, a child nearly seven 
 years old, the same who had said the Gratias on the Streckel- 
 berg, seized me by the hand, and wanted to go to school to my 
 daughter ; for since my Gustos, as above mentioned, departed 
 this life in the plague, she had to teach the few little ones there 
 were in the village ; this, however, had long been abandoned. 
 I could not, therefore, deny her, although I feared that my 
 child would share her bread with her, seeing that she dearly 
 loved the little maid, who was her godchild ; and so indeed it 
 happened ; for when the child saw me take out the bread, she 
 shrieked for joy, and began to scramble up on the bench. Thus 
 she also got a piece of the slice, our maid got another, and my 
 child put the third piece into her own mouth, as I wished for 
 none, but said that I felt no signs of hunger and would wait 
 until the meat was boiled, the which I now threw upon the 
 bench. It was a goodly sight to see the joy which my poor 
 child felt, when I then also told her about the rye. She fell 
 upon my neck, wept, sobbed, then took the little one up in her 
 arms, danced about the room with her, and recited, as she was 
 wont, all manner of Latin versus, which she knew by heart. 
 Then she would prepare a right good supper for us, as a little 
 salt was still left in the bottom of a barrel of meat which the 
 Imperialists had broken up. I let her take her own way, and 
 having scraped some soot from the chimney and mixed it with 
 water, I tore a blank leaf out of " Virgilius," and wrote to the 
 Pastor Liepensis, his reverence Abraham Tiburtius, praying 
 that for God his sake he would take our necessities to heart, 
 and would exhort his parishioners to save us from dying of
 
 CHAP, vni.] THE AMBER WITCH. 17 
 
 grim hunger, and charitably to spare to us some meat and 
 drink, according as the all-merciful God had still left some to 
 them, seeing that a beggar had told me that they had long been 
 in peace from the terrible enemy. I knew not, however, 
 wherewithal to seal the letter, until I found in the church a lit- 
 tle wax still sticking to a wooden altar-candlestick, which the 
 Imperialists had not thought it worth their while to steal, for 
 they had only taken the brass ones. I sent three fellows in a 
 boat with Hinrich Seden, the church- warden, with this letter 
 to Liepe. 
 
 First, however, I asked my old Use, who was borne in Liepe, 
 whether she would not rather return home, seeing how matters 
 stood, and that I, for the present at least, could not give her a 
 stiver of her wages (mark that she had already saved up a 
 small sum, seeing that she had lived in my service above twenty 
 years, but the soldiers had taken it all). Howbeit, I could no- 
 wise persuade her to this, but she wept bitterly, and besought 
 me only to let her stay with the good damsel whom she had 
 rocked in her cradle. She would cheerfully hunger with us if 
 it needs must be, so that she were not turned away. Where- 
 upon, I yielded to her, and the others went alone. 
 
 Meanwhile the broth was ready, but scarce had we said the 
 Graiias, and were about to begin our meal, when all the child- 
 ren of the village, seven in number, came to the door, and 
 wanted bread, as they had heard we had some from my daugh- 
 ter her little godchild. Her heart again melted, and notwith- 
 standing I besought her to harden herself against them, she 
 comforted me with the message to Liepe, and poured out for 
 each child a portion of broth on a wooden platter (for these also 
 had been despised by the enemy), and put into their little hands 
 a bit of meat, so that all our store was eaten up at once. We 
 were, therefore, left fasting next morning, till towards midday, 
 when the whole village gathered together in a meadow on the 
 banks of the river to see the boat return. But, God be merci- 
 ful to us, we had cherished vain hopes ! six loaves and a sheep, 
 item, a quarter of apples, was all they had brought. His reve- 
 rence Abraham Tiburtius wrote to me that after the cry of 
 their wealth had spread through the island, so many beggars 
 
 3
 
 18 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 had flocked thither that it was impossible to be just to all, see- 
 ing that they themselves did not know how, it might fare with 
 them in these heavy troublous times. Meanwhile he would see 
 whether he could raise any more. I therefore with many sighs 
 had the small pittance carried to the manse, and though two 
 loaves were, as Pastor Liepensis said in his letter, for me alone, 
 I gave them up to be shared among all alike, whereat all were 
 content save Seden his squint-eyed wife, who would have had 
 somewhat extra on the score of her husband's journey, which, 
 however, as may be easily guessed, she did not get ; wherefore 
 she again muttered certain words between her teeth as she went 
 away, which, however, no one understood. Truly she was an 
 ill woman, and not to be moved by the word of God. 
 
 Any one may judge for himself that such a store could not 
 last long ; and all my parishioners felt an ardent longing 
 after spiritual food, and as I and the churchwardens could only 
 get together about sixteen farthings in the whole parish, which 
 was not enough to buy bread and wine, the thought struck me 
 once more to inform my lord the Sheriff of our need. With 
 how heavy a heart I did this may be easily guessed, but neces- 
 sity knows no law. I therefore tore the last blank leaf out of 
 " Virgilius," and begged that, for the sake of the Holy Trinity, 
 his lordship would mercifully consider mine own distress and 
 that of the whole parish, and bestow a little money to enable 
 me to administer the holy sacrament for the comfort of afflicted 
 souls ; also, if possible, to buy a cup, were it only of tin, since 
 the enemy had plundered us of ours, and I should otherwise be 
 forced to consecrate the sacred elements in an earthen vessel. 
 Item, I besought him to have pity on our bodily wants, and at 
 last to send me the first-fruits which had stood over for so many 
 years. That I did not want it for myself alone, but would 
 willingly share it with my parishioners, until such time as God 
 in his mercy should give us more. 
 
 Here a huge blot fell upon my paper ; for the windows being 
 boarded up, the room was dark, and but little light came 
 through two small panes of glass, which I had broken out of the 
 church, and stuck in between the boards ; this, perhaps, was 
 the reason why I did not see better. However, as I could not
 
 CHAP, vin.] THE AMBER WITCH. 19 
 
 anywhere get another piece of paper, I let it pass, and ordered 
 the maid, whom I sent with the letter to Pudgla, to excuse the 
 same to his lordship the Sheriff, the which she promised to do ; 
 seeing that I could not add a word more on the paper, as it was 
 written all over. I then sealed it as I had done before. 
 
 But the poor creature came back trembling for fear, and bit- 
 terly weeping, and said that his lordship had kicked her out of 
 the castle-gate, and had threatened to set her in the stocks if 
 she ever came before him again. "Did the parson think that 
 he was as free with his money as I seemed to be with my ink ? 
 I surely had water enough to celebrate the Lord's Supper where- 
 withal. For if the Son of God had once changed the water 
 into wine, he could surely do the like again. If I had no cup, 
 I might water my flock out of a bucket as he did himself;" 
 with many more blasphemies, such as he afterwards wrote to 
 me, and by which, as may easily be guessed, I was filled with 
 horror. Touching the first-fruits, as she told me, he said no- 
 thing at all. In such great spiritual and bodily need the blessed 
 Sunday came round, when nearly all the congregation would 
 have come to the Lord's table, but could not. I therefore spoke 
 on the words of St. Augustine, crede et manducasti, and repre- 
 sented that the blame was not mine, and truly told what had 
 happened to my poor maid at Pudgla, passing over much in 
 silence, and only praying God to awaken the hearts of magis- 
 trates for our good. Peradventure I may have spoken more 
 harshly than I meant. I know not ; only that I spoke that' 
 which was in my heart. At the end I made all the congrega- 
 tion stay on their knees for nearly an hour, and call upon the 
 Lord for his holy sacrament; item, for the relief of their bodily 
 wants, as had been done every Sunday, and at all the daily 
 prayers I had been used to read ever since the heavy time of 
 the plague. Last of all, I led the glorious hymn, " When' in 
 greatest need we be;" which was no sooner finished than my 
 new churchwarden, Glaus Bulk of Uekeritze, who had formerly 
 been a groom with his lordship, and whom he had now put into 
 a farm, ran off to Pudgla, and told him all that had taken place 
 in the church. Whereat his lordship was greatly angered, in- 
 somuch that he summoned the whole parish, which still num-
 
 20 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, viu 
 
 bered about 150 souls, without counting the children, and dic- 
 tated ad protocollum whatsoever they could remember of the 
 sermon, seeing that he meant to inform his Princely Grace the 
 Duke of Pomerania of the blasphemous lies which I had vom- 
 ited against him, and which must sorely offend every Christian 
 heart. Item, what an avaricious wretch I must be to be always 
 wanting something of him, and to be daily, so to say, pestering 
 him in these hard times with my filthy letters, when he had not 
 enough to eat himself. This he said should break the parson 
 his neck, since his princely grace did all that he asked of him ; 
 and that no one in the parish need give me anything more, but 
 only let me go my ways. He would soon take care that they 
 should have quite a different sort of parson from what I was. 
 
 (Now I would like to see the man who could make up his 
 mind to come into the midst of such wretchedness at all.) 
 
 This news was brought to me in the selfsame night, and gave 
 me a great fright, as I now saw that I should not have a gra- 
 cious master in his lordship, but should all the time of my mis- 
 erable life, even if I could anyhow support it, find in him an 
 ungracious lord. But I soon felt some comfort, when Chim 
 Kruger from Uekeritze, who brought me the news, took a little 
 bit of his sucking-pig out of his pocket and gave it to me. 
 Meanwhile old Paasch came in and said the same, and likewise 
 brought me a piece of his old cow ; item, my other warden, 
 Hinrich Seden, with a slice of bread, and a fish which he had 
 taken in his net ; all saying they wished for no better priest 
 than me, and that I was only to pray to the merciful Lord to 
 bestow more upon them, whereupon I should want for nothing. 
 Meanwhile I must be quiet and not betray them. All this I 
 promised ; and my daughter Mary took the blessed gifts of God 
 off the table and carried them into the inner chamber. But, 
 alas ! next morning, when she would have put the meat into the 
 cauldron, it was all gone. I know not who prepared this new 
 sorrow for me, but much believe it was Hinrich Seden his 
 wicked wife, seeing he can never hold his tongue, and most 
 likely told her everything. Moreover, Paasch his little daugh- 
 ter saw that she had meat in her pot next day ; item, that she 
 had quarrelled with her husband, and had flung the fish-board
 
 CHAP, viii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 21 
 
 at him, whereon some fresh fish-scales were sticking : she had, 
 however, presently recollected herself when she saw the child- 
 (Shame on thee, thou old witch, it is true enough, I dare say !) 
 Hereupon naught was left us but to feed our poor souls with 
 the word of God. But even our souls were so cast down that 
 they could receive naught, any more than our bellies ; my poor 
 child, especially, from day to day grew paler, greyer, and yel- 
 lower, and always threw up all her food, seeing she ate it with- 
 out salt or bread. I had long wondered that the bread from 
 Liepe was not yet done, but that every day at dinner I still had 
 a morsel. I had often asked, " Whence comes all this blessed 
 bread ? I believe, after all, you save the whole for me, and 
 take none for yourself or the maid." But they both then lifted 
 to their mouths a piece of fir-tree bark, which they had cut to 
 look like bread, and laid by their plates ; and as the room was 
 dark, I did not find out their deceit, but thought that they too 
 were eating bread. But at last the maid, told me of it, so that 
 I should allow it no longer, as my daughter would not listen to 
 her. It is not hard to guess how my heart was wrung when I 
 saw my poor child lying on her bed of moss struggling with 
 grim hunger. But things were to go yet harder with me, for 
 the Lord in his anger would break me in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel. For behold, on the evening of the same day, old Paasch 
 came running to me, complaining that all his and my corn in 
 the field had been pulled up and miserably destroyed, and that 
 it must have been done by Satan himself, as there was not a 
 trace either of oxen or horses. At these words my poor child 
 screamed aloud and fainted. I would have run to help her, but 
 could not reach her bed, and fell on the ground myself for bit- 
 ter grief. The loud cries of the maid and old Paasch soon 
 brought us both their senses. But I could not rise from the 
 ground alone, for the Lord had bruised all my bones. I be- 
 sought them, therefore, when they would have helped me, to 
 leave me where I was ; and when they would not, I cried out 
 that I must again fall on the ground to pray, and begged them 
 all save my daughter to depart out of the room. This they did, 
 but the prayer would not come. I fell into heavy doubting and 
 despair, and murmured against the Lord that he plagued me
 
 22 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vm. 
 
 more sorely than Lazarus or Job. Wretch that I was, I 
 cried, " Thou didst leave to Lazarus at least the crumbs and 
 the pitiful dogs, but to me thou hast left nothing, and I myself 
 am less in thy sight even than a dog ; and Job thou didst not 
 afflict until thou hadst mercifully taken away his children, but 
 to me thou hast left my poor little daughter, that her torments 
 may increase mine a thousand fold. Behold, then, I can only 
 pray that thou wilt take her from the earth, so that my grey 
 head may gladly follow her to the grave ! Wo is me, ruthless 
 father, what have I done ? I have eaten bread, and suffered 
 my child to hunger ! Oh, Lord Jesu, who hast said, ' What man 
 is there of you, whom if his son ask bread will he give him a 
 stone ?' Behold I am that man ! behold I am that ruthless father ! 
 I have eaten bread, and have given wood to my child ! Punish 
 me ; I will bear it and lie still. Oh, righteous Jesu, I have eaten 
 bread, and have given wood to my child !" As I did not speak, 
 but rather shrieked these words, wringing my hands the while, 
 ray child fell upon my neck, sobbing, and chid me for murmur- 
 ing against the Lord, seeing that even she, a weak and frail 
 woman, had never doubted his mercy ; so that with shame and 
 repentance I presently came to myself before the Lord for such 
 heavy sin. 
 
 Meanwhile the maid had ran into the village with loud cries 
 to see if she could get anything for her poor young mistress, but 
 the people had already eaten their noontide meal, and most of 
 them were gone to sea to seek their blessed supper ; thus she 
 could find nothing, seeing that old wife Seden, who alone had 
 any victuals, would give her none, although she prayed her by 
 Jesu's wounds. 
 
 She was telling us this when we heard a noise in the chamber, 
 and presently Lizzie her worthy old husband, who had got in at 
 the window by stealth, brought us a pot of good broth, which 
 he had taken off the fire whilst his wife was gone for a moment 
 into the garden. He well knew that his wife would make him 
 pay for it, but that he did not mind, so the young mistress would 
 but drink it, and she would find it salted and all. He would 
 make haste out of the window again, and see that he got home 
 before his wife, that she might not find out where he had been.
 
 CHAP, vni.] THE AMBER WITCH. 23 
 
 But my daughter would not touch the broth, which sorely vexed 
 him, so that he set it down on the ground cursing, and ran out 
 of the room. It was not long before his squint-eyed wife came 
 in at the front door, and when she saw the pot still steaming on 
 the ground, she cried out, " Thou thief, thou cursed thieving 
 carcass !" and would have flown at the face of my maid. But 
 I threatened her, and told her all that had happened, and that if 
 she would not believe me, she might go into the chamber and 
 look out of the window, whence she might still, belike, see 
 her goodman running home. This she did, and presently we 
 heard her calling after him, " Wait, and the devil shall tear off 
 thine arms, only wait till thou art home again !" After this 
 she came back, and, muttering something, took the pot off" the 
 ground. I begged her, for the love of God, to spare a little 
 to my child ; but she mocked at me and said, " You can preach 
 to her, as you did to me," and walked towards the door with the 
 pot. My child indeed besought me to let her go, but I could 
 not help calling after her, " For the love of God, one good sup, 
 or my poor child must give up the ghost : wilt thou that at the 
 day of judgment God should have mercy on thee, so show mercy 
 this day to me and mine !" But she scoffed at us again, and 
 cried out, " Let her cook herself some bacon," and went out at 
 the door. I then sent the maid after her with the hour-glass 
 which stood before me on the table, to offer it to her for a good 
 sup out of the pot ; but the maid brought it back, saying that 
 she would not have it. Alas, how I wept and sobbed, as my 
 poor dying child with a loud sigh buried her head again in the 
 moss ! Yet the merciful God was more gracious to me than my 
 unbelief had deserved ; for when the hard-he.arted woman be- 
 stowed a little broth on her neighbor old Paasch, he presently 
 brought it to my child, having heard from the maid how it stood 
 with her ; and I believe that this broth, under God, alone saved 
 her life, for she raised her head as soon as she had supped it, and 
 was able to go about the house again in an hour. May God 
 reward the good fellow for it ! Thus I had some joy in the 
 midst of my trouble. But while I sat by the fire-side in the 
 evening musing on my fate, my grief again broke forth, and I 
 made up my mind to leave my house, and even my cure, and to
 
 24 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. vin. 
 
 wander through the wide world with my daughter as a beggar. 
 God knows I had cause enough for it ; for now that all my hopes 
 were dashed, seeing that my field was quite ruined, and that the 
 Sheriff had become my bitter enemy, moreover that it was five 
 years since I had had a wedding, item, but two christenings 
 during the past year, I saw my own and my daughter's death 
 staring me in the face, and no prospect of better times at hand. 
 Our want was increased by the great fears of the congregation ; 
 for although by God's wondrous mercy they had already begun 
 to take good draughts of fish both in the sea and the Achter- 
 water, and many of the people in the other villages had already 
 gotten bread, salt, oatmeal, &c., from the Polters and Quatzners 
 of Anklam and Lassan* in exchange for their fish ; nevertheless, 
 they brought me nothing, fearing lest it might be told at Pudgla, 
 and make his lordship ungracious to them. I therefore beckoned 
 my daughter to me, and told her what was in my thoughts, 
 saying that God, in his mercy, could any day bestow on me 
 another cure if I was found worthy in his sight of such a favor, 
 seeing that these terrible days of pestilence and war had called 
 away many of the servants of his word, and that I had not fled 
 like a hireling from his flock, but, on" the contrary, till datum 
 shared sorrow .and death with it. Whether she were able to 
 walk five or ten miles a day ; for that then we would beg our 
 way to Hamburg, to my departed wife her step-brother, Martin 
 Behring, who is a great merchant in that city. 
 
 This at first sounded strange to her, seeing that she had very 
 seldom been out of our parish, and that her departed mother and 
 her little brother lay in our churchyard. She asked, " who was 
 to make up their, graves and plant flowers on them ? Item, as 
 the Lord had given her a smooth face, what I should do if in 
 these wild and cruel times she were attacked on the highways 
 by marauding soldiers or other villains, seeing that I was a weak 
 old man and unable to defend her ; item, wherewithal should we 
 shield ourselves from the frost, as the winter was setting in, and 
 
 * These people still go about the Achterwater every day in small boats 
 called Polten and Quatzen, and buy from the boors any fish they may have 
 caught.
 
 CHAP, viii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 25 
 
 the enemy had robbed us of our clothes, so that we had scarce 
 enough left to cover our nakedness?" All this I had not con- 
 sidered, and was forced to own that she was right ; so after 
 much discussion we determined to leave it this night to the Lord, 
 and to do whatever he should put into our hearts next morn- 
 ing. At any rate, we saw that we could in nowise keep the 
 old maid any longer ; I therefore called her out of the kitchen, 
 and told her she had better go early next morning to Liepe, as 
 there still was f<jj>d there, whereas here she must starve, seeing 
 that perhaps we ourselves might leave the parish and the 
 country to-morrow. I thanked her for the love and faith she 
 had shown us, and begged her at last, amid the loud sobs of my 
 poor daughter, to depart forthwith privately, and not to make 
 our hearts still heavier by leave-taking ; that old Paasch was 
 going a-fishing to-night on the Achterwater, as he had told me, 
 and no doubt would readily set her on shore at Griissow, where 
 she had friends, and could eat her fill even to-day. She could 
 not say a word for weeping, but when she saw that I was really 
 in earnest she went out of the room. Not long after we heard 
 the house-door shut to, whereupon my daughter moaned, " She 
 is gone already," and ran straight to the window to look after 
 her. " Yes," cried she, as she saw her through the little panes, 
 " she is really gone ;" and she wrung her hands and would not 
 be comforted. At last, however, she was quieted when I spoke 
 of the maid Hagar, whom Abraham had likewise cast off, 
 but on whom the Lord had nevertheless shown mercy in the 
 wilderness ; and hereupon we commended ourselves to the 
 Lord, and stretched ourselves on our couches of moss.
 
 26 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 How the old maid-servant humbled me by her faith, and the Lord yet 
 
 blessed me his unworthy servant. 
 
 
 
 " BLESS the Lord, O my soul ; and all that is within me, bless 
 his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all 
 his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth 
 all thy diseases ; who redeemeth thy life from destruction ; who 
 crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies." 
 (Ps. ciii.) 
 
 Alas ! wretched man that I am, how shall I understand all 
 the benefits and mercies which the Lord bestowed upon me, the 
 very next day ? I now wept for joy as of late I had done for 
 sorrow ; and my child danced about the room like a young roe, 
 and would not go to bed, but only cry and dance, and between 
 whiles repeat the 103d Psalm, then dance and cry again until 
 morning broke. But as she was still very weak, I rebuked her 
 presumption, seeing that this was tempting the Lord ; and now 
 mark what had happened. 
 
 After we had both woke in the morning with deep sighs, and 
 called upon the Lord to manifest to us, in our hearts, what wo 
 should do, we still could not make up our minds. I therefore 
 called to my child, if she felt strong enough, to leave her bed 
 and light a fire in the stove herself, as our maid was gone ; that 
 we would then consider the matter further. She accordingly 
 got up, but came back in an instant with cries of joy, because 
 the maid had privately stolen back into the house, and had 
 already made a fire. Hereupon I sent for her to my bedside, 
 and wondered at her disobedience, and asked what she now 
 wanted here, but to torment me and my daughter still more, 
 and why she did not go yesterday with old Paasch ? But she 
 lamented and wept so sore that she scarce could speak, and I 
 understood only thus much : that she had eaten with us, and
 
 CHAP, ix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 27 
 
 would likewise starve with us, for that she could never part 
 from her young mistress, whom she had known from her cra- 
 dle. Such faithful love moved me so, that I said almost with 
 tears, " But hast thou not heard that my daughter and I have 
 determined to wander as beggars about the country ; where, 
 then, wilt thou remain ?" To this she answered that neither 
 would she stay behind, seeing it was more fitting for her to beg 
 than for us ; but that she could not yet see why I wished to go 
 out into the wide world ; whether I had already forgotten that 
 I had said, in my induction sermon, that I would abide with 
 my flock in affliction and in death ? That I should stay yet a 
 little longer where I was, and send her to Liepe, as she hoped 
 to get something worth having for us, there, from her friends 
 and others. These words, especially those about my induction 
 sermon, fell heavy on my conscience, and I was ashamed of 
 my want of faith, since, not my daughter only, but yet more, 
 even my maid, had stronger faith than I, who, nevertheless, pro- 
 fessed to be a servant of God's word. I believe that the Lord, to 
 keep me, poor fearful hireling, and at the same time, to humble 
 me, had awakened the spirit of this poor maid-servant to prove 
 me, as the maid in the palace of the high-priest had also proved 
 the fearful St. Peter. Wherefore I turned my face towards 
 the wall, like Hezekiah, and humbled myself before the Lord ; 
 which scarce had I done before my child ran into the room 
 again, with a cry of joy. For behold some Christian heart 
 had stolen quietly into the house in the night, and had 
 laid in the chamber two loaves, a good piece of meat, a bag of 
 oatmeal, item, a bag of salt, holding near a pint. Any one may 
 guess what shouts of joy we all raised. Neither was I ashamed 
 to confess my sins before my maid ; and in our common morn- 
 ing prayer, which we said on our knees, I made fresh vows to 
 the Lord, of obedience and faith. Thus we had that morning 
 a grand breakfast, and sent something to old Paasch besides ; 
 item, my daughter again sent for all the little children to come, 
 and kindly fed them with our store, before they said their tasks ; 
 and when in my heart of little faith I sighed thereat, although 
 I said naught, she smiled, and said, " Take therefore no thought
 
 28 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things 
 of itself."* 
 
 The Holy Ghost spoke by her, as I cannot but believe, nor 
 thou either, beloved reader : for, mark what happened. In the 
 afternoon, she (I mean my child) went up the Streckelberg to 
 seek for blackberries, as old Paasch had told her through the 
 maid that a few bushes were still left. The maid was chopping 
 wood in the yard, to which end she had borrowed old Paasch 
 his axe, for the Imperialist thieves had thrown away mine, so 
 that it could nowhere be found ; and I myself was pacing up 
 and down in the room, meditating my sermon ; when my child, 
 with her apron full, came quickly in at the door, quite red and 
 with beaming eyes, and scarce able for joy to say more than 
 " Father, father, what have I got ?" " Well," quoth I, " what 
 hast thou got, my child ?" Whereupon she opened her apron, 
 and I scarce trusted my eyes when I saw, instead of the black- 
 berries which she had gone to seek, two shining pieces of 
 amber, each nearly as big as a man's head, not to mention the 
 small pieces, some of which were as large as my hand, and that, 
 God knows, is no small one. " Child of my heart," cried I, 
 " how cam'st thou by this blessing from God ?" As soon as 
 she could fetch her breath, she told me as follows : 
 
 That while she was seeking for blackberries in a dell near 
 the shore, she saw somewhat glistening in the sun, and on 
 coming near, she found this wondrous Godsend, seeing that the 
 wind had blown the sand away from off a black vein of amber. f 
 That she straightway had broken off these pieces with a stick, 
 and that there was plenty more to be got, seeing that it rattled 
 about under the stick when she thrust it into the sand, neither 
 could she force it farther than, at most, a foot deep into the 
 ground ; item, she told me that she had covered the place all 
 
 * Matt, vi., ni. 
 
 t This happens frequently even now, and has occurred to the editor him- 
 self. The small dark vein held indeed a few pieces of amber, mixed with 
 charcoal, a sure proof of its vegetable origin, of which we may observe in 
 passing there is now scarce any doubt, since whole trees of amber have been 
 found in Prussia, and are preserved in the museum at Konigsberg.
 
 CHAP, ix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 23 
 
 over again with sand, and swept it smooth with her apron so as 
 to leave no traces. 
 
 Moreover, that no stranger was at all likely to go thither, 
 seeing that no blackberries grew very near, and she had gone 
 to the spot, moved by curiosity and a wish to look upon the 
 sea, rather than from any need ; but that she could easily find 
 the place again herself, inasmuch as she had marked it with 
 three little stones. What was our first act after the all-merci- 
 ful God had rescued us but of such misery, nay, even, as it 
 seemed, endowed us with great riches, any one may guess. 
 When we at length got up off our knees, my child would 
 straightway have run to tell the maid our joyful news. But I 
 forbade her, seeing that we could not be sure that the maid 
 might not tell it again to her friends, albeit in all other things 
 she was a faithful woman, and feared God ; but that if she did 
 that, the Sheriff would be sure to hear of it, and to seize upon 
 our treasure for his Princely Highness the Duke, that is to say, 
 for himself; and that naught would be left to us but the sight 
 thereof, . and our want would begin all over again ; that we 
 therefore would say, when folks asked about the luck that had 
 befallen us, that my deceased brother, who was a councillor at 
 Rotterdam, had left us a good lump of money ; and indeed it 
 was true that I had inherited near 200 florins from him a year 
 ago, which, however, the soldiery (as mentioned above) cruelly 
 robbed me of; item, that I would go to Wolgast myself next 
 day, and sell the little bits as best I might, saying that thou 
 hadst picked them up by the seaside ; thou mayst tell the maid 
 the same, if thou wilt, but show the larger pieces to no one, and 
 I will send them to thy uncle at Hamburg, to be turned into 
 money for us ; perchance I may be able to sell one of them at 
 Wolgast, if I find occasion, so as to buy clothes enough for the 
 winter, for thee and for me, wherefore thou, too, mayst go with' 
 me. We will take the few farthings which the congregation 
 have brought together, to pay the ferry, and thou canst order 
 the maid to wait for us till eventide at the water-side to carry 
 home the victuals. She agreed to all this, but said we had 
 better first break off some more amber, so that we might get a 
 good round sum for it at Hamburg ; and I thought so too,
 
 30 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 wherefore we stopped at home next day, seeing that we did not 
 want for food, and that my child, as well as myself, both wished 
 to refresh ourselves a little before we set out on our journey ; 
 item, we likewise bethought us that old Master Rothoog, of 
 Loddin, who is a cabinet-maker, might knock together a little 
 box for us, to put the amber in, wherefore I sent the maid to 
 him in the afternoon. Meanwhile we ourselves went up the 
 Streckelberg, where I cut a young fir-tree with my pocket- 
 knife, which I had saved from the enemy, and shaped it like a 
 spade, so that I might be better able to dig deep therewith. 
 First, however, we looked about us well on the mountain, and 
 seeing nobody, my daughter walked on to the place, which she 
 straightway found again. Great God ! what a mass of amber 
 was there ! The vein was hard upon twenty feet long, as near 
 as I could feel, and the depth of it I could not sound. Never- 
 theless, save four good-sized pieces, none, however, so big as 
 those of yesterday, we this day only broke out little splinters, 
 such as the apothecaries bruise for incense. After we had 
 most carefully covered and smoothed over the place, a great 
 mishap was very near befalling us ; for we met Witthan her little 
 girl, who was seeking blackberries, and she asked what my 
 daughter carried in her apron, who straightway grew red, and 
 stammered so that our secret would have been betrayed if I had 
 not presently said, " What is that to thee ? she has got fir-ap- 
 ples, for firing," which the child believed. Wherefore we re- 
 solved in future only to go up the mountain at night by moon- 
 light, and we went home and got there before the maid, and hid 
 our treasures in the bedstead, so that she should not see it.
 
 CHAP, x.] THE AMBER WITCH. 31 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 How we journeyed to Wolgast, and made good barter there. 
 
 Two days after, so says my daughter, but old Use thinks it was 
 three (and I myself know not which is true), we at last went 
 to the town, seeing that Master Rothoog had not got the box 
 ready before. My daughter covered it over with a piece of my 
 departed wife her wedding gown, which the Imperialists had 
 indeed torn to pieces, but as they had left it lying outside, the 
 wind had blown it into the orchard, where we found it. It was 
 very shabby before, otherwise I doubt not they would have car- 
 ried it off with them. On account of the box we took old Use 
 with us, who had to carry it, and as amber is very light ware 
 she readily believed that the box held nothing but eatables. At 
 day-break, then, we took our staves in our hands, and set out 
 with God. Near Zitze,* a hare ran across the road before us, 
 which they say bodes no good. Well-a-day ! When we came 
 near Bannemin I asked a fellow if it was true that here a 
 mother had slaughtered her own child, from hunger, as I had 
 heard. He said it was, and that the old woman's name was 
 Zisse ; but that God had been wrath at such a horrid deed, and 
 she had got no good by it, seeing that she vomited so much upon 
 eating it, that she forthwith gave up the ghost. On the whole 
 he thought things were already going rather better with the 
 parish, as Almighty God had richly blessed them with fish, both 
 out of the sea and the Achterwater. Nevertheless a great 
 number of people had died of hunger here also. He told us 
 that their vicar, his reverence Johannes Lampius.f had had his 
 
 * A village half way between Coserow and Wolgast, now called Zinno- 
 witz. 
 
 t The present parish archives contain several short and incomplete 
 notices of his sufferings during these dreadful wars.
 
 32 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. x. 
 
 house burnt down by the Imperialists, and was lying in a hovel 
 near the church. I sent him my greeting, desiring that he 
 would soon come to visit me (which the fellow promised he 
 would take care to deliver to him), for the reverend Johannes 
 is a pious and learned man, and has also composed sundry 
 Latin Chronosticha on these wretched times, in mctrum hcroicum, 
 which, I must say, please me greatly.* When we had crossed 
 the ferry we went in at Sehms his house, on the Castle green, 
 who keeps an ale-house ; he told us that the pestilence had not 
 yet altogether ceased in the town ; whereat I was much afraid, 
 more especially as he described to us so many other horrors and 
 miseries of these fearful times, both here and in other places, 
 e. g. of the great famine in the island of Riigen, where a num- 
 ber of people had grown as black as Moors from hunger ; a 
 wondrous thing if it be true, and one might almost gather there- 
 from how the first blackamoors came about. f But be that as it 
 may. Summa. When Master Sehms had told us all the news 
 he had heard, and we had thus learnt to our great comfort that 
 the Lord had not visited us only in these times of heavy need, 
 I called him aside into a chamber and asked him whether I 
 could not here find means to get money for a piece of amber, 
 which my daughter had found by the sea. At first he said 
 " No ;" but then recollecting, he began, " Stay, let me see, at 
 Nicolas Graeke's, the inn at the castle, there are two great 
 Dutch merchants, Dieterich von Pehnen and Jacob Kiekebusch, 
 who are come to buy pitch and boards, item, timber for ships and 
 beams ; perchance they may like to cheapen your amber too ; 
 but you had better go up to the castle yourself, for I do not 
 
 * The old vicar lias introduced them among the still-existing parochial 
 accounts, and we will here give a specimen of them : 
 
 For K 'p'-'i i. 
 VsqVe qVo DoMIne IrasCerls, sis nobls pater ! 
 
 For 1628. 
 
 hi(|Ve tVa DeXtra fer operaM tV Chrlste benlgne ! 
 t Micraelius, also, in his 'Ancient Pomerania' (vol. Ixxi. 2), mentions 
 fliis circiiiiist;nirr, but only says: "Those who came over to Stralsund 
 were quite black from the hunger they had suffered." This accounts for 
 the strange exaggeration of mine host, and the still stranger conclusion of 
 our author.
 
 CHAP, x.] THE AMBER WITCH. 33 
 
 know for certain whether they still are there." This I did, 
 although I had not yet eaten anything in the man's house, see- 
 ing that I wanted to know first what sort of bargain I might 
 make, and to save the farthings belonging to the church until 
 then. So I went into the castle-yard. Gracious God ! what a 
 desert had even his Princely Highness' house become, within a 
 short time ! The Danes had ruined the stables and hunting- 
 lodge, Anno 1628 ; item, destroyed several rooms in the castle ; 
 and in the locamentum of his Princely Highness Duke Philip- 
 pus, where, Anno 22, he so graciously entertained me and my 
 child, as will be told further on, now dwelt the inn-keeper 
 Nicolas Graeke ; and all the fair tapestries, whereon was 
 represented the pilgrimage to Jerusalem of his Princely High- 
 ness Bogislaus X., were torn down, and the walls left grey and 
 bare.* At this sight my heart was sorely grieved ; but I pre- 
 sently inquired for the merchants, who sat at the table drinking 
 their parting cup, with their travelling equipments already 
 lying by them, seeing that they were just going to set out on 
 their way to Stettin ; straightway one of them jumped up from 
 his liquor, a little fellow with a right noble paunch, and a black 
 plaster on his nose, and asked me what I would of them ? I 
 took him aside into a window, and told him I had some fine 
 amber, if he had a mind to buy it of me, which he straightway 
 agreed to do. And when he had whispered somewhat into the 
 ear of his fellow, he began to look very pleasant, and reached 
 me the pitcher before we went to my inn. I drank to him right 
 heartily, seeing that, as I have already said, I was still fasting, 
 so that I felt my very heart warmed by it in an instant. 
 (Gracious God, what can go beyond a good draught of wine 
 taken within measure !) After this we went to my inn, and told 
 the maid to carry the box on one side into a small chamber. I 
 had scarce opened it and taken away the gown, when the man 
 
 * Compare Heller's " Chronicle of the Town of Wolgast," p. 42, et cet. 
 The riots were caused by the successor of Philippus Julius (d. 6 Feb. 
 1625), who was also the last Duke of Pomerania, Bogislaus XIV., choosing 
 to reside in Stettin. At the present time the castle is a mere ruin, and only 
 several large vaulted cellars remain, wherein some of the tradesmen of the 
 present day keep their shops. 
 
 4
 
 31 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. x. 
 
 (whose name was Dieterich von Pehnen, as he had told me by 
 the way), held up both hands for joy, and said he had never 
 seen such wealth of amber, and how had I come by it ? I 
 answered that my child had found it on the sea-shore ; whereat 
 he wondered greatly that we had so much amber here, and 
 offered me 300 florins for the whole box. I was quite beside 
 myself for joy at such an offer, but took care not to let him see 
 it, and bargained with him till I got 500 florins, and I was to 
 go with him to the Castle, and take the money forthwith. 
 Hereupon I ordered mine host to make ready at once a mug of 
 beer, and a good dinner for my child, and went back to the Cas- 
 tle with the man, and the maid who carried the box, begging 
 him, in order to avoid common talk, to say nothing of my good 
 fortune to mine host, nor, indeed, to any one else in the town, 
 and to count out the money to me privately, seeing that I could 
 not be sure that the thieves might not lay in wait for me on the 
 road home, if they heard of it, and this the man did ; for he 
 whispered something into the ear of his fellow, who straightway 
 opened his leathern surcoat, item, his doublet and hose, and un- 
 buckled from his paunch a well-filled purse which he gave to 
 him. Summa. Before long I had my riches in my pocket, 
 and, moreover, the man begged me to write to him at Amster- 
 dam whenever I found any more amber, the which I promised 
 to do. But the worthy fellow, as I have since heard, died of 
 the plague at Stettin, together with his companion truly I 
 wish it had happened otherwise.* Shortly after, I was very 
 near getting into great trouble ; for, as I had an extreme long- 
 ing to fall on my knees, so that I could not wait until such time 
 as I should have got back to my inn, I went up three or four 
 steps of the Castle-stairs, and entered into a small chamber, 
 where I humbled myself before the Lord. But the host, Nico- 
 las Graeke, followed me, thinking I was a thief, and would 
 have stopped me, so that I knew not how to excuse myself but 
 by saying that I had been made drunken by the wine which 
 
 * Micraeliua mentions these Dutch merchants, p. 171, but asserts that the 
 cause of their death was doubtful, and that the town physician, Dr. Lauren- 
 tius Eichstadius, in Stettin, had written a special medical paper on the 
 subject. However, he calls one of them Kiekepost, instead of Kiekebusch.
 
 CHAP, x.] THE AMBER WITCH. 35 
 
 the strange merchants had given to me (for he had seen what 
 a good pull I had made at it), seeing I had not broken my fast 
 that morning, and that I was looking for a chamber wherein I 
 might sleep a while, which lie he believed (if in truth it were a 
 lie, for I was really drunken, though not with wine, but with 
 love and gratitude to my Maker), and accordingly he let me go. 
 But I must now tell my story of his Princely Highness, as I 
 promised above. Anno 22, as I chanced to walk with my daugh- 
 ter, who was then a child of about twelve years old, in the cas- 
 tle-garden at Wolgast, and was showing her the beautiful flow- 
 ers that grew there, it chanced that as we came round from be- 
 hind some bushes we espied my gracious lord the Duke Philip- 
 pus Julius, with his Princely Highness the Duke Bogislaff, who 
 lay here on a visit, standing on a mount and conversing, where- 
 fore we were about to return. But as my gracious lords pre- 
 sently walked on toward the drawbridge, we went to look at the 
 mount where they had stood ; of a sudden my little girl shouted 
 loudly for joy, seeing that she found on the earth a costly sig- 
 net-ring, which one of their Princely Highnesses doubtless had 
 dropped. I therefore said, "Come, and we will follow our 
 gracious lords with all speed, and thou shalt say to them in 
 Latin : Serenissimi principes, quis vestrum hunc annulum deper- 
 didit (for, as I have mentioned above, I had instructed her in the 
 Latin tongue ever since her seventh year) ? and if one of them 
 says Ego, give to him the ring. Item. Should he ask thee in 
 Latin to whom thou belongest, be not abashed, and say : Ego 
 sum filia pastoris Coserowiensis ; for thou wilt thus find favor 
 in the eyes of their Princely Highnesses, for they are both 
 gracious gentlemen, more especially the taller one, who is our 
 gracious ruler Philippus Julius himself." This she promised 
 to do ; but as she trembled sorely as she went, I encouraged 
 her yet more and promised her a new gown if she did it, seeing 
 that even as a little child she would have given a great deal for 
 fine clothes. As soon, then, as we were come into the court- 
 yard, I stood by the statue of his Princely Highness Ernest 
 Ludewig,* and whispered her to run boldly after them, as their 
 Princely Highnesses were only a few steps before us and had 
 
 * The father of Philippus Julius, died at Wolgast the 17th June, 1592.
 
 36 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. x. 
 
 already turned toward the great entrance. This she did, but 
 of a sudden she stood still, and would have turned back, be- 
 cause she was frightened by the spurs of their Princely High- 
 nesses, as she afterwards told me, seeing that they rattled and 
 jingled very loudly. 
 
 But my gracious" lady the Duchess Agnes saw her from the 
 open window wherein she lay, and called to his Princely High- 
 ness, " My Lord, there is a little maiden behind you, who, it 
 seems, would speak with you," whereupon his Princely High- 
 ness straightway turned him round, smiling pleasantly, so that 
 my little maid presently took courage, and, holding up the ring, 
 spoke in Latin as I had told her. Hereat both the princes won- 
 dered beyond measure, and after my gracious Duke Philippus 
 had felt his finger, he answered, " Dulcissima puella, ego per- 
 didi;" whereupon she gave it to him. Then he patted her 
 cheek, and again asked, " Sed quanam es, et unde venis?" 
 whereupon she boldly gave her answer, and at the same time 
 pointed with her finger to where I stood by the statue ; where- 
 upon his Princely Highness motioned me to draw near. My 
 gracious lady saw all that passed from the window, but all at 
 once she left it. She, however, came back to it again before 
 I had time even humbly to draw near to my gracious lord, and 
 beckoned to my child, and held a cake out of the window for 
 her. On my telling her, she ran up to the window, but her 
 Princely Highness could not reach so low nor she so high above 
 her as to take it, wherefore my gracious lady commanded her to 
 come up into the castle, and as she looked anxiously round 
 after me, motioned me also, as did my gracious lord himself, who 
 presently took the timid little maid by the hand and went up 
 with his Princely Highness the Duke BogislafF. My gracious 
 lady came to meet us at the door, and caressed and embraced 
 my little daughter, so that she soon grew quite bold and ate the 
 cake. When my gracious lord had asked my name, item, why 
 I had in so singular a manner taught my daughter the Latin 
 tongue, I answered that I had heard much from a cousin at 
 Cologne of Maria Schurman,* and as I had observed a very 
 
 * Anna Maria Schurman, born at Cologne on the 5th Nov., 1607, died at 
 Wiewardin the 5th May, 1678, was, according to* the unanimous testimony
 
 CHAP, x.] THE AMBER WITCH. 37 
 
 excellent ingenium in my child, and also had time enough in 
 my lonely cure, I did not hesitate to take her in hand, and 
 teach her from her youth up, seeing I had no boy alive. Here- 
 at their Princely Highnesses marvelled greatly, and put some 
 more questions to her in Latin, which she answered without 
 any prompting from me. Whereupon my gracious lord Duke 
 Philippus said in the vulgar tongue : " When thou art grown 
 up and art one day to be married, tell it to me, and thou shalt 
 then have another ring from me, and whatsoever else pertains 
 to a bride, for thou hast this day done me good service, seeing 
 that this ring is a precious jewel to me, as I had it from my 
 wife." Hereupon I whispered her to kiss his Princely High- 
 ness hand for such a promise, and so she did. 
 
 (But alas, most gracious God, it is one thing to promise and 
 quite another to hold ! Where is his Princely Highness at 
 this time ? Wherefore let me ever keep in mind that " thou 
 only art faithful, and that which thou hast promised thou wilt 
 surely hold." Ps. xxxiii. 4. Amen.*) 
 
 of hex- contemporaries, a prodigy of learning, and, perhaps, the most learn- 
 ed woman that ever lived. The Frenchman Naude says of her, " You find 
 in her alone all that the hand can fashion or the mind conceive. No one 
 paints better, no one works better in brass, wax, and wood. In needlework 
 she excels all women pastor present. It is impossible to say in what branch 
 of knowledge she is most distinguished. Not content with the European 
 languages, she understands Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and writes Latin so well 
 that no one who has devoted his whole life to it can do better." The ce- 
 lebrated Netherlander Spanheim calls her a teacher of the Graces and the 
 Muses ; the still more celebrated Salmasius confesses that he knows not in 
 which branch of learning to say she excels : and the Pole Rotyer calls her 
 " The sole example of all wondrous works in one single learned person, 
 and a perfect monstrum of her sex, yet without fault or blame." For, in 
 truth, with all her extraordinary knowledge she was marvellously humble, 
 although she herself confesses that the immoderate praises of the learned 
 even yet at times blinded her to her own defects. In her later years she 
 went over to the sect of the Labadists, which appears to have some points 
 in common with that of the Muckers. She died unmarried, as an early 
 love-affair in her 15th year with the Dutchman Caets had been broken off. 
 It is related of her as a strange fancy that she liked to eat spiders. The 
 celebrated Spanheim was the first to publish an edition of her works under 
 the title of " Annse Maria? a Schurman opuscula." Leyden, 1648. 
 * Luther's version.
 
 38 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. x. 
 
 Item. When his Princely Highness had also inquired con- 
 cerning myself and my cure, and heard that I was of ancient 
 and noble family, and my salarium very small, he called from 
 the window to his chancellor, D. Rungius, who stood without, 
 looking at the sun-dial, and told him that I was to have an ad- 
 dition from the convent at Pudgla, item, from the crown-lands 
 at Ernsthoff, as I mentioned above, but, more's the pity, I never 
 have received the same, although the instrumentum donationis 
 was sent me soon after by his Princely Highness chancellor. 
 
 Then cakes were brought for me also, item, a glass of 
 foreign wine in a glass painted with armorial bearings, where- 
 upon I humbly took my leave, together with my daughter. 
 
 However, to come back to my bargain, anybody may guess 
 what joy my child felt when I showed her the fair ducats and 
 florins I had gotten for the amber. To the maid, however, we 
 said that we had inherited such riches from my brother in Hol- 
 land, and after we had again given thanks to the Lord on our 
 knees, and eaten our dinner, we bought in a great store of 
 bread, salt, meat, and stock-fish : item, of clothes, seeing that 
 I provided what was needful for us three throughout the win- 
 ter from the cloth-merchant. Moreover, for my daughter, I 
 bought a hair-net and a scarlet silk boddice, with a black apron 
 and a white petticoat, item, a fine pair of ear-rings, as she beg- 
 ged hard for them ; and as soon as I had ordered the needful 
 from the cordwainer we set out on our way homeward, as it 
 began to grow very dark ; but we could not carry nearly all 
 we had bought. Wherefore we were forced to get a peasant 
 from Bannemin to help us, who likewise was come into the 
 town, and as I found out from him that the fellow who gave me 
 the piece of bread was a poor cotter called Pantermehl, who 
 dwelt in the village by the roadside, I shoved a couple of loaves 
 in at his house-door without his knowing it, and we went on 
 our way by the bright moonlight, so that by the help of God 
 we got home about ten o'clock at night. I likewise gave a 
 loaf to the other fellow, though truly he deserved it not, seeing 
 that he would go with us no further than to Zitze. But I let 
 him go, for I, too, had not deserved that the Lord should so 
 greatly bless me.
 
 CHAP, xi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 39 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 How I fed all the congregation : item, how I journeyed to the horse-fair of 
 Giitzkow, and what befel me there. 
 
 NEXT morning my daughter cut up the blessed bread, and sent 
 to every one in the village a good large piece. But as we saw 
 that our store would soon run low, we sent the maid with a 
 truck, which we bought of Adam Lempken, to Wolgast to buy 
 more bread, which she did. Item, I gave notice throughout the 
 parish that on Sunday next I should administer the blessed 
 sacrament, and in the mean time I bought up all the large fish 
 that the people of the village had caught. And when the 
 blessed Sunday was come I first heard the confessions of the 
 whole parish, and after that I preached a sermon on Matt. xv. 
 32, " I have compassion on the multitude .... for they have 
 nothing to eat." I first applied the same to spiritual food only, 
 and there arose a great sighing from both the men and women, 
 when, at the end, I pointed to the altar whereon stood the blessed 
 food for the soul, and repeated the words, " I have compassion 
 on the multitude .... for they have nothing to eat." (N.B. 
 The pewter cup I had borrowed at Wolgast, and bought there 
 a little earthenware plate for a paten till such time as Master 
 Bloom should have made ready the silver cup and paten I had 
 bespoke.) Thereupon as soon as I had consecrated and admin- 
 istered the blessed sacrament, item, led the closing hymn, and 
 every one had silently prayed his " Our Father" before going 
 out of the church, I came out of the confessional again, and 
 motioned the people to stay yet awhile, as the blessed Saviour 
 would feed not only their souls, but their bodies also, seeing 
 that he still had the same compassion on his people as of old on 
 the people at the Sea of Galilee, as they should presently see. 
 Then I went into the tower and fetched out two baskets, which 
 the maid had bought at Wolgast, and which I had hidden there
 
 40 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 in good time ; set them down in front of the altar, and took off 
 the napkins with which they were covered, whereupon a very 
 loud shout arose, inasmuch as they saw one filled with broiled 
 fish and the other with bread, which we had put into them pri- 
 vately. Hereupon, like our Saviour, I gave thanks and brake 
 it, and gave it to the churchwarden Hinrich Seden, that he 
 might distribute it among the men, and to my daughter for the 
 women. Whereupon I made application of the text, " I have 
 compassion on the multitude, for they have nothing to eat," to 
 the food of the body also ; and walking up and down in the 
 church amid great outcries from all, I exhorted them ahvay to 
 trust in God's mercy, to pray without ceasing, to work dili- 
 gently, and to consent to no sin. What was left I made them 
 gather up for their children and the old people who were left at 
 home. 
 
 After church, when I had scarce put off my surplice, Hinrich 
 Seden his squint-eyed wife came and impudently asked for 
 more for her husband's journey to Liepe ; neither had she had 
 anything for herself, seeing she had not come to church. This 
 angered me sore, and I said to her, " Why wast thou not at 
 church ? Nevertheless, if thou hadst come humbly to me thou 
 shouldst have gotten somewhat even now, but as thou comest 
 impudently, I will give thee naught : think on what thou didst to 
 me and to my child." But she stood at the door and glowered 
 impudently about the room till my daughter took her by the 
 arm and led her out, saying, " Hear'st thou, thou shall come 
 back humbly before thou gett'st anything, but when thou comest 
 thus, thou also shalt have thy share, for we will no longer reckon 
 with thee an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ; let the 
 Lord do that if such be his will, but we will gladly forgive thee ?" 
 Hereupon she at last went out at the door, muttering to herself 
 as she was wont ; but she spat several times in the street, as 
 we saw from the window. 
 
 Soon after I made up my mind to take into my service a lad, 
 near upon twenty years of age, called Glaus Neels, seeing that 
 his father, old Neels of Loddin, begged hard that I would do so, 
 besides which the lad pleased me well in manners and other- 
 wise. Then, as we had a good harvest this year, I resolved to
 
 CHAP, xi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 41 
 
 buy me a couple of horses forthwith, and to sow my field again ; 
 for although it was now late in the year, I thought that the most 
 merciful God might bless the crop with increase if it seemed 
 good to him. 
 
 Neither did I feel much care with respect to food for them, 
 inasmuch as there was a great plenty of hay in the neighbor- 
 hood, seeing that all the cattle had been killed or driven away 
 (as related above). I therefore made up my mind to go in God's 
 name with my new ploughman to Giitzkow, whither a great 
 many Mecklenburg horses were brought to the fair, seeing that 
 times were not yet so bad there as with us.* Meanwhile I 
 went a few more times up the Streckelberg with my daughter 
 at night, and by moonlight, but found very little ; so that we 
 began to think our luck had come to an end, when, on the third 
 night, we broke off some pieces of amber bigger even than 
 those the two Dutchmen had bought. These I resolved to send 
 to my wife's brother, Martin Behring, at Hamburg, seeing that 
 the schipper Wulff of Wolgast intends, as I am told, to sail 
 thither this very autumn, with pitch and wood for ship-build- 
 ing. I accordingly packed it all up in a strong chest, which I 
 carried with me to Wolgast when I started with my man on my 
 journey to Giitzkow. Of this journey I will only relate thus 
 much, that there were plenty of horses, and very few buyers in 
 the market. Wherefore I bought a pair of fine black horses 
 for twenty florins a-piece ; item, a cart for five florins ; item, 
 twenty-five bushels of rye which also came from Mecklenburg, 
 at one florin the bushel, whereas it is hardly to be had now at 
 Wolgast for love or money, and costs three florins or more the 
 bushel. I might therefore have made a good bargain in rye at 
 Giitzkow if it had become my office, and had I not, moreover, 
 been afraid lest the robbers, who swarm in these evil times, 
 should take away my corn, and ill-use, and perchance murder 
 me into the bargain, as has happened to sundry people already. 
 For, at this time especially, such robberies were carried on 
 after a strange and frightful fashion on Strellin heath at Giitz- 
 
 * The fief of Mecklenburg was given by the Emperor to Wallenstein, who 
 spared the country as much as he could.
 
 42 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 kow ; but by God's help.it all came to light just as I journeyed 
 thither with my man-servant to the fair, and I will here tell how it 
 happened. Some months before a man had been broken on the 
 wheel at Giitzkow, because, being tempted of Satan, he mur- 
 dered a travelling workman. The man, however, straightway 
 began to walk after so fearful a fashion, that in the evening and 
 night-season he sprang down from the wheel in his gallows' 
 dress whenever a cart passed by the gallows, which stands 
 hard by the road to Wolgast, and jumped up behind the peo- 
 ple, who in horror and dismay flogged on their horses, and 
 thereby make a great rattling on the log-embankment which 
 leads beside the gallows into a little wood called the Kraulin. 
 And it was a strange thing that on the same night the travellers 
 were almost always robbed or murdered on Strellin heath. 
 Hereupon the magistrates had the man taken down from the 
 wheel, and buried under the gallows, in hopes of laying his 
 ghost. But it went on just as before, sitting at night snow- 
 white on the wheel, so that none durst any longer travel the 
 road to Wolgast. Until at last it happened that, at the time of 
 the above-named fair, young Riidiger von Nienkerken of 
 Mellenthin, in Usedom, who had been studying at Wittenberg 
 and elsewhere, and was now on his way home, came this road by 
 night with his carriage. Just before, at the inn, I myself had tried 
 to persuade him to stop the night at Giitzkow on account of the 
 ghost, and to go on his journey with me next morning, but he would 
 not. Now as soon as this young lord drove along the road, he 
 also espied the apparition sitting on the wheel, and scarcely had 
 he passed the gallows when the ghost jumped down and ran 
 after him. The driver was horribly afraid, and lashed on the 
 horses as everybody else had done before, and they, taking 
 fright, galloped away over the log-road with a marvellous clat- 
 ter. Meanwhile, however, the young nobleman saw by the 
 light of the moon how that the apparition flattened a ball of 
 horse-dung whereon it trod, and straightway felt sure within 
 himself that it was no ghost. Whereupon he called to the 
 driver to stop ; and as the man would not hearken to him, he 
 sprung out of the carriage, drew his rapier, and hastened to 
 attack the ghost. When the ghost saw this he would have
 
 CHAP xi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 43 
 
 turned and fled ; but the young nobleman gave him such a blow 
 on the head with his fist that he fell upon the ground with a 
 loud wailing. Summa : the young lord, having called back his 
 driver, dragged the ghost into the town again, where he turned 
 out to be a shoemaker called Schwelm. 
 
 I also, on seeing such a great crowd, ran thither with many 
 others, to look at the fellow. He trembled like an aspen leaf; 
 and when he was roughly told to make a clean breast, whereby 
 he might peradventure save his own life, if it appeared that he 
 had murdered no one, he confessed that he had got his wife to 
 make him a gallows' dress, which he had put on, and had sat 
 on the wheel before the dead man, when, from the darkness 
 and the distance, no one could see that the two were sitting 
 there together ; and this he did more especially when he knew 
 that a cart was going from the town to Wolgast. When the 
 cart came by, and he jumped down and ran after it, all the people 
 were so affrighted that they no longer kept their eyes upon the 
 gallows, but only on him, flogged the horses, and galloped with 
 much noise and clatter over the log-embankment. This was 
 heard by his fellows in Strellin and Dammbecke (two villages 
 which are about three-fourths on the way), who held them- 
 selves ready to unyoke the horses and to plunder the travellers 
 when they came up with them. That after the dead man was 
 buried he could play the ghost more easily still, &c. That this 
 was the whole truth, and that he himself had never in his life 
 robbed, still less murdered, any one ; wherefore he begged to be 
 forgiven : that all the robberies and murders which had happened 
 had been done by his fellows alone. Ah, thou cunning knave ! 
 But I heard afterwards that he and his fellows were broken on 
 the wheel together, as was but fair. 
 
 And now to come back to my journey. The young noble- 
 man abode that night with me at the inn, and early next morn- 
 ing we both set forth ; and as we had grown into good fellow- 
 ship together, I got into his coach with him as he offered me, so 
 as to talk by the way, and my Glaus drove behind us. I soon 
 found that he was a well-bred, honest, and learned gentleman, 
 seeing that he despised the wild student life, and was glad that 
 he had now done with their scandalous drinking-bouts : more-
 
 44 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xi. 
 
 over, he talked his Latin readily. I had therefore much plea- 
 sure with him in the coach. However, at Wolgast the rope of 
 the ferry-boat broke, so that we were carried down the stream 
 to Zeuzin,* and at length we only got ashore with great trouble. 
 Meanwhile it grew late, and we did not get into Coserow till 
 nine, when I asked the young lord to abide the night with me, 
 which he agreed to do. We found my child sitting in the chim- 
 ney corner, making a petticoat for her little god-daughter out 
 of her own old clothes. She was greatly frighted, and changed 
 color when she saw the young lord come in with me, and heard 
 that he was to lie there that night, seeing that as yet we had no 
 more beds than we had bought for our own need from old Zabel 
 Nering the forest-ranger his widow, at Uekeritze. Wherefore 
 she took me aside : What was to be done ? My bed was in an 
 ill plight, her little godchild having lain on it that morning : 
 and she could nowise put the young nobleman into hers, although 
 she would willingly creep in by the maid herself. And when 
 I asked her why not ? she blushed scarlet, and began to cry, 
 and would not show herself again the whole evening, so that 
 the maid had to see to everything, even to the putting white 
 sheets on my child's bed for the young lord, as she would not 
 do it herself. I only tell this to show how maidens are. For 
 next morning she came into the room with her red silk boddice, 
 and the net on her hair, and the apron ; summa, dressed in all 
 the things I had bought her at Wolgast, so that the young lord 
 was amazed, and talked much with her over the morning meal. 
 Whereupon he took his leave, and desired me to visit him at his 
 castle. 
 
 * Now Sauzin.
 
 CHAP, xii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 45 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 What further joy and sorrow befel us : item, how Wittich Appelmann rode 
 to Damerow to the wolf-hunt, and what he proposed to my daughter. 
 
 THE Lord blessed my parish wonderfully this winter, inasmuch 
 as not only a great quantity of fish were caught and sold in all 
 the villages, but in Coserow they even killed four seals : item, 
 the great storm of the 12th of December threw a goodly quan- 
 tity of amber on the shore, so that many found amber, although 
 no very large pieces, and they began to buy cows and sheep 
 from Liepe and other places, as I myself also bought two cows ; 
 item, my grain which I had sown, half on my own field and half 
 on old Paasch's, sprung up bravely and gladly, as the Lord had 
 till datum bestowed on us an open winter ; but so soon as it had 
 shot up a finger's length, we found it one morning again torn 
 up and ruined, and this time also by the devil's doings, since 
 now, as before, not the smallest trace of oxen or of horses was 
 to be seen in the field. May the righteous God, however, re- 
 ward it, as indeed he already has done. Amen. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, something uncommon happened. For 
 one morning, as I have heard, when lord Wittich saw out of the 
 window that the daughter of his fisherman, a child of sixteen, 
 whom he had diligently pursued, went into the coppice to gather 
 dry sticks, he went thither too ; wherefore, I will not say, but 
 every one may guess for himself. When he had gone some 
 way along the convent mound, and was come to the first bridge, 
 where the mountain-ash stands, he saw two wolves, coming to- 
 wards him ; and as he had no weapon with him, save a staff, he 
 climbed up into a tree ; whereupon the wolves trotted round it, 
 blinked at him with their eyes, licked their lips, and at last 
 jumped with their fore-paws up against the tree, snapping at 
 him ; he then saw that one was a he-wolf, a great fat brute
 
 46 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. XH. 
 
 with only one eye. Hereupon in his fright he began to scream, 
 and the long-suffering of God was again shown to him, without, 
 however, making him wiser ; for the maiden, who had crept 
 behind a juniper-bush in the field, when she saw the Sheriff 
 coming, ran back again to the castle and called together a num- 
 ber of people, who came and drove away the wolves, and res- 
 cued his lordship. He then ordered a great wolf-hunt to be 
 held next day in the convent wood, and he who brought the one- 
 eyed monster, dead or alive, was to have a barrel of beer for 
 his pains. Still they could not catch him, albeit they that day 
 took four wolves in their nets, and killed them. He therefore 
 straightway ordered a wolf-hunt to be held in my parish. But 
 when the fellow came to toll the bell for a wolf-hunt, he did not 
 stop awhile, as is the wont for wolf-hunts, but loudly rang the 
 bell on, sine mord, so that all the folk thought that a fire had 
 broken out, and ran screaming out of their houses. My child 
 also came running out (I myself had driven to visit a sick per- 
 son at Zempin, seeing that walking began to be wearisome to 
 me, and that I could now afford to be more at mine ease) ; but 
 she had not stood long, and was asking the reason of the ring- 
 ing, when the Sheriff himself, on his grey charger, with three 
 cart-lods of toils and nets following him, galloped up and or- 
 dered the people straightway to go into the forest and to drive 
 the wolves with rattles. Hereupon he, with his hunters and a 
 few men whom he had picked out of the crowd, were to ride on 
 and spread the nets behind Damerow, seeing that the island is 
 wondrous narrow there,* and the wolf dreads the water. When 
 he saw my daughter he turned his horse round, chucked her 
 under the chin, and graciously asked her who she was, and 
 whence she came ? When he had heard it, he said she was as 
 fair as an angel, and that he had not known till now that the 
 parson here had so beauteous a girl. He then rode off, looking 
 round at her two or three times. At the first beating they found 
 the one-eyed wolf, who lay in the rushes near the water. Hereat 
 his lordship rejoiced greatly, and made the grooms drag him out 
 
 * The space, which is constantly diminishing, now scarcely measures a 
 bow-shot across.
 
 CHAP, xii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 47 
 
 of the net with long iron hooks, and hold him there for near an 
 hour, while my lord slowly and cruelly tortured him to death, 
 laughing heartily the while, which is a prognosticon of what he 
 afterwards did with my poor child, for wolf or lamb is all one to 
 this villain. Just God ! But I will not be beforehand with my 
 tale. 
 
 Next day came old Seden his squint-eyed wife, limping like a 
 lame dog, and put it to my daughter whether she would not go 
 into the service of the Sheriff; praised him as a good and pious 
 man ; and vowed that all the world said of him were foul lies, 
 as she herself could bear witness, seeing that she had lived in his 
 service for above ten years. Item, she praised the good cheer 
 they had there, and the handsome beer-money that the great lords 
 who often lay there gave the servants which waited upon them ; 
 that she herself had more than once received a rosenoble from 
 his Princely Highness Duke Ernest Ludewig ; moreover, many 
 pretty fellows came there, which might make her fortune, inas- 
 much as she was a fair woman, and might take her choice of a 
 husband ; whereas here in Coserow, where nobody ever came, 
 she might wait till she was old and ugly, before she got a curch 
 on her head. &c. Hereat my daughter was beyond measure 
 angered, and answered, " Ah ! thou old witch, and who has told 
 thee that I wish to go into service, to get a curch on my head ? 
 Go thy ways, and never enter the house again, for I have naught 
 to do with thee." Whereupon she walked away again, muttering 
 between her teeth. 
 
 Scarce had a few days passed, and I was standing in the 
 chamber with the glazier, who was putting in new windows, when 
 I heard my daughter scream in the kitchen. Whereupon I 
 straightway ran in thither, and was shocked and affrighted when 
 I saw the Sheriff himself standing in the corner with his arm 
 round my child her neck ; he, however, presently let her go, and 
 said : " Ah, reverend Abraham, what a coy little fool you have 
 for a daughter ! I wanted to greet her with a kiss, as I always 
 use to do, and she struggled and cried out as if I had been some 
 young fellow who had stolen in upon her, whereas I might be 
 her father twice over." As I answered naught, he went on to
 
 48 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 say that he had done it to encourage her, seeing that he desired 
 to take her into his service, as indeed I knew, with more excuses 
 of the same kind which I have forgot. Hereupon I pressed him 
 to come into the room, seeing that after all Tie was the ruler set 
 over me by God, and humbly asked what his lordship desired of 
 me. Whereupon he answered me graciously, that it was true 
 he had just cause for anger against me, seeing that I had preached 
 at him before the whole congregation, but that he was ready to 
 forgive me and to have the complaint he had sent in contra me 
 to his Princely Highness at Stettin, and which might easily cost 
 me my place, returned to him if I would but do his will. And 
 when I asked what his lordship's will might be, and excused 
 myself as best I might with regard to the sermon, he answered 
 that he stood in great need of a faithful housekeeper whom he 
 could set over the other women folk ; and as he had learnt that 
 my daughter was a faithful and trustworthy person, he would 
 that I should send her into his service. "See there," said he to 
 her, and pinched her cheek the while. " I want to lead you to 
 honor, though you are such a young creature, and yet you cry 
 out as if I were going to bring you to dishonor. Fie upon you !" 
 (My child still remembers all his verlotcnus ; I myself should 
 have forgot it a hundred times over in all the wretchedness I 
 since underwent.) But she was offended at his words, and, 
 jumping up from her seat, she answered shortly, " I thank your 
 lordship for the honor, but will only keep house for my papa, 
 which is a better honor for me ;" whereupon he turned to me 
 and asked me what I said to that. I must own that I was not a 
 little affrighted, inasmuch as I thought of the future and of the 
 credit in which the Sheriff stood with his Princely Highness. I 
 therefore answered with all humility, that I could not force my 
 child, and that I loved to have her about me, seeing that my dear 
 huswife had departed this life during the heavy pestilence, and 
 I had no child but only her. That I hoped therefore his lordship 
 would not be displeased with me, that I could not send her into 
 his lordship's service. This angered him sore, and after disput- 
 ing some time longer in vain, he took leave, not without threats 
 that he would make me pay for it. Item, my man, who was stand-
 
 CHAP, xn.] THE AMBER WITCH. 49 
 
 ing in the stable, heard him say as he went round the corner, " I 
 will have her yet, in spite of him !" 
 
 I was already quite disheartened by all this, when, on the Sun- 
 day following, there came his huntsman Johannes Kurt, a tall, 
 handsome fellow, and smartly dressed. He brought a roebuck 
 tied before him on his horse, and said that his lordship had sent it 
 to me for a present, in hopes that I would think better of his offer, 
 seeing that he had been ever since seeking on all sides for a house- 
 keeper in vain. Moreover, that if I changed my mind about it 
 his lordship would speak for me to his Princely Highness, so that 
 the dotation of Duke Philippus Julius should be paid to me out of 
 the princely ararium, &c. But the young fellow got the same 
 answer as his master had done, and I desired him to take the roe- 
 buck away with him again. But this he refused to do ; and as I 
 had by chance told him at first that game was my favorite meat, 
 he promised to supply me with it abundantly, seeing that there 
 was plenty of game in the forest, and that he often went a-hunting 
 on the Streckelberg ; moreover, that I (he meant my daughter) 
 pleased him uncommonly, the more because I would not do his 
 master's will, who, as he told me in confidence, would never leave 
 any girl in peace, and certainly would not let my damsel alone. 
 Although I had rejected his game, he brought it notwithstanding, 
 and in the course of three weeks he was sure to come four or five 
 times, and g ew more and more sweet upon my daughter. He 
 talked a vast deal about his good place, and how he was in search 
 of a good huswife, whence we soon guessed what quarter the wind 
 belw from. Ergo, my daughter told him that if he was seeking 
 for a huswife she wondered that he lost his time in riding to Cose- 
 row to no purpose, for that she knew no huswife for him there, 
 which vexed him so sore that he never came again. 
 
 And now any one would think that the grapes were sour even 
 for the Sheriff; nevertheless he came riding to us soon after, 
 and without more ado asked my daughter in marriage for his 
 huntsman. Moreover, he promised to build him a house of his 
 own in the forest ; item, to give him pots and kettles, crockery, 
 bedding, &c., seeing that he had stood godfather to the young 
 fellow, who, moreover, had ever borne himself well during 
 seven years he had been in his service. Hereupon my daugh- 
 5
 
 5b THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. in. 
 
 ter answered that his lordship had already heard that she would 
 keep house for nobody but her papa, and she was still much too 
 young to become a huswife. 
 
 This, however, did not seem to anger him, but, after he had 
 talked a long time to no purpose, he took his leave quite kind- 
 ly, like a cat which pretends to let a mouse go, and creeps be- 
 hind the corners, but she is not in earnest, and presently springs 
 out upon it again. For doubtless he saw that he had set to 
 work stupidly ; wherefore he went away in order to begin his 
 attack again after a better fashion, and Satan went with him, 
 as whilom with Judas Iscariot.
 
 CHAP, mi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 51 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 What more happened during the Winter : item, how in the Spring witch- 
 craft began in the village. 
 
 NOTHING else of note happened during the winter, save that the 
 merciful God bestowed a great plenty of fish both from the 
 Achterwater and the sea, and the parish again had good food ; 
 so that it might be said of us, as it is written, " For a small 
 moment have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will I 
 gather thee."* Wherefore we were not weary of praising the 
 Lord ; and the whole congregation did much for the church, 
 buying new pulpit and altar cloths, seeing that the enemy had 
 stolen the old ones. Item, they desired to make good to me the 
 money I had paid for the new cups, which, however, I would 
 not take. 
 
 There were still, however, about ten peasants in the parish 
 who had not been able to buy their seed-corn for the spring, 
 inasmuch as they had spent all their earnings on cattle and 
 corn for bread. I therefore made an agreement with them that 
 I would lend them the money for it, and that if they could not 
 repay me this year, they might the next, which offer they 
 thankfully took ; and we sent seven waggons to Friedland, in 
 Mechlenburg, to fetch seed-corn for us all. For my beloved 
 brother-in-law, Martin Behring, in Hamburg, had already sent 
 me by the schipper Wulf, who had sailed home by Christmas, 
 700 florins for the amber : may the Lord prosper it with him ! 
 
 Old Thiemcke died this winter in Loddin, who used to be the 
 midwife in the parish, and had also brought my child into the 
 world. Of late, however, she had had but little to do, seeing 
 that in this year I had only baptized two children, namely, 
 Jung his son in Uekeritze, and Lene Hebers her little daugh- 
 
 * Isa. liv. 7.
 
 52 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 ter, the same whom the Imperialists afterwards speared. Item, 
 it was now full five years since I had married the last couple. 
 Hence any one may guess that I might have starved to death, 
 had not the righteous God so mercifully considered and blessed 
 me in other ways. Wherefore to him alone be all honor and 
 glory. Amen. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, it so happened that} not long after the 
 Sheriff had last been here, witchcraft began in the village. I 
 sat reading with my child the second book of Virgilius of the 
 fearful destruction of the city of Troy, which was more terri- 
 ble even than that of our own village, when a cry arose that 
 our old neighbor Zabel his red cow, which he had bought only 
 a few days before, had stretched out all fours, and seemed 
 about to die ; and this was the more strange as she had fed 
 heartily but half an hour before. My child was therefore 
 begged to go and pluck three hairs from its tail and bury them 
 under the threshold of the stall ; for it was well known that if 
 this was done by a pure maid the cow would get better. My 
 child then did as they would have her, seeing that she is the 
 only maid in the whole village (for the others are still children) ; 
 and the cow got better from that very hour, whereat all the 
 folks were amazed. But it was not long before the same thing 
 befell Witthahn her pig, whilst it was feeding heartily. She 
 too came running to beg my child for God's sake to take com- 
 passion on her, and to do something for her pig, as ill men had 
 bewitched it. Hereupon she had pity upon her also ; and it 
 did as much good as it had done before. But the woman, who 
 was gravida, was straightway taken in labor from the fright ; 
 and my child was scarce out of the pigstye when the woman 
 went into her cottage, wailing and holding by the wall, and 
 called together all the women of the neighborhood, seeing 
 that the proper midwife was dead, as mentioned above ; and 
 before long something shot to the ground from under her ; and 
 when the women stooped down to pick it up, the devil's imp, 
 which had wings like a bat, flew up off the ground, whizzed 
 and buzzed about the room, and then shot out of the window 
 with a great noise, so that the glass clattered down into the 
 street. When they looked after it, nothing was to be found.
 
 CHAP, xin.] THE AMBER WITCH. 53 
 
 Any one may judge for himself what a great noise this made 
 in all the neighborhood. And the whole village believed that 
 it was no one but old Seden his squint-eyed wife that had 
 brought forth a devil's brat. 
 
 But the people soon knew not what to believe. For that wo- 
 man her cow got the same thing as all the other cows ; where- 
 fore she too came lamenting, and begged my daughter to take 
 pity on her as on the rest, and to cure her poor cow for the love 
 of God. That if she had taken it ill of her that she had said any- 
 thing about going into service with the Sheriff, she could only 
 say she had done it for the best, &c. Summa, she talked over 
 my unhappy child to go and cure her cow. 
 
 Meanwhile I was on my knees every Sunday before the Lord 
 with the whole congregation, praying that he would not allow 
 the Evil One to take from us that which his mercy had once 
 more bestowed upon us after such extreme want ; item, that he 
 would bring to light the auctor of such devilish works, so that 
 he might receive the punishment he deserved. 
 
 But all was of no avail. Fora very few days had passed 
 when the mischief befel Stoffer Zuter his spotted cow, and he, 
 too, like all the rest, came running to fetch my daughter ; she 
 accordingly went with him, but could do no good, and the beast 
 died under her hands. 
 
 Item, Katy Berow had bought a little pig with the money my 
 daughter had paid her in the winter for spinning, and the poor 
 woman kept it like a child, and let it run about her room. This 
 little pig got the mischief, like all the rest, in the twinkling of 
 an eye ; and when my daughter was called it grew no better, 
 but also died under her hands ; whereupon the poor woman 
 made a great outcry and tore her hair for grief, so that my 
 child was moved to pity her, and promised her another pig next 
 time my sow should litter. Meanwhile another week passed 
 over, during which I went on, together with the whole congre- 
 gation, to call upon the Lord for his merciful help, but all in 
 vain, when the same thing happened to old wife Seden her lit- 
 tle pig. Whereupon she again came running for my daughter 
 with loud outcries, and although my child told her that she 
 must have seen herself that nothing she could do for the cattle
 
 54 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. Tin. 
 
 cured them any longer, she ceased not to beg and pray her and 
 to lament till she went forth to do what she could for her with 
 the help of God. But it was all to no purpose, inasmuch as the 
 little pig died before she left the stye. What think you this 
 devil's whore then did ? After she had run screaming through 
 the village she said that any one might see that my daughter 
 was no longer a maid, else why could she now do no good to 
 the cattle, whereas she had formerly cured them ? She sup- 
 posed my child had lost her maiden honor on the Streckelberg, 
 whither she went so often this spring, and that God only knew 
 who had taken it ! But she said no more then, and we did not 
 hear the whole until afterwards. And it is indeed true that my 
 child had often walked on the Streckelberg this spring both with 
 me and also alone, in order to seek for flowers and to look upon 
 the blessed sea, while she recited aloud, as she was wont, such 
 verses out of Virgilius as pleased her best (for whatever she 
 read a few times that she remembered). 
 
 Neither did I forbid her to take these walks, for there were 
 no wolves now left on the Streckelberg, and even if there had 
 been they always fly before a human creature in the summer 
 season. Howbeit, I forbade her to dig for amber. For as it 
 now lay deep, and we knew not what to do with the earth we 
 threw up, I resolved to tempt the Lord no further, but to wait 
 till my store of money grew very scant before we would dig 
 any more. 
 
 But my child did not do as I had bidden her, although she 
 had promised she would, and of this her disobedience came all 
 our misery (Oh, blessed Lord, how grave a matter is thy holy 
 fourth * commandment !). For as his reverence Johannes Lam- 
 pius, of Crummin, who visited me this spring, had told me that 
 the Cantor of Wolgast wanted to sell the opp. St. Augustini, 
 and I had said before her that I desired above all things to buy 
 that book, but had not money enough left ; she got up in the 
 night without my knowledge to dig for amber, meaning to sell 
 it as best she might at Wolgast, in order secretly to present me 
 with the opp. St. Auguslim on my birthday, which falls on the 
 
 " In Luther's version.
 
 CHAP, xiii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 55 
 
 28th mensis Augusti. She had always covered over the earth 
 she cast up with twigs of fir, whereof there were plenty in the 
 forest, so that no one should perceive anything of it. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, it befel that the young nobilis Rudiger 
 of Nienkerken came riding one day to gat er news of the ter- 
 rible witchcraft that went on in the village. When I had told 
 him all about it he shook his head doubtingly, and said he be- 
 lieved that all witchcraft was nothing but lies and deceit; 
 whereat I was struck with great horror, inasmuch as I had 
 hitherto held the young lord to be a wiser man, and now could 
 not but see that he was an Atheist. He guessed what my 
 thoughts were, and with a smile he answered me by asking 
 whether I had ever read Johannes Wierus,* who would hear 
 nothing of witchcraft, and who argued that all witches were 
 melancholy persons who only imagined to themselves that they 
 had a pactum with the devil ; and that to him they seemed more 
 worthy of pity than of punishment ? Hereupon I answered that 
 I had not indeed read any such book (for say, who can read 
 all that fools write ?), but that the appearances here and in all 
 other places proved that it was a monstrous error to deny the 
 reality of witchcraft, inasmuch as people might then likewise 
 deny that there were such things as murder, adultery, and 
 theft. 
 
 But he called my argumentum a dilemma, and after he had 
 discoursed a great deal of the devil, all of which I have for- 
 gotten, seeing it savored strangely of heresy, he said he would 
 relate to me a piece of witchcraft which he himself had seen at 
 Wittenberg. 
 
 It seems that one morning, as an Imperial captain mounted 
 his good charger at the Elstergate in order to review his com- 
 
 * A Netherland physician, who, long before Spee or Thomasius, at- 
 tacked the wicked follies of the belief in witchcraft prevalent in his time 
 in the paper entitled " Confutatio opinionum de magorum D&monomia," 
 Frankfort, 1590, and was therefore denounced by Bodinus and others as one 
 of the worst magicians. It is curious that this liberal man had in another 
 book, " De preestigiis Dcemonum," taught the method of raising devils, 
 and described the whole of Hell, with the names and surnames of its 572 
 princes.
 
 56 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xin. 
 
 pany, the horse presently began to rage furiously, reared, tossed 
 his head, snorted, kicked, and roared not as horses use to neigh, 
 but with a sound as though the voice came from a human throat, 
 so that all the folks were amazed, and thought the horse bewitched. 
 It presently threw the captain and crushed his head with its hoof, 
 so that he lay writhing on the ground, and straightway set off at 
 full speed. Hereupon a trooper fired his carabine at the be- 
 witched horse, which fell in the midst of the road, and presently 
 died. That he, Riidiger, had then drawn near, together with 
 many others, seeing that the colonel had forthwith given orders 
 to the surgeon of the regiment to cut open the horse and see in 
 what state it was inwardly. However, that everything was quite 
 right, and both the surgeon and army physician testified that the 
 horse was thoroughly sound ; whereupon all the people cried out 
 more than ever about witchcraft. Meanwhile he himself (I 
 mean the young noUlis) saw a thin smoke coming out from the 
 horse's nostrils, and on stooping down to look what it might be, 
 he drew out a match as long as my finger, which still smouldered, 
 and which some wicked fellow had privately thrust into its nose 
 with a pin. Hereupon all thoughts of witchcraft were at an end, 
 and search was made for the culprit, who was presently found to 
 be no other than the captain's own groom. For one day that 
 his master had dusted his jacket for him he swore an oath that he 
 would have his revenge, which indeed the provost-marshal him- 
 self had heard as he chanced to be standing in the stable. Item, 
 another soldier bore witness that he had seen the fellow cut a 
 piece off the fuse not long before he led out his master's horse. 
 And thus, thought the young lord, would it be with all witch- 
 craft if it were sifted to the bottom ; like as I myself had seen 
 at Glitzkow, where the devil's apparition turned out to be a 
 cordwainer, and that one day I should own that it was the same 
 sort of thing here in our village. By reason of this speech I 
 liked not the young nobleman from that hour forward, believing 
 him to be an Atheist. Though, indeed, afterwards, I have had 
 cause to see that he was in the right, more's the pity, for had it 
 not been for him what would have become of my daughter ? 
 
 But I will say nothing beforehand. Summa : I walked about 
 the room in great displeasure at his words, while the young lord
 
 CHAP, xiii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 57 
 
 began to argue with my daughter upon witchcraft, now in Latin, 
 and now in the vulgar tongue, as the words came into his mouth, 
 and wanted to hear her mind about it. But she answered that 
 she was a foolish thing, and could have no opinion on the mat- 
 ter ; but that, nevertheless, she believed that what happened in 
 the village could not be by natural means. Hereupon the maid 
 called me out of the room (I forget what she wanted of me) ; 
 but when I came back again my daughter was as red as scar- 
 let, and the nobleman stood close before her. I therefore asked 
 her, as soon as he had ridden off, whether anything had hap- 
 pened, which she at first denied, but afterwards owned that he 
 had said to her while I was gone, that he knew but one person 
 who could bewitch ; and when she asked him who that person 
 was, he caught hold of her hand and said, " It is yourself, sweet 
 maid ; for you have thrown a spell upon my heart, as I feel 
 right well !" But that he said nothing further, but only gazed 
 on her face with eager eyes, and that it was that made her 
 so red. 
 
 But this is the way with maidens ; they ever have their se- 
 crets if one's back is turned but for a minute ; and the pro- 
 verb 
 
 " To drive a goose and watch a maid 
 Needs the devil himself to aid," 
 
 is but too true, as will be shown hereafter, more's the pity !
 
 58 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 How old Seden disappeared all on a sudden ; item, how the great Gustavus 
 Adolphus came to Pomerania, and took the fort at Peenemvinde. 
 
 WE were now left for some time in peace from witchcraft ; un- 
 less, indeed, I reckon the caterpillars, which miserably de- 
 stroyed my orchard, and which truly were a strange thing. 
 For the trees blossomed so fair and sweetly, that one day as we 
 were walking under them, and praising the almighty power of 
 the most merciful God, my child said, " If the Lord goes on to 
 bless us so abundantly, it will be Christmas Eve with us every 
 night of next winter !" But things soon fell out far otherwise. 
 For all in a moment the trees were covered with such swarms 
 of caterpillars (great and small, and of every shape and color), 
 that one might have measured them by the bushel ; and before 
 long my poor trees looked like brooms ; and the blessed fruit, 
 which was so well set, all fell off, and was scarce good enough 
 for the pigs. I do not choose to lay this to any one, though I 
 had my own private thoughts upon the matter, and have them 
 yet. However, my barley, whereof I had sown about three 
 bushels out on the common, shot up bravely. On mjrfield I 
 had sown nothing, seeing that I dreaded the malice of Satan. 
 Neither was corn at all plentiful throughout the parish, in part 
 because they had sown no winter crops, and in part because 
 the summer crops did not prosper. However, in all the vil- 
 lages, a great supply of fish was caught by the mercy of God, 
 especially herring ; but they were very low in price. More- 
 over, they killed many seals; and at Whitsuntide I myself 
 killed one as I walked by the sea with my daughter. The 
 creature lay on a rock close to the water, snoring like a Chris- 
 tian. Thereupon I pulled off my shoes and drew near him 
 softly, so that he heard me not, and then struck him over his
 
 CHAP, xrv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 59 
 
 nose with my staff (for a seal cannot bear much on his nose), 
 so that he tumbled over into the water; but he was quite 
 stunned, and I could easily kill him outright. It was a fat 
 beast, though not very large ; and we melted forty pots of train- 
 oil out of his fat, which we put by for a winter store. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, something seized old Seden all at once, 
 so that he wished to receive the holy sacrament. When I went 
 to him, he could give no reason for it ; or perhaps he would 
 give none for fear of his old Lizzie, who was always watching 
 him with her squinting eyes, and would not leave the room. 
 However, Zuter his little girl, a child near twelve years old, said 
 that a few days before, while she was plucking grass for the 
 cattle under the garden hedge by the road, she heard the hus- 
 band and wife quarrelling violently again, and that the good- 
 man threw in her teeth that he now knew of a certainty that 
 she had a familiar spirit, and that he would straightway go and 
 tell it to the priest. Albeit this is only a child's tale, it may 
 be true for all that, seeing that children and fools, they say, 
 speak the truth. 
 
 But be that as it may. Summa : my old warden grew worse 
 and worse ; and though I visited him every morning and even- 
 ing, as I use to do to my sick, in order to pray with him, and 
 often observed that he had somewhat on his mind, nevertheless 
 he could not disburthen himself of it, seeing that old Lizzie 
 never left her post. 
 
 This went on for a while, when at last one day about noon, 
 he sent to beg me to scrape a little silver off the new sacra- 
 mental cup, because he had been told that he should get better 
 if he took it mixed with the dung of fowls. For some time I 
 would not consent, seeing that I straightway suspected that 
 there was some devilish mischief behind it ; but he begged and 
 prayed, till I did as he would have rne. 
 
 And lo and behold, he mended from that very hour, so that 
 when I went to pray with him at evening, I found him already 
 sitting on the bench with a bowl between his knees, out of which 
 he was supping broth. However, he would not pray (which 
 was strange, seeing that he used to pray so gladly, and often 
 could not wait patiently for my coming, insomuch that he sent
 
 CO THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 after me two or three times if I was not at hand, or elsewhere 
 employed), but he told me he had prayed already, and that he 
 would give me the cock whose dung he had taken, for my trou- 
 ble, as it was a fine large cock, and he had nothing better to 
 offer for my Sunday's dinner. And as the poultry was by this 
 time gone to roost he went up to the perch which was behind 
 the stove, and reached down the cock, and put it under the arm 
 of the maid, who was just come to call me away. 
 
 Not for all the world, however, would I have eaten the cock, 
 but I turned it out to breed. I went to him once more and 
 asked whether I should give thanks to the Lord next Sunday, 
 for his recovery ; whereupon he answered that I might do as I 
 pleased in the matter. Hereat I shook my head, and left the 
 house, resolving to send for him as soon as ever I should hear 
 that his old Lizzie was from home (for she often went to fetch 
 flax to spin from the Sheriff). But mark what befel within a 
 few days ! We heard an outcry that old Seden was missing, 
 and that no one could tell what had become of him. His wife 
 thought he had gone up into the Streckelburg, whereupon the 
 accursed witch ran howling to our house and asked my daugh- 
 ter whether she had not seen anything of her goodman, seeing 
 that she went up the mountain every day. My daughter said 
 she had not ; but, wo is me, she was soon to hear enough of 
 him. For one morning, before sunrise, as she came down into 
 the wood on her way back from her forbidden digging after 
 amber, she heard a woodpecker (which, no doubt, was old Liz- 
 zie herself), crying so dolefully, close beside her, that she went 
 in among the bushes to see what was the matter. There was 
 the woodpecker, sitting on the ground before a bunch of hair, 
 which was red, and just like what old Seden's had been, and as 
 soon as it espied her it flew up with its beak full of the hair, 
 and slipped into a hollow tree. While my daughter still stood 
 looking at this devil's work, up came old Paasch, who also had 
 heard the cries of the woodpecker, as he was cutting roofing 
 shingles on the mountain, with his boy, and was likewise struck 
 with horror when he saw the hair on the ground. At first they 
 thought a wolf must have eaten him, and searched all about, 
 but could not find a single bone. On looking up they fancied
 
 CHAP, xiv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 61 
 
 they saw something red at the very top of the tree, so they 
 made the boy climb up, and he forthwith cried out that here, 
 too, there was a great bunch of red hair, stuck to some leaves 
 as if with pitch, but that it was not pitch, but something speckled 
 red and white, like fish-guts ; item, that the leaves all around, 
 even where there was no hair, were stained and spotted, and had 
 a very ill smell. Hereupon the lad, at his master's bidding, 
 threw down the clotted branch, and they two below straightway 
 judged that this was the hair and brains of old Seden, and that 
 the devil had carried him off bodily, because he would not pray 
 nor giv^ thanks to the Lord for his recovery. I myself believed 
 the same, and told it on the Sunday as a warning to the congre- 
 gation. But further on it will be seen that the Lord had yet 
 greater cause for giving him into the hands of Satan, inasmuch 
 as he had been talked over by his wicked wife to renounce his 
 Maker, in the hopes of getting better. Now, however, this 
 devil's whore did as if her heart was broken, tearing out her 
 red hair by whole handsful when she heard about the wood- 
 pecker from my child and old Paasch, and bewailing that she 
 was now a poor widow, and who was to take care of her for the 
 future, &c. 
 
 Meanwhile we celebrated on this barren shore, as best we 
 could and might, together with the whole Protestant church, the 
 25th day mensis Junii, whereon, one hundred years ago, the 
 Estates of the holy Roman empire laid their confession before 
 the most high and mighty emperor Carolus V., at Augsburg; 
 and I preached a sermon on Matt. x. 32, of the right confession 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whereupon the whole 
 congregation came to the Sacrament. Now towards the even- 
 ing of the self-same day, as I walked with my daughter by the 
 sea-shore, we saw several hundred sail of ships, both great and 
 small, round about Ruden, and plainly heard firing, whereupon 
 we judged forthwith that this must be the most high and mighty 
 king Gustavus Adolphus, who was now coming, as he had 
 promised, to the aid of poor persecuted Christendom. While 
 we were still debating a boat sailed towards us from Oie,* 
 wherein was Kate Berow her son, who is a farmer there, and 
 
 * Ruden and Oie, two small islands between Usedom and Rugen.
 
 02 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 was coming to see his old mother. The same told us that it 
 really was the king, who had this morning run before Ruden 
 with his fleet from Rugen ; that a few men of Oie were fishing 
 there at the time, and saw how he went ashore with his officers, 
 and straightway bared his head and fell upon his knees.* 
 
 Thus, then, most gracious God, did I thy unworthy servant 
 enjoy a still greater happiness and delight that blessed evening 
 than I had done on the blessed morn ; and any one may think 
 that I delayed not for a moment to fall on my knees with my 
 child, and to follow the example of the king ; and God knows I 
 never in my life prayed so fervently as that evening, whereon 
 the Lord showed such a wondrous sign upon us as to cause the 
 deliverer of his poor Christian people to come among them on the 
 very day when they had everywhere called upon him, on their 
 knees, for his gracious help against the murderous wiles of the 
 Pope and the Devil. That night I could not sleep for joy, but 
 went quite early in the morning to Damerow, where something 
 had befallen Vithe his boy. I supposed that he, too, was 
 bewitched ; but this time it was not witchcraft, seeing that the 
 boy had eaten something unwholesome in the forest. He could 
 not tell what kind of berries they were, but the malum, which 
 turned all his skin bright scarlet, soon passed over. As I there- 
 fore was returning home shortly after, I met a messenger from 
 Peenemiinde, whom his Majesty the high and mighty king 
 Gustavus Adolphus had sent to tell the Sheriff that on the 29th 
 of June, at ten o'clock in the morning, he was to send three 
 guides to meet his Majesty at Coserow, and to guide him through 
 the woods to Swine, where the Imperialists were encamped. 
 Item, he related how his Majesty had taken the fort at Peene- 
 miinde yesterday (doubtless the cause of the firing we heard 
 last evening), and that the Imperialists had run away as fast as 
 they could, and played the bush-ranger properly, for after 
 setting their camp on fire they all fled into the woods and cop- 
 pices, and part escaped to Wolgast and part to Swine. 
 
 Straightway I resolved in my joy to invent a carmen gralula- 
 torium to his Majesty, whom, by the grace of Almighty God, 1 
 was to see, the which my little daughter might present to him. 
 
 * See also the " Theatntm Europeum," p. 226 fl.
 
 CHAP, xiv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 63 
 
 I accordingly proposed it to her as soon as I got home, and 
 she straightway fell on my neck for joy, and then began to dance 
 about the room. But when she had considered a little, she 
 thought her clothes were not good enough to wear before his 
 Majesty, and that I should buy her a blue silk gown, with a 
 yellow apron, seeing that these were the Swedish colors, and 
 would please his Majesty right well. For a long time I would 
 not, seeing that I hate this kind of pride ; but she teased me with 
 her kisses and coaxing words, till I, like an old fool, said yes, 
 and ordered my ploughman to drive her over to Wolgast to-day 
 to buy .the stuff. Wherefore I think that the just God, who 
 hateth the proud and showeth mercy on the humble, did rightly 
 chastise me for such pride. For I myself felt a sinful pleasure 
 when she came back with two women who were to help her to 
 sew, and laid the stuff before me. Next day she set to work at 
 sunrise to sew, and I composed my carmen the while. I had 
 not got very far in it when the young Lord Rudigerof Nienker- 
 ken came riding up, in order, as he said, to inquire whether his 
 Majesty were indeed going to march through Coserow. And 
 when I told him all I knew of the matter, item, informed him of 
 our plan, he praised it exceedingly, and instructed my daughter 
 (who looked more kindly upon him to-day than I altogether 
 liked) how the Swedes used to pronounce the Latin, as ratscho pro 
 ratio, net pro ut, schis pro scis, &c., so that she might be able to 
 answer his Majesty with all due readiness. He said, moreover, 
 that he had held much converse with Swedes at Wittenberg ? as 
 well as at Griepswald, wherefore if she pleased they might act 
 a short colloquium, wherein he would play the king. Hereupon 
 he sat down on the bench before her, and they both began 
 chattering together, which vexed me sore, especially when I 
 saw that she made but small haste with her needle the while. 
 But say, dear reader, what was I to do ? Wherefore I went my 
 ways, and let them chatter till near noon, when the young lord 
 at last took leave. But he promised to come again on Tuesday 
 when the king was here, and believed that the whole island 
 would flock together at Coserow. As soon as he was gone, see- 
 ing that my vena poetica (as may be easily guessed) was still 
 stopped up, I had the horses put to and drove all over the parish,
 
 64 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xiv. 
 
 exhorting the people in every village to be at the Giant's Stone 
 by Coserow at nine o'clock on Tuesday, and that they were all 
 to fall on their knees as soon as they should see the king coming 
 and that I knelt down ; item, to join at once in singing the Am- 
 brosian hymn of praise, which I should lead off as soon as the 
 bells began to ring. This they all promised to do ; and after I 
 had again exhorted them to it on Sunday in church, and prayed 
 to the Lord for his Majesty out of the fulness of my heart, we 
 scarce could await the blessed Tuesday for joyful impatience.
 
 CHAP, xv.] THE AMBER WITCH. <;:, 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Of the arrival of the high and mighty King Gustavus Adolphus, and what 
 befel thereat. 
 
 MEANWHILE I finished my carmen in metrum elegiacum, which 
 my daughter transcribed (seeing that her handwriting is fairer 
 than mine) and diligently learned, so that she might say it to his 
 Majesty. Item, her clothes were gotten ready, and became 
 her purely ; and on Monday she went up to the Streckelberg, 
 although the heat was such that the crows gasped on the hedges : 
 for she wanted to gather flowers for a garland she designed to 
 wear, and which was also to be blue and yellow. Towards 
 evening she came home with her apron filled with all manner of 
 flowers ; but her hair was quite wet, and hung all matted about 
 her shoulders. (My God, my God, was everything to come 
 together to destroy me, wretched man that I am!) I asked, 
 therefore, where she had been that her hair was so wet and 
 matted ; whereupon she answered that she had gathered flowers 
 round the Kolpin,* and from thence she had gone down to the sea- 
 shore, where she had bathed in the sea, seeing that it was very hot 
 and no one could see her. Thus, said she, jesting, she should 
 appear before his Majesty to-morrow doubly a clean maid. 
 This displeased me at the time, and I looked grave, although I 
 said naught. 
 
 Next morning at six o'clock all the people were already at the 
 Giant's Stone, men, women, and children. Summa, everybody 
 that was able to walk was there. At eight o'clock my daugh- 
 ter was already dressed in all her bravery, namely, a blue 
 silken gown, with a yellow apron and kerchief, and a yellow 
 hair-net, with a garland of blue and yellow flowers round her 
 head. It -was not long before my young lord arrived, finely 
 
 * A small lake near the sea. 
 6'
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 dressed, as became a nobleman. He wanted to inquire, as he 
 said, by which road I should go -up to the Stone with my daugh- 
 ter, seeing that his father, Hans von Nienkerken, item, Wittich 
 Appelmann, and the Lepels of Gnitze, were also going, and that 
 there was much people on all the high roads, as though a fair 
 was being held. But I straightway perceived that all he wanted 
 was to see my daughter, inasmuch as he presently occupied 
 himself about her, and began chattering with her in the Latin 
 again. He made her repeat to him the carmen to his Majesty ; 
 whereupon he, in the person of the king, answered her : 
 " Dulcissima et venustissima puella, qua mihi in coloribus cceli, 
 ut angelus Domini appares, utinam semper mecum esses, nun- 
 quam mihi male caderet /" whereupon she grew red, as like- 
 wise did I, but from vexation, as may be easily guessed. I 
 therefore begged that his lordship would but go forward to- 
 ward the Stone, seeing that my daughter had yet to help me on 
 with my surplice ; whereupon, however, he answered, that he 
 would wait for us the while in the chamber, and that we might 
 then go together. Summa, I blessed myself from this young 
 lord ; but what could I do ? As he would not go, I was forced 
 to wink at it all ; and before long we went up to the Stone, 
 where I straightway chose three sturdy fellows from the crowd, 
 and sent them up the steeple that they might begin to ring the 
 bells as soon as they should see me get up upon the Stone and 
 wave my napkin. This they promised to do, and straightway 
 departed ; whereupon I sat down on the Stone with my daugh- 
 ter, thinking that the young lord would surely stand apart, as 
 became his dignity ; albeit he did not, but sat down with us on 
 the Stone. And we three sat there all alone, and all the folk 
 looked at us, but none drew near to see my child's fine clothes, 
 not even the young lasses, as is their wont to do ; but this I did 
 not observe till afterwards, when I heard how matters stood with 
 us even then. Towards nine o'clock, Hans von Nienkerken 
 and Wittich Appelmann galloped up, and old Nienkerken called 
 to his son in an angry voice ; and seeing that the young lord 
 heard him not, he rode up to the Stone, and cried out so loud 
 that all the folk might hear, "Can'st thou not hearken, boy, 
 when thy father calls thee !" Whereupon Riidiger followed
 
 CHAP, xv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 67 
 
 him in much displeasure, and we saw from a distance how the 
 old lord seemed to threaten his son, and spat out before him ; 
 but knew not what this might signify : we were to learn it soon 
 enough, though, more's the pity ! Soon after the two Lepels of 
 Gnitze* came from the Damerow ; and the nobleman saluted 
 one other to the green sward close beside us, but without look- 
 ing on us. And I heard the Lepels say that naught could yet 
 be seen of his Majesty, but that the coast-guard fleet around 
 Ruden was in motion, and that several hundred ships were sail- 
 ing this way. As soon as this news was known, all the folk ran 
 to the sea-shore (which is but a step from the Stone) ; and the 
 noblemen rode thither too, all save Wittich, who had dismounted, 
 and who, when he saw that I sent old Pa^asch his boy up into a 
 tall oak-tree to look out for the king, straightway busied himself 
 about my daughter again, who now sat all alone upon the Stone : 
 " Why had she not taken his huntsman ? and whether she 
 would not change her mind on the matter and have him now, or 
 else come into service with him (the Sheriff) himself? for that 
 if she would not, he believed she might be sorry for it one day." 
 Whereupon she answered him (as she told me), that . there was 
 but one thing she was sorry for, namely, that his lordship would 
 take so much useless pains upon her ; whereupon she rose with 
 all haste and came to where I stood under the tree, looking after 
 the lad who was climbing up it. But our old Use said that he 
 swore a great curse when my daughter turned her back upon 
 him, and went straightway into the alder-grove close by the 
 high road, where stood the old witch Lizzie Kolken. 
 
 Meanwhile I went with my daughter to the sea-shore and 
 found it quite true that the whole fleet was sailing over from 
 Ruden and Oie towards Wollin, and several ships passed so 
 close before us that we could see the soldiers standing upon them 
 and the flashing of their arms. Item, we heard the horses neigh 
 and the soldiery laugh. On one ship, too, they were drumming, 
 and on another cattle lowed and sheep bleated. Whilst we yet 
 gazed we saw smoke come out from one of the ships, followed 
 by a great noise, and presently we were aware of the ball bound- 
 
 * A peninsula in Usedom.
 
 68 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 ing over the water, which foamed and splashed on either side, 
 and coming straight towards us. Hereupon the crowd ran awav 
 on every side with loud cries, and we plainly heard the soldiery 
 in the ships laugh thereat. But the ball flew up and struck into 
 the midst of an oak hard by Paasch his boy, so that nearly two 
 cart-loads of boughs fell to the earth with a great crash, and 
 covered all the road by which his Majesty was to come. Here- 
 upon the boy would stop no longer in the tree, however much I 
 exhorted him thereto, but cried out to us as he came down that a 
 great troop of soldiers was marching out of the forest by 
 Damerow, and that likely enough the king was among them. 
 Hereupon the Sheriff ordered the road to be cleared forthwith, 
 and this was some time a-doing, seeing that the thick boughs 
 were stuck fast in the trees all around ; the nobles, as soon as 
 all was made ready, would have ridden to meet his Majesty, but 
 stayed still on the little greensward, because we already heard 
 the noise of horses, carriages, and voices close to us in the 
 forest. 
 
 It was not long before the cannons broke through the brush- 
 wood with the three guides seated upon them. And seeing that 
 one of them was known to me (it was Stoffer Krauthahn, of 
 Peenemiinde), I drew near and begged him that he would tell 
 me when the king should come. But he answered that he was 
 going forward with the cannon to Coserow, and that I was only 
 to watch for a tall dark man, with a hat and feather and a gold 
 chain round his neck, for that that was the king, and that he rode 
 next after the great standard whereon was a yellow lion. 
 
 Wherefore I narrowly watched the procession as it wound out 
 of the forest. And next after the artillery came the Finnish and 
 Lapland bowmen, who went clothed all in furs, although it was 
 now the height of summer, whereat I greatly wondered. After 
 these there came much people, but I know not what they were. 
 Presently I espied over the hazel-tree which stood in my way so 
 that I could not see everything as soon as it came forth out of 
 the coppice, the great flag with the lion on it, and, behind that, 
 the head of a very dark man with a golden chain round his neck, 
 whereupon straightway I judged this must be the king. I there- 
 fore waved my napkin toward the steeple, whereupon the bells
 
 CHAP, xv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 69 
 
 forthwith rang out, and while the dark man rode nearer to us, 
 I pulled off my scull-cap, fell upon my knees, and led the Am- 
 brosian hymn of praise, and all the people plucked their hats 
 from their heads and knelt down on the ground all around sing- 
 ing after me ; men, women, and children, save only the nobles, 
 who stood still on the greensward, and did not take off their 
 hats and behave with attention until they saw that his Majesty 
 drew in his horse. (It was a coal-black charger, and stopped 
 with its two fore-feet right upon my field, which I took as a sign 
 of good fortune.) When we had finished, the Sheriff quickly got 
 off his horse and would have approached the king with his three 
 guides who followed after him ; item, I had taken my child by 
 the hand and would also have drawn near to the king. Howbeit, 
 his Majesty motioned away the Sheriff and beckoned us to ap- 
 proach, whereupon I wished his Majesty joy in the Latin tongue, 
 and extolled his magnanimous heart, seeing that he had deigned 
 to visit German ground for the protection and aid of poor per- 
 secuted Christendom ; and praised it as a sign from God that such 
 had happened on this the highest festival of our poor church, 
 and I prayed his Majesty graciously to receive what my daughter 
 desired to present to him ; whereupon his Majesty looked on her 
 and smiled pleasantly. Such gracious bearing made her bold 
 again, albeit she trembled visibly just before, and she reached 
 him a blue and yellow wreath whereon lay the carmen, saying, 
 Accipe Jianc mlem coronam et hcec, whereupon she began to 
 recite the carmen. Meanwhile his Majesty grew more and more 
 gracious, looking now on her and now on the carmen, and nodded 
 with especial kindness towards the end, which was as follows : 
 
 " Tempus erit, quo tu reversus ab hostibus ultor 
 
 Intrabis patriee libera regna meae ; 
 Tune meliora student nostras tibi carmina musae, 
 
 Tune tua, maxime rex, Martia facta canam. 
 Tu modo versiculis ne spernas vilibus ausum 
 
 Auguror et res est ista futura brevi ! 
 Sis fcelix, fortisque diu, vive optime princeps, 
 
 Ginnia, et ut possis vincere, dura. Vale !"* 
 
 *Thou shalt return chastiser of the foe, 
 To the freed kingdoms of my native land !
 
 70 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xv. 
 
 As soon as she held her peace, his Majesty said : Propius acce- 
 das, patria virgo, ut te osculer ; whereupon she drew near to his 
 horse blushing deeply. I thought he would only have kissed 
 her forehead, as potentates commonly used to do, but not at 
 all ! he kissed her lips with a loud smack, and the long feathers 
 on his hat drooped over her neck, so that I was quite afraid for 
 her again. But he soon raised up his head, and taking off his 
 gold chain, whereon dangled his own effigy, he hung it round 
 my child's neck with these words : Hocce tuce pulchritudini ! ct 
 sifavente Deo reduxfuero victor, promissum carmen et prater ea 
 duo oscula exspecto. 
 
 Hereupon the Sheriff, with his three men, again came for- 
 ward and bowed down to the ground before his Majesty. But 
 as he knew no Latin, item, no Italian nor French, I had to act as 
 interpreter. For his Majesty inquired how far it was to Swine, 
 and whether there was still much foreign soldiery there ? And 
 the Sheriff thought there were still about 200 Croats in the camp. 
 Whereupon his Majesty spurred on his horse, and, nodding gra- 
 ciously, cried " Valete /" and now came the rest of the troops, 
 about 3000 strong, out of the coppice, which likewise had a 
 valiant bearing, and attempted no fooleries, as troops are wont 
 to do, when they passed by us and the women, but marched ou 
 in honest quietness, and we followed the train until the forest 
 beyond Coserow, where we commended it to the care of tin- 
 Almighty, and every one went on his way home. 
 
 Then shall our song with loftier cadence flow, 
 
 Boasting the deeds of thy heroic hand ! 
 
 Scorn not, meanwhile, the feeble lines which thus 
 
 Thy future glory and success foretell, 
 
 Live, prince beloved ! be brave, be prosperous ; 
 
 Conquer, howe'er opposed, and fare thee well !
 
 CHAP. XVL] THE AMBER WITCH. 71 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 How little Mary Paasch was sorely plagued of the devil, and the whole 
 parish fell off from me. 
 
 BEFORE I proceed any further, I will first mark that the illus- 
 trious king Gustavus Adolphus, as we presently heard, had cut 
 down the 300 Croats at Swine, and was thence gone by sea to 
 Stettin. May God be for ever gracious to him ! Amen. 
 
 But my sorrows increased from day to day, seeing that the 
 devil now played pranks such as he never had played before. 
 I had begun to think that the ears of God had hearkened to our 
 ardent prayers, but it pleased him to try us yet more hardly than 
 ever. For. a few days after the arrival of the most illustrious 
 king Gustavus Adolphus, it was bruited about that my child her 
 little god-daughter was possessed of the Evil One, and tumbled 
 about most piteously on her bed, insomuch that no one was able 
 to hold her. My child straightway went to see her little god- 
 daughter, but presently came weeping home. Old Paasch would 
 not suffer her even to come near her, but railed at her very 
 angrily, and said that she should never come within his doors 
 again, as his child had got the mischief from the white roll which 
 she had given her that morning. It was true that my child had 
 given her a roll, seeing that the maid had been, the day before, 
 to Wolgast, and had. brought back a napkin full of them. 
 
 Such news vexed me sore, and after putting on my cassock I 
 went to old Paasch his house, to exorcise the foul fiend, and to 
 remove such disgrace from my child. I found the old man 
 standing on the floor by the cockloft steps, weeping ; and after 
 I had spoken "The peace of God," I asked him first of all, 
 whether he really believed that his little Mary had been be- 
 witched by means of the roll which my child had given her ? 
 He said " Yes !" And when I answered, that in that case, I
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 also must have been bewitched, item, Pagel his little girl, seeing 
 that we both had eaten of the rolls, he was silent, and asked me 
 with a sigh, whether I would not go into the room, and see for 
 myself how matters stood. I then entered with " The peace of 
 Hod," and found six people standing round little Mary her bed ; 
 her eyes were shut, and she was as stiff as a board ; wherefore 
 Kit Wels (who was a young and sturdy fellow) seized the little 
 child by one leg, and held her out like a hedge-stake, so that I 
 might see how the devil plagued her. I now said a prayer, 
 and Satan, perceiving that a servant of Christ was come, began 
 to tear the child so fearfully that it was pitiful to behold ; 
 (or she flung about her hands and feet so that four strong 
 men were scarce able to hold her ; item, she was afflicted 
 with extraordinary risings and fallings of her belly, as if a 
 living creature was therein, so that at last the old witch Lizzie 
 Kolken sat herself upon her belly, whereupon the child seemed 
 to be somewhat better, and I told her to repeat the Apostles' 
 Creed, so as to see whether it really were the devil who pos- 
 sessed her.* She straightway grew worse than before, and 
 began to gnash her teeth, to roll her eyes, and to strike so 
 hard with her hands and feet that she flung her father, who 
 held one of her legs, right into the middle of the room, and 
 then struck her foot -so hard against the bedstead that the 
 blood flowed, and Lizzie Kolken was thrown about on her 
 belly as though she had been in a swing. And as I ceased 
 not, but exorcised Satan that he should leave her, she began 
 to howl and to bark like a dog, item, to laugh, and spoke at 
 last, with a grutf bass voice like an old man's, " I will not 
 depart." But he should soon have been forced to depart 
 out of her, had not both father and mother besought me by 
 (Jod's holy Sacrament to leave their poor child in peace, 
 seeing that nothing did her any good, but rather made her 
 worse. I was therefore forced to desist, and only admonished 
 
 * It was imagined in those fearful times that when the sick person could 
 repeat the three articles of belief, and especially some passages from the 
 Bible bearing particular reference to the work of redemption, he was not 
 possessed, since " no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy 
 Ghost." I Cor. xii. 3.
 
 CHAP, xvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 73 
 
 the parents to seek for help like the Canaanitish woman, in 
 true repentance and incessant prayer, and with her to sigh 
 in constant faith, " Have mercy upon me, O Lord, thou son 
 of David, my daughter is grievously vexed of a devil," 
 Matthew xv. ; that the heart of our Lord would then melt, 
 so that he would have mercy on their child, and command 
 Satan to depart from her. Item, I promised to pray for the 
 little child on the following Sunday, with the whole congre- 
 gation, and told them to bring her, if it were any ways pos- 
 sible, to the church, seeing that the ardent prayer of the 
 whole congregation has power to rise beyond the clouds. 
 This they promised to do, and I then went home sorely 
 troubled, where I soon learned that she was somewhat bet- 
 ter ; thus it still is sure that Satan hates nothing so much, 
 after the Lord Jesus, as the servant of the Gospel. But 
 wait, and I shall even yet " bruise thy head with my heel " 
 (Genesis, chap, iii.) ; naught shall avail thee. 
 
 Howbeit, before the blessed Sunday came, I perceived that 
 many of my people went out of my way, both in the village 
 and elsewhere in the parish, where I went to visit sundry 
 sick folks. When I went to Uekeritze to see young Tittel- 
 witz, there even befel me as follows. Glaus Pieper the pea- 
 sant stood in his yard chopping wood, and on seeing me, 
 he flung the axe out of his hand so hastily that it stuck 
 in the ground, and he ran towards the pig-stye, making the 
 sign of the cross. I motioned him to stop, and asked why 
 he thus ran from me, his confessor ? Whether, peradven- 
 ture, he also believed that my daughter had bewitched her 
 little godchild ? " Ille. Yes, he believed it, because the whole 
 parish did. Ego. Why, then, had she been so kind to her 
 formerly, and kept her like a sister, through the worst of the 
 famine 1 Ille. This was not the only mischief she had done. 
 Ego. What, then, had she done besides ? Ille. That was all 
 one to me. Ego. He should tell me, or I would complain to 
 the magistrate. Ille. That I might do, if I pleased." Where- 
 upon he went his way, insolently. Any one may guess that I 
 was not slow to inquire everywhere, what people thought my 
 daughter had done ; but no one would tell me anything, and I
 
 7 1 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvi. 
 
 might have grieved to death at such evil reports. Moreover, 
 not one child came during this whole week to school to my 
 daughter ; and when I sent out the maid to ask the reason, she 
 brought back word that the children were ill, or that the pa- 
 rents wanted them for their work. I thought and thought, but 
 all to no purpose, until the blessed Sunday came round, when 
 I meant to have held a great Sacrament, seeing that many peo- 
 ple had made known their intention to come to the Lord's table. 
 It seemed strange to me that I saw no one standing, as was 
 their wont, about the church door ; I thought, however, that 
 they might have gone into the house. But when I went into 
 the church with my daughter, there were not more than six 
 people assembled, among whom was old Lizzie Kolken ; and 
 the accursed witch no sooner saw my daughter follow me, than 
 she made the sign of the cross, and ran out of the door under 
 the steeple ; whereupon the five others, among them mine own 
 churchwarden Glaus Bulken (I had not appointed any one in 
 the room of old Seden), followed her. I was so horror-struck 
 that my blood curdled, and I began to tremble, so that I fell 
 with my shoulder against the confessional. My child, to whom 
 I had as yet told nothing, in order to spare her, then asked me, 
 " Father, what is the matter with all the people ; are they, too, 
 bewitched ?" Whereupon I came to myself again, and went 
 into the churchyard to look after them. But all were gone 
 save my churchwarden Glaus Bulken, who stood under the 
 lime-tree, whistling to himself. I stepped up to him, and asked 
 what had come to the people ? whereupon he answered, he- 
 could not tell ; and when I asked him again, why, then, he 
 himself had left the church, he said, What was he to do there 
 alone, seeing that no collection could be made ? I then im- 
 plored him to tell me the truth, and what horrid suspicion had 
 arisen against me in the parish ? But he answered, I should 
 very soon find it out for myself; and he jumped over the wall 
 and went into old Lizzie her house, which stands close by the 
 churchyard. 
 
 My child had made ready some veal broth for dinner, for 
 which I mostly use to leave everything else ; but I could not 
 swallow one spoonful, but sat resting my head on my hand, and
 
 CHAP, xvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 75 
 
 doubted whether I should tell her or no. Meanwhile the old 
 maid came in, ready for a journey, and with a bundle in her 
 hand, and begged me with tears to give her leave to go. My 
 poor child turned pale as a corpse, and asked in amaze what 
 had come to her ? but she merely answered, " Nothing !" and 
 wiped her eyes with her apron. When I recovered my speech, 
 which had wellnigh left me at seeing that this faithful old crea- 
 ture was also about to forsake me, I began to question her why 
 she wished to go ; she who dwelt with me so long, and who 
 would not forsake us even in the great famine, but had faithfully 
 borne up against it, and indeed had humbled me by her faith, 
 and had exhorted me to stand out gallantly to the last, for which 
 I should be grateful to her as long as I lived. Hereupon she 
 merely wept and sobbed yet more, and at length brought out 
 that she still had an old mother of eighty, living in Liepe, and 
 that she wished to go and nurse her till her end. Hereupon 
 my daughter jumped up, and answered with tears, " Alas, old 
 Use, why wilt thou leave us, for thy mother is with thy brother ? 
 Do but tell me why thou wilt forsake me, and what harm have 
 I done thee, that I may make it good to thee again." But she 
 hid her face in her apron, and sobbed, and could not get out a 
 single word ; whereupon my child drew away the apron from 
 her face, and would have stroked her cheek, to make her 
 speak. But when Use saw this she struck my poor child's 
 hand, and cried " Ugh !" spat out before her, and straightway 
 went out at the door. Such a thing she had never done even 
 when my child was a little girl, and we were both so shocked 
 that we could neither of us say a word. 
 
 Before long my poor child gave a loud cry, and cast herself 
 upon the bench, weeping and wailing, " What has happened, 
 what has happened ?" I therefore thought I ought to tell her 
 what I had heard, namely, that she was looked upon as a witch. 
 Whereat she began to smile instead of weeping any more, and 
 ran out of the door to overtake the maid, who had already left 
 the house, as we had seen. She returned after an hour crying 
 out that all the people in the village had run away from her, 
 when she would have asked them whither the maid was gone. 
 Item, the little children, for whom she had kept school, had
 
 76 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xvi 
 
 screamed, and had hidden themselves from her : also no one 
 would answer her a single word, but all spat out before her, as 
 the maid had done. On her way home she had seen a boat on 
 the water, and had run as fast as she could to the shore, and 
 called with might and main after old Use, who was in the boat. 
 But she had taken no notice of her, not even once to look round 
 after her, but had motioned her to be gone. And now she went 
 on to weep and to sob the whole day and the whole night, so that 
 I was more miserable than even in the time of the great famine. 
 But the worst was yet to come, as will be shown in the following 
 chapter.
 
 CHAP, xvn.] THE AMBER WITCH. 77 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 How my poor child was taken up for a witch, and carried to Pudgla. 
 
 THE next day, Monday, the 12th July, at about eight in the 
 morning, while we sat in our grief, wondering who could have 
 prepared such great sorrow for us, and speedily agreed that it 
 could be none other than the accursed witch Lizzie Kolken, a 
 coach with four horses drove quickly up to the door, wherein sat 
 six fellows, who straightway all jumped out. Two went and 
 stood at the front, two at the back door, and two more, one of 
 whom was the constable Jacob Knake, came into the room, and 
 handed me a warrant from the Sheriff for the arrest of my 
 daughter, as in common repute of being a wicked witch, and 
 for her examination before the criminal court. Any one may 
 guess how my heart sunk within me when I read this. I dropped 
 to the earth like a felled tree, and when I came to myself my 
 child had thrown herself upon me with loud cries, and her hot 
 tears ran down over my face. When she saw that I came to 
 myself, she began to praise God therefore with a loud voice, and 
 essayed to comfort me, saying that she was innocent, and should 
 appear with a clean conscience before her judges. Item, she 
 repeated to me the beautiful text from Matthew, chapter v. : 
 " Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, 
 and shall say a,ll manner of evil against you falsely for my 
 sake." 
 
 And she begged me to rise and to throw my cassock over my 
 doublet, and go with her, for that without me she would not 
 suffer herself to be carried before the Sheriff. Meanwhile, how- 
 ever, all the village, men, women, and children, had thronged 
 together before my door ; but they remained quiet, and only 
 peeped in at the windows as though they would have looked right 
 through the house. When we had both made us ready, and the
 
 78 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvn. 
 
 constable, who at first would not take me with them, had thought 
 better of it, by reason of a good fee which my daughter gave 
 him, we walked to the coach ; but I was so helpless that I could 
 not get up into it. 
 
 Old Paasch, when he saw this, came and helped me up into 
 the coach, saying, " God comfort ye ! Alas, that you should 
 ever see your child come to this !" and he kissed my hand to 
 take leave. 
 
 A few others came up to the coach, and would have done like- 
 wise ; but I besought them not to make my heart still heavier, 
 and to take Christian charge of my house and my affairs until I 
 .should return. Also to pray diligently for me and my daughter, 
 so that the Evil One, who had long gone about our village like 
 a roaring lion, and who now threatened to devour me, might not 
 prevail against us, but might be forced to depart from me and 
 from my child as from our guileless Saviour in the wilderness. 
 But to this none answered a word ; and I heard right well, as 
 we drove away, that many spat out after us, and one said (my 
 child thought it was Berow her voice), " We would far sooner 
 lay fire under thy coats than pray for thee." We were still 
 sighing over such words as these, when we came near to the 
 churchyard, and there sat the accursed witch Lizzie Kolken at the 
 door of her house with her hymn-book in her lap, screeching out 
 at the top of her voice, " God the Father, dwell with us," as we 
 drove past her : the which vexed my poor child so sore that she 
 swounded, and fell like one dead upon me. I begged the dri- 
 ver to stop, and called to old Lizzie to bring us a pitcher of 
 water ; but she did as though she had not heard me, and went 
 on to sing so that it rang again. Whereupon the constable 
 jumped down, and at my request ran back to my house to fetch 
 a pitcher of water ; and he presently came back with it, and the 
 people after him, who began to say aloud that my child's bad 
 conscience had stricken her, and that she had now betrayed her- 
 self. Wherefore I thanked God when she came to life again, 
 and we could leave the village. But at Uekeritze it was just 
 the same, for all the people had flocked together, and were stand- 
 ing on the green before Labahn his house when we went by. 
 
 Nevertheless, they were quiet enough as we drove past, albeit
 
 CHAP, xvii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 79 
 
 some few cried, " How can it be, how can it be !" 1 heard no- 
 thing else. But in the forest near the watermill the miller and 
 all his men ran out and shouted, laughing, " Look at the witch, 
 look at the witch !" Whereupon one of the men struck at my 
 poor child with the sack which he held in his hand, so that she 
 turned quite white, and the flour flew all about the coach like a 
 cloud. When I rebuked him, the wicked rogue laughed and 
 said, that if no other smoke than that ever came under her nose, 
 so much the better for her. Item, it was worse in Pudgla than 
 even at the mill. The people stood so thick on the hill, before 
 the castle, that we could scarce force our way through, and the 
 Sheriff caused the death-bell in the castle-tower to toll as an 
 avisum. Whereupon more and more people came running out 
 of the ale-houses and cottages. Some cried out, " Is that the 
 witch ?" Others, again, " Look at the parson's witch ! the par- 
 son's witch !" and much more, which for very shame I may not 
 write. They scraped up the mud out of the gutter which ran 
 from the castle-kitchen and threw it upon us ; item, a great stone, 
 the which struck one of the horses so that it shyed, and belike 
 would have upset the coach had not the man sprung forward and 
 held it in. All this happened before the castle-gates, where the 
 Sheriff stood smiling and looking on, with a heron's feather stuck 
 in his grey hat. But so soon as the horse was quiet again he 
 came to the coach and mocked at my child, saying, " See, young 
 maid, thou wouldst not come to me, and here thou art neverthe- 
 less !" Whereupon she answered, " Yea, I come ; and may you 
 one day come before your judge as I come before you ;" where- 
 unto I said, Amen, and asked him how his lordship could answer 
 before God and man for what he had done to a wretched man 
 like myself and to my child ? But he answered, saying, Why 
 had I come with her ? And when I told him of the rude people 
 here, item, of the churlish miller's man, he said that it was not 
 his fault, and threatened the people all around with his fist, for 
 they were making a great noise. Thereupon he commanded 
 my child to get down and to follow him, and went before her 
 into the castle ; motioned the constable, who would have gone 
 with them, to stay at the foot of the steps, and began to mount 
 the winding staircase to the upper rooms alone with my child.
 
 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvn. 
 
 But she whispered me privately, "Do not leave me, father;" 
 and I presently followed softly after them. Hearing by their 
 voices in which chamber they were, I laid my ear against the 
 door to listen. And the villain offered to her that if she would 
 love him naught should harm her, saying he had power to save 
 her from the people ; but that if she would not, she should go 
 before the court next day, and she might guess herself how it 
 would fare with her, seeing that he had many witnesses to prove 
 that she had played the wanton with Satan, and had suffered 
 him to kiss her. Hereupon she was silent, and only sobbed, 
 which the arch-rogue took as a good sign, and went on : " If 
 you have had Satan himself for a sweetheart, you surely may 
 love me." And he went to her and would have taken her in 
 his arms, as I perceived ; for she gave a loud scream, and flew 
 to the door ; but he held her fast, and begged and threatened as 
 the devil prompted him. I was about to go in when I heard her 
 strike him in the face, saying, " Get thee behind me, Satan," so 
 that he let her go. Whereupon she ran out at the door so sud- 
 denly that she threw me on the ground, and fell upon rne with 
 a loud cry. Hereat the Sheriff, who had followed her, started, 
 but presently cried out, " Wait, thou prying parson, I will teach 
 thee to listen !" and ran out and beckoned to the constable who 
 stood on the steps below. He bade him first shut me up in one 
 dungeon, seeing that I was an eavesdropper, and then return and 
 thrust my child into another. But he thought better of it when 
 \\r had come half way down the winding-stair, and said he 
 would excuse me this time, and that the constable might let me 
 go, and only lock up my child very fast, and bring the key to 
 him, seeing she was a stubborn person, as he had seen at the 
 very first hearing which he had given her. 
 
 Hereupon my poor child was torn from me, and I fell in a 
 su'ound upon the steps. I know not how I got down them ; but 
 when I came to myself, I was in the constable his room, and his 
 wife was throwing water in my face. There I passed the night 
 sitting in a chair, and sorrowed more than I prayed, seeing that 
 my faith was greatly shaken, and the Lord came not to strength- 
 rii it.
 
 CHAP, xviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 81 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Of the first trial, and what came thereof. 
 
 NEXT morning, as I walked up and down in the court, seeing 
 that I had many times asked the constable in vain to lead me to 
 my child (he would not even tell me where she lay), and for very 
 disquietude I had at last begun to wander about there ; about 
 six o'clock there came a coach from Uzdom,* wherein sat his 
 worship, Master Samuel Pieper, consul dirigens, item, the came- 
 rarius Gebhard Wenzel, and a scriba, whose name, indeed, I 
 heard, but have forgotten it again ; and my daughter forgot it 
 too, albeit in other things she has an excellent memory, and, 
 indeed, told me most of what follows, for my old head well nigh 
 burst, so that I myself could remember but little. I straight- 
 way went up to the coach, and begged that the worshipful court 
 would suffer me to be present at the trial, seeing that my daughter 
 was yet in her nonage, but which the Sheriff", who meanwhile 
 had stepped up to the coach from the terrace, whence he had 
 seen all, had denied me. But his worship Master Samuel Pie- 
 per, who was a little round man, with a fat paunch, and a beard 
 mingled with grey hanging down to his middle, reached me his 
 hand, and condoled with me like a Christian in my trouble : I 
 might come into court in God's name ; and he wished with all 
 his heart that all whereof my daughter was fyled might prove 
 to be foul lies. Nevertheless I had still to wait full two hours 
 before their worships came down the winding stair again. At 
 last towards nine o'clock I heard the constable moving about the 
 chairs and benches in the j udgment chamber ; and as I conceived 
 that the time was now come, I went in and sat myself down on a 
 bench. No one, however, was yet there, save the constable and 
 his young daughter, who was wiping the table, and held a rose- 
 
 * Or Usedom, a small town which gives its name to the whole island. 
 7
 
 82 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 bud between her lips. I was fain to beg her to give it me, so 
 that I might have it to smell to ; and I believe that I should have 
 been carried dead out of the room that day if I had not had it. 
 God is thus able to preserve our lives even by means of a poor 
 flower, if so he wills it ! 
 
 At length their Worships came in and sat round the table, 
 whereupon Dom. Consul motioned the constable to fetch in my 
 child. Meanwhile he asked the Sheriff whether he had put Rea 
 in chains, and when he said No, he gave him such a reprimand 
 that it went through my very marrow. But the Sheriff excused 
 himself, saying that he had not done so from regard to her qual- 
 ity, but had locked her up in so fast a dungeon, that she could 
 not possibly escape therefrom. Whereupon Dom. Consul an- 
 swered that much is possible to the devil, and that they would 
 have to answer for it should Rea escape. This angered the 
 Sheriff, and he replied that if the devil could convey her through 
 walls seven feet thick, and through three doors, he could very 
 easily break her chains too. Whereupon Dom. Consul said that 
 hereafter he would look at the prison himself; and I think that 
 the Sheriff had been so kind only because he yet hoped (as, in- 
 deed, will hereafter be shown) to talk over my daughter to let 
 him have his will of her. 
 
 And now the door opened, and my poor child came in with 
 the constable, but walking backwards,* and without her shoes, 
 the which she was forced to leave without. The fellow had 
 seized her by her long hair, and thus dragged her up to the table, 
 when first she was to turn round and look upon her judges. He 
 had a vast deal to say in the matter, and was in every way a 
 bold and impudent rogue, as will soon be shown. After Dom. 
 Consul had heaved a deep sigh, and gazed at her from head to 
 foot, he first asked her name, and how old she was; item, if she 
 knew why she was summoned before them ? On the last point 
 she answered that the Sheriff had already told her father the 
 reason ; that she wished not to wrong any one, but thought that 
 
 *This ridiculous proceeding always took place at the first examination of 
 a witch, as it was imagined that she Would otherwise bewitch the judges with 
 her looks. On this occasion indeed such an event was not unlikely.
 
 CHAP, xvin.] THE AMBER WITCH. 83 
 
 the Sheriff himself had brought upon her the repute of a witch, 
 in order to gain her to his wicked will. Hereupon she told all 
 his ways with her, from the very first, and how he would by all 
 means have had her for his housekeeper ; and that when she 
 would not (although he had many times come himself to her 
 father his house), one day, as he went out of the door, he had 
 muttered in his beard, " I will have her, despite of all !" which 
 their servant Glaus Neels had heard, as he stood in the stable ; 
 and he had also sought to gain his ends by means f an ungodly 
 woman, one Lizzie Kolken, who had formerly been in his service ; 
 that this woman, belike, had contrived the spells which they laid 
 to her charge : she herself knew nothing of witchcraft ; item, 
 she related what the Sheriff had done to her the evening before, 
 when she had just come, and when he for the first time spoke out 
 plainly, thinking that she was then altogether in his power : nay, 
 more, that he had come to her that very night again, in her dun- 
 geon, and had made her the same offers, saying that he would 
 set her free if she would let him have his will of her ; and that 
 when she denied him, he had struggled with her, whereupon she 
 had screamed aloud, and had scratched him across the nose, as 
 might yet be seen, whereupon he had left her ; wherefore she 
 would not acknowledge the Sheriff as her judge, and trusted in 
 God to save her from the hand of her enemies, as of old he had 
 saved the chaste Susannah. 
 
 When she now held her peace amid loud sobs, Dom. Consul 
 started up after he had looked, as we all did, at the Sheriff's 
 nose, and had in truth espied the scar upon it, and cried out in 
 amaze, " Speak, for God his sake, speak, what is this that I hear 
 of your lordship ?" Whereupon the Sheriff, without changing 
 color, answered, that although, indeed, he was not called upon 
 to say anything to their worships, seeing that he was the head 
 of the court, and that Rea, as appeared from numberless indicia, 
 was a wicked witch, and therefore could not bear witness against 
 him or any one else ; he, nevertheless, would speak, so as to 
 give no cause of scandal to the court ; that all the charges 
 brought against him by this person were foul lies ; it was, indeed, 
 true, that he would have hired her for a housekeeper, whereof 
 he stood greatly in need, seeing that his old Dorothy was already
 
 84 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvin. 
 
 growing infirm ; it was also true that he had yesterday ques- 
 tioned her in private, hoping to get her to confess by fair means, 
 whereby her sentence would be softened, inasmuch as he had 
 pity on her great youth ; but that he had not said one naughty 
 word to her, nor had he been to her in the night ; and that it 
 was his little lap-dog, called Below, which had scratched him, 
 while he played with it that very morning ; that his old Dorothy 
 could bear witness to this, and that the cunning witch had only 
 made use of this wile to divide the court against itself, thereby 
 and with the devil's help, to gain her own advantage, inasmuch 
 as she was a most cunning creature, as the court would soon 
 find out. 
 
 Hereupon I plucked up a heart, and declared that all my 
 daughter had said was true, and that the evening before I 
 myself had heard, through the door, how his lordship had made 
 offers to her, and would have done wantonness with her ; item, 
 that he had already sought to kiss her once at Coserow ; item, 
 the troubles which his lordship had formerly brought upon me 
 in the matter of the first-fruits. 
 
 Howbeit the Sheriff presently talked me down, saying, that 
 if I had slandered him, an innocent man, in church, from the 
 pulpit, as the whole congregation could bear witness, I should 
 doubtless find it easy to do as much here, before the court ; not 
 to mention that a father could, in no case, be a witness for his 
 own child. 
 
 But Do/Ti. Consul seemed quite confounded, and was silent, 
 and leaned his head on the table, as in deep thought. Mean- 
 while the impudent constable began to finger his beard from 
 under his arm ; and Dom. Consul thinking it was a fly, struck 
 at him with his hand, without even looking up ; but when he 
 felt the constable his hand, he jumped up and asked him what 
 he wanted ? whereupon the fellow answered, " O, only a louse 
 was creeping there, and I would have caught it." 
 
 At such impudence his worship was so exceeding wroth that 
 he struck the constable on the mouth, and ordered him, on pain 
 of heavy punishment, to leave the room. 
 
 Hereupon he turned to the Sheriff, and cried, angrily, " Why, 
 in the name of all the ten devils, is it thus your lordship keeps
 
 CHAP, xviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 85 
 
 the constable in order ? and truly, in this whole mater, there is 
 something which passes my understanding." But the Sheriff 
 answered, " Not so ; should you not understand it all when you 
 think upon the eels ?" 
 
 Hereat Dom. Consul of a sudden turned ghastly pale, and 
 began to tremble, as it appeared to me, and called the Sheriff 
 aside into another chamber. I have never been able to learn 
 what that about the eels could mean. 
 
 Meanwhile Dominus Camerarius Gebhard Wenzel sat biting 
 his pen and looking furiously now at me, and now at my child, 
 but said not a word ; neither did he answer Scriba, who often 
 whispered somewhat into his ear, save by a growl. At length 
 both their worships came back into the chamber together, and 
 Dom. Consul, after he and the Sheriff had seated themselves, 
 began to reproach my poor child violently, saying that she had 
 sought to make a disturbance in the worshipful court ; that his 
 lordship had shown him the very dog which had scratched his 
 nose, and that, moreover, the fact had been sworn to by the old 
 housekeeper. 
 
 (Truly she was not likely to betray him, for the old harlot 
 had lived with him for years, and she had a good big boy by 
 him, as will be seen hereafter.) 
 
 Item, he said that so many indicia of her guilt had come to 
 light, that it was impossible to believe anything she might say ; 
 she was therefore to give glory to God, and openly to confess 
 everything, so as to soften her punishment ; whereby she might 
 perchance, in pity for her youth, escape with life, &c. 
 
 Hereupon he put his spectacles on his nose, and began to 
 cross-question her, during near four hours, from a paper which 
 he held in his hand. These were the main articles, as far as 
 both can remember : 
 
 Qucestio. Whether she could bewitch ? Responsio. No ; she 
 knew nothing of witchcraft. 
 
 Q. Whether she could charm ? R. Of that she knew as 
 little. 
 
 Q. Whether she had ever been on the Blocksberg ? R. That 
 was too far off for her ; she knew few hills save the Streckel- 
 berg, where she had been very often.
 
 86 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 Q. What had she done there ? R. She had looked out over 
 the sea, or gathered flowers ; item, at time carried home an 
 apron-full of dry brushwood. 
 
 Q. Whether she had ever called upon the devil there ? R. 
 That had never come into her mind. 
 
 Q. Whether, then, the devil had appeared to her there, un- 
 called ? R. God defend her from such a thing. 
 
 Q. So she could not bewitch ? R. No. 
 
 Q. What, then, befel Kit Zuter his spotted cow, that it sud- 
 denly died in her presence ? R. She did not know ; and that 
 was a strange question. 
 
 Q. Then it would be as strange a question, why Katie Berow 
 her little pig had died ? R. Assuredly ; she wondered what 
 they would lay to her charge.' 
 
 Q. Then she had not bewitched them ? R. No; God forbid it. 
 
 Q. Why, then, if she were innocent, had she promised old 
 Katie another little pig, when her sow should litter ? R. She 
 did that out of kind-heartedness. (And hereupon she began to 
 weep bitterly, and said she plainly saw that she had to thank 
 old Lizzie Kolken for all this, inasmuch as she had often 
 threatened her when she would not fulfil all her greedy desires, 
 for she wanted everything that came in her way ; moreover, 
 that Lizzie had gone all about the village when the cattle were 
 bewitched, persuading the people that if only a pure maid 
 pulled a few hairs out of the beasts' tails they would get better. 
 That she pitied them, and knowing herself to be a maid, went 
 to help them ; and indeed, at first it cured them, but latterly not.) 
 
 Q. What cattle had she cured ? R. Zabel his red cow ; 
 iti'/n, Witthan her pig, and old Lizzie's own cow. 
 
 Q. Why could she afterwards cure them no more ? R. She 
 did not know, but thought albeit she had no wish to fyle any 
 one that old Lizzie Kolken, who for many a long year had 
 been in common repute as a witch, had done it all, and bewitched 
 the cows in her name and then charmed them back again, as 
 she pleased, only to bring her to misfortune. 
 
 Q. Why, then, had old Lizzie bewitched her own cow, item, 
 suffered her own pig to die, if it was she that had made all the 
 disturbance in the village, and could really charm ? R. She
 
 CHAP, xviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 87 
 
 did not know ; but belike there was some one (and here she 
 looked at the Sheriff) who paid her double for it all. 
 
 Q. It was in vain that she sought to shift the guilt from off 
 herself; had she not bewitched old Paasch his crop, nay, even 
 her own father's, and caused it to be trodden down by the devil, 
 item, conjured all the caterpillars into her father's orchard ? 
 R. The question was almost as monstrous as the deed would 
 have been. There sat her father, and his worship might ask 
 him whether she ever had shown herself an undutiful child to 
 him. (Hereupon I would have risen to speak, but Dom. Consul 
 suffered me not to open my mouth, but went on with his exami- 
 nation ; whereupon I remained silent and downcast.) 
 
 Q. Whether she did likewise deny that it was through her 
 malice that the woman Witthan had given birth to a devil's 
 imp, which straightway started up and flew out at the window, 
 so that when the midwife sought for it, it had disappeared ? 
 R. Truly she did ; and indeed she had all the days of her life 
 done good to the people instead of harm, for during the terrible 
 famine she had often taken the bread out of her own mouth 
 to share it among the others, especially the little children. 
 To this the whole parish must needs bear witness, if they were 
 asked ; whereas witches and warlocks always did evil and no 
 good to men, as our Lord Jesus taught (Matt, xii.), when the 
 Pharisees blasphemed him, saying that he cast out devils by 
 Beelzebub the prince of the devils ; hence his worship might 
 see whether she could in truth be a witch. 
 
 Q. He would soon teach her to talk of blasphemies ; he saw 
 that her tongue was well hung ; but she must answer the ques- 
 tions he asked her, and say nothing more. The question was 
 not what good she had done to the poor, but wherewithal she had 
 done it ; she must now show how she and her father had of a 
 sudden grown so rich that she could go pranking about in silken 
 raiment, whereas she used to be so very poor ? 
 
 Hereupon she looked towards me, and said, " Father, shall I 
 tell ?" Whereupon I answered, " Yes, my child, now thou 
 must openly tell all, even though we thereby become beggars." 
 She accordingly told how, when our need was sorest, she had
 
 88 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xvm 
 
 found the amber, and how much we had gotten for it from the 
 Dutch merchants. 
 
 Q. What were the names of these merchants ? R. Diete- 
 rich von Pehnen and Jacob Kiekebusch j but, as we have heard 
 from a schipper, they since died of the plague at Stettin. 
 
 Q. Why had we said nothing of such a godsend ? R. Out 
 of fear of our enemy the Sheriff, who, as it seemed, had con- 
 demned us to die of hunger, inasmuch as he forbade the parish- 
 ioners, under pain of heavy displeasure, to supply us with any- 
 thing, saying, that he would soon send them a better parson. 
 
 Hereupon Dom. Consul again looked the Sheriff sharply in 
 the face, who answered that it was true he had said this, seeing 
 that the parson had preached at him in the most scandalous 
 manner from the pulpit ; but that he knew very well, at the 
 time, that they were far from dying of hunger. 
 
 Q. How came so much amber on the Streckelberg ? She 
 had best confess at once that the devil had brought it to her. 
 R. She knew nothing about that. But there was a great vein 
 of amber there, as she could show to them all that very day ; 
 and she had broken out the amber, and covered the hole well 
 over with fir-twigs, so that none should find it. 
 
 Q. When had she gone up the Streckelberg ; by day or by 
 night ? R. Hereupon she blushed, and for a moment held her 
 peace ; but presently made answer, " Sometimes by day, and 
 sometimes by night." 
 
 Q. Why did she hesitate ? She had better make a full con- 
 fession of all, so that her punishment might be less heavy. 
 Had she not there given over old Seden to Satan, who had car- 
 ried him off through the air, and left only a part of his hair and 
 brains sticking to the top of an oak ? R. She did not know 
 whether that was his hair and brains at all, nor how it came 
 there. She went to the tree one morning because she heard a 
 woodpecker cry so dolefully. Item, old Paasch, who also had 
 heard the cries, came up with his axe in his hand. 
 
 Q. Whether the woodpecker was not the devil himself, who 
 had carried off old Seden ? R. She did not know : but he must 
 have been dead some time, seeing that the blood and brains 
 which the lad fetched down out of the tree were quite dried up.
 
 CHAP, xviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 89 
 
 Q. How and when, then, had he come by his death ? R. 
 That Almighty God only knew. But Zuter his little girl had 
 said that one day, while she gathered nettles for the cows under 
 Seden his hedge, she heard the goodman threaten his squint-eyed 
 wife that he would tell the parson that he now knew of a cer- 
 tainty that she had a familiar spirit ; whereupon the goodman 
 had presently disappeared. But that this was a child's tale, and 
 she would fyle no one on the strength of it. 
 
 Hereupon Dom. Consul again looked the Sheriff steadily in 
 the face, and said, " Old Lizzie Kolken must be brought before 
 us this very day :" whereto the Sheriff made no answer ; and he 
 went on to ask, 
 
 Q. Whether, then, she still maintained that she knew nothing 
 of the devil ? R. She maintained it now, and would maintain 
 it until her life's end. 
 
 Q. And nevertheless, as had been seen by witnesses, she had 
 been re-baptized by him in the sea in broad daylight. Here 
 again she blushed, and for a moment was silent. 
 
 Q. Why did she blush again ? She should for God his sake 
 think on her salvation, and confess the truth. R. She had 
 bathed herself in the sea, seeing that the day was very hot ; that 
 was the whole truth. 
 
 Q. What chaste maiden would ever bathe in the sea ? Thou 
 liest ; or wilt thou even yet deny that thou didst bewitch old 
 Paasch his little girl with a white roll ? R. Alas ! alas ! She 
 loved the child as though it were her own little sister ; not only 
 had she taught her as well as all the other children without 
 reward, but during the heavy famine she had often taken the bit 
 from her own mouth to put it into the little child's. How then 
 could she have wished to do her such grievous harm ? 
 
 Q. Wilt thou even yet deny ? Reverend Abraham, how stub- 
 born is your child ! See here, is this no witches' salve,* which 
 the constable fetched out of thy coffer last night ? Is this no 
 witches' salve, eh ? R. It was a salve for the skin, which 
 
 * It was believed that the devil gave the witches a salve, by the use of 
 which they made themselves invisible, changed themselves into animals, 
 flew through the air, &c.
 
 90 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xvm. 
 
 would make it soft and white, as the apothecary at Wolgast had 
 told her, of whom she bought it. 
 
 Q-. Hereupon he shook his head, and went on : How ! wilt 
 thou then lastly deny that on this last Saturday the 10th 
 July, at 12 o'clock at night, thou didst on the Streckelberg call 
 upon thy paramour the devil in dreadful words, whereupon he 
 appeared to thee in the shape of a great hairy giant, and clipped 
 thee and toyed with thee ? 
 
 At these words she grew more pale than a corpse, and 
 tottered so that she was forced to hold by a chair ; and I, 
 wretched man, who would readily have sworn away my life for 
 her, when I saw and heard this, my senses forsook me, so that I 
 fell down from the bench, and Dom. Consul had to call in the 
 constable to help me up. 
 
 When I had come to myself a little, and the impudent varlet 
 saw our common consternation, he cried out, grinning at the 
 court the while, " Is it all out ? is it all out ? has she confessed ?" 
 Whereupon Dom. Consul again showed him the door with a 
 sharp rebuke, as might have been expected ; and it is said that 
 this knave played the pimp for the Sheriff, and indeed I think 
 he would not otherwise have been so bold. 
 
 Summa : I should well nigh have perished in my distress, 
 but for the little rose, which by the help of God's mercy kept 
 me up bravely ; and now the whole court rose and exhorted my 
 poor fainting child, by the living God, and as she would save 
 her soul, to deny no longer, but in pity to herself and her father 
 to confess the truth. 
 
 Hereupon she heaved a deep sigh, and grew as red as she had 
 been pale before, inasmuch that even her hand upon the chair 
 was like scarlet, and she did not raise her eyes from the ground. 
 
 R. She would now then confess the simple truth, as she saw 
 right well that wicked people had stolen after and watched 
 her at nights. That she had been to seek for amber on the 
 mountain, and that to drive away fear she had, as she was wont 
 to do at her work, recited the Latin carmen which her father had 
 made on the illustrious King Gustavus Adolphus ; when young 
 Riidiger of Nienkerken, who had oft-times been at her father's 
 house and talked of love to her, came out of the coppice, and
 
 CHAP, xviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 91 
 
 . 
 
 when she cried out for fear, spoke to her in Latin, and clasped 
 her in his arms. That he wore a great wolf's-skin coat, so that 
 folks should not know him if they met him, and tell the lor*d his 
 father that he had been on the mountain by night. 
 
 At this her confession I fell into sheer despair, and cried 
 in great wrath, " O thou ungodly and undutiful child, after all 
 then thou hast a paramour ! Did not I forbid thee to go up the 
 mountain by night ? What didst thou want'on the mountain by 
 night ?" and I began to moan and weep and wring my hands, so 
 that Dom. Consul even had pity on me, and drew near to com- 
 fort me. Meanwhile she herself came towards me, and began 
 to defend herself, saying, with many tears, that she had gone up 
 the mountain by night, against my commands, to get so much 
 amber that she might secretly buy for me, against my birthday, 
 the Opera Sancti Augustini, which the Cantor at Wolgast 
 wanted to sell. That it was not her fault that the young lord 
 lay in wait for her one night ; and that she would swear to me, 
 by the living God, that naught that was unseemly had happened 
 between them there, and that she was still a maid. 
 
 And herewith the first hearing was at an end, for after Dom. 
 Consul had whispered somewhat into the ear of the Sheriff, he 
 called in the constable again, and bade him keep good watch 
 over Rea ; item, not to leave her at large in her dungeon any 
 longer, but to put her in chains. These words pierced my very 
 heart, and I besought his worship to consider my sacred office, 
 and my ancient noble birth, and not to do me such dishonor as 
 to put my daughter in chains. That I would answer for her to 
 the worshipful court with my own head that she would not 
 escape. Whereupon Dom. Consul, after he had gone to look at 
 the dungeon himself, granted me my request, and commanded 
 the constable to leave her as she had been hitherto.
 
 92 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 How Satan, by the permission of the most righteous God, sought altogether 
 to ruin us, and how we lost all hope. 
 
 THE same day, at about three in the afternoon, when I was gone 
 to Conrad Seep his ale-house to eat something, seeing that it 
 was now nearly two days since I had tasted aught save my 
 tears, and he had placed before me some bread and sausage, 
 together with a mug of beer, the constable came into the room 
 and greeted me from the Sheriff, without, however, so much as 
 touching his cap, asking whether I would not dine with his 
 lordship ; that his lordship had not remembered till now that I 
 belike was still fasting, seeing that the trial had lasted so long. 
 Hereupon I made answer to the constable that I already had my 
 dinner before me, as he saw himself, and desired that his lord- 
 ship would hold me excused. Hereat the fellow wondered 
 greatly, and answered ; did I not see that his lordship wished 
 me well, albeit I had preached at him as though he were a Jew ? 
 I should think on my daughter, and be somewhat more ready to 
 do his lordship's will, whereby peradventure all would yet end 
 well. For his lordship was not such a rough ass as Dom. Con- 
 sul, and meant well by my child and me, as beseemeth a right- 
 eous magistrate. 
 
 After I had with some trouble rid myself of this impudent 
 fox, I tried to eat a bit, but nothing would go down save the 
 beer. I therefore soon sat and thought again whether I would 
 not lodge with Conrad Seep, so as to be always near my 
 child ; item, whether I should not hand over my poor misguided 
 flock to M. Vigelius, the pastor of Benz, for such time as the 
 Lord still should prove me. In about an hour I saw through 
 the window how that an empty coach drove to the castle, and 
 the Sheriff and Dom. Consul straightway stepped thereinto with
 
 CHAP xix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 93 
 
 my child ; item, the constable climbed up behind. Hereupon I 
 left everything on the table and ran to the coach, asking hum- 
 bly whither they were about to take my poor child ; and when 
 I heard they were going to the Streckelberg to look after the 
 amber, I begged them to take me also, and to suffer me to sit 
 by my child, for who could tell how much longer I might yet 
 sit by her ! This was granted to me, and on the way the Sher- 
 iff offered me to take up my abode in the castle and to dine at 
 his table as often as I pleased, and that he would, moreover, 
 send my child her meat from his own table. For that he had a 
 Christian heart, and well knew that we were to forgive our ene- 
 mies. But I refused his kindness with humble thanks, as my 
 child did also, seeing we were not yet so poor that we could not 
 maintain ourselves. As we passed by the watermill the un- 
 godly varlet there again thrust his head out of a hole and pulled 
 wry faces at my child ; but, dear reader, he got something to 
 remember it by ; for the Sheriff beckoned to the constable to 
 fetch the fellow out, and after he^ had reproached him with the 
 tricks he had twice played my child, the constable had to take 
 the coachman his new whip and to give him fifty lashes, which, 
 God knows, were not laid on with a feather. He bellowed like 
 a bull, which, however, no one heard for the noise of the mill-* 
 wheels, and when at last he did as though he could not stir, we 
 left him lying on the ground and went on our way. 
 
 As we drove through Uekeritze a number of people flocked 
 together, but were quiet enough, save one fellow who, salvd 
 venid, mocked at us with unseemly gestures in the midst of the 
 road when he saw us coming. The constable had to jump 
 down again, but could not catch him, and the others would not 
 give him up, but pretended that they had only looked at our 
 coach and had not marked him. May be this was true ! and I 
 am therefore inclined to think that it was Satan himself who did 
 it to mock at us ; for mark, for God's sake, what happened to 
 us on the Streckelberg ! Alas ! through the delusions of the 
 foul fiend, we could not find the spot where we had dug for the 
 amber. For when we came to where we thought it must be, a 
 huge hill of sand had been heaped up as by a whirlwind, and 
 the fir-twigs which my child had covered over it were gone.
 
 94 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 She was near falling in a swound when she saw this, and wrung 
 her hands and cried out with her Saviour, " My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me !" 
 
 Howbeit, the constable and the coachman were ordered to dig, 
 but not one bit of amber was to be found, even so big as a grain 
 of corn, whereupon Dom. Consul shook his head and violently 
 upbraided my child ; and when I answered that Satan himself, 
 as it seemed, had filled up the hollow in order to bring us alto- 
 gether into his power, the constable was ordered to fetch a long 
 stake out of the coppice which we might thrust still deeper into 
 the sand. But no hard oljectum was anywhere to be felt, not- 
 withstanding the Sheriff, Dom. Consul, and myself in my an- 
 guish did try everywhere with the stake. 
 
 Hereupon my child besought her judges to go with her to 
 Coserow, where she still had much amber in her coffer which 
 she had found here, and that if it were the gift of the devil it 
 would all be changed, since it was well known that all the 
 presents the devil makes to witches straightway turn to mud 
 and ashes. 
 
 But, God be merciful to us, God be merciful to us ! when we 
 returned to Coserow, amid the wonderment of all the village, and 
 my daughter went to her coffer, the things therein were all 
 tossed about, and the amber gone. Hereupon she shrieked so 
 loud that it would have softened a stone, and cried out, " The 
 wicked constable hath done this ! when he fetched the salve out 
 of my coffer, he stole the amber from me, unhappy maid." But 
 the constable, who stood by, would have torn her hair, and cried 
 out, " Thou witch, thou damned witch, is it not enough that 
 thou hast belied my lord, but thou must now belie me too?" 
 But Dom. Consul forbade him, so that he did not dare lay hands 
 upon her. Item, all the money was gone which she had hoard- 
 nl n j> from the amber she had privately sold, and which she 
 thought already came to about ten florins. 
 
 But the gown which she had worn at the arrival of the most 
 illustrious King Gustavus Adolphus, as well as the golden chain 
 with his effigy which he had given her, I had locked up as though 
 it were a relic in the chest in the vestry, among the altar and 
 pulpit cloths, and there we found them still ; and when I ex-
 
 CHAP, xix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 95 
 
 cused myself therefore, saying that I had thought to have saved 
 them up for her there against her bridal day, she gazed with 
 fixed and glazed eyes into the box, arid cried out, " Yes, against 
 the day when I shall be burnt ; Oh, Jesu, Jesu, Jesu !" Hereat 
 Dom. Consul shuddered and said, " See how thou still dost smite 
 thyself with thine own words. For the sake of God and thy 
 salvation, confess, for if thou knowest thyself to be innocent, 
 how, then, canst thou think that thou wilt be burnt ?" But she 
 still looked him fixedly in the face, and cried aloud in Latin, 
 " Innocentia, quid est innocentia ! Ubi libido dominatur, inno- 
 centia lev e presidium est."* 
 
 Hereupon Dom. Consul again shuddered, so that his beard 
 wagged, and said, " What, dost thou indeed know Latin ? 
 Where didst thou learn the Latin ?" And when I answered this 
 question as well as I was able for sobbing, he shook his head, 
 and said, " I never in my life heard of a woman that knew 
 Latin." Upon this he knelt down before her coffer, and turned 
 over everything therein, drew it away from the wall, and when 
 he found nothing he bade us show him her bed, and did the same 
 with that. This, at length, vexed the Sheriff, who asked him 
 whether they should not drive back again, seeing that night was 
 coming on ? But he answered, " Nay, I must first have the 
 written paction which Satan has given her;" and he went on 
 with his search until" it was almost dark.f But they found noth- 
 ing at all, although Dom. Consul, together with the constable, 
 passed over no hole or corner, even in the kitchen and cellar. 
 Hereupon he got up again into the coach, muttering to himself, 
 and bade my daughter sit so that she should not look upon him. 
 
 And now we once more had the same spectaculum with the 
 accursed old witch Lizzie Kolken, seeing that she again sat at 
 her door as we drove by, and began to sing at the top of her 
 voice, " We praise thee, O Lord." But she screeched like a 
 stuck pig, so that Dom. Consul was amazed thereat, and when 
 he had heard who she was, he asked the Sheriff whether he 
 
 * These words are from Cicero, if I do not mistake. 
 
 t At this time it was believed that as a man bound himself to the devil by 
 writing, so did the devil in like manner to the man.
 
 96 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 would not that she should be seized by the constable and be 
 tied behind the coach, to run after it, as we had no room for her 
 elsewhere ; for that he had often been told that all old women who 
 had red squinting eyes and sharp voices were witches, not to 
 mention the suspicious things which Rea had declared against 
 her. But he answered that he could not do this, seeing that 
 old Lizzie was a woman in good repute, and fearing God, as 
 Dotn. Consul might learn for himself; but that, nevertheless, he 
 had had her summoned for the morrow, together with the other 
 witnesses. 
 
 Yea, in truth, an excellently devout and worthy woman ! 
 for scarcely were we out of the village, when so fearful a storm 
 of thunder, lightning, wind, and hail burst over our heads, that 
 the corn all around us was beaten down as with a flail, and the 
 horses before the coach were quite maddened ; however, it did 
 not last long. But my poor child had to bear all the blame 
 again,* inasmuch as Dom. Consul thought that it was not old 
 Lizzie, which, nevertheless, was as clear as the sun at noon-day ! 
 but my poor daughter who brewed the storm ; for, beloved 
 reader, what could it have profited her, even if she had known 
 the black art ? This, however, did not strike Dom. Consul, and 
 Satan, by the permission of the all-righteous God, was presently 
 to use us still worse ; for just as we got to the Master's Dam,f 
 he came flying over us in the shape of a stork, and dropped a 
 frog so exactly over us that it fell into my daughter her lap : 
 she gave a shrill scream, but I whispered her to sit still, and that 
 I would secretly throw the frog away by one leg. 
 
 But the constable had seen it, and cried out, " Hey, sirs ! hey, 
 look at the cursed witch ! what has the devil just thrown into 
 her lap ?" Whereupon the Sheriff and Dom. Consul looked 
 round and saw the frog, which crawled in her lap, and the con- 
 stable, after he had blown upon it three times, took it up and 
 showed it to their lordships. Hereat Dom. Consul began to 
 spew, and when he had done, he ordered the coachman to stop, 
 got down from the coach, and said we might drive home, that he 
 felt qualmish, and would go a-foot and see if he got better. 
 
 * Such sudden storms were attributed to witches. 
 
 t It is so called to the present day, and is distant a mile from Coserow.
 
 CHAP. xi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 97 
 
 But first he privately whispered to the constable, which, how. 
 beit, we heard right well, that when he got home he should lay 
 my poor child in chains, but not so as to hurt her much ; to 
 which neither she nor I could answer save by tears and sobs. 
 But the Sheriff had heard it too, and when his worship was 
 out of sight he began to stroke my child her cheeks from be- 
 hind her back, telling her to be easy, as he also had a word to 
 say in the matter, and that the constable should not lay her in 
 chains. But that she must leave off being so hard to him as she 
 had been hitherto, and come and sit on the seat beside him, that 
 he might privately give her some good advice as to what was to 
 be done. To this she answered, with many tears, that she 
 wished to sit only by her father, as she knew not how much 
 longer she might sit by him at all ; and she begged for nothing 
 more save that his lordship would leave her in peace. But this 
 he would not do, but pinched her back and sides with his knees ; 
 and as she bore with this, seeing that there was no help for it, 
 he waxed bolder, taking it for a good sign. Meanwhile Dom. 
 Consul called out close behind us (for being frightened he ran 
 just after the coach), "Constable, constable, come here quick; 
 here lies a hedgehog in the midst of the road !" whereupon the 
 constable jumped down from the coach. 
 
 This made the Sheriff still bolder ; and at last my child rose 
 up and said, " Father, let us also go a-foot ; I can no longer 
 guard myself from him here behind !" But he pulled her down 
 again by her clothes, and cried out angrily, " Wait, thou wicked 
 witch, I will help thee to go a-foot if thou art so wilful ; thou 
 shalt be chained to the block this very night." Whereupon she 
 answered, " Do you do that which you cannot help doing : the 
 righteous God, it is to be hoped, will one day do unto you what 
 He cannot help doing." 
 
 Meanwhile we had reached the castle, and scarcely were we 
 got out of the coach, when Dom. Consul, who had run till he was 
 all of a sweat, came up, together with the constable, and 
 straightway gave over my child into his charge, so that I had 
 scarce time to bid her farewell. I was left standing on the floor 
 below, wringing my hands in the dark, and hearkened whither 
 they were leading her, inasmuch as I had not the heart to 
 8
 
 98 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xix. 
 
 follow ; when Dom. Consul, who had stepped into a room with 
 the Sheriff, looked out at the door again, and called after the 
 constable to bring Rea once more before them. And when he 
 had done so, and I went into the room with them, Dom. Consul 
 held a letter in his hand, and, after spitting thrice, he began 
 thus : " Wilt thou still deny, thou stubborn witch ? Hear what 
 the old knight, Hans von Nienkerken, writes to the court ?" 
 Whereupon he read out to us, that his son was so disturbed by 
 the tale the accursed witch had told of him, that he had fallen 
 sick from that very hour, and that he, the father, was not much 
 better. That his son, Rlidiger, had indeed at times, when he 
 went that way, been to see Pastor Schweidler, whom he had first 
 known upon a journey ; but that he swore that he wished he 
 might turn black if he had ever used any folly or jesting with 
 the cursed devil's whore his daughter ; much less ever been 
 with her by night on the Streckelberg, or embraced her there. 
 
 At this dreadful news we both (I mean my child and I) fell 
 down in a swound together, seeing that we had rested our last 
 hopes on the young lord ; and I know not what further happened. 
 For when I came to myself, my host, Conrad Seep, was standing 
 over me, holding a funnel between my teeth, through which he 
 ladled some warm beer down my throat, and I never felt more 
 wretched in all my life ; insomuch that Master Seep had to un- 
 dress me like a little child, and to help me into bed.
 
 CHAP, xx.] THE AMBER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Of the malice of the Governor and of old Lizzie : item, of the examination 
 of witnesses. 
 
 THE next morning my hairs, which till datum had been mingled 
 with grey, were white as snow, albeit the Lord otherwise blessed 
 me wondrously. For near daybreak a nightingale flew into the 
 elder-bush beneath my window, and sang so sweetly that straight- 
 way I thought it must be a good angel. For after I had heark- 
 ened awhile to it, I was all at once able again to pray, which 
 since last Sunday I could not do ; and the spirit of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ began to speak within me, "Abba, Father;"* and 
 straightway I was of good cheer, trusting that God would once 
 more be gracious unto me his wretched child ; and when I had 
 given him thanks for such great mercy, I fell into a refreshing 
 slumber, and slept so long that the blessed sun stood high in the 
 heavens when I awoke. 
 
 And seeing that my heart was still of good cheer, I sat up in 
 my bed, and sang with a loud voice, " Be not dismayed, thou 
 little flock :" whereupon Master Seep came into the room, think- 
 ing I had called him. But he stood reverently waiting till I had 
 done ; and after marvelling at my snow-white hair, he told me it 
 was already seven ; item, that half my congregation, among others 
 my ploughman, Glaus Neels, were already assembled in his 
 house to bear witness that day. When I heard this, I bade mine 
 host forthwith send Glaus to the castle, to ask when the court 
 would open, and he brought word back that no one knew, see- 
 ing that Dom. Consul was already gone that morning to Mellen- 
 thin to see old Nienkerken, and was not yet come back. This 
 message gave me good courage, and I asked the fellow whether 
 he also had come to bear witness against my poor child ? To 
 
 Gal. iv., 6.
 
 100 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. ix. 
 
 which he answered, " Nay, I know naught save good of her, 
 and I would give the fellows their due, only" 
 
 These words surprised me, and I vehemently urged him to 
 open his heart to me. But he began to weep, and at last said 
 that he knew nothing. Alas ! he knew but too much, and could 
 then have saved my poor child if he had willed. But from fear 
 of the torture he held his peace, as he since owned ; and I will 
 here relate what had befallen him that very morning. 
 
 He had set out betimes that morning, so as to be alone with 
 his sweetheart, who was to go along with him (she is Steffen of 
 Zempin his daughter, not farmer Steffen, but the lame gouty 
 StefFen), and had got to Pudgla about five, where he found no 
 one in the ale-house save old Lizzie Kolken, who straightway 
 hobbled up to the castle ; and when his sweetheart was gone home 
 again, time hung heavy on his hands, and he climbed over the 
 wall into the castle-garden, where he threw himself on his face 
 behind a hedge to sleep. But before long the Sheriff came with 
 old Lizzie, and after they had looked all round and seen no 
 one, they went into an arbor close by him, and conversed as 
 follows : 
 
 Ille. Now that they were alone together, what did she want 
 of him ? 
 
 Ilia. She came to get the money for the witchcraft she had 
 contrived in the village. 
 
 Ille. Of what use had all this witchcraft been to him ? My 
 child, so far from being frightened, defied him more and more ; 
 and he doubted whether he should ever have his will of her. 
 
 Ilia. He should only have patience ; when she was laid upon 
 the rack she would soon learn to be fond. 
 
 Ille. That might be, but till then she (Lizzie) should get no 
 money. 
 
 Ilia. What ! Must she then do his cattle a mischief ? 
 
 Ille. Yes, if she felt chilly, and wanted a burning faggot to 
 warm her podex, she had better. Moreover, he thought that 
 she had bewitched him, seeing that his desire for the parson's 
 daughter was such as he had never felt before. 
 
 Ilia (laughing). He had said the same thing some thirty years 
 ago, when he first came after her.
 
 CHAP, xx.] THE AMBER WITCH. 101 
 
 Ille. Ugh ! thou old baggage, don't remind me of such things, 
 but see to it that you get three witnesses, as I told you before, 
 or else methinks they will rack your old joints for you after all. 
 
 Ilia. She had the three witnesses ready, and would leave the 
 rest to him. But that if she were racked she would reveal all 
 she knew. 
 
 Ille. She should hold her ugly tongue, and go to the devil. 
 
 Ilia. So she would, but first she must have her money. 
 
 Ille. She should have no money till he had had his will of my 
 daughter. 
 
 Ilia. He might at least pay her for her little pig which she 
 herself had bewitched to death, in order that she might not get 
 into evil repute. 
 
 Ille. She might choose one when his pigs were driven by, and 
 say she had paid for it. Hereupon, said my Glaus, the pigs were 
 driven by, and one ran into the garden, the door being open, 
 and as the swineherd followed it, they parted ; but the witch 
 
 muttered to herself, " Now help, devil, help, that I may" 
 
 but he heard no further. 
 
 The cowardly fellow, however, hid all this from me, as I have 
 said above, and only said, with tears, that he knew nothing. I 
 believed him, and sat down at the window to see when Dom. 
 Consul should return ; and when I saw him I rose and went to 
 the castle, where the constable, who was already there with my 
 child, met me before the judgment-chamber. Alas! she looked 
 more joyful than I had seen her for a long time, and smiled at 
 me with her sweet little mouth : but when she saw my snow- 
 white hair, she gave a cry, which made Dom. Consul throw open 
 the door of the judgment-chamber, and say, " Ha, ha ! thou 
 knowest well what news I have brought thee ; come in, thou 
 stubborn devil's brat !" Whereupon we stepped into the chamber 
 to him, and he lift up his voice and spake to me, after he had sat 
 down with the Sheriff, who was by. 
 
 He said that yestereven, after he had caused me to be carried 
 like one dead to Master Seep his ale-house, and that my stubborn 
 child had been brought to life again, he had once more adjured 
 her, to the utmost of his power, no longer to lie before the face 
 of the living God, but to confess the truth ; whereupon she had
 
 102 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. *x. 
 
 borne herself very unruly, and had wrung her hands and wept 
 and sobbed, and at last answered that the young nobilis never 
 could have said such things, but that his father must have writ- 
 ten them, who hated her, as she had plainly seen when the 
 Swedish king was at Coserow. That he, Dom. Consul, had in- 
 deed doubted the truth of this at the time, but as a just judge 
 had gone that morning right early with the scriba to Mellenthin, 
 to question the young lord himself. 
 
 That I might now see myself what horrible malice was in my 
 daughter. For that the old knight had led him to his son's bed- 
 side, who still lay sick from vexation, and that he had confirmed 
 all his father had written, and had cursed the scandalous she- 
 devil (as he called my daughter) for seeking to rob him of his 
 knightly honor. " What sayest thou now ?" he continued ; 
 " wilt thou still deny thy great wickedness ? See here the pro- 
 tocollum which the young lord hath signed manu proprid /" But 
 the wretched maid had meanwhile fallen on the ground again, 
 and the constable had no sooner seen this than he ran into the 
 kitchen, and came back with a burning brimstone match, which 
 he was about to hold under her nose. 
 
 But I hindered him, and sprinkled her face with water, so 
 that she opened her eyes, and raised herself up by a table. 
 She then stood awhile, without saying a word or regarding my 
 sorrow. At last she smiled sadly, and spoke thus : That she 
 clearly saw how true was that spoken by the Holy Ghost, 
 "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man;"* and that the faith- 
 lessness of the young lord had surely broken her poor heart if 
 the all-merciful God had not graciously prevented him, and 
 sent her a dream that night, which she would tell, not hoping 
 to persuade the judges, but to raise up the white head of her 
 poor father. 
 
 "After I had sat and watched all the night," quoth she, 
 " towards morning I heard a nightingale sing in the castle- 
 garden so sweetly that my eyes closed, and I slept. Then 
 methought I was a lamb, grazing quietly in my meadow at 
 Coserow. Suddenly the Sheriff jumped over the hedge, and 
 
 * Jer. xvii., 5.
 
 CHAP, xx.] THE AMBER WITCH. 103 
 
 turned into a wolf, who seized me in his jaws and ran with me 
 towards the Streckelberg, where he had his lair. I, poor little 
 lamb, trembled and bleated in vain, and saw death before my 
 eyes, when he laid me down before his lair, where lay the she- 
 wolf and her young. But behold a hand, like the hand of a 
 man, straightway came out of the bushes, and touched the 
 wolves, each one with one finger, and crushed them so that naught 
 was left of them save a grey powder. Hereupon the hand took 
 me up, and carried me back to my meadow." 
 
 Only think, beloved reader, how I felt when I heard all this, 
 and about the dear nightingale too, which no one can doubt to 
 have been the servant of God. I clasped my child with many 
 tears, and told her what had happened to me, and we both won 
 such courage and confidence as we had never yet felt, to the 
 wonderment of Dom. Consul, as it seemed ; but the Sheriff 
 turned as pale as a sheet when she stepped towards their wor- 
 ships and said, " And now do with me as you will, the lamb 
 fears not, for she is in the hands of the good shepherd !" Mean- 
 while Dom. Camerarius came in with the scriba, but was ter- 
 rified as he chanced to touch my daughter's apron with the 
 skirts of his coat ; and stood and scraped at his coat as a woman 
 scrapes a fish. At last, after he had spat out thrice, he asked 
 the court whether it would not begin to examine witnesses, 
 seeing that all the people had been waiting some time both in the 
 castle and at the ale-house. Hereunto they agreed, and the 
 constable was ordered to guard my child in his room, until it 
 should please the court to summon her. I therefore went with 
 her, but we had to endure much from the impudent rogue, see- 
 ing he was not ashamed to lay his arm round my child her 
 shoulders, and to ask for a kiss in med presentid. But, before I 
 could get out a word, she tore herself from him, and said, " Ah, 
 thou wicked knave, must I complain of thee to the court ; hast 
 thou forgotten what thou hast already done to me ?" To which 
 he answered, laughing, " See, see ! how coy ;" and still sought 
 to persuade her to be more willing, and not to forget her own 
 interest ; for that he meant as well by her as his master ; she 
 might believe it or not ; with many other scandalous words 
 besides which I have forgot ; for I took my child upon my knees 
 and laid my head on her neck, and we sat and wept.
 
 104 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxi. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 De confront atione testium. 
 
 WHEN we were summoned before the court again, the whole 
 court was full of people, and some shuddered when they saw 
 us, but others wept ; my child told the same tale as before. 
 But when our old Use was called, who sat on a bench behind, 
 so that we had not seen her, the strength wherewith the Lord 
 had gifted her was again at an end, and she repeated the words 
 of our Saviour, " He that eateth bread with me hath lift up his 
 heel against me :" and she held fast by my chair. Old Use, 
 too, could not walk straight for very grief, nor could she speak for 
 tears, but she twisted and wound herself about before the court, 
 like a woman in travail. But when Dom. Consul threatened 
 that the constable should presently help her to her words, she 
 testified that my child had very often got up in the night, and 
 called aloud upon the foul fiend. 
 
 Q. Whether she had ever heard Satan answer her ? E. She 
 never had heard him at all. 
 
 Q. Whether she had perceived that Rca had a familiar spirit, 
 and in what shape ? She should think upon her oath, and speak 
 the truth. R. She had never seen one. 
 
 Q. Whether she had ever heard her fly up the chimney ? 
 R. Nay, she had always gone softly out at the door. 
 
 Q. Whether she never at mornings had missed her broom or 
 pitchfork ? R. Once the broom was gone, but she had found it 
 again behind the stove, and may be left it there herself by mis- 
 take. 
 
 Q. Whether she had never heard Rea cast a spell, or wish 
 harm to this or that person ? R. No, never ; she had always 
 wished her neighbors nothing but good, and even in the time of 
 bitter famine had taken the bread out of her own mouth to give 
 it to others. *
 
 CHAP, xxi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 105 
 
 Q. Whether she did not know the salve which had been 
 found in Rea her coffer ? R. Oh, yes ! her young mistress had 
 brought it back from Wolgast for her skin, and had once given 
 her some when she had chapped hands, and it had done her a 
 vast deal of good. 
 
 Q. Whether she had anything further to say? R. No, 
 nothing but good. 
 
 Hereupon my man Glaus Neels was called up. He also 
 came forward in tears, but answered every question with a 
 " nay," and at last testified that he had never seen nor heard 
 anything bad of my child, and knew naught of her doings by 
 night, seeing that he slept in the stable with the horses ; and 
 that he firmly believed that evil folks and here he looked at 
 old Lizzie had brought this misfortune upon her, and that she 
 was quite innocent. 
 
 When it came to the turn of this old limb of Satan, who was 
 to be the chief witness, my child again declared that she would 
 not accept old Lizzie's testimony against her, and called upon 
 the court for justice, for that she had hated her from her youth 
 up, and had been longer by habit and repute a witch than she 
 herself. 
 
 But the old hag cried out, " God forgive thee thy sins ; the 
 whole village knows that I am a devout woman, and one serv- 
 ing the Lord in all things ;" whereupon she called up old Zuter 
 Witthahn and my churchwarden Glaus Bulk, who bore wit- 
 ness hereto. But old Paasch stood and shook his head ; never- 
 theless when my child said, "Paasch, wherefore dost thou 
 shake thy head ?" he started, and answered, " Oh, nothing !" 
 
 Howbeit, Dom. Consul likewise perceived this, and asked him, 
 whether he had any charge to bring against old Lizzie ; if so, 
 he should give glory to God, and state the same ; item, it was 
 competent to every one so to do ; indeed the court required of 
 him to speak out all he knew. 
 
 But from fear of the old dragon, all were still as mice, so 
 that you might have heard the flies buzz about the inkstand. I 
 then stood up, wretched as I was, and stretched out my arms 
 over my amazed and faint-hearted people, and spake : " Can ye 
 thus crucify me together with my poor child ? have I deserved
 
 106 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxi. 
 
 this at your hands ? Speak, then ; alas, will none speak ?" I 
 heard, indeed, how several wept aloud, but not one spake ; and 
 hereupon my poor child was forced to submit. 
 
 And the malice of the old hag was such that she not only 
 accused my child of the most horrible witchcraft, but also reck- 
 oned to a day when she had given herself up to Satan to rob 
 her of her maiden honor ; and she said that Satan had, with- 
 out doubt, then defiled her, when she could no longer heal the 
 cattle, and when they all died. Hereupon my child said naught, 
 save that she cast down her eyes and blushed deep for shame at 
 such filthiness ; and to .the other blasphemous slander which the 
 old hag uttered with many tears, namely, that my daughter had 
 given up her (Lizzie's) husband, body and soul, to Satan, she 
 answered as she had done before. But when the old hag came 
 to her re-baptism in the sea, and gave out that while seeking 
 for strawberries in the coppice she had recognized my child's 
 voice, and stolen towards her, and perceived these devil's do- 
 ings, my child fell in smiling, and answered, " Oh, thou evil 
 woman ! how couldst thou hear my voice speaking down by the 
 sea, being thyself in the forest upon the mountain ? surely thou 
 liest, seeing that the murmur of the waves would make that 
 impossible." This angered the old dragon, and seeking to get 
 out of the blunder she fell deeper into it, for she said, " I saw 
 thee move thy lips, and from that I knew that thou didst call 
 upon thy paramour the devil !" for my child straightway re- 
 plied, " Oh, thou ungodly woman ! thou saidst thou wert in the 
 forest when thou didst hear my voice : how then up in the forest 
 couldst thou see whether I, who was below by the water, moved 
 
 my lips or not ?" 
 
 Such contradictions amazed even Dom. Consul, and he began 
 to threaten the old hag with the rack if she told such lies ; 
 whereupon she answered and said, "'List, then, whither I lie ! 
 When she went naked into the water she had no mark on her 
 body, but when she came out again I saw that she had between 
 her breasts a mark the size of a silver penny, whence I per- 
 ceived that the devil had given it her, although I had not seen 
 him about her, nor, indeed, had I seen any one, either spirit or 
 child of man, for she seemed to be quite alone."
 
 CHAP, xxi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 107 
 
 Hereupon the Sheriff jumped up from his seat, and cried, 
 " Search must straightway be made for this mark ;" whereupon 
 Dom. Consul answered, " Yea, but not by us, but by two women 
 of good repute," for he would not hearken to what my child 
 said, that it was a mole, and that she had had it from her youth 
 up, wherefore the constable his wife was sent for, and Dom. Con- 
 sul muttered somewhat into her ear, and as prayers and tears 
 were of no avail, my child was forced to go with her. How- 
 beit she obtained this favor, that old Lizzie Kolken was not to 
 follow her, as she would have done, but our old maid Use. I, 
 too, went in my sorrow, seeing that I knew not what the women 
 might do to her. She wept bitterly as they undressed her, and 
 held her hands over her eyes for very shame. 
 
 Well-a-day, her body was just as white as my departed 
 wife's ; although in her childhood, as I remember, she was very 
 yellow, and I saw with amazement the mole between her breasts, 
 whereof I had never heard aught before. But she suddenly 
 screamed violently and started back, seeing that the constable 
 his wife, when nobody watched her, had run a needle into the 
 mole, so deep that the red blood ran down over her breasts. I 
 was sorely angered thereat, but the woman said that she had 
 done it by order of the judge,* which, indeed, was true ; for 
 when we came back into court, and the Sheriff asked how it 
 was, she testified that there was a mark of the size of a silver 
 penny, of a yellowish color, but that it had feeling, seeing that 
 Rea had screamed aloud, when she had, unperceived, driven a 
 needle therein. Meanwhile, however, Dom. Camerarius sud- 
 denly rose, and stepping up to my child, drew her eyelids asun- 
 der, and cried out, beginning to tremble, " Behold the sign 
 which never fails :"f whereupon the whole court started to their 
 feet, and looked at the little spot under her right eyelid which 
 in truth had been left there by a stye, but this none would be- 
 lieve. Dom. Consul now said, " See, Satan hath marked thee 
 
 * It was believed that these marks were the infallible sign of a witch 
 when they were insensible, and that they were given by the devil ; and 
 every one suspected of witchcraft was invariably searched for them. 
 
 t See, among other authorities, " Delrio, Disquisit. magicae," lib. v. tit. 
 xiv., No. 28.
 
 108 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xn. 
 
 on body and soul ! and thou dost still continue to lie unto the 
 Holy Ghost ; but it shall not avail thee, and thy punishment 
 will only be the heavier. Oh, thou shameless woman ! thou 
 hast refused to accept the testimony of old Lizzie ! wilt thou 
 also refuse that of these people, who have all heard thee on the 
 mountain call upon the devil thy paramour, and seen him ap- 
 pear in the likeness of a hairy giant, and kiss and caress thee ?" 
 
 Hereupon old Paasch, goodwife Witthahn, and Zuter, came 
 forward and bare witness, that they had seen this happen about 
 midnight, and that on this declaration they would live and die ; 
 that old Lizzie had awakened them one Saturday night about 
 eleven o'clock, had given them a can of beer, and persuaded 
 them to follow the parson's daughter privately, and to see what 
 she did upon the mountain. At first they refused ; but in order 
 to get at the truth about the witchcraft in the village, they had 
 at last, after a devout prayer, consented, and had followed her 
 in God's name. 
 
 They had soon through the bushes seen the witch in the 
 moonshine ; she seemed to dig, and spake in some strange 
 tongue the while, whereupon the grim arch-fiend suddenly ap- 
 peared, and fell upon her neck. Hereupon they ran away in 
 consternation, but, by the help of the Almighty God, on whom 
 from the very first they had set their faith, they were preserv- 
 ed from the power of the Evil One. For, notwithstanding he 
 had turned round on hearing a rustling in the bushes, he had 
 had no power to harm them. 
 
 Finally, it was even charged to my child as a crime, that she 
 had fainted on the road from Coserow to Pudgla, and none would 
 believe that this had been caused by vexation at old Lizzie her 
 singing, and not from a bad conscience, as stated by the judge. 
 
 When all the witnesses had been examined, Dom. Consul 
 asked her whether she had brewed the storm, what was the 
 meaning of the frog that had dropped into her lap, item, the 
 hedgehog which lay directly in his path ? To all of which she 
 answered, that she had caused the one as little as she knew of 
 the other. Whereupon Dom. Consul shook his head, and asked 
 her, last of all, whether she would have an advocate, or trust 
 entirely in the good judgment of the court. To this she gave
 
 CHAP, xxi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 109 
 
 answer, that she would by all means have an advocate. Where- 
 fore I sent my ploughman, Glaus Neels, the next day to Wol- 
 gast to fetch the Syndicus Michelsen, who is a worthy man, and 
 in whose house I have been many times when I went to the 
 town, seeing that he courteously invited me. 
 
 I must also note here that at this time my old Use came back 
 to live with me ; for after the witnesses were gone she stayed 
 behind in the chamber, and came boldly up to me, and besought 
 me to suffer her once more to serve her old master and her dear 
 young mistress ; for that now she had saved her poor soul, and 
 confessed all she knew. Wherefore she could no longer bear to 
 see her old masters in such woful plight, without so much as a 
 mouthful of victuals, seeing that she had heard that old wife 
 Seep, who had till datum prepared the food for me and my child, 
 often let the porridge burn ; item, over-salted the fish and the 
 meat. Moreover, that I was so weakened by age and misery, 
 that I needed help and support, which she would faithfully give 
 me, and was ready to sleep in the stable, if needs must be ; that 
 she wanted no wages for it, I was only not to turn her away. 
 Such kindness made my daughter to weep, and she said to me, 
 " Behold, father, the good folks come back to us again ; think 
 you, then, that the good angels will forsake us for ever ? I thank 
 thee, old Use ; thou shalt indeed prepare my food for me, and 
 always bring it as far as the prison-door, if thou mayest come 
 no further ; and mark, then, I pray thee, what the constable 
 does therewith." . 
 
 This the maid promised to do, and from this time forth took 
 up her abode in the stable. May God repay her at the day of 
 judgment for what she then did for me and for my poor child !
 
 110 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxn 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 How the Syndicus Dom. Michelsen arrived, and prepared his defence of 
 my poor child. 
 
 THE next day at about three o'clock p. M., Dom. Syndicus came 
 driving up, and got out of his coach at my inn. He had a huge 
 bag full of books with him, but was not so friendly in his manner 
 as was usual with him, but very grave and silent. And after he 
 had saluted me in my own room, and had asked how it was pos- 
 sible for my child to have come to such misfortune, I related to 
 him the whole affair, whereat, however, he only shook his head. 
 On my asking him whether he would not see my child that same 
 day, he answered " Nay ;" he would rather first study the acta. 
 And after he had eaten of some wild duck which my old Use 
 had roasted for him, he would tarry no longer, but straightway 
 went up to the castle, whence he did not return till the following 
 afternoon. His manner was not more friendly now than at his 
 first coming, and I followed him with sighs when he asked me to 
 lead him to my daughter. As we went in with the constable, 
 and I, for the first time, saw my child in chains before me she 
 who in her whole life had never hurt a worm I again felt as 
 though I should die for very grief. But she smiled and cried 
 out to Dom. Syndicus, "Are you indeed the good angel who will 
 cause my chains to fall from my hands, as was done of yore to 
 St. Peter ?"* To which he replied, with a sigh, " May the Al- 
 mighty God grant it ;" and as, save the chair whereon my child 
 sat against the wall, there was none other in the dungeon (which 
 was a filthy and stinking hole, wherein were more woodlice than 
 ever I saw in my life), Dom. Syndicus and I sat down on her bed, 
 which had been left for her at my prayer ; and he ordered the 
 constable to go his ways, until he should call him back. Here- 
 upon he asked my child what she had to say in her justification ; 
 
 * The Acts of the Apostles, xii., 7.
 
 CHAP, xxii.] THE AMBER WITCH. Ill 
 
 and she had not gone far in her defence when I perceived from 
 the shadow at the door, that some one must be standing without. 
 I therefore went quickly to the door, which was half open, and 
 found the impudent constable, who stood there to listen. This 
 so angered Dom. Syndicus that he snatched up his staff in order 
 to hasten his going, but the arch- rogue took to his heels as soon 
 as he saw this. My child took this opportunity to tell her wor- 
 shipful defensor what she had suffered from the impudence of 
 this fellow, and to beg that some other constable might be set 
 over her, seeing that this one had come to her last night again 
 with evil designs, so that she at last had shrieked aloud and 
 beaten him on the head with her chains ; whereupon he had left 
 her. This Dom. Syndicus promised to obtain for her ; but with 
 regard to the defensio, wherewith she now went on, he thought 
 it would be better to make" no further mention of the impetus 
 which the Sheriff had made on her chastity. " For," said he, 
 " as the princely central court at Wolgast has to give sentence 
 upon thee, this statement would do thee far more harm than good, 
 seeing that the prases thereof is a cousin of the Sheriff, and oft- 
 times goes a hunting with him. Besides, thou being charged 
 with a capital crime hast no fides, especially as thou canst bring 
 no witnesses against him. Thou couldst, therefore, gain no be- 
 lief even if thou didst confirm the charge on the rack, where- 
 from, moreover, I am come hither to save thee by my defensio." 
 These reasons seemed sufficient to us both, and we resolved 
 to leave vengeance to Almighty God, who seeth in secret, and to 
 complain of our wrongs to him, as we might not complain to 
 men. But all my daughter said about old Lizzie item, of the 
 good report wherein she herself had, till now, stood with every- 
 body he said he would write down, and add thereunto as much 
 and as well of his own as he was able, so as, by the help of 
 the Almighty God, to save her from the torture. That she was 
 to make herself easy and commend herself to God ; within two 
 days he hoped to have his defensio ready and to read it to her. 
 And now, when he called the constable back again, the fellow 
 did not come, but sent his wife to lock the prison, and I took 
 leave of my child with many tears : Dom. Syndicus told the 
 woman the while what her impudent rogue of a husband had
 
 112 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 done, that she might let him hear more of it. Then he sent the 
 woman away again and came back to my daughter, saying that 
 he had forgotten to ascertain whether she really knew the Latin 
 tongue, and that she was to say her defensio over again in Latin, 
 if she was able. Hereupon she began and went on therewith 
 for a quarter of an hour or more, in such wise that not only 
 Dom. Syndicus, but I myself also was amazed, seeing that she 
 did not stop for a single word, save the word " hedgehog," 
 which we both had forgotten at the moment when she asked us 
 what it was. Summa. Dom. Syndicus grew far more gracious 
 when she had finished her oration, and took leave of her, promis- 
 ing that he would set to work forthwith. 
 
 After this I did not see him again till the morning of the third 
 day at ten o'clock, seeing that he sat at work in a room at the 
 castle, which the Sheriff had given him, and also ate there, as 
 he sent me word by old Use when she carried him his breakfast 
 next day. 
 
 At the above-named time he sent the new constable for me, 
 who, meanwhile, had been fetched from Uzdom at his desire. 
 For the Sheriff was exceeding wrath when he heard that the 
 impudent fellow had attempted my child in the prison, and cried 
 out in a rage, " S'death and 'ouns, I'll mend thy coaxing !" 
 Whereupon he gave him a sound threshing with a dog-whip he 
 held in his hand, to make sure that she should be at peace from 
 him. 
 
 But, alas ! the new constable was even worse than the old, as 
 will be shown hereafter. His name was Master Koppner, and 
 he was a tall fellow with a grim face, and a mouth so wide that 
 at every word he said the spittle ran out at the corners, and 
 stuck in his long beard like soapsuds, so that my child had an 
 especial fear and loathing of him. Moreover, on all occasions 
 he seemed to laugh in mockery and scorn, as he did when he 
 opened the prison-door to us, and saw my poor child sitting 
 in her grief and distress. But he straightway left us without 
 waiting to be told, whereupon Dom. Syndicus drew his defence 
 out of his pocket, and read it to us ; we have remembered the 
 main points thereof, and I will recount them here, but most of 
 the auctores we have forgotten.
 
 CHAP, xxii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 113 
 
 1. He began by saying that my daughter had ever till now 
 stood in good repute, as not only the whole village, but even my 
 servants, bore witness ; ergo, she could not be a witch, inasmuch 
 as the Saviour hath said, " A good tree cannot bring forth evil 
 fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit " (Matt. 
 vii.). 
 
 2. With regard to the witchcraft in the village, that belike 
 was the contrivance of old Lizzie, seeing that she bore a great 
 hatred towards Rea, and had long been in evil repute, for that 
 the parishioners dared not to speak out, only from fear of the old 
 witch ; wherefore Zuter her little girl must be examined, who 
 had heard old Lizzie her goodman tell her she had a familiar 
 spirit, and that he would tell it to the parson ; for that notwith- 
 standing the above-named was but a child, still it was written in 
 Ps. viii., " Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou 
 ordained strength . . . ;" and the Saviour himself appealed 
 (Matt, xxi.) to the testimony of little children. 
 
 3. Furthermore, old Lizzie might have bewitched the crops, 
 item, the fruit-trees, inasmuch as none could believe that Rea, 
 who had ever shown herself a dutiful child, would have 
 bewitched her own father's corn, or made caterpillars come on 
 his trees ; for no one, according to Scripture, can serve two 
 masters. 
 
 Item, she (old Lizzie) might very well have been the wood- 
 pecker that was seen by Rea and old Paasch on the Streckel- 
 berg, and herself have given over her goodman to the Evil One 
 for fear of the parson, inasmuch as Spitzel De Expugnatione 
 Orel asserts ; item, the Malleus Maleficarum* proves beyond 
 doubt, that the wicked children of Satan oft-times change them- 
 selves into all manner of beasts, as the foul fiend himself like- 
 wise seduced our first parents in the shape of a serpent 
 (Gen. iii.). 
 
 5. That old Lizzie had most likely made the wild weather 
 when Dom. Consul was coming home with Rea from the Streck- 
 
 * The celebrated " Hammer for Witches" of Innocent VIII., which 
 appeared in 1489, and gave directions for the whole course of proceeding to 
 be observed at trials for witchcraft. 
 
 9
 
 114 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. XXH. 
 
 elberg, seeing it was impossible that Rea could have done it, as 
 she was sitting in the coach, whereas witches when they raise 
 storms always stand in the water, and throw it over their heads 
 backwards ; item, beat the stones soundly with a stick, as Han- 
 nold relates. Wherefore she too, may be, knew best about the 
 frog and the hedgehog. 
 
 6. That Rea was erroneously charged with that as a crimen 
 which ought rather to serve as her justification, namely, her 
 sudden riches. For the Malleus Malefaarum expressly says 
 that a witch can never grow rich, seeing that Satan, to do dis- 
 honor to God, always buys them for a vile price, so that they 
 should not betray themselves by their riches.* Wherefore that 
 as Rea had grown rich, she could not have got her wealth from 
 the foul fiend, but it must be true that she had found amber on 
 the mountain ; that the spells of old Lizzie might have been the 
 cause why they could not find the vein of amber again, or that 
 the sea might have washed away the cliff below, as often hap- 
 pens, whereupon the top had slipped down, so that only a mira- 
 culum naturale had taken place. The proof which he brought 
 forward from Scripture we have quite forgotten, seeing it was 
 but middling. 
 
 7. With regard to her re-baptism, the old hag had said her- 
 self that she had not seen the devil or any other spirit or man 
 about Rea, wherefore she might in truth have been only natu- 
 rally bathing, in order to greet the King of Sweden next day, 
 seeing that the weather was hot, and that bathing was not of 
 itself sufficient to impair the modesty of a maiden. For that 
 she had as little thought any would see her as Bethsheba the 
 daughter of Eliam, and wife of Uriah the Hittite, who in like 
 manner did bathe herself, as is written (2 Sam. xi., 2), without 
 knowing that David could see her. Neither could her mark be 
 a mark given by Satan, inasmuch as there was feeling therein ; 
 ergo, it must be a natural mole, and it was a lie that she had it 
 
 * The original words of the " Hammer for Witches," torn, i., quest. 18, in 
 answer to the question, Cur maleficce non ditentur 1 are, Ut juxta com- 
 placentiam deemonis in contumeliam Creatoris, quantum possibile est,pro 
 vilissimo pretio, emantur, et secundo, ne in divitis notentur.
 
 CHAP, xxn;] THE AMBER WITCH. 115 
 
 not before bathing. Moreover, that on this point the old harlot 
 was nowise to be believed, seeing that she had fallen from one 
 contradiction into another about it, as stated in the Acta. 
 
 8. Neither was it just to accuse Rea of having bewitched 
 Paasch his little daughter ; for as old Lizzie was going in and 
 out of the room, nay, even sat herself down on the little girl 
 her belly when the pastor went to see her, it most likely was 
 that wicked woman (wh was known to have a great spite 
 against Rea) that contrived the spell through the power of the 
 foul fiend, and by permission of the all-just God ; for that Satan 
 was " a liar and the father of it," as our Lord Christ says (John 
 viii.). 
 
 9. With regard to the appearance of the foul fiend on the 
 mountain in the shape of a hairy giant, that indeed was the 
 heaviest gravamen, inasmuch as not only old Lizzie, but like- 
 wise three trustworthy witnesses, had seen him. But who could 
 tell whether it was not old Lizzie herself who had contrived this 
 devilish apparition in order to ruin her enemy altogether ; for 
 that notwithstanding the apparition was not the young nobleman, 
 as Rea had declared it to be, it still was very likely that she had 
 not lied, but had mistaken Satan for the young lord, as he ap- 
 peared in his shape ; exe.mplum, for this was to be found even in 
 Scripture : for that all Theologi of the whole Protestant Church 
 were agreed, that the vision which the witch of Endor showed 
 to King Saul was not Samuel himself, but the arch-fiend ; never- 
 theless, Saul had taken it for Samuel. In like manner the old 
 harlot might have conjured up the devil before Rea, who did 
 not perceive that it was not the young lord, but Satan, who had 
 put on that shape in order to seduce her ; for as Rea was a fair 
 woman, none could wonder that the devil gave himself more 
 trouble for her than for an old withered hag, seeing he has ever 
 sought after fair women to lie with them.* 
 
 Lastly, he argued that Rea was in nowise marked as a witch, 
 for that she neither had bleared and squinting eyes nor a hooked 
 nose, whereas old Lizzie had both, which Theophrastus Para- 
 celsus declares to be an unfailing mark of a witch, saying, 
 
 * Gen. vi., 2.
 
 116 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxn. 
 
 " Nature marketh none thus unless by abortion, for these are 
 the chiefest signs whereby witches be known whom the spirit 
 Asiendens hath subdued unto himself." 
 
 When Dom. Syndicus had read his defensio, my daughter 
 was so rejoiced thereat that she would have kissed his hand, but 
 he snatched it from her and breathed upon it thrice, whereby 
 we could easily see that he himself was nowise in earnest with 
 his defensio. Soon after he took leave in an ill-humor, after 
 commending her to the care of the Most High, and begged that 
 I would make my farewell as short as might be, seeing that he 
 purposed to return home that very day, the which, alas ! I very 
 unwillingly did.
 
 CHAP xxm.] THE AMBER WITCH. 117 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 How my poor child was sentenced to be put to the question. 
 
 AFTER acta had been sent to the honorable the central court, 
 about fourteen days passed over before any answer was received. 
 My lord the Sheriff was especially gracious toward me the while, 
 and allowed me to see my daughter as often as I would (seeing 
 that the rest of the court were gone home), wherefore I was 
 with her nearly all day. And when the constable grew impa- 
 tient of keeping watch over me, I gave him a fee to lock me in 
 together with my child. And the all-merciful God was gracious 
 unto us, and caused us often and gladly to pray, for we had a 
 steadfast hope, believing that the cross we had seen in the hea- 
 vens would now soon pass away from us, and that the ravening 
 wolf would receive his reward 'when the honorable high court 
 had read through the acta, and should come to the excellent 
 defensio which Dom. Syndicus had constructed for my child. 
 Wherefore I began to be of good cheer again, especially when I 
 saw my daughter her cheeks growing of a right lovely red. But 
 on Thursday, 25th mensis Augusti, at noon, the worshipful court 
 drove into the castle-yard again as I sat in the prison with my 
 child, as I was wont ; and old Use brought us our food, and 
 could not tell us the news for weeping. But the tall constable 
 peeped in at the door grinning, and cried, " Oh, oh ! they are 
 come, they are come; now the tickling will begin:" whereat 
 my poor child shuddered, but less at the news than at sight of 
 the fellow himself. Scarce was he gone than he came back 
 again to take off her chains and to fetch her away. So I fol- 
 lowed her into the judgment-chamber, where Dom. Consul read 
 out the sentence of the honorable high court as follows : that 
 she should once more be questioned in kindness touching the 
 articles contained in the indictment ; and if she then continued
 
 118 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxin. 
 
 stubborn she should be subjected to the peine forte et dure, for that 
 the defensio she had set up did not suffice, and that there were 
 indicia legitima, pragnantia et sufficients ad torturam ipsam ; 
 to wit, 
 
 1. Malafama. 
 
 2. Malefaium, publice commissum. 
 
 3. Apparitio dcemonis in monte. 
 
 Whereupon the most honorable central court cited about 20 
 auctores, whereof, howbeit, we remember but little. When 
 Dom. Consul had read out this to my child, he once more lift up 
 his voice and admonished her with many words to confess of her 
 own free will, for the truth must now come to light. 
 
 Hereupon she steadfastly replied, that after the defensio of 
 Dom. Syndicus she had indeed hoped for a better sentence ; but 
 that, as it was the will of God to try her yet more hardly, she 
 resigned herself altogether into his gracious hands, and could 
 not confess aught save what she had said before, namely, that 
 she was innocent, and that evil men had brought this misery 
 upon her. Hereupon Dom. Consul motioned the constable, who 
 straightway opened the door of the next room, and admitted 
 Pastor Benzensis* in his surplice, who had been sent for by the 
 court to admonish her still better out of the word of God. He 
 heaved a deep sigh, and said, " Mary, Mary, is it thus I must 
 meet thee again !" Whereupon she began to weep bitterly, and 
 to protest her innocence afresh. But he heeded not her distress; 
 and as soon as he had heard her pray, " Our Father," " the 
 eyes of all wait upon thee," and " God the Father dwell with 
 us," he lift up his voice and declared to her the hatred of the liv- 
 ing God to all witches and warlocks, seeing that not only is the 
 punishment of fire awarded to them in the Old Testament, but 
 that the Holy Ghost expressly saith in the New Testament 
 (Gal. v ), " That they which do such things shall not inherit the 
 kingdom of God ;" but " shall have their part in the lake which 
 burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death." 
 (Apocal. xxi.) Wherefore she must not be stubborn nor mur- 
 
 * 
 
 * The minister at Bentz, a village situated at a short distance from 
 Pudgla.
 
 CHAP, xxiii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 119 
 
 mur against the court when she was tormented, seeing that it 
 was all done out of Christian love, and to save her poor soul. 
 That, for the sake of God and her salvation, she should no 
 longer delay repentance, and thereby cause her body to be tor- 
 mented and give over her wretched soul to Satan, who cer- 
 tainly would not fulfil those promises in hell which he had made 
 her here upon earth ; seeing that " He was a murderer from 
 the beginning a liar and the father of it " (John viii.). " Oh !" 
 cried he, " Mary, my child, who so oft has sat upon my knees, 
 and for whom I now cry every morning and every night unto 
 my God, if thou wilt have no pity upon thee and me, have pity 
 at least upon thy worthy father, whom I cannot look upon with- 
 out tears, seeing that his hairs have turned snow white within a 
 few days, and save thy soul, my child, and confess ! Behold, 
 thy heavenly father grieveth over thee no less than thy fleshly 
 father, and the holy angels veil their faces for sorrow that thou, 
 who wert once their darling sister, art now become the sister 
 and bride of the devil. Return therefore, and repent ! This 
 day thy Saviour calleth thee, poor stray lamb, back into his 
 flock, ' And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abra- 
 ham, whom Satan hath bound . . be loosed from this bond ?' 
 Such are his merciful words (Luke xiii.) ; item, ' Return, thou 
 backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine 
 anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful ' (Jer. iii.). Return 
 then, thou backsliding soul, unto the Lord thy God ! He who 
 heard the prayer of the idolatrous Manasseh when ' he besought 
 the Lord his God and humbled himself (2 Chron. xxxiii.) ; 
 who, through Paul, accepted the repentance of the sorcerers at 
 Ephesus (Acts xix.), the same merciful God now crieth unto 
 thee as unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, ' Remember, 
 therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent' (Apocal. ii.). 
 Oh, Mary, Mary, remember, my child, from whence thou art 
 fallen, and repent !" 
 
 Hereupon he held his peace, and it was some time before she 
 could say a word for tears and sobs ; but at last she answered, 
 " If lies are no less hateful to God than witchcraft, I may not 
 lie, but must rather declare, to the glory of God, as I have ever 
 declared, that I am innocent." 
 
 Hereupon Dom. Consul was exceeding wrath, and frowned,
 
 120 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. 
 
 and asked the tall constable if all was ready, item, whether the 
 women were at hand to undress Rea ; whereupon he answered 
 with a grin, as he was wont, " Ho, ho, I have never been wanting 
 in my duty, nor will I be wanting to-day ; I will tickle her in 
 such wise that she shall soon confess." 
 
 When he had said this, Dom. Consul turned to my daughter 
 and said, " Thou art a foolish thing, and knowest not the tor- 
 ment which awaits thee, and therefore is it that thou still art 
 stubborn. Now then follow me to the torture-chamber, where 
 the executioner shall show thee the instrumenta, and thou mayest 
 yet think better of it, when thou hast seen what the question is 
 like." 
 
 Hereupon he went into another room, and the constable fol- 
 lowed him with my child. And when I would have gone after 
 them, Pastor Benzensis held me back, with many tears, and con- 
 jured me not to do so, but to tarry where I was. But I hearkened 
 not unto him, and tore myself from him, and swore that so long 
 as a single vein should beat in my wretched body, I would never 
 forsake my child. I therefore went into the next room, and 
 from thence down into a vault, where was the torture-chamber, 
 wherein were no windows, so that those without might not hear 
 the cries of the tormented. Two torches were already burning 
 there when I went in, and although Dom. Consul would at first 
 have sent me away, after a while he had pity upon me, so that 
 he suffered me to stay. 
 
 And now that hell-hound the constable stepped forward, and 
 first showed my poor child the ladder, saying with savage glee, 
 " See here ! first of all, thou wilt be laid on that, and thy hands 
 and feet will be tied. Next the thumb-screw here will be put 
 upon thee, which straightway will make the blood spirt out at 
 the tips of thy fingers ; thou mayest see that they are still red 
 with the hlood of old Gussy Biehlke, who was burnt last year, 
 and who, like thee, would not confess at first. If thou still wilt 
 not confess, I shall next put these Spanish boots on thee, and 
 should they be too large, I shall just drive in a wedge, so that 
 the calf, which is now at the back of thy leg' will be driven to 
 the front, and the blood will shoot out of thy feet, as when thou 
 squeezes! blackberries in a bag.
 
 CHAP, xxin.] THE AMBER WITCH. 121 
 
 " Again, if thou wilt not yet confess holla !" shouted he, and 
 kicked open a door behind him, so that the whole vault shook, 
 and my poor child fell upon her knees for fright. Before long 
 two women brought in a bubbling cauldron, full of boiling pitch 
 and brimstone. This cauldron the hell-hound ordered them to 
 set down on the ground, and drew forth, from under the red cloak 
 he wore, a goose's wing, wherefrom he plucked five or six quills, 
 which he dipped into the boiling brimstone. After he had held 
 them awhile in the cauldron he threw them upon the earth, where 
 they twisted about and spirted the brimstone on all sides. And 
 then he called to my poor child again, " See ! these quills I shall 
 throw upon thy white loins, and the burning brimstone will pre- 
 sently eat into thy flesh down to the very bones, so that thou 
 wilt thereby have a foretaste of the joys which await thee in hell." 
 
 When he had spoken thus far, amid sneers and laughter, I 
 was so overcome with rage that I sprang forth out of the corner 
 where I stood leaning my trembling joints against an old barrel, 
 and cried, " Oh, thou hellish dog ! sayest thou this of thyself, or 
 have others bidden thee ?" Whereupon, however, the fellow 
 gave me such a blow upon the breast that I fell backwards 
 against the wall, and Dom. Consul called out in great wrath, 
 "You old fool, if you needs must stay here, at any rate leave 
 the constable in peace, for if not I will have you thrust out of 
 the chamber forthwith. The constable has said no more than is 
 his duty ; and it will thus happen to thy child if she confess not, 
 and if it appear that the foul fiend have given her some charm 
 against the torture."* Hereupon this hell-hound went on to 
 speak to my poor child, without heeding me, save that he 
 laughed in my face : " Look here ! when thou hast thus been 
 well shorn, ho, ho, ho ! I shall pull thee up by means of these 
 two rings in the floor of the roof, stretch thy arms above thy 
 head, and bind them fast to the ceiling ; whereupon I shall take 
 these two torches, and hold them under thy shoulders, till thy 
 
 * It was believed that when witches endured the torture with unusual 
 patience, or even slept during the operation, which, strange to say, fre- 
 quently occurred, the devil had gifted them with insensibility to pain by 
 means of an amulet which they concealed in some secret part of their per- 
 sons. Zedler's Universal Lexicon, vol. xliv., art. " Torture."
 
 1-2-2 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxm. 
 
 skin will presently become like the rind of a smoked ham. 
 Then thy hellish paramour will help thee no longer, and thou 
 wilt confess the truth. And now thou hast seen and heard all 
 that I shall do to thee, in the name of God, and by order of the 
 magistrates." 
 
 And now Dom. Consul once more came forward and admo- 
 nished her to confess the truth. But she abode by what she had 
 said from the first ; whereupon he delivered her over to the two 
 women who had brought in the cauldron, to strip her naked as 
 she was born, and to clothe her in the black torture-shift ; after 
 which they were once more to lead her barefooted up the steps 
 before the worshipful court. But one of these women was the 
 Sheriff his housekeeper (the other was the impudent constable 
 his wife), and my daughter said that she would not suffer her- 
 self to be touched save by honest women, and assuredly not by 
 the housekeeper, and begged Dom. Consul to send for her maid, 
 who was sitting in her prison reading the Bible, if he knew no 
 other decent woman at hand. Hereupon the housekeeper began 
 to pour forth a wondrous deal of railing and ill words, but Dom. 
 Consul rebuked her, and answered my daughter that he would 
 let her have her wish in this matter too, and bade the impudent 
 constable his wife call the maid hither from out of the prison. 
 After he had said this, he took me by the arm, and prayed me 
 so long to go up with him, for that no harm would happen to my 
 daughter as yet, that I did as he would have me. 
 
 Before long she herself came up, led between the two women, 
 barefooted, and in the black torture-shift, but so pale that I my- 
 self should scarce have known her. The hateful constable, 
 who followed close behind, seized her by the hand, and led her 
 before the worshipful court. 
 
 Hereupon the admonitions began all over again, and Dom. 
 Consul bade her look upon the brown spots that were upon the 
 black shift, for that they were the blood of old wife Biehlke, 
 and to consider that within a few minutes it would in like man- 
 ner be stained with her own blood. Hereupon she answered, 
 " I have considered that right well, but I hope that my faith- 
 ful Saviour, who hath laid this torment upon me, being inno- 
 cent, will likewise help me to bear it, as he helped the holy
 
 CHAP. Kin.] THE AMBER WITCH. 123 
 
 martyrs of old ; for if these, through God's help, overcame by 
 faith the torments inflicted on them by blind heathens, I also 
 can overcome the torture inflicted on me by blind heathens, 
 who, indeed, call themselves Christians, but who are more cruel 
 than those of yore ; for the old heathens only caused the holy 
 virgins to be torn of savage beasts, but ye which have received 
 the new commandment, ' That ye love one another ; as your 
 Saviour hath loved you, that ye also love one another. By this 
 shall all men know that ye are his disciples ' (St. John xiii.) ; 
 yourselves will act the part of savage beasts, and tear with 
 your own hands the body of an innocent maiden, your sister, 
 who has never done aught to harm you. Do, then, as ye list, 
 but have a care how ye will answer it to the highest Judge 
 of all. Again, I say, the lamb feareth naught, for it is in the 
 hand of the good Shepherd !" 
 
 When my matchless child had thus spoken, Dom. Consul rose, 
 pulled off the black skull-cap which he ever wore, because the 
 top of his head was already bald, bowed to the court, and said, 
 " We hereby make known to the worshipful court, that the ques- 
 tion ordinary and extraordinary of the stubborn and blaspheming 
 witch, Mary Schweidler, is about to begin, in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 
 
 Hereupon all the court rose save the Sheriff, who had got up 
 before, and was walking uneasily up and down in the room. But 
 of all that now follows, and of what I myself did, I remember not 
 one word, but will relate it as I have received it from my daugh- 
 ter and other testes, and they have told me as follows : 
 
 That when Dom. Consul after these words had taken up the 
 hour-glass which stood upon the table, and walked on before, I 
 would go with him, whereupon Pastor Benzensis first prayed 
 me with many words and tears to desist from my purpose, and 
 when that was of no avail my child herself stroked my cheeks, 
 saying, " Father, have you ever read that the Blessed Virgin 
 stood by when her guileless Son was scourged ? Depart, there- 
 fore, from me. You shall stand by the pile whereon I am burn- 
 ed, that I promise you ; for in like manner did the Blessed Vir- 
 gin stand at the foot of the cross. But, now, go ; go I pray you, 
 for you will not be able to bear it, neither shall I !"
 
 124 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxrn. 
 
 And when this also failed, Lorn. Consul bade the constable 
 seize me, and by main force lock me into another room ; where- 
 upon, however, I tore myself away, and fell at his feet, conjuring 
 him by the wounds of Christ not to tear me from my child ; that 
 I would never forget his kindness and mercy, but pray for him 
 day and night ; nay, that at the day of judgment I would be his 
 intercessor with God and the holy angels if that he would but let 
 me go with my child ; that I would be quite quiet, and not speak 
 one single word, but that I must go with my child, &c. 
 
 This so moved the worthy man that he burst into tears, and 
 so trembled with pity for me that the hour-glass fell from his 
 hands and rolled right before the feet of the Sheriff, as though 
 God himself would signify to him that his glass was soon to run 
 out ; and, indeed, he understood it right well, for he grew white 
 as any chalk when he picked it up, and gave it back to Dom. 
 Consul. The latter at last gave way, saying that this day would 
 make him ten years older ; but he bade the impudent constable, 
 who also went with us, lead me away if I made any rumor during 
 the torture. And hereupon the whole court went below, save 
 the Sheriff, who said his head ached, and that he believed his old 
 malum, the gout, was coming upon him again, wherefore he went 
 into another chamber ; item, Pastor Benzensis likewise departed. 
 
 Down in the vault the constables first brought in tables and 
 chairs, whereon the court sat, and Dom. Consul also pushed a 
 chair toward me, but I sat not thereon, but threw myself upon 
 my knees in a corner. When this was done they began again 
 with their vile admonitions, and as my child, like her guileless 
 Saviour before his unrighteous judges, answered not a word, 
 Dom. Consul rose up and bade the tall constable lay her on the 
 torture-bench. 
 
 She shook like an aspen leaf when he bound her hands and 
 feet ; and when he was about to bind over her sweet eyes a nasty 
 old filthy clout wherein my maid had seen him carry fish but the 
 day before, and which was still all over shining scales, I per- 
 ceived it, and pulled off my silken neckerchief, begging him to 
 use that instead, which he did. Hereupon the thumb-screw was 
 put on her, and she was once more asked whether she would 
 confess freely, but she only shook her poor blinded head, and
 
 CHAP, xxin.] THE AMBER WITCH. 125 
 
 sighed with her dying Saviour, " Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," and 
 then in Greek, " 9'/jot), Qst pav, iva ri // iyKari\urts-"* Whereat 
 Dom. Consul started back, and made the sign of the cross (for 
 inasmuch as he knew no Greek, he believed, as he afterwards 
 said himself, that she was calling upon the devil to help her), 
 and then called to the constable with a loud voice, " Screw !" 
 
 But when I heard this I gave such a cry that the whole vault 
 shook ; and when my poor child, who was dying of terror and 
 despair, had heard my voice, she first struggled with her bound 
 hands and feet like a lamb that lies dying in the slaughter-house, 
 and then cried out, " Loose me, and I will confess whatsoe'er 
 you will." Hereat Dom. Consul so greatly rejoiced, that while 
 the constable unbound her, he fell on his knees, and thanked God 
 for having spared him this anguish. But no sooner was my poor 
 desperate child unbound, and had laid aside her crown of thorns 
 (I mean my silken neckerchief), than she jumped off the ladder, 
 and flung herself upon me, who lay for dead in the corner in a 
 deep swound. 
 
 This greatly angered the worshipful court, and when the con- 
 stable had borne me away, Rea was admonished to make her 
 confession according to promise. But seeing she was too weak 
 to stand upon her feet, Dom. Consul ga.ve her a chair to sit upon, 
 although Dom. Camerarius grumbled thereat, and these were 
 the chief questions which were put to her by order of the most 
 honorable high central court, as Dom. Consul said, and which 
 were registered ad protocollum. 
 
 Q. Whether she could bewitch ? R. Yes, she could bewitch. 
 
 Q. Who taught her to do so ? R. Satan himself. 
 
 Q. How many devils had she ? R. One devil was enough 
 for her. 
 
 Q. What was this devil called ? Ilia (considering). His 
 name was Disidamonia.^ 
 
 Hereat Dom. Consul shuddered and said that that must be a 
 very terrible devil indeed, for that he had never heard such a 
 name before, and that she must spell it, so that Scriba might 
 make no error ; which she did, and he then went on as follows : 
 
 * My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? Matt, xxvii., 46. 
 f Aeiirtiaipovia Superstition. What an extraordinary woman !
 
 126 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxm. 
 
 Q. In what shape had he appeared to her ? R. In the shape 
 of the Sheriff, and sometimes as a goat with terrible horns. 
 
 Q. Whether Satan had re-baptized her, and where ? R. In 
 the sea. 
 
 Q. What name had he given her ? R. .* 
 
 Q. Whether any of the neighbors had been by when she was 
 re-baptized, and which of them ? R. Hereupon my matchless 
 child cast up her eyes towards heaven, as though doubting 
 whether she should fyle old Lizzie or not, but at last she 
 said, No ! 
 
 Q. She must have had sponsors ; who were they 1 and what 
 gift had they given her as christening money ? R. There were 
 none there save spirits ; wherefore old Lizzie could see no one 
 when she came and looked on at her re-baptism. 
 
 Q. Whether she had ever lived with the devil ? R. She 
 never had lived anywhere save in her father's house. 
 
 Q. She did not choose to understand. He meant whether she 
 had ever played the wanton with Satan, and known him 
 carnally ? Hereupon she blushed, and was so ashamed that she 
 covered her face with her hands, and presently began to weep 
 and to sob : and as, after many questions, she gave no answer, 
 she was again admonished to speak the truth, or that the execu- 
 tioner should lift her up on the ladder again. At last she said 
 " No !" which, howbeit the worshipful court would not believe, 
 and bade the executioner seize her again, whereupon she 
 answered " Yes !" 
 
 Q. Whether she had found the devil hot or cold ? R. She 
 did not remember which. 
 
 Q. Whether she had ever conceived by Satan, and given birth 
 to a changeling, and of what shape ? R. No, never. 
 
 Q. Whether the foul fiend had given her any sign or mark 
 about her body, and in what part thereof? R. That the mark 
 had already been seen by the worshipful court. 
 
 She was next charged with all the witchcraft done in the vil- 
 lage, and owned to it all, save that she still said that she knew 
 naught of old Seden his death, item, of little Paasch her sickness, 
 
 * It waa impossible to decipher his name in the MS.
 
 CHAP, xxni.] THE AMBER WITCH. 127 
 
 nor, lastly, would she confess that she had, by the help of the 
 foul fiend, raked up my crop or conjured the caterpillars into my 
 orchard. And albeit they again threatened her with the ques- 
 tion, and even ordered the executioner to lay her on the bench 
 and put on the thumb-screw to frighten her ; she remained 
 firm, and said, " Why should you torture me, seeing that I 
 have confessed far heavier crimes than these, which it will not 
 save my life to deny ?" 
 
 Hereupon the worshipful court at last were satisfied, and suf- 
 fered her to be lifted off the torture-bench, especially as she con- 
 fessed the articulus principalis ; to wit, that Satan had really 
 appeared to her on the mountain in the shape of a hairy giant. 
 Of the storm and the frog, item, of the hedgehog, nothing was 
 said, inasmuch as the worshipful court had by this time seen the 
 folly of supposing that she could have brewed a storm while she 
 quietly sat in the coach. Lastly, she prayed that it might be 
 granted to her to suffer death clothed in the garments which she 
 had worn when she went to greet the King of Sweden ; item, 
 that they would suffer her wretched father to be driven with her 
 to the stake, and to stand by while she was burned, seeing that 
 she had promised him this in the presence of the worshipful 
 court. 
 
 Hereupon she was once more given into the charge of the 
 tall constable, who was ordered to put her into a stronger and 
 severer prison. But he had not led her out of the chamber 
 before the Sheriff his bastard, whom he had had by the house- 
 keeper, came into the vault with a drum, and kept drumming 
 and crying out, " Come to the roast goose ! come to the roast 
 goose !" whereat Dom. Consul was exceeding wroth, and ran 
 after him, but he could not catch him, seeing that the young 
 varlet knew all the ins and outs of the vault. Without doubt it 
 was the Lord who sent me the swound, so that I should be 
 spared this fresh grief; wherefore to him alone be honor and 
 glory. Amen.
 
 128 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 How in my presence the devil fetched old Lizzie Knlken. 
 
 WHEN I recovered from my above-mentioned svvound, I found 
 my host, his wife, and my old maid standing over me, and pour- 
 ing warm beer down my throat. The faithful old creature 
 shrieked for joy when I opened my eyes again, and then told 
 me that my daughter had not suffered herself to be racked, but 
 had freely confessed her crimes and fyled herself as a witch. 
 This seemed pleasant news to me in my misery, inasmuch as I 
 deemed the death by fire to be a less heavy punishment than the 
 torture. Howbeit when I would have prayed I could not, 
 whereat I again fell into heavy grief and despair, fearing that 
 the Holy Ghost had altogether turned away his face from me, 
 wretched man that I was. And albeit the old maid, when she 
 had seen this, came and stood before my bed and began to pray 
 aloud to me ; it was all in vain, and I remained a hardened sin- 
 ner. But the Lord had pity upon me, although I deserved it 
 not, insomuch that I presently fell into a deep sleep, and did not 
 awake until next morning when the prayer-bell rang ; and then 
 I was once more able to pray, whereat I greatly rejoiced, and 
 still thanked God in my heart, when my ploughman Glaus Neels 
 came in and told me that he had come yesterday to tell me 
 about my oats, seeing that he had gotten them all in ; and that 
 the constable came with him who had been to fetch old Lizzie 
 Kolken, inasmuch as the honorable high court had ordered her 
 to be brought up for trial. Hereat the whole village rejoiced, 
 but Rea herself laughed, and shouted, and sang, and told him 
 and the constable, by the way (for the constable had let her get 
 up behind for a short time), that this should bring great luck to 
 the Sheriff. They need only bring her up before the court, and 
 in good sooth she would not hold her tongue within her teeth,
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 129 
 
 but that all men should marvel at her confession ; that such a 
 court as that was a laughing-stock to her, and that she spat, 
 salvd venid, upon the whole brotherhood, et cet. 
 
 Upon hearing this I once more felt a strong hope, and rose to 
 go to old Lizzie. But I was not quite dressed before she sent the 
 impudent constable to beg that I would go to her with all speed 
 and give her the sacrament, seeing that she had become very 
 weak during the night. I had my own thoughts on the matter, 
 and followed the constable as fast as I could, though not to give 
 her the sacrament, as indeed anybody may suppose. But in my 
 haste I, weak old man that I was, forgot to take my witnesses 
 with me ; for all the misery I had hitherto suffered had so 
 clouded my senses that it never once came into my head. None 
 followed me save the impudent constable ; and it will soon ap- 
 pear how that this villain had given himself over body and soul 
 to Satan to destroy my child, whereas he might have saved her. 
 For when he had opened the prison (it was the same cell where- 
 in my child had first been shut up), we found old Lizzie lying 
 on the ground on a truss of straw, with a broom for a pillow (as 
 though she were about to fly to hell upon it, as she no longer 
 could fly to Blockula), so that I shuddered when I caught sight 
 of her. 
 
 Scarce was loome in when she cried out fearfully, "I'm a 
 witch, I'm a witch ! Have pity upon me, and give me the sacra- 
 ment quick, and I will confess everything to you !" And when 
 I said to her, "Confess then!" she owned that she, with the 
 help of the Sheriff, had contrived all the witchcraft in the village, 
 and that my child was as innocent thereof, as the blessed sun in 
 heaven. Howbeit that the Sheriff had the greatest guilt, inas- 
 much as he was a warlock and a witch's priest, and had a spirit 
 far stronger than her's, called Dudaim,* which spirit had given 
 
 * This remarkable word occurs in the 1 Mos. xxx. 15 ff., as the name of 
 a plant which produces fruitfulness in women ; but the commentators are 
 by no means agreed as to its nature and its properties. The LXX. render it 
 by Mandragoras, which has been understood by the most eminent ancient 
 and modern theologians to mean the mandrake (Alraunwurzel) so famous 
 in the history of witchcraft. In many instances the devils, strangely 
 enough, receive Christian names : thus the familiar spirit of old Lizzie is 
 afterwards called Kit, i. e. Christopher. 
 10
 
 130 II I H AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxjv. 
 
 her such a blow on the head in the night as she should never 
 recover. This same Dudaim it was that had raked up the crops, 
 heaped sand over the amber, made the storm, and dropped the 
 frog into my daughter her lap ; item, carried off her old goodman 
 through the air. 
 
 And when I asked her how that could be, seeing that her 
 goodnmn had been a child of God until very near his end, and 
 much given to prayer ; albeit I had indeed marvelled why he 
 had other thoughts in his last illness ; she answered, that one 
 day he had seen her spirit, which she kept in a chest, in the 
 shape of a black cat, and whose name was Kit, and had threat- 
 ened that he would tell me of it ; whereupon she, being fright- 
 ened, had caused her spirit to make him so ill that he despaired 
 of ever getting over it. Thereupon she had comforted him, say- 
 ing that she would presently heal him if he would deny God, who, 
 as he well saw, could not help him. This he promised to do ; 
 and when she had straightway made him quite hearty again, 
 they took the silver which I had scraped off the new sacrament 
 cup, and went by night down to the sea-shore, where he had to 
 throw it into the sea with these words : " When this silver re- 
 turns again to the chalice, then shall my soul return to God." 
 Whereupon the Sheriff, who was by, re-baptized him in the 
 name of Satan, and called him Jack. He had had no sponsors 
 save only herself, old Lizzie. Moreover that on St. John's eve, 
 when he went with them to Blockula for the first time (the Her- 
 renberg* was their Blockula), they had talked of my daughter, 
 and Satan himself had sworn to the Sheriff that he should have 
 
 
 
 her. For that he would show the old one (wherewith the villain 
 meant God) what he could do, and that he would make the car- 
 penter's son sweat for vexation (fie upon thee, thou arch villain, 
 that thou couldst thus speak of my blessed Saviour !). Where- 
 upon her old goodman had grumbled, and as they had never 
 rightly trusted him, the spirit Dudaim one day flew off with him 
 
 * A hill near Coserow. In almost all trials of witches hills of this kind 
 in the neighborhood of the accused are mentioned, where the devil on Wal- 
 pur^is night and St. John's eve feasts, dances and wantons with them, and 
 where warlock priests administer Satanic sacraments, which are mere 
 mockeries of those of Divine institution.
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 131 
 
 through the air by the Sheriff's order, seeing that her own spirit, 
 called Kit, was too weak to carry him. That the same Dudaim 
 had also been the woodpecker who afterwards 'ticed my daughter 
 and old Paasch to the spot with his cries, in order to ruin her. 
 But that the giant who had appeared on the Streckelberg was 
 not a devil, but the young lord of Mellenthin himself, as her 
 spirit, Kit, had told her. 
 
 And this she said was nothing but the truth, whereby she 
 would live and die ; and she begged me, for the love of God, to 
 take pity upon her, and, after her repentant confession, to speak 
 forgiveness of her sins, and to give her the Lord's Supper ; for 
 that her spirit stood there behind the stove, grinning like a rogue, 
 because he saw that it was all up with her now. But I an- 
 swered, " I would sooner give the sacrament to an old sow than 
 to thee, thou accursed witch, who not only didst give over thine 
 own husband to Satan, but hast likewise tortured me and my 
 poor child almost unto death with pains like those of hell." 
 Before she could make any answer, a loathsome insect, about 
 as long as my finger, and with a yellow tail, crawled in under 
 the door of the prison. When she espied it, she gave a yell, 
 such as I never before heard, and never wish to hear again. 
 For once, when I was in Silesia, in my youth, I saw one of the 
 enemy's soldiers spear a child before its mother's face, and I 
 thought that a fearful shriek which the mother gave ; but her cry 
 was child's play to the cry of old Lizzie. All my hair stood on 
 end, and her own red hair grew so stiff that it was like the twigs 
 of the broom whereon she lay; .and then she howled, " That is 
 the spirit Dudaim, whom the accursed Sheriff has sent to me 
 the sacrament, for the love of God, the sacrament ! I will con- 
 fess a great deal more I have been a witch these thirty years ! 
 the sacrament, the sacrament !" While she thus bellowed 
 and flung about her arms and legs, the loathsome insect rose 
 into the air, and buzzed and whizzed about her where she lay, 
 insomuch that it was fearful to see and to hear. And this she- 
 devil called by turns on God, on her spirit Kit, and on me, to 
 help her, till the insect all of a sudden darted into her open 
 jaws, whereupon she straightway gave up the ghost, and turned 
 all black and blue like a blackberry.
 
 132 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxiv. 
 
 I heard nothing more save that the window rattled, not very 
 loud, but as though one had thrown a pea against it, whereby 
 I straightway perceived that Satan had just flown through it 
 with her soul. May the all-merciful God keep every mother's 
 child from such an end, for the sake of Jesus Christ our blessed 
 Lord and Saviour ! Amen. 
 
 As soon as I was somewhat recovered, which, however, was 
 not for a long time, inasmuch as my blood had turned to ice, 
 and my feet were as stiff as a stake ; I began to call out after 
 the impudent constable, but he was no longer in the prison. 
 Thereat I greatly marvelled, seeing that I had seen him there 
 but just before the vermin crawled in, and straightway I sus- 
 pected no good, as, indeed, it turned out j for when at last he 
 came upon my calling him, and I told him to let this carrion be 
 carted out which had just died in the name of the devil, he did 
 as though he was amazed ; and when I desired him that he 
 would bear witness to the innocence of my daughter, which the 
 old hag had confessed on her death-bed, he pretended to be yet 
 more amazed, and said that he had heard nothing. This went 
 through my heart like a sword, and I leaned against a pillar 
 without, where I stood for a long time ; but as soon as I was 
 come to myself I went to Dom. Consul, who was about to go to 
 Uzedom, and already sat in his coach. At my humble prayer 
 he went back into the judgment-chamber with the Camerarius 
 and the Scriba, whereupon I told all that had taken place, and 
 how the wicked constable denied that he had heard the same. 
 But they say that I talked a great deal of nonsense besides ; 
 among other things that all the little fishes had swam into the 
 vault to release my daughter. Nevertheless, Dom. Consul, who 
 often shook his head, sent for the impudent constable, and asked 
 him for his testimony. But the fellow pretended that as soon as 
 he saw that old Lizzie wished to confess, he had gone away, so 
 as not to get any more hard words, wherefore he had heard 
 nothing. Hereupon I, as Dom. Consul afterwards told the pas- 
 tor of Benz, clenched my fists and answered, " What, thou arch- 
 rogue, didst thou not crawl about the room in the shape of a 
 reptile ?" whereupon he would hearken to me no longer, think- 
 ing me distraught, nor would he make the constable take an
 
 CHAP, xxiv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 133 
 
 oath, but left me standing in the midst of the room, and got into 
 
 his coach again. 
 
 . 
 
 Neither do I know how I got out of the room ; but next morn- 
 ing when the sun rose, and I found myself lying in bed at 
 Master Seep his alehouse, the whole casus seemed to me like a 
 dream ; neither was I able to rise, but lay a-bed all the blessed 
 Saturday and Sunday, talking all manner of allotria. It was 
 not till towards evening on Sunday when I began to vomit and 
 threw up green bile (no wonder !), that I got somewhat better. 
 About this time Pastor Benzensis came to my bedside, and told 
 me how distractedly I had borne myself, but so comforted me 
 from the word of God, that I was once more able to pray from 
 my heart. May the merciful God reward my dear gossip, 
 therefore, at the day of judgment ! For prayer is almost as 
 brave a comforter as the Holy Ghost himself, from whom it 
 comes ; and I shall ever consider that so long as a man can 
 still pray, his misfortunes are not unbearable, even though in 
 all else " his flesh and his heart faileth " (Ps. Ixxiii.).
 
 134 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xiv 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 How Satan sifted me like wheat, whereas my daughter withstood him right 
 
 bravely. 
 
 ON Monday I left my bed betimes, and as I felt in passable 
 good case, I went up to the castle to see whether I might per- 
 adventure get to my daughter, but I could not find either con- 
 stable, albeit I had brought a few groats with me to give them as 
 beer-money ; neither would the folks that I met tell me where 
 they were ; item, the impudent constable his wife, who was in the 
 kitchen making brimstone matches. And when I asked her 
 when her husband would come back, she said not before to- 
 morrow morning early ; item, that the other constable would not 
 be here any sooner. Hereupon I begged her to lead me to my 
 daughter herself, at the same time showing her the two groats; 
 but she answered that she had not the keys, and knew not how 
 to get at them : moreover she said she did not know where my 
 child was now shut up, seeing that I would have spoken to 
 her through the door ; item, the cook, the huntsman, and whom- 
 soever else I met in my sorrow, said they knew not in what 
 hole the witch might lie. 
 
 Hereupon I went all round about the castle, and laid my ear 
 against every little window that looked as though it might be 
 IK T window, and cried, "Mary, my child, where art thou ?" 
 Item, at every grating I found I kneeled down, bowed my head, 
 and called in like manner into the vault below. But all in vain ; 
 I got no answer anywhere. The Sheriff at length saw what I 
 was about, and came down out of the castle to me with a very 
 gracious air, and taking me by the hand, he asked me what I 
 sought ? But when I answered him that I had not seen my only 
 child since last Thursday, and prayed him to show pity upon 
 me, and let me be led to her, he said that could not be, but that 
 I was to come up into his chamber, and talk further of the mat-
 
 CHAP, xxv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 135 
 
 ter. By the way he said, " Well, so the old witch told you fine 
 things about me, but you see how Almighty God has sent his 
 righteous judgment upon her. She has long been ripe for the 
 fire ; but my great long-suffering, wherein a good magistrate 
 should ever strive to be like unto the Lord, has made me over- 
 look it till datum, and in return for my goodness she raises this 
 outcry against me." And when I replied, " How does your 
 lordship know that the witch raised such an outcry against 
 you ?" he began to stammer, and then said, " Why you your- 
 self charged me thereon before the judge. But I bear you no 
 anger therefore, and God knows that I pity you, who are a poor 
 weak old man, and would gladly help you if I were able." 
 Meanwhile he led me up four or five flights of stairs, so that I, 
 old man that I am, could follow him no further, and stood still 
 gasping for breath. But he took me by the hand and said, 
 " Come, I must first show you how matters really stand, or I fear 
 you will not accept my help, but will plunge yourself into de- 
 struction." Hereupon we stepped out upon a terrace at the top 
 of the castle, which looked toward the water ; and the villain 
 went on to say, " Reverend Abraham, can you see well afar 
 off?" and when I answered that I once could see very well, but 
 that the many tears I had shed had now peradventure dimmed 
 my eyes, he pointed to the Streckelberg, and said, " Do you 
 then see nothing there ?" Ego. " Naught save a black speck, 
 which I cannot make out." Hie. " Know then that that is the 
 pile whereon your daughter is to burn at ten o'clock to-morrow 
 morning, and which the constables are now raising." When 
 this hell-hound had thus spoken, I gave a loud cry and swound- 
 ed. Oh, blessed Lord ! I know not how I lived through such 
 distress ; thou alone didst strengthen me beyond nature, in or- 
 der, " after so much weeping and wailing, to heap joys and 
 blessings upon me ;" without thee I never could have lived 
 through such misery : " therefore to thy name ever be all honor 
 and glory, oh thou God of Israel !"* 
 
 When I came again to myself I lay on a bed in a fine room, 
 and perceived a taste in my mouth like wine. But as I saw none 
 
 * Tobit iii. 22, 23, Luther's Version.
 
 136 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxv. 
 
 near me save the Sheriff, who held a pitcher in his hand, I shud- 
 dered and closed mine eyes, considering what I should say or do. 
 This he presently observed, and said, " Do not shudder thus ; I 
 mean well by you, and only wish to put a question to you, which 
 you must answer me on your conscience as a priest. Say, rev- 
 erend Abraham, which is the greater sin, to commit whoredom, 
 or to take the lives of two persons ?" and when I answered him, 
 " To take the lives of two persons," he went on, " Well, then, 
 is not that what your stubborn child is about to do ? Rather 
 than give herself up to me, who have ever desired to save her, 
 and who can even yet save her, albeit her pile is now being 
 raised, she will take away her own life and that of her wretch- 
 ed father, for I scarcely think that you, poor man, will outlive 
 this sorrow. Wherefore do you, for God's sake, persuade her 
 to think better of it while I am yet able to save her. For know 
 that about ten miles from hence I have a small house in the 
 midst of the forest, where no human being ever goes ; thither 
 will I send her this very night, and you may dwell there with 
 her all the days of your life, if so it please you. You shall 
 live as well as you can possibly desire, and to-morrow morning 
 I will spread a report betimes that the witch and her father have 
 run away together during the night, and that nobody knows 
 whither they are gone." Thus spake the serpent to me, as 
 whilom to our mother Eve ; and, wretched sinner that I am, the 
 tree of death which he showed me seemed to me also to be a tree 
 of life, so pleasant was it to the eye. Nevertheless I answered, 
 " My child will never save her miserable life by doing aught to 
 peril the salvation of her soul." But now too the serpent was 
 more cunning than all the beasts of the field (especially such an 
 old fool as I), and spake thus : " Why, who would have her 
 peril the salvation of her soul ? Reverend Abraham, must I 
 teach you Scripture ? Did not our Lord Christ pardon Mary 
 Magdalene, who lived in open whoredom ? and did he not speak 
 forgiveness to the poor adulteress who had committed a still 
 greater crimen ? nay more, doth not St. Paul expressly say that the 
 harlot Rahab was saved, Hebrews xi. ? item, St. James ii. says 
 the same. But where have ye read that any one was saved 
 who had wantonly taken her own life and that of her father ?
 
 CHAP, xxv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 137 
 
 Wherefore, for the love of God, persuade your child not to give 
 herself up, body and soul, to the devil, by her stubbornness, but 
 to suffer herself to be saved while it is yet time. You can abide 
 with her, and pray away all the sins she may commit, and like- 
 wise aid me with your prayers, who freely own that I am a 
 miserable sinner, and have done you much evil, though not so 
 much evil by far, reverend Abraham, as David did to Uriah, 
 and he was saved, notwithstanding he put the man to a shame- 
 ful death, and afterwards lay with his wife. Wherefore I, poor 
 man, likewise hope to be saved, seeing that my desire for your 
 daughter is still greater than that which this David felt for 
 Bathsheba ; and I will gladly make it all up to you twofold as 
 soon as we are in my cottage." 
 
 When the tempter had thus spoken, methought his words were 
 sweeter than honey, and I answered, " Alas, my lord, I am 
 ashamed to appear before her face with such a proposal." Where- 
 upon he straightway said, " Then do you write it to her ; come, 
 here is pen, ink, and paper." 
 
 And now, like Eve, I took the fruit and ate, and gave it to my 
 child that she might eat also ; that is to say, that I recapitulated 
 on paper all that Satan had prompted, but in the Latin tongue, 
 for I was ashamed to write it in mine own ; and lastly I conjured 
 her not to take away her own life and mine, but to submit to the 
 wondrous will of God. Neither were mine eyes opened when I 
 had eaten (that is written), nor did I perceive that the ink was 
 gall instead of honey, and I translated my letter to the Sheriff 
 (seeing that he understood no Latin), smiling like a drunken 
 man the while ; whereupon he clapped me on the shoulder, and 
 after I had made fast the letter with his signet, he called his 
 huntsman, and gave it to him to carry to my daughter ; item) 
 he sent her pen, ink, and paper, together with his signet, in order 
 that she might answer it forthwith. 
 
 Meanwhile he talked with me right graciously, praising my 
 child and me, and made me drink to him many times from his 
 great pitcher, wherein was most goodly wine ; moreover he went 
 to a cupboard and brought out cakes for me to eat, saying that I 
 should now have such every day. But when the huntsman came 
 back in about half an hour, with her answer, and I had read the
 
 138 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. zxv. 
 
 same, then, first, were mine eyes opened, and I knew good and 
 evil ; had I had a fig-leaf, I should have covered them there- 
 with for shame ; but as it was, I held my hand over them and 
 wept so bitterly that the Sheriff waxed very wroth, and cursing 
 bade me tell him what she had written. Thereupon I interpreted 
 the letter to him, the which I likewise place here, in order that 
 all may see my folly, and the wisdom of my child. It was as 
 follows :* 
 
 IESVS ! 
 Pater infelix ! 
 
 Ego eras non magis pallebo rogum aspectura, et rogus non 
 magis erubescet, me suscipiens, quam pallui et iterum erubescui, 
 
 * It is evidently written by a female hand, and probably the original 
 letter; there are, however, no traces of sealing-wax or wax upon it, whence 
 I infer that it was sent open, which, from its being written in a foreign 
 language, would have been perfectly safe. I have purposely left the few 
 grammatical errors it contains, as the smallest alteration of this gem would 
 appear to me in the light of a treason against the character of this incom- 
 parable woman. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 JESUS ! 
 Unhappy Father ! 
 
 I shall not to-morrow grow more pale at sight of the pile, nor will 
 the pile grow more red on receiving me, than I grew pale and then red 
 while reading thy letter. How ? and hath Satan so tempted thee, pious 
 father, pious servant of the Lord, that thou hast made common cause with 
 mine enemies, and that thou understandest not that in such life is death, 
 and in such death is life ? For if the all-merciful God forgave Mary Mag- 
 dalene and other sinners, he forgave them because they repented of the weak- 
 ness of their flesh, and sinned not again. And shall I sin with so great 
 abhorrence of the flesh, and that not once, but again and again without return 
 even until death ? How could the all-merciful God forgive this to the vilest 
 of women ? Unhappy father ! remember what thou hast told me of the holy 
 martyrs, and of the virgins of the Lord, who all lost their lives rather than 
 lose their chastity. These will I follow, hoping that my spouse Jesus Christ 
 will also give to wretched me a crown of eternal glory, although, indeed, I 
 have not less offended through the weakness of the flesh than Mary, declar- 
 ing myself to be guilty, whereas I am innocent. Be strong, therefore, and 
 pray for me unto God, and not unto the devil, so that I may soon pray for thee 
 before the face of God. 
 
 MARY S., a Prisoner. "
 
 CHAP, xxv.] THE AMBER WITCH. 139 
 
 literas tuas legens. Quid ? et te, pium patrem, pium servum 
 Domini, ita Satanas sollicitavit, ut communionem facias cum 
 inimicis meis, et non intelligas : in tali vita esse mortem, et in 
 tali morte vitam ? Scilicet si clementissimus Deus Marise Mag- 
 dalehse aliisque ignovit, ignovit, quia resipiscerent ob carnis 
 debilitatem, et non iterum peccarent. Et ego peccarem cum 
 quavis detestatione carnis, et non semel, sed iterum atque iterum 
 sine reversione usque ad mortem ? Quomodo clementissimus 
 Deus hoc sceleratissima ignoscere posset ? infelix pater ! recor- 
 dare quid mihi dixisti de sanctis martyribus et virginibus Domini, 
 quse omnes mallent vitam quam pudicitiam perdere. His et 
 ego sequar, et sponsus meus, Jesus Christus, et mihi miserse, ut 
 spero, coronam aeternam dabit, quamvis eum non minus offendi 
 ob debilitatem carnis ut Maria, et me sontem declaravi, cum 
 insons sum. Fac igitur ut valeas, et ora pro me apud Deum 
 et non apud Satanam, ut et ego mox coram Deo pro te orare 
 possim. 
 
 MAKIA S., captiva. 
 
 When the Sheriff heard this he flung the pitcher which he 
 held in his hand to the ground, so that it flew in pieces, and 
 cried, " The cursed devil's wliore ! the constable shall make her 
 squeak for this a good hour longer;" with many more such 
 things beside, which he said in his malice, and which I have now 
 forgotten ; but he soon became quite gracious again, and said, 
 " She is foolish ; do you go to her and see whether you cannot 
 persuade her to her own good as well as yours ; the huntsman 
 shall let you in, and should the fellow listen, give him a good 
 box on the ears in my name ; do you hear, reverend Abraham ? 
 Go now forthwith and bring me back an answer as quickly as 
 possible !" I therefore followed the huntsman, who led me into 
 a vault where was no light save what fell through a hole no big- 
 ger than a crown-piece ; and here my daughter sat upon her 
 bed and wept. Any one may guess that I straightway began to 
 weep too, and was no better able to speak than she. We thus 
 lay mute in each other's arms for a long time, until I at last 
 begged her to forgive me for my letter, but of the Sheriff his 
 message I said naught, although I had purposed so to do. But
 
 140 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxv. 
 
 before long we heard the Sheriff himself call down into the 
 vault from above, "What (and here he gave me a heavy curse) 
 are you doing there so long ? Come up this moment, reverend 
 Johannes !" Thus I had scarce time to give her one kiss before 
 the huntsman came back with the keys and forced us to part ; 
 albeit we had as yet scarcely spoken, save that I had told her in 
 a few words what had happened with old Lizzie. It would be 
 hard to believe into what grievous anger the Sheriff fell when I 
 told him that my daughter remained firm and would not hearken 
 unto him ; he struck me on the breast, and said, "Go }o the 
 devil then, thou infamous parson !" and when I turned myself 
 away and would have gone, he pulled me back, and said, " If 
 thou breathest but one word, of all that has passed, I will have 
 thee burnt too, thou grey-headed old father of a witch j so look 
 to it !" Hereupon 1 plucked up a heart, and answered that that 
 would be the greatest joy to me, especially if I could be burnt 
 to-morrow with my child. Hereunto he made no answer, but 
 clapped to the door behind me. Well, clap the door as thou 
 wilt, I greatly fear that the just God will one day clap the doors 
 of heaven in thy face !
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 141 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 How I received the Holy Sacrament with my daughter and the old maid- 
 servant, and how she was then led for the last time before the court, with 
 the drawn sword and the outcry, to receive sentence. 
 
 Now any one would think that during that heavy Tuesday 
 night I should not have been able to close mine eyes ; but know, 
 dear reader, that the Lord can do more than we can ask or un- 
 derstand, and that his mercy is new every morning. For 
 toward daybreak I fell asleep as quietly as though I had had no 
 care upon my heart ; and when I awoke I was able to pray 
 more heartily than I had done for a long time ; so that, in the 
 midst of my tribulation, I wept for joy at such great mercy from 
 the Lord. But I prayed for naught save that he would endow 
 my child with strength and courage to suffer the martyrdom he 
 had laid upon her with Christian patience, and to send his angel 
 to me, woful man, so to pierce my heart with grief when I 
 should see my child burn, that it might straightway cease to 
 beat, and I might presently follow her. And thus I still prayed 
 when the maid came in all dressed in black, and with the silken 
 raiment of my sweet lamb hanging over her arm ; and she told 
 me with many tears, that the dead-bell had already tolled from 
 the Castle tower, for the first time, and that my child had sent 
 for her to dress her, seeing that the Court was already come 
 from Usedom, and that in about two hours she was to set 
 out on her last journey. Moreover, she had sent her word 
 that she was to take her some blue and yellow flowers for a gar- 
 land ; wherefore she asked me what flowers she should take ; 
 and seeing that a jar, filled with fire-lilies and forget-me-nots, 
 stood in my window, which she had placed there yesterday, I 
 said, " Thou canst gather no better flowers for her than these, 
 wherefore do thou carry them to her, and tell her that I will follow
 
 142 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 thee in about half-an-hour, in order to receive the sacrament 
 with her." Hereupon the faithful old creature prayed me to 
 suffer her to go to the sacrament with us, the which I promised 
 her. And scarce had I dressed myself and put on my surplice, 
 when Pastor Benzensis came in at the door and fell upon my 
 neck, weeping, and as mute as a fish. As soon as he came to 
 his speech again, he told me of the great miraculum (dccmonis I 
 mean) which had befallen at th'e burial of old Lizzie. For that, 
 just as the bearers were about to lower the coffin into the grave, 
 a noise was heard therein, as though of a carpenter boring 
 through a deal board ; wherefore they thought the old hag 
 must be come to life again, and opened the coffin. But there she 
 lay as before, all black and blue in the face, and as cold as ice ; 
 but her eyes had started wide open, so that all were horror- 
 stricken, and expected some devilish apparition ; and, indeed, a 
 live rat presently jumped out of the coffin and ran into a skull 
 which lay beside the grave. Thereupon they all ran away, 
 seeing that old Lizzie had ever been in evil repute as a witch. 
 Howbeit at last he himself went near the grave again, where- 
 upon the rat disappeared, and all the others took courage and 
 followed him. This the man told me, and any one may guess 
 that this was in fact Satan, who had flown down the hag her 
 throat as an insect, whereas his proper shape was that of a rat : 
 albeit I wonder what he could so long have been about in the 
 carrion ; unless indeed it were that the evil spirits are as fond of 
 all that is loathsome as the angels of God are of all that is fair 
 and lovely. Be that as it may; Summa : I was not a little 
 shocked at what he told me, and asked him what he now thought 
 of the Sheriff? whereupon he shrugged his shoulders, and said. 
 that he had indeed been a wicked fellow as long as he could 
 remember him, and that it was full ten years since he had given 
 him any first-fruits; but. that he did not believe that he was a 
 warlock as old Lizzie had said. For although he had indeed 
 never been to the table of the Lord in his church, he had heard 
 that he often went, at Stettin, with his Princely Highness the 
 Duke, and that the Pastor at the castle church had shown him 
 the entry in his communion-book. Wherefore he likewise could 
 not believe that he had brought this misery upon my daughter,
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 143 
 
 if she were innocent, as the hag had said; besides, that my 
 daughter had freely confessed herself a witch. Hereupon I 
 answered, that she had done that for fear of the torture ; but 
 that she was not afraid of death ; whereupon I told him, with 
 many sighs, how the Sheriff had yesterday tempted me, misera- 
 ble and unfaithful servant, to evil, insomuch that I had been 
 willing to sell my only child to him and to Satan, and was not 
 worthy to receive the sacrament to-day. Likewise how much 
 more steadfast a faith my daughter had than I, as he might 
 see from her letter, which I still carried in my pocket ; here- 
 with I gave it into his hand, and when he had read it, he sighed 
 as though he had been himself a father, and said, " Were this 
 true, I should sink into the earth for sorrow ; but come, brother, 
 come, that I may prove her faith myself." 
 
 Hereupon we went up to the castle, and on our way we found 
 the greensward before the hunting-lodge, item, the whole space 
 in front of the castle, already crowded with people, who, never- 
 theless, were quite quiet as we went by : we gave our names 
 again to the huntsman. (I have never been able to remember 
 his name, seeing that he was a Polak ; he was not, however, 
 the same fellow who wooed my child, and whom the Sheriff had 
 therefore turned off.) The man presently ushered us into a fine 
 large room, whither my child had been led when taken out of 
 her prison. The maid had already dressed her, and she looked 
 lovely as an angel. She wore the chain of gold with the effigy 
 round her neck again, item, the garland in her hair, and she 
 smiled as we entered, saying, " I am ready !" Whereat the 
 reverend Martinus was sorely angered and shocked, saying, 
 " Ah, thou ungodly woman, let no one tell me further of thine 
 innocence ! Thou art about to go to the holy sacrament, and 
 from thence to death, and thou flauntest as a child of this world 
 about to go to the dancing-room." Whereupon she answered 
 and said, " Be not wroth with me, dear godfather, because that 
 I would go into the presence of my good King of Heaven in the 
 same garments wherein I appeared some time since before the 
 good King of Sweden. For it strengthens my weak and trem- 
 bling flesh, seeing I hope that my righteous Saviour will in like 
 manner take me to his heart, and will also hang his effigy upon 
 my neck when I stretch out my hands to him in all humility,
 
 144 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xivi. 
 
 and recite my carmen, saying, " Oh, Lamb of God, innocently 
 slain upon the cross, give me thy peace, oh, Jesu !" These 
 words softened my dear gossip, and he spoke, saying, " Ah, 
 child, child, I thought to have reproached thee, but thou hast 
 constrained me to weep with thee : art thou then indeed inno- 
 cent?" "Verily," said she, " to you, my honored godfather, 
 I may now own that I am innocent, as truly as I trust that God 
 will aid me in my last hour through Jesus Christ, amen." 
 
 When the maid heard this, she made such outcries that I re- 
 pented that I had suffered her to be present, and we all had 
 enough to do to comfort her from the word of God till she be- 
 came somewhat more tranquil ; and when this was done my 
 dear gossip thus spake to my child : " If, indeed, thou dost so 
 steadfastly maintain thine innocence, it is my duty, according 
 to my conscience as a priest, to inform the worshipful court 
 thereof;" and he was about to leave the room. But she with- 
 held him, and fell upon the ground and clasped his knees, say- 
 ing, " I beseech you, by the wounds of Jesus, to be silent. 
 They would stretch me on the rack again, and uncover my na- 
 kedness, and I, wretched weak woman, would in such torture 
 confess all that they would have me, especially if my father 
 again be there, whereby both my soul and my body are tortur- 
 ed at once : wherefore stay, I pray you, stay ; is it then a mis- 
 fortune to die innocent, and is it not better to die innocent than 
 guilty ?" 
 
 My good gossip at last gave way, and after standing awhile 
 and praying to himself, he wiped away his tears, and then spake 
 the exhortation to confession, in the words of Isa. xliii. 1, 2, 
 " But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and 
 he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not ; for I have redeemed 
 thee, I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. When 
 thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest 
 through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the 
 flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy 
 One of Israel, thy Saviour." 
 
 And when he had ended this comfortable address, and asked 
 her whether she would willingly bear until her last hour that
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 145 
 
 cross which the most merciful God according to his unsearchable 
 will had laid upon her, she spake such beautiful words that my 
 gossip afterwards said he should not forget them so long as he 
 should live, seeing that he had never witnessed a bearing at 
 once so full of faith and joy, and withal so deeply sorrow- 
 ful. She spake after this manner : " Oh, holy cross, which 
 my Jesus hath sanctified by his innocent suffering ; oh, dear 
 cross, which is laid upon me by the hand of a merciful father ; 
 oh, blessed cross, whereby I am made like unto my Lord Jesus, 
 and am called unto eternal glory and blessedness : how ! shall 
 I not willingly bear thee, thou sweet cross of my bridegroom, of 
 my brother ?" The reverend Johannes had scarce given us 
 absolution, and after this, with many tears, the holy sacrament, 
 when we heard a loud trampling upon the floor, and presently 
 the impudent constable looked into the room and asked whether 
 we were ready, seeing that the worshipful court was now wait- 
 ing for us ; and when he had been told that we were ready, my 
 child would have first taken leave of me, but I forbade her, 
 saying, " Not so ; thou knowest that which thou hast promised 
 
 me ; ' and whither thou goest I will go, and where 
 
 thou lodgest I will lodge ; where thou diest will I die 
 
 ' * if that the Lord, as I hope, will hear the ardent sighs 
 
 of my poor soul." Hereupon she let me go, and embraced only 
 the old maid-servant, thanking her for all the kindness she had 
 shown her from her youth up, and begging her not to go with 
 her to make her death yet more bitter by her cries. The faith- 
 ful old creature was unable for a long time to say a word for 
 tears. Howbeit at last she begged forgiveness of my child for 
 that she had unwittingly accused her, and said, that out of her 
 wages she had bought five pounds' weight of flax to hasten her 
 death ; that the shepherd of Pudgla had that very morning 
 taken it with him to Coserow, and that she should wind it close- 
 ly round her body ; for that she had seen how old wife Schurne, 
 who was burnt in Liepe, had suffered great torments before she 
 came to her death, by reason of the damp wood. 
 
 But ere my child could thank her for this, the dreadful out-, 
 
 * Ruth i. 16. 
 11
 
 146 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 cry of blood began in the judgment-chamber ; for a voice cried 
 as loudly as might be, " Wo upon the accursed witch, Mary 
 Schweidler, because that she hath fallen off from the living 
 God !" Then all the folk without cried, " Wo upon the accursed 
 witoh !" When I heard this I fell back against the wall, but 
 my sweet child stroked my cheeks with her darling hands, and 
 said, " Father, father, do but remember that the people likewise 
 cried out against the innocent Jesus, ' Crucify him, crucify him !' 
 Shall not we then drink of the cup which our heavenly Father 
 hath prepared for us ?" 
 
 Hereupon the door opened, and the constable walked in, amid 
 a great tumult among the people, holding a drawn sword in his 
 hand which he bowed thrice before my child and cried, " Wo 
 upon the accursed witch, Mary Schweidler, because that she hath 
 fallen off from the living God !" and all the folks in the hall and 
 without the castle cried as loud as they could, " Wo upon the 
 accursed witch !" 
 
 Hereupon he said, "Mary Schweidler, come before the high 
 and worshipful court, to hear sentence of death passed upon 
 thee !" Whereupon she followed him with us two miserable 
 men (for Pastor Benzensis was no less cast down than myself). 
 As for the old maid-servant, she lay on the ground for dead. 
 
 After we had with great pains pushed our way through all the 
 people, the constable stood still before the open judgment-cham- 
 ber, and once more bowed his sword before my child and cried 
 for the third time, " Wo upon the accursed witch, Mary 
 Schweidler, because that she hath fallen off from the living 
 God !" And all the people, as well as the cruel judges them- 
 selves, cried as loud as they could, " Wo upon the accursed 
 witch!" 
 
 When we had entered the room, Dom. Consul first asked my 
 worthy gossip whether the witch had abode by her free avowal 
 in confession ; whereupon, after considering a short time, he an- 
 swered, that he had best ask herself, for there she stood. Ac- 
 cordingly, taking up a paper which lay before him on the table, 
 he spake as follows : " Mary Schweidler, now that thou hast 
 confessed, and received the holy and most honorable sacrament
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 147 
 
 of the Lord's Supper, answer me once again these following 
 questions : 
 
 1 . Is it true that thou hast fallen off from the living God and 
 given thyself up to Satan ? 
 
 2. Is it true that thou hadst a spirit called Disidcemonia, who 
 re-baptized thee and carnally knew thee ? 
 
 3. Is it true that thou hast done all manner of mischief to the 
 cattle ? 
 
 4. Is it true that Satan appeared to thee on the Streckelberg 
 in the likeness of a hairy giant ? 
 
 When she had with many sighs said " Yes " to all these ques- 
 tions, he rose, took a wand in one hand and a second paper in 
 the other, put his spectacles on his nose, and said, " Now, then, 
 hear thy sentence." (This sentence I since copied : he would 
 not let me see the other Acta, but pretended that they were at 
 Wolgast. The sentence, however, was word for word as follows.) 
 
 " We, the Sheriff and the Justices appointed to serve the 
 high and worshipful criminal court. Inasmuch as Mary 
 Schweidler, the daughter of Abraham Schweidlerus, the pastor 
 of Coserow, hath, after the appointed inquisition, repeatedly 
 made free confession, that she hath a devil named Disidosmonia, 
 the which did re-baptize her in the sea, and did also know her 
 carnally ; item, thai she by his help did mischief to the cattle ; 
 that he also appeared to her on the Streckelberg in the likeness 
 of a hairy giant. We do therefore by these presents make 
 known and direct, that Rea be first duly torn four times on 
 each breast with red-hot iron pincers, and after that be burned 
 to death by fire, as a rightful punishment to herself and a warn- 
 ing to others. Nevertheless, we, in pity for her youth, are 
 pleased of our mercy to spare her the tearing with red-hot pin- 
 cers, so that she shall only suffer death by the simple punish- 
 ment of fire. Wherefore she is hereby condemned and judged 
 accordingly on the part of the criminal court. 
 
 " Publicatum at the castle of Pudgla, the 30th day mensis 
 Augusti, anno Salutis 1630."* 
 
 * Readers who are unacquainted with the atrocious administration of justice 
 in those days, will be surprised at this rapid and arbitrary mode of proceed-
 
 148 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 As he spake the last word he brake his wand in two and 
 threw the pieces before the feet of my innocent lamb, saying to 
 the constable, " Now, do your duty !" But so many folks, both 
 men and women, threw themselves on the ground to seize the 
 pieces of the wand (seeing they are said to be good for the gout 
 in the joints, item, for cattle when troubled with lice), that the 
 constable fell to the earth over a woman who was on her knees 
 before him, and his approaching death was thus foreshadowed to 
 him by the righteous God. Something of the same sort like- 
 wise befel the Sheriff now for the second time ; for when the 
 worshipful court rose, throwing down tables, stools, and benches, 
 a table, under which two boys were fighting for the pieces of the 
 wand, fell right upon his foot, whereupon he flew into a violent 
 rage, and threatened the people with his fist, saying that they 
 should have fifty right good lashes a-piece, both men and women, 
 if they were not quiet forthwith, and did not depart peaceably 
 out of the room. This frighted them, and after the people 
 were gone out into the street, the constable took a rope out of 
 his pocket, wherewith he bound my lamb her hands so tightly 
 behind her back that she cried aloud ; but when she saw how 
 this wrung my heart, she straightway constrained herself and 
 said, " Oh, father, remember that it fared no better with the 
 blessed Saviour !" Howbeit, when my dear gossip, who stood 
 behind her, saw that her little hands, and more especially her 
 nails, had turned black and blue, he spoke for her to the 
 worshipful court, whereupon the abominable Sheriff only said, 
 " Oh, let her be ; let her feel what it is to fall off from the 
 living God." But Dom. Consul was more merciful, inasmuch 
 as, after feeling the cords, -he bade the constable bind her 
 hands less cruelly and slacken the rope a little, which accord- 
 ing. But I have seen authentic witch-trials wherein a mere notary con- 
 demned the accused to the torture and to death without the smallest hesi- 
 tation ; and it may be considered as a mark of humanity whenever the acts 
 on which judgment was given were sent to an university, or to some other 
 tribunal. For the sentence of death appears to have been almost invariably 
 passed by the inferior courts, and no appeal seems to have been possible ; 
 indeed in these affairs their worships, as in this case, usually made incredi- 
 ble haste, which, it must be admitted, is perhaps the only good quality 
 which the modern courts of justice might borrow from the old ones.
 
 CHAP, xxvi.] THE AMBER WITCH. 149 
 
 ingly he was forced to do. But my dear gossip was not con- 
 tent herewith, and begged that she might sit in the cart with- 
 out being bound, so that she should be able to hold her hymn- 
 book, for he had summoned the school to sing a hymn by the 
 way for her comfort, and he was ready to answer for it with his 
 own head that she should not escape out of the cart. Moreover, 
 it is the custom for fellows with pitchforks always to go with 
 the carts wherein condemned criminals, and more especially 
 witches, are carried to execution. But this the cruel Sheriff 
 would not suffer, and the rope was left upon her hands, and the 
 impudent constable seized her by the arm and led her from the 
 judgment-chamber. But in the hall we saw a great scandalum, 
 which again pierced my very heart. For the housekeeper and 
 the impudent constable his wife were fighting for my child her 
 bed, and her linen, and wearing apparel, which the housekeeper 
 had taken for herself, and which the other women wanted to have. 
 The latter now called to her husband to help her, whereupon 
 he straightway let go my daughter and struck the housekeeper 
 on her mouth with his fist, so that the blood ran out therefrom, 
 and she shrieked and wailed fearfully to the Sheriff, who fol- 
 lowed us with the court. He threatened them both in vain, and 
 said that when he came back he would inquire into the matter 
 and give to each her due share. But they would not hearken 
 to this, until my daughter asked Dom. Consul whether every 
 dying person, even a condemned criminal, had power to leave 
 his goods and chattels to whomsoever he would ? and when he 
 answered, " Yes, all but the clothes, which belong of right to 
 the executioner," she said, " Well, then, the constable may take 
 my clothes, but none shall have my bed save my faithful old 
 maid-servant Use !" Hereupon the housekeeper began to curse 
 and revile my child loudly, who heeded her not, but stepped out 
 at the door toward the cart, where there stood so many people 
 that naught could be seen save head against head. The folks 
 crowded about us so tumultuously that the Sheriff, who, mean- 
 while, had mounted his grey horse, constantly smote them right 
 and left across their eyes with his riding-whip, but they never- 
 theless would scarce fall back. Howbeit, at length he cleared 
 the way, and when about ten fellows with long pitchforks, who
 
 150 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvi. 
 
 for the most part also had rapiers at their sides, had placed 
 themselves round about our cart, the constable lifted my daugh- 
 ter up into it, and bound her fast to the rail. Old Paasch, who 
 stood by, lifted me up, and my dear gossip was likewise forced 
 to be lifted in, so weak had he become from all the distress. 
 He motioned his sexton, Master Krekow, to walk before the cart 
 with the school, and bade him from time to time lead a verse of 
 the goodly hymn, " On God alone I rest my fate," which he 
 promised to do. And here I will also note, that I myself sat 
 down upon the straw by my daughter, and that our dear confes- 
 sor the reverend Martinus sat backwards. The constable was 
 perched up behind with his drawn sword. When all this was 
 done, item, the court mounted up into another carriage, the 
 Sheriff gave the order to set out.
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Of that which befel us by the way : item, of the fearful death of the Sheriff 
 at the mill. 
 
 WE met with many wonders by the way, and with great sorrow ; 
 fo,r hard by the bridge, over the brook which runs into the 
 Schmolle,* stood the housekeeper her hateful boy, who beat a 
 drum and cried aloud, " Come to the roast goose ! come to the 
 roast goose !" whereupon the crowd set up a loud laugh, and 
 called out after him, " Yes, indeed, to the roast goose ! to the 
 roast goose !" Howbeit, when Master Krekow led the second 
 verse the folks became somewhat quieter again, and most of 
 them joined in singing it from their books, which they ,had 
 brought with them. But when he ceased singing awhile the 
 noise began again as bad as before. Some cried out, " The 
 devil hath given her these clothes, and hath adorned her after 
 that fashion ;" and seeing the Sheriff had ridden on before, 
 they came close round the cart, and felt her garments, more 
 especially the women and young maidens. Others, again, 
 called loudly, as the young varlet had done, " Come to the roast 
 goose ! come to the roast goose !" whereupon one fellow 
 answered, " She will not let herself be roasted yet ; mind ye 
 that : she will quench the fire !" This, and much filthiness 
 beside, which I may not for very shame write down, we were 
 forced to hear, and it especially cut me to the heart to hear a 
 fellow swear that he would have some of her ashes, seeing he 
 had not been able to get any of the wand ; and that naught was 
 better for the fever and the gout than the ashes of a witch. I 
 motioned the Gustos to begin singing again, whereupon the folks 
 were once more quiet for a while i, e., for so long as the verse 
 
 * A lake near Pudgla.
 
 152 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xxvii. 
 
 lasted ; but afterwards they rioted worse than before. But we 
 were now come among the meadows, and when my child saw 
 the beauteous flowers which grew along the sides of the ditches, 
 she fell into deep thought, and began again to recite aloud the 
 sweet song of St. Augustinus as follows : 
 
 " Flos perpetuus rosarum ver agit perpetuum, 
 Candent lilia, rubescit crocus, suclat balsamum, 
 Virent prata, vernant sata, rivi mellis influunt, 
 Pigmentorum spiral odor liquor et aromatum, 
 Pendent poma floridorum non lapsura nemorum 
 Non alternat luna vices, sol vel cursus syderum 
 Agnus est fcelicis urbis lumen inocciduum."* 
 
 By this Casus we gained that all the folk ran cursing away 
 from the cart, and followed us at the distance of a good musket 
 shot, thinking that my child was calling on Satan to help her. 
 Only one lad, of about five-and-twenty, whom, however, I did 
 not know, tarried a few paces behind the cart, until his father 
 came, and seeing he would not go away willingly, pushed him 
 into the ditch, so that he sank up to his loins in the water. 
 Thereat even my poor child smiled, and asked me whether I did 
 not know any more Latin hymns wherewith to keep the stupid 
 and foul-mouthed people still further from us. But, dear reader, 
 how could I then have been able to recite Latin hymns, even 
 had I known any ? But my Confrater, the reverend Martinus, 
 knew such an one ; albeit, it is indeed heretical j nevertheless, 
 seeing that it above measure pleased my child, and that she made 
 him repeat to her sundry verses thereof three and four times, 
 until she could say them after him, I said naught ; otherwise 
 I have ever been very severe against aught that is heretical. 
 Howbeit I comforted myself therewith that our Lord God would 
 
 * Around them, bright with endless Spring, perpetual roses bloom, 
 Warm balsams gratefully exude luxurious perfume ; 
 Red crocusses, and lilies white, shine dazzling in the sun ; 
 Green meadows yield them harvests green, and streams with honey run ; 
 Unbroken droop the laden boughs, with heavy fruitage bent, 
 Of incense and of odors strange the air is redolent : 
 And neither sun, nor moon, nor stars dispense their changeful light, 
 But the Lamb's eternal glory makes the happy city bright !
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 153 
 
 forgive her in consideration of her ignorance. And the first line 
 ran as follows : dies ircz dies ilia* But these two verses pleased 
 her more than all the rest, and she recited them many times with 
 great edification, wherefore I will insert them here. 
 
 " Judex ergo cum sedebit 
 Quidquid latet apparebit 
 Nil inultum remanebit : 
 
 Item, 
 
 Rex tremendae majestatis 
 
 Qui salvandos salvas gratis 
 
 Salva me, fons pietatis !"t , 
 
 When the men with the pitchforks, who were round about 
 the cart, heard this, and at the same time saw a heavy storm 
 coming up from the Achterwater,^ they straightway thought 
 no other but that my child had made it ; and, moreover, the folk 
 behind cried out, " The witch hath done this ; the damned 
 witch hath done this !" and all the ten, save one who stayed 
 behind, jumped over the ditch and ran away. But Dom. Consul, 
 who, together with the worshipful court, drove behind us, no 
 sooner saw this than he called to the constable, " What is the 
 meaning of all this ?" Whereupon the constable cried aloud to 
 the Sheriff, who was a little way on before us, but who straight- 
 way turned him about, and when he had heard the cause, called 
 after the fellows that he would hang them all upon the first tree, 
 and feed his falcons with their flesh, if they did not return forth- 
 with. This threat had its effect ; and when they came back he 
 gave each of them about half a dozen strokes with his riding- 
 
 * Day of wrath, that dreadful day; one of the most beautiful of the 
 Catholic hymns. 
 
 f The judge ascends his awful throne, 
 He makes each secwt sin be known, 
 And all with shame confess their own. 
 
 Thou mighty formidable king ! 
 Thou mercy's unexhausted spring, 
 Some comfortable pity bring. Old version. 
 } A wash formed by the river Peene.
 
 154 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xxvii. 
 
 whip, whereupon they tarried in their places, but as far off from 
 the cart as they could for the ditch. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, the storm came up from the southward, 
 with thunder, lightning, hail, and such a wind, as though the 
 all-righteous God would manifest his wrath against these ruthless 
 
 o o 
 
 murderers ; and the tops of the lofty beeches around us were 
 beaten together like besoms, so that our cart was covered with 
 leaves as with hail, and no one could hear his own voice for the 
 noise. This happened just as we were entering the forest from 
 the convent dam, and the Sheriff now rode close behind us, beside 
 the coach wherein was Dom. Consul. Moreover, just as we 
 .were crossing the bridge over the mill-race, we were seized by 
 the blast, which swept up a hollow from the Achterwater with 
 such force that we conceived it must drive our cart down the 
 abyss, which was at least forty feet deep or more ; and seeing 
 that, at the same time, the horses did as though they were upon 
 ice, and could not stand, the driver halted to let the storm pass 
 over, the which the Sheriff no sooner perceived, than he galloped 
 up and bade him go on forthwith. Whereupon the man flogged 
 on the horses, but they slipped about after so strange a fashion, 
 that our guards with the pitchforks fell back, and my child cried 
 aloud for fear ; and when we were come to the place where the 
 great water-wheel turned just below us, the driver fell with his 
 horse, which broke one of its legs. Then the constable jumped 
 down from the cart, but straightway fell too, on the slippery 
 ground ; item, the driver, after getting on his legs again, fell a 
 second time. Hereupon the Sheriff with a curse spurred on 
 his grey charger, which likewise began to slip as our horses 
 had also done. Nevertheless, he came sliding towards us, with- 
 out, however, falling down ; and when he saw that the horse 
 with the broken leg still tried to get up, but always straightway 
 fell again on the slippery ground, he hallooed and beckoned 
 the fellows with pitchforks to*jome and unharness the mare ; 
 item, to push the cart over the bridge, lest it should be carried 
 down the precipice. Presently a long flash of lightning shot 
 into the water below us, followed by a clap of thunder so sudden 
 and so awful that the whole bridge shook, and the Sheriff his 
 horse (our horses stood quite still) started back a few paces,
 
 CHAP, xxvn.] THE AMBER WITCH. 155 
 
 lost its footing, and, together with its rider, shot headlong down 
 upon the great mill-wheel below, whereupon a fearful cry arose 
 from all those that stood behind us on the bridge. For a while 
 naught could be seen for the white foam, until the Sheriff his 
 legs and body were borne up into the air by the wheel, his head 
 being stuck fast between the fellies ; and thus, fearful to behold, 
 he went round and round upon the wheel. Naught ailed the grey 
 charger, which swam about in the mill-pond below. When I 
 saw this, I seized the hand of my innocent lamb, and cried, 
 " Behold, Mary, our Lord God yet liveth ! ' and he rode upon a 
 cherub, and did fly ; yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 
 Then did he beat them small as the dust before the wind ; he did 
 cast them out as the dirt in the streets.'* Look down, and see 
 what the Almighty God hath done." While she hereupon raised 
 her eyes toward heaven with a sigh, we heard Dom. Consul call- 
 ing out behind us as loudly as he could : and, seeing that none 
 could understand his words for the fearful storm and the tumult 
 of the waters, he jumped down from the coach, and would have 
 crossed the bridge on foot, but straightway he fell upon his nose, 
 so that it bled, and he crept back again on his hands and feet, 
 and held a long talk with Dom. Camerarius, who, howbeit, did 
 not stir out of the coach. Meanwhile the driver and the con- 
 stable had unyoked the maimed horse, bound it, and dragged it 
 off the bridge, and now they came back to the cart, and bade us 
 get down therefrom, and cross the bridge on foot, the which we 
 did after that the constable had unbound my child, with many 
 curses and ill words, threatening that, in return for her malice, 
 he would keep her roasting till late in the evening. (I could not 
 blame him much therefore ; for truly this was a strange thing !) 
 But, albeit, my child herself got safe across ; we two I mean 
 reverend Martinus and myself like all the others, fell two or 
 three times to the ground. At length we all, by God his grace, 
 got safe and sound to the miller's house, where the constable 
 delivered my child into the miller his hands, to guard her on 
 forfeit of his life, while he ran down to the mill-pond to save the 
 Sheriff his grey charger. The driver was bidden the while to 
 
 * Ps. xviii., 10-42.
 
 156 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xxvii. 
 
 get the cart and the other horses off the bewitched bridge. We 
 had, however, stood but a short time with the miller, under the 
 great oak before his door, when Dom. Consul, with the worship- 
 ful court and all the folks, came over the little bridge, which is 
 but a couple of musket-shots off from the first one, and he could 
 scarce prevent the crowd from falling upon my child and tearing 
 her in pieces, seeing that they all, as well as Dom. Consul him- 
 self, imagined that none other but she had brewed the storm, 
 and bewitched the bridge (especially as she herself had not fallen 
 thereon), and had likewise caused the Sheriff his death ; all of 
 which, nevertheless, were foul lies, as ye shall hereafter hear. 
 He, therefore, railed at her for a cursed she-devil, who, even 
 after having confessed and received the holy Sacrament, had not 
 yet renounced Satan ; but that naught should save her, and she 
 should, nevertheless, receive her reward. And, seeing that she 
 kept silent, I hereupon answered, " Did he not see that the all- 
 righteous God had so ordered it, that the Sheriff, who would 
 have robbed my innocent child of her honor and her life, had 
 here forfeited his own life as a fearful example to others ?" But 
 Dom. Consul would not see this, and said that a child might 
 perceive that our Lord God had not made this storm, or did I 
 peradventure believe that our Lord God had likewise bewitched 
 the bridge ? I had better cease to justify my wicked child, and 
 rather begin to exhort her to repent, seeing that this was the 
 second time that she had brewed a storm, and that no man with 
 a grain of sense could believe what I said, &c. 
 
 Meanwhile the miller had already stopped the mill, item, 
 turned off the water, and some four or five fellows had gone with 
 the constable down to the gieat water-wheel, to take the Sheriff 
 out of the fellies, wherein he had till datum still been carried 
 round and round. This they could not do until they had first 
 sawn out one of the fellies ; and when at last they brought him 
 to the ban'c, his neck was found to be broken, and he was as blue 
 as a corn-flower. Moreover, his throat was frightfully torn, and 
 the blood ran out of his nose and mouth. If the people had not 
 reviled my child before, they reviled her doubly now, and would 
 have thrown dirt and stones at her, had not the worshipful court
 
 CHAP, xxvii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 157 
 
 interfered with might and main, saying that she would presently 
 receive her well-deserved punishment. 
 
 Also, my dear gossip, the reverend Martinus, climbed up into 
 the cart again, and admonished the people not to forestall the law ; 
 and seeing that the storm had some hat abated, he could now be 
 heard. And when they had become somewhat more quiet, Dom. 
 Consul left the corpse of the Sheriff in charge with the miller, 
 until such time as, by God's help, he should return. Item, he 
 caused the grey charger to be tied up to the oak-tree till the same 
 time, seeing that the miller swore that he had no room in the 
 mill, inasmuch as his stable was filled with straw ; but that he 
 would give the grey horse some hay, and keep good watch over 
 him. And now were we wretched creatures forced to get into 
 the cart again, after that the unsearchable will of God had once 
 more dashed all our hopes. The constable gnashed his teeth with 
 rage, while he took the cords out of his pocket to bind my poor 
 child to the rail withal. As I saw right well what he was about 
 to do, I pulled a few groats out of my pocket, and whispered into 
 his ear, "Be merciful, for she cannot possibly run away, and 
 do you hereafter help her to die quickly, and you shall get ten 
 groats more from me !" This worked well, and albeit he pre- 
 tended before the people to pull the ropes tight, seeing they all 
 cried out with might and main, " Haul hard, haul hard," in 
 truth, he bound her hands more gently than before, and even 
 without making her fast to the rail ; but he sat up behind us 
 again with the naked sword, and after that Dom. Consul had 
 prayed aloud, " God the Father, dwell with us," likewise the 
 Gustos had led another hymn ( I know not what he sang, neither 
 does my child), we went on our way according to the unfathom- 
 able will of God, after this fashion : the worshipful court went 
 before, whereas all the folks to our great joy fell back, and the 
 fellows with the pitchforks lingered a good way behind us, now 
 that the Sheriff was dead.
 
 158 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xxvin. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 How my daughter was at length saved by the help of the all-merciful, yea, 
 of the all-merciful God. 
 
 MEANWHILE, by reason of my unbelief, wherewith Satan again 
 tempted me, I had become so weak that I was forced to lean my 
 back against the constable his knees, and expected not to live 
 even till we should come to the mountain ; for the last hope I 
 had cherished was now gone, and I saw that my innocent lamb 
 was in the same plight. Moreover, the reverend Martinus began 
 to upbraid her, saying that he, too, now saw that all her oaths 
 were lies, and that she really could brew storms. Hereupon, 
 she answered with a smile, although, indeed, she was as white 
 as a sheet, "Alas, reverend godfather, do you then really 
 believe that the weather and the storms no longer obey our Lord 
 God ? Are storms, then, so rare at this season of the year, that 
 none save the foul fiend can cause them ? Nay, I have never 
 broken the baptismal vow you once made in my name, nor will 
 I ever break it, as I hope that God will be merciful to me in my 
 last hour, which is now at hand." But the reverend Martinus 
 shook his head doubtingly, and said, " The Evil One must have 
 promised thee much, seeing thou remainest so stubborn even 
 unto thy life's end, and blasphemest the Lord thy God ; but wait. 
 and thou wilt soon learn with horror that the devil ' is a liar, and 
 the father of it' " (St. John viii.). Whilst he yet spake this, and 
 more of a like kind, we came to Uekeritze, where all the people, 
 both great and small, rushed out of their doors, also Jacob 
 Schwarten his wife, who, as we afterwards heard, had only been 
 brought to bed the night before, and her goodman came running 
 after her to fetch her back, in vain. She told him he was a fool, 
 and had been one for many a weary day, and that if she had to 
 crawl up the mountain on her bare knees, she would go to see 
 the parson's witch burnt ; that she had reckoned upon it for so
 
 CHAP, xxvni.] THE AMBER WITCH. 159 
 
 long, and if he did not let her go, she would give him a thump 
 on the chaps, &c. 
 
 Thus did the coarse and foul-mouthed people riot around the 
 cart wherein we sat, and as they knew not what had befallen, 
 they ran so near us that the wheel went over the foot of a boy. 
 Nevertheless they all crowded up again, more especially the 
 lasses, and felt my daughter her clothes, and would even see her 
 shoes and stockings, and asked her how she felt. Item, one fel- 
 low asked whether she would drink somewhat, with many more 
 fooleries besides, till at last, when several came and asked her 
 for her garland and her golden chain, she turned towards me 
 and smiled, saying, " Father, I must begin to speak some Latin 
 again, otherwise the folks will leave me no peace." But it was 
 not wanted this time ; for our guards, with the pitchforks, had 
 now reached the hindmost, and, doubtless, told them what had 
 happened, as we presently heard a great shouting behind us, for 
 the love of God to turn back before the witch did them a mis- 
 chief; and as Jacob Schwarten his wife heeded it not, but still 
 plagued my child to give her her apron to make a christening 
 coat for her baby, for that it was pity to let it be burnt, her 
 goodman gave her such a thump on her back with a knotted 
 stick which he had pulled out of the hedge, that she fell down 
 with loud shrieks ; and when he went to help her up she pulled 
 him down by his hair, and, as reverend Martinus said, now exe- 
 cuted what she had threatened ; inasmuch as she struck him on 
 the nose with her fist with might and main, until the other people 
 came running up to them, and held her back. Meanwhile, 
 however, the storm had almost passed over, and sank down 
 toward the sea. 
 
 And when we had gone through the little wood, we suddenly 
 saw the Streckelberg before us, covered with people, and the pile 
 and stake upon the top, upon the which the tall constable jumped 
 up when he saw us coming, and beckoned with his cap with all 
 his might. Thereat my senses left me, and my sweet lamb was 
 not much better ; for she bent to and fro like a reed, and stretch- 
 ing her bound hands toward heaven, she once more cried out :
 
 160 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xxvm. 
 
 " Rex tremendae majestatis ! 
 Qui salvandos salvas gratis, 
 Salva me, fons pietatis."* 
 
 And, behold, scarce had she spoken these words, when the sun 
 came out and formed a rainbow right over the mountain most 
 pleasant to behold ; and it is clear that this was a sign from the 
 merciful God, such as he often gives us, but which we blind and 
 unbelieving men do not rightly mark. Neither did my child 
 heed it ; for albeit she thought upon that first rainbow which 
 shadowed forth our troubles, yet it seemed to her impossible that 
 she could now be saved, wherefore she grew so faint, that she 
 no longer heeded the blessed sign of mercy, and her head fell 
 forwards (for she could no longer lean it upon me, seeing that I 
 lay my length at the bottom of the cart), till her garland almost 
 touched my worthy gossip his knees. Thereupon, he bade the 
 driver stop for a moment, and pulled out a small flask filled with 
 wine, which he always carries in his pocket when witches are 
 to be burnt,f in order to comfort them therewith in their terror. 
 (Henceforth, I myself will ever do the like, for this fashion of 
 my dear gossip pleases me well.) He first poured some of 
 this wine down my throat, and afterwards down my child's ; and 
 we had scarce come to ourselves again, when a fearful noise and 
 tumult arose among the people behind us, and they not only cried 
 out in deadly fear, " The Sheriff is come back ! the Sheriff is 
 come again !" but as they could neither run away forwards or 
 backwards (being afraid of the ghost behind and of my child 
 before them), they ran on either side, some rushing into the 
 coppice, and others wading into the Achterwater up to their 
 necks. Item, as soon as Dom. Camerarius saw the ghost come 
 out of the coppice with a grey hat and a grey feather, such as 
 the Sheriff wore, riding on the grey charger, he crept under a 
 bundle of straw in the cart ; and Dom. Consul cursed my child 
 again, and bade the coachmen drive on as madly as they could, 
 even should all the horses die of it, when the impudent constable 
 
 * Vide p. 153. 
 
 t Which so often happened at that time, that in many parishes of Pome- 
 rania six or seven of these unhappy women were brought to the stake every 
 year.
 
 CHAP, xxvni.] THE AMBER WITCH. 161 
 
 behind us called to him, " It is not the Sheriff, but the young 
 lord of Nienkerken, who will surely seek to save the witch : shall 
 I, then, cut her throat with my sword ?" At these fearful words 
 my child and I came to ourselves again, and the fellow had 
 already lift up his naked sword to smite her, seeing Dom. Con- 
 sul had made him a sign with his hand, when my dear gossip, 
 who saw it, pulled my child with all his strength back into his 
 lap. (May God reward him on the day of judgment, for I never 
 can.) The villain would have stabbed her as she lay in his'lap ; 
 but the young lord was already there, and seeing what he was 
 about to do, thrust the boarspear, which he held in his hand, in 
 between the constable's shoulders, so that he fell headlong on 
 the earth, and his own sword, by the guidance of the most righte- 
 ous God, went into his ribs on one side, and out again at the 
 other. He lay there and bellowed, but the young lord heeded 
 him not, but said to my child, " Sweet maid, God be praised that 
 you are safe !" When, however, he saw her bound hands, he 
 gnashed his teeth, and, cursing her judges, he jumped off his 
 horse, and cut the rope with his sword, which he held in his 
 right hand, took her hand in his, and said, " Alas, sweet maid, 
 how have I sorrowed for you ! but I could not save you, as I 
 myself also lay in chains, which you may see from my 
 looks." 
 
 But my child could answer him never a word, and fell into a 
 swound again for joy ; howbeit, she soon came to herself again, 
 seeing my dear gossip still had a little wine by him. Meanwhile 
 the dear young lord did me some injustice, which, however, I 
 freely forgive him ; for he railed at me and called me an old 
 woman, who could do naught save weep and wail. Why had I 
 not journeyed after the Swedish king, or why had I not gone to 
 Mellenthin myself to fetch his testimony, as I knew right well 
 what he thought about witchcraft ? (But, blessed God, how 
 could I do otherwise than believe the judge, who had been there ? 
 Others besides old women would have done the same ; and I never 
 once thought of the Swedish king ; and say, dear reader, how 
 could I have journeyed after him, and left my own child ? But 
 young folks do not think of these things, seeing they know not what 
 a father feels.) 
 
 12
 
 162 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP, xxvm. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, Dom. Camerarius, having heard that it 
 was the young lord, had again crept out from beneath the straw, 
 item, Dom. Consul had jumped down from the coach and ran 
 towards us, railing at him loudly, and asking him by what power 
 and authority he acted thus, seeing that he himself had heretofore 
 denounced the ungodly witch ? But the young lord pointed with 
 his sword to his people, who now came riding out of the coppice, 
 about eighteen strong, armed with sabres, pikes, and muskets, and 
 said, ' There is my authority, and I would let you feel it on your 
 back if I did not know that you were but a stupid ass. When did 
 you hear any testimony from me against this virtuous maiden ? 
 You lie in your throat if you say you did." And as Dom. Consul 
 stood and straightway forswore himself, the young lord, to the 
 astonishment of all, related as follows : That as soon as he heard 
 of the misfortune which had befallen me and my child, he ordered 
 his horse to be saddled forthwith, in order to ride to Pudgla to bear 
 witness to our innocence : this, however, his old father would 
 nowise suffer, thinking that his nobility would receive a stain if it 
 came to be known that his son had conversed with a reputed witch 
 by night on the Streckelberg. He had caused him therefore, as 
 prayers and threats were of no avail, to be bound hand and foot, 
 and confined in the donjon-keep, where till datum an old servant 
 had watched him, who refused to let him escape, notwithstanding 
 he offered him any sum of money ; whereupon he fell into the 
 greatest anguish and despair at the thought that innocent blood 
 would be shed on his account ; but that the all-righteous God had 
 graciously spared him this sorrow ; for his father had fallen sick 
 from vexation, and lay a-bed all this time, and it so happened 
 that this very morning about prayer time, the huntsman, in shoot- 
 ing at a wild duck in the moat, had by chance sorely wounded his 
 father's favorite dog, called Packan, which had crept howling to 
 his father's bedside, and had died there ; wherupon the old 
 man, who was weak, was so angered that he was presently seized 
 with a fit and gave up the ghost too. Hereupon his people 
 released him, and after he had closed his father's eyes and prayed 
 an " Our Father" over him, he straightway set out with all the 
 people he could find in the castle, in order to save the innocent 
 maiden. For he testified here himself before all, on the word and
 
 CHAP, xxviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 163 
 
 honor of a knight, nay, more, by his hopes of salvation, that he 
 himself was that devil which had appeared to the maiden on the 
 mountain in the shape of a hairy giant ; for having heard by com- 
 mon report that she oft-times went thither, he greatly desired to 
 know what she did there, and that from fear of his hard father he 
 disguised himself in a wolf's skin, so that none might know him, 
 and he had already spent two nights there, when on the third the 
 maiden came, and he then saw her dig for amber on the mountain, 
 and that she did not call upon Satan, but recited a Latin carmen 
 aloud to herself. Thus he would have testified at Pudgla, but, 
 from the cause aforesaid, he had not been able : moreover, his 
 father had laid his cousin, Glaus von Nienkerken, who was there 
 on a visit, in his bed, and made him bear false witness ; for as 
 Dom. Consul had not seen him (I mean the young lord) for many 
 a long year, seeing he had studied in foreign parts, his father 
 thought that he might easily be deceived, which accordingly 
 happened. 
 
 When the worthy young lord had stated this before Dom. 
 Consul and all the people, which flocked together on hearing 
 that the young lord was no ghost, I felt as though a mill-stone 
 had been taken off my heart ; and seeing that the people (who 
 had already pulled the constable from under the cart, and 
 crowded round him, like a swarm of bees) cried to me that he 
 was dying, but desired first to confess somewhat to me, I jumped 
 from the cart as lightly as a young bachelor, and called to Dom. 
 Consul and the young lord to go with me, seeing that I could 
 easily guess what he had on his mind. He sat upon a stone, 
 and the blood gushed from his side like a fountain (now that 
 they had drawn out the sword) ; he whimpered on seeing me, 
 and said that he had in truth hearkened behind the door to all 
 that old Lizzie had confessed to me, namely, that she herself, 
 together with the Sheriff, had worked all the witchcraft on man 
 and beast, to frighten my poor child, and force her to play the 
 wanton. That he had hidden this, seeing that the Sheriff had 
 promised him a great reward for so doing ; but that he would 
 now confess it freely, since God had brought my child her 
 innocence to light. Wherefore he besought my child and myself 
 to forgive him. And when Dom. Consul shook his head, and
 
 164 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvm. 
 
 asked whether he would live and die on the truth of this con- 
 fession, he answered, " Yes !" and straightway fell on his side to 
 the earth and gave' up the ghost. 
 
 Meanwhile time hung heavy with the people on the mountain, 
 who had come from Coserow, from Zitze, from Gnitze, &c., to 
 see my child burnt, and they all came running down the hill in 
 long rows like geese, one after the other, to see what had hap- 
 pened. And among them was my ploughman, Glaus Neels. 
 When the worthy fellow saw and heard what had befallen us, 
 he began to weep aloud for joy ; and straightway he too told 
 what he had heard the Sheriff say to old Lizzie in the garden, 
 and how he had promised her a pig in the room of her own little 
 pig, which she had herself bewitched to death in order to 
 bring my child into evil repute. Summa : All that I have noted 
 above, and which till datum he had kept to himself for fear of 
 the question. Hereat all the people marvelled, and greatly be- 
 wailed her misfortunes ; and many came, among them old 
 Paasch, and would have kissed my daughter her hands and feet, 
 as also mine own, and praised us now as much as they had 
 before reviled us. But thus it ever is with the people. Where- 
 fore my departed father used to say : 
 
 " The people's hate is death, 
 Their love a passing breath !" 
 
 My dear gossip ceased not from fondling my child, holding 
 her in his lap, and weeping over her like a father (for I could 
 not have wept more myself than he wept). Howbeit she her- 
 self wept not, but begged the young lord to send one of his 
 horsemen to her faithful old maid-servant at Pudgla, to tell her 
 what had befallen us, which he straightway did to please her. 
 But the worshipful court (for Dom. Camerarius and the scriba 
 had now plucked up a heart, and had come down from the 
 coach) was not yet satisfied, and Dom. Consul began to tell the 
 young lord about the bewitched bridge, which none other save 
 my daughter could have bewitched. Hereto the young lord 
 gave answer that this was indeed a strange thing, inasmuch as 
 his own horse had also broken a leg thereon, whereupon he had 
 taken the Sheriff his horse, which he saw tied up at the mill ;
 
 CHAP xxviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 165 
 
 but he did not think that this could be laid to the charge of the 
 maiden, but that it came about by natural means, as he had 
 half discovered already, although he had not had time to search 
 the matter thoroughly. Wherefore he besought the worshipful 
 court and all the people, together with my child herself, to re- 
 turn back thither, where, with God's help, he would clear her 
 from this suspicion also, and prove her perfect innocence before 
 them all. 
 
 Thereunto the worshipful court agreed ; and the young lord, 
 having given the Sheriff his grey charger to my ploughman to 
 carry the corpse, which had been laid across the horse's neck, 
 to Coserow, the young lord got into the cart by us, but did not 
 seat himself beside my child, but backward by my dear gossip : 
 moreover, he bade one of his own people drive us instead of 
 the old coachman, and thus we turned back in God his name. 
 Gustos Benzenzis, who, with the children, had run in among the 
 vetches by the wayside (my defunct Gustos would not have done 
 so, he had more courage), went on before again with the young 
 folks, and by command of his reverence the pastor led the Am- 
 brosian Te Deum, which deeply moved us all, more especially 
 my child, insomuch that her book was wetted with her tears, 
 and she at length laid it down and said, at the same time giving 
 her hand to the young lord, " How can I thank God and you 
 for that which you have done for me this day ?" Whereupon 
 the young lord answered, saying, " I have greater cause to 
 thank God than yourself, sweet maid, seeing that you have suf- 
 fered in your dungeon unjustly, but I justly, inasmuch as by my 
 thoughtlessness I brought this misery upon you. Believe me 
 that this morning when, in my donjon-keep, I first heard the 
 sound of the dead-bell, I thought to have died ; and when it 
 tolled for the third time, I should have gone distraught in my 
 grief, had not the Almighty God at that moment taken the life 
 of my strange father, so that your innocent life should be saved 
 by me. Wherefore I have vowed a new tower, and whatsoe'er 
 beside may be needful, to the blessed house of God ; for naught 
 more bitter could have befallen me on earth than your death, 
 sweet maid, and naught more sweet than your life !" 
 
 But at these words my child only wept and sighed ; and when
 
 166 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvm. 
 
 he looked on her, she cast down her eyes and trembled, so that 
 I straightway perceived that my sorrows were not yet come to 
 an end, but that another barrel of tears was just tapped for 
 me, and so indeed it was. Moreover, the ass of a Gustos, hav- 
 ing finished the Te Deum before we were come to the bridge, 
 straightway struck up the next following hymn, which was a 
 funeral one, beginning, " The body let us now inter." (God 
 be praised that no harm has come of it till datum.) My be- 
 loved gossip rated him not a little, and threatened him that for 
 his stupidity he should not get the 'money for the shoes which 
 he had promised him out of the Church-dues. But my child 
 promised him a pair of shoes at her own charges, seeing that 
 peradventure a funeral-hymn was better for her than a song of 
 gladness. 
 
 And when this vexed the young lord, and he said, " How now, 
 sweet maid, you know not how enough to thank God and me for 
 your rescue, and yet you speak thus ?" She answered, smiling 
 sadly, that she had only spoken thus to comfort the poor Gustos. 
 But I straightway saw that she was in earnest, for that she felt 
 that although she escaped one fire, she already burned in 
 another. 
 
 Meanwhile we were come to the bridge again, and all the folks 
 stood still, and gazed open-mouthed, when the young lord jumped 
 down from the cart, and after stabbing his horse, which still lay 
 kicking on the bridge, went on his knees, and felt here and there 
 with his hand. At length he called to the worshipful court to 
 draw near, for that he had found out the witchcraft. But none 
 save Dom. Consul and a few fellows out of the crowd, among 
 whom was old Paasch, would follow him ; item, my dear gossip 
 and myself, and the young lord showed us a lump of tallow 
 about the size of a large walnut, which lay on the ground, and 
 wherewith the whole bridge had been smeared, so that it looked 
 quite white, but which all the folks in their fright had taken for 
 flour out of the mill ; item, with some other materia, which stunk 
 like fitchock's dung, but what it was we could not find out. 
 Soon after a fellow found another bit of tallow, and showed it to 
 the people ; whereupon I cried, " Aha ! none hath done this but 
 that ungodly miller's man, in revenge for the stripes which the
 
 CHAP, xxviii.] THE AMBER WITCH. 167 
 
 Sheriff gave him for reviling my child." Whereupon* I told 
 what he had done, and Dom. Consul, who also had heard there- 
 of, straightway sent for the miller. 
 
 He, however, did as though he knew naught of the matter, 
 and only said that his man had left his service about an hour 
 ago. But a young lass, the miller's maid-servant, said that that 
 very morning, before day-break, when she had got up to let out 
 the cattle, she had seen the man scouring the bridge. But that 
 she had given it no further heed, and had gone to sleep for 
 another hour ; and she pretended to know no more than the miller 
 whither the rascal was gone. When the young lord had heard 
 this news, he got up into the cart, and began to address the peo- 
 ple, seeking to persuade them no longer to believe in witchcraft, 
 now that they had seen what it really was. When I heard this, 
 I was horror-stricken (as was but right) in my conscience, as a 
 priest, and I got upon the cart-wheel, and whispered into his ear, 
 for God his sake, to leave this materia, seeing that if the people 
 no longer feared the devil, neither would they fear our Lord 
 God.* 
 
 The dear young lord forthwith did as I would have him, and 
 only asked the people whether they now held my child to be 
 perfectly innocent ? and when they had answered, yes ! he 
 begged them to go quietly home, and to thank God that he had 
 saved innocent blood. That he, too, would now return home, 
 and that he hoped that none would molest me and my child if he 
 let us return to Coserow alone. Hereupon he turned hastily to- 
 wards her, took her hand and said : " Farewell, sweet maid, I 
 trust that I shall soon clear your honor before the world, but do 
 you thank God therefore, not me." He then did the like to me 
 and to my dear gossip, whereupon he jumped down from the 
 cart, and went and sat beside Dom. Consul in his coach. The 
 latter also spake a few words to the people, and likewise begged 
 my child and me to forgive him (and I must say it to his honor, 
 that the tears ran down his cheeks the while), but he was so 
 hurried by the young lord that he brake short his discourse, and 
 they drove off over the little bridge, without so much as looking 
 
 * Maybe a profound truth.
 
 168 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxvm. 
 
 back. Only Dom. Consul looked round once, and called out to 
 me, that in his hurry he had forgotten to tell the executioner 
 that no one was to be burned to-day : I was therefore to send 
 the churchwarden of Uekeritze up the mountain, to say so in his 
 name j the which I did. And the bloodhound was still on the 
 mountain, albeit he had long since heard what had befallen ; 
 and when the bailiff gave him the orders of the worshipful coifrt, 
 he began to curse so fearfully that it might have awakened the 
 dead ; moreover he plucked off his cap, and trampled it under 
 foot, so that any one might have guessed what he felt. 
 
 But to return to ourselves, my child sat as still and as white 
 as a pillar of salt, after the young lord had left her so suddenly 
 and so unawares, but she was somewhat comforted when the old 
 maid-servant came running with her coats tucked up to her 
 knees, and carrying her shoes and stockings in her hand. We 
 heard her afar off, as the mill had stopped, blubbering for joy, 
 and she fell at least three times on the bridge, but at last she got 
 over safe, and kissed now mine and now my child her hands 
 and feet ; begging us only not to turn her away, but to keep 
 her until her life's end ; the which we promised to do. She had 
 to climb up behind where the impudent constable had sat, see- 
 ing that my dear gossip would not leave me until I should be 
 back in mine own manse. And as the young lord his servant 
 had got up behind the coach, old Paasch drove us home, and all 
 the folks who had waited till datum, ran beside the cart, praising 
 and pitying as much as they had before scorned and reviled us. 
 Scarce, however, had we passed through Uekeritze, when we 
 again heard cries of " Here comes the young lord, here comes 
 the young lord !" so that my child started up for joy, and be- 
 came as red as a rose, but some of the folks ran into the buck- 
 wheat, by the road, again, thinking it was another ghost. It 
 was, however, in truth, the young lord who galloped up on at 
 black horse, calling out as he drew near us, " Notwithstanding 
 the haste I am in, sweet maid, I must return and give you safe 
 conduct home, seeing that I have just heard that the filthy peo- 
 ple reviled you by the way, and I know not whether you are 
 yet safe." Hereupon he urged old Paasch to mend his pace, 
 and as his kicking and trampling did not even make the horses
 
 CHAP, xxvni.] THE AMBER WITCH. 169 
 
 trot, the young lord struck the saddle-horse from time to time 
 with the flat of his sword, so that we soon reached the village 
 and the manse. Howbeit, when I prayed him to dismount 
 awhile, he would not, but excused himself, saying that he must 
 still ride through Uzedom to Anclam, but charged old Paasch, 
 who was our bailiff, to watch over my child as the apple of his 
 eye, and should anything unusual happen, he was straightway 
 to inform the town-clerk at Pudgla or Dom. Consul at Uzedom 
 thereof, and when Paasch had promised to do this, he waved his 
 hand to us and galloped off as fast as he could. 
 
 But before he got round the corner by Pagel his house, he 
 turned back for the third time : and when we wondered thereat 
 he said we must forgive him, seeing his thoughts wandered 
 to-day. 
 
 That I had formerly told him that I still had my patent of 
 nobility, the which he begged me to lend him for a time. Here- 
 upon I answered that I must first seek for it, and that he had 
 best dismount the while. But he would not, and again excused 
 himself, saying he had no time. He therefore stayed without 
 the door, until I brought him the patent, whereupon he thanked 
 me and said, " Do not wonder hereat, you will soon see what my 
 purpose is." Whereupon he struck his spurs into his horse's 
 sides, and did not come back again,
 
 170 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Of our next great sorrow, and final joy. 
 
 AND now might we have been at rest, and have thanked God on 
 our knees by day and night. For, beside mercifully saving us 
 out of such great tribulation, he turned the hearts of my be- 
 loved flock, so that they knew not how to do enough for us. 
 Every day they brought us fish, meat, eggs, sausages, and 
 whatsoe'er besides they could give me, and which I have since 
 forgotten. Moreover, they, every one of them, came to church 
 the next Sunday, great and small (except goodwife Kliene of 
 Zempin, who had just got a boy, and still kept her bed), and I 
 preached a thanksgiving sermon on Job v., 17, 18, and 19 ver- 
 ses, " Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth ; there- 
 fore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty : for he 
 maketh sore, and bindeth up ; and his hands make whole. He 
 shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in seven there shall no 
 evil touch thee." And during my sermon I was oft-times 
 forced to stop by reason of all the weeping, and to let them blow 
 their noses. And I might truly have compared myself to Job, 
 after that the Lord had mercifully released him from his trou- 
 bles, had it not been for my child, who prepared much fresh 
 grief for me. 
 
 She had wept when the young lord would not dismount, and 
 now that he came not again, she grew more uneasy from day to 
 day. She sat and read first the Bible, then the hymn-book, 
 item, the history of Dido in Virgilius, or she climbed up the 
 mountain to fetch flowers (likewise sought after the vein of 
 amber there, but found it not, which shows the cunning and 
 malice of Satan). I saw this for awhile with many sighs, but 
 spake not a word (for, dear reader, what could I say ?) until it 
 grew worse and worse ; and as she now recited her carmina
 
 CHAP, xxix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 171 
 
 more than ever both at home and abroad, I feared lest the people 
 should again repute her a witch, and one day I followed her up 
 the mountain. Well-a-day, she sat on the pile which still stood 
 there, but with her face turned towards the sea, reciting the 
 Versus where Dido mounts the funeral pile in order to stab 
 herself for love of jEneas. 
 
 " At trepida et cceptis immanibus effera Dido 
 Sanguineam volvens aciem, maculisque trementes 
 Interfusa genas, et pallida morte futura 
 Interiora domus irrumpit limina et altos 
 Conscendit furibunda rogos . "* 
 
 When I saw this, and heard how things really stood with her, 
 I was affrighted beyond measure, and cried, " Mary, my child, 
 what art thou doing ?" She started when she heard my voice, 
 but sat still on the pile, and answered, as she covered her face 
 with her apron, " Father, I am burning my heart." I drew near 
 to her and pulled the apron from her face, saying, " Wilt thou then 
 again kill me with grief?" whereupon she covered her face with 
 her hands, and moaned, " Alas, father, wherefore was I not 
 burned here ? My torment would then have endured but for a 
 moment, but now it will last as long as I live !" I still did as 
 though I had seen naught, and said, " Wherefore, dear child, dost 
 thou suffer such torment ?" whereupon she answered, "I have 
 long been ashamed to tell you ; for the young lord, the young 
 lord, my father, do I suffer this torment ! He no longer thinks 
 of me ; and albeit he saved my life he scorns me, or he would 
 surely have dismounted and come in awhile ; but we are of far 
 too low degree for him !" Hereupon I indeed began to com- 
 fort her and to persuade her to think no more of the young lord, 
 
 * But furious Dido, with dark thoughts involv'd, 
 Shook at the mighty mischief she resolv'd. 
 With livid spots distinguish'd was her face, 
 Red were her rolling eyes, and discompos'd her pace ; 
 Ghastly she gazed, with pain she drew her breath, 
 And nature shiver'd at approaching death. 
 Then swiftly to the fatal place she pass'd, 
 And mounts the funeral pile with furious haste. 
 
 DRYDEN'S Virgil.
 
 172 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 but the more I comforted her the worse she grew. Nevertheless 
 I saw that she did yet in secret cherish a strong hope by reason 
 of the patent of nobility which he had made me give him. I 
 would not take this hope from her, seeing that I felt the same 
 myself, and to comfort her I flattered her hopes, whereupon she 
 was more quiet for some days, and did not go up the mountain, 
 the which I had forbidden her. Moreover, she began again to 
 teach little Paasch, her god-daughter, out of whom, by the help 
 of the all-righteous God, Satan was now altogether departed. 
 But she still pined,, and was as white as a sheet ; and when soon 
 after a report came that none in the castle at Mellenthin knew 
 what was become of the young lord, and that they thought he 
 had been killed, her grief became so great that I had to send my 
 ploughman on horseback to Mellenthin to gain tidings of him. 
 And she looked at least twenty times out of the door and over 
 the paling to watch for his return ; and when she saw him com- 
 ing she ran out to meet him as far as the corner by Pagels. But, 
 blessed God ! he brought us even worse news than we had heard 
 before, saying, that the people at the castle had told him that 
 their young master had ridden away the self-same day whereon 
 he had rescued the maiden. That he had, indeed, returned after 
 three days to his father's funeral, but had straightway ridden 
 off again, and that for five weeks they had heard nothing further 
 of him, and knew not whither he was gone, but supposed that 
 some wicked ruffians had killed him. 
 
 And now my grief was greater than ever it had been before ; 
 so patient and resigned to the will of God as my child had shown 
 herself heretofore, and no martyr could have met her last hour 
 stronger in God and Christ, so impatient and despairing was she 
 now. She gave up all hope, and took it into her head that in 
 these heavy times of war the young lord had been killed by rob- 
 bers. Naught availed with her, not even prayer, for when I 
 called upon God with her, on my knees, she straightway began 
 so grievously to bewail that the Lord had cast her off, and that 
 she was condemned to naught save misfortunes in this world ; 
 that it pierced through my heart like a knife, and my thoughts for- 
 sook me at her words. She lay also at night, and " like a crane 
 or a swallow so did she chatter ; she did mourn like a dove ; her
 
 CHAP, xxix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 173 
 
 eyes did fail with looking upward,"* because no sleep came upon 
 her eye-lids. I called to her from my bed, " Dear child, wilt 
 thou then never cease ? sleep, I pray thee !" and she answered 
 and said, "Do you sleep, dearest father; I cannot sleep until 
 I sleep the sleep of death. Alas, my father ; that I was not 
 burned !" But how could I sleep when she could not ? I, indeed, 
 said, each morning, that I had slept awhile, in order to content 
 her ; but it was not so ; but like David, " all the night made I 
 my bed to swim ; I watered my couch with my tears. "f More- 
 over I again fell into heavy unbelief, so that I neither could nor 
 would pray. Nevertheless the Lord " did not deal with me 
 after my sins, nor reward me according to mine iniquities. For 
 as the heaven is high above the earth, so great was his mercy 
 toward" me, miserable sinner !:}: 
 
 For mark what happened on the very next Saturday ! Be- 
 hold, our old maid-servant came running in at the door quite 
 out of breath, saying that a horseman was coming over the 
 Master's Mount, with a tall plume waving on his hat ; and that 
 she believed it was the young lord. When my child, who sat 
 upon the bench combing her hair, heard this, she gave a shriek 
 of joy, which would have moved a stone under the earth, and 
 straightway ran out of the room to look over the paling. She 
 presently came running in again, fell upon my neck, and cried 
 without ceasing, "The young lord! the young lord !" where- 
 upon she would have run out to meet him, but I forbade her, 
 saying she had better first bind up her hair, which she then re- 
 membered, and laughing, weeping, and praying, all at once, 
 she bound up her long hair. And now the young lord came 
 galloping round the corner, attired in a green velvet doublet 
 with red silk sleeves, and a grey hat with a heron's feather 
 therein ; summa, gaily dressed as beseems a wooer. And when 
 we now ran out at the door, he called aloud to my child in the 
 Latin, from afar off, " Quomodo stat dulcissima virgo ?" Where- 
 upon she gave answer, saying, " Bene te aspecto." He then 
 sprang smiling off his horse and gave it into the charge of my 
 
 * Ps. vi., 6. t Isa. xxxviii., 14. } Ps. ciii., 10, 11.
 
 174 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 ploughman, who meanwhile had come up together with the 
 maid ; but he was affrighted when he saw my child so pale, 
 and taking her hand spake in the vulgar tongue, " My God ! 
 what is it ails you, sweet maid ? you look more pale than when 
 about to go to the stake." Whereupon she answered, " I have 
 been at the stake daily since you left us, good my lord, without 
 coming into our house, or so much as sending us tidings of 
 whither you were gone." 
 
 This pleased him well, and he said, " Let us first of all go 
 into the chamber, and you shall hear all." And when he had 
 wiped the sweat from his brow, and sat down on the bench 
 beside my child, he spake as follows : " That he had straight- 
 way promised her that he would clear her honor before the 
 whole world, and the self-same day whereon he left us he made 
 the worshipful court draw up an authentic record of all that 
 had taken place, more especially the confession of the impudent 
 constable, item, that of my ploughboy, Glaus Neels ; wherewith 
 he rode throughout the same night, as he had promised, to 
 Anclam, and next day to Stettin, to our gracious sovereign 
 Duke Bogislaw : who marvelled greatly when he heard of the 
 wickedness of his Sheriff, and of that which he had done to my 
 child ; moreover, he asked whether she were the pastor's 
 daughter who once upon a time had found the signet-ring of his 
 Princely Highness Philippus Julius of most Christian memory 
 in the castle garden at Wolgast ? and as he did not know 
 thereof, the Duke asked, whether she knew Latin ? And he, 
 the young lord, answered yes, that she knew the Latin better 
 than he did himself. His Princely Highness said, " Then, 
 indeed, it must be the same," and straightway he put on his 
 spectacles, and read the acta himself. Hereupon, and after his 
 Princely Highness had read the record of the worshipful court, 
 shaking his head the while, the young lord humbly besought his 
 Princely Highness to give him an amende honorable for my child, 
 item, literas commcndatitias for himself to our most gracious 
 Emperor at Vienna, to beg for a renewal of my patent of no- 
 bility, seeing that he was determined to marry none other maiden 
 than my daughter so long as he lived. 
 
 When my child heard this, she gave a ory of joy, and fell back
 
 CHAP, xxix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 175 
 
 in a swound with her head against the wall. But the young 
 lord caught her in his arms, and gave her three kisses (which I 
 could not then deny him, seeing, as I did with joy, how matters 
 went), and when she came to herself again, he asked her, 
 whether she would not have him, seeing that she had given 
 such a cry at his words ? Whereupon she said, " Whether I 
 will not have you, my lord ! Alas ! I love you as dearly as my 
 God and my Saviour ! You first saved my life, and now you 
 have snatched my heart from the stake whereon, without you, 
 it would have burned all the days of my life !" Hereupon I 
 wept for joy, when he drew her into his lap, and she clasped his 
 neck with her little hands. 
 
 They thus sat and toyed awhile, till the young lord again 
 perceived me, and said, " What say you thereto ; I trust it is 
 also your will, reverend Abraham ?" Now, dear reader, what 
 could I say, save my hearty good-will ? seeing that I wept for 
 very joy, as did my child, and I answered, how should it not be 
 my will, seeing that it was the will of God ? But whether the 
 worthy, good young lord had likewise considered that he would 
 stain his noble name if he took to wife my child, who had been 
 had in repute as a witch, and had been well nigh bound to the 
 stake. 
 
 Hereupon he said, By no means ; for that he had long since 
 prevented this, and he proceeded to tell us how he had done it, 
 namely, his Princely Highness had promised him to make ready 
 all the scripta which he required, within four days, when he 
 hoped to be back from his father's burial. He therefore rode 
 straightway back to Mellenthin, and after paying the last honor 
 to my lord his father, he presently set forth on his way again, 
 and found that his Princely Highness had kept his word mean- 
 while. With these scripta he rode to Vienna, and albeit he met" 
 with many pains, troubles, and dangers by the way (which he 
 would relate to us at some other time), he nevertheless reached 
 the city safely. There he by chance met with a Jesuit with 
 whom he had once upon a time had his locamentum for a few 
 days at Prague, while he was yet a studiosus, and this man hav- 
 ing heard his business, bade him be of good cheer, seeing that 
 his Imperial Majesty stood sorely in need of money in these hard
 
 176 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 times of war, and that he, the Jesuit, would manage it all for 
 him. This he really did, and his Imperial Majesty not only 
 renewed my patent of nobility, but likewise confirmed the 
 amende honorable to my child granted by his Princely High- 
 ness the Duke, so that he might now maintain the honor of his 
 betrothed bride against all the world, as also hereafter that of 
 his wife. 
 
 Hereupon he drew forth the acta from his bosom and put them 
 into my hand, saying, " And now, reverend Abraham, you must 
 also do me a pleasure, to- wit, to-morrow morning, when I hope to 
 go with my betrothed bride to the Lord's table, you must publish 
 the banns between me and your daughter, and on the day after 
 you must marry us. Do not say nay thereto, for my pastor the 
 reverend Philippus says that this is no uncommon custom among 
 the nobles in Pomerania, and I have already given notice of the 
 wedding for Monday at mine own castle, whither we will then 
 go, and where I purpose to bed my bride." I should have 
 found much to say against this request, more especially that in 
 honor of the holy Trinity he should suffer himself to be called 
 three times in church according to custom, and that he should 
 delay awhile the espousals ; but when I perceived that my child 
 would gladly have the marriage held right soon, for she sighed 
 and grew red as scarlet, I had not the heart to refuse them, but 
 promised all they asked. Whereupon I exhorted them both to 
 prayer, and when I had laid my hands upon their heads, I 
 thanked the Lord more deeply than I had ever yet thanked him, 
 so that at last I could no longer speak for tears, seeing that they 
 drowned my voice. 
 
 Meanwhile the young lord his coach had driven up to the 
 door, filled with chests and coffers : and he said, " Now, sweet 
 maid, you shall see what I have brought you," and he bade 
 them bring all the things into the room. Dear reader, what fine 
 things were there, such as I had never seen in all my life ! all 
 that women can use was there, especially of clothes, to wit, bod- 
 dices, plaited gowns, long robes, some of them bordered with 
 fur, veils, aprons, item, the bridal shift with gold fringes, where- 
 on the merry lord had laid some six or seven bunches of myrtle 
 to make herself a wreath withal. Item, there was no end to the
 
 CHAP, xxix.] THE AMBER WITCH. 177 
 
 rings, neck-chains, ear-drops, &c., the which I have in part for- 
 gotten. Neither did the young lord leave me without a gift, 
 seeing he had brought me a new surplice (the enemy had rob- 
 bed me of my old one), also doublets, hosen, and shoes, summa, 
 whatsoever appertains to a man's attire ; wherefore I secretly 
 besought the Lord not to punish us again in his sore displeasure 
 for such pomps and vanities. When my child beheld all these 
 things she was grieved that she could bestow upon him naught 
 save her heart alone, and the chain of the Swedish king, the 
 which she hung round his neck, and begged him, weeping the 
 while, to take it as a bridal gift. This he at length promised 
 to do, and likewise to carry it with him into the grave : but that 
 my child must first wear it at her wedding, as well as the blue 
 silken gown, for that this and no other should be her bridal dress, 
 and this he made her promise to do. 
 
 And now a merry chance befel with the old maid, the which 
 I will here note. For when the faithful old soul had heard 
 what had taken place, she was beside herself for joy, danced 
 and clapped her hands, and at last said to my child, " Now to be 
 sure you will not weep when the young lord is to lie in your 
 bed," whereat my child blushed scarlet for shame, and ran out 
 of the room ; and when the young lord would know what she 
 meant therewith she told him that he had already once slept in 
 my child her bed when he came from Gutzkow with me, where- 
 upon he bantered her all the evening after that she was come 
 back again. Moreover, he promised the maid that as she had 
 once made my child her bed for him, she should make it again, 
 and that on the day after to-morrow, she and the ploughman too 
 should go with us to Mellenthin, so that masters and servants 
 should all rejoice together after such great distress. 
 
 And seeing that the dear young lord would stop the night 
 under my roof, I made him lie in the small closet together with 
 me (for I could not know what might happen). He soon slept 
 like a top, but no sleep came into my eyes, for very joy, and I 
 prayed the livelong blessed night, or thought over my sermon. 
 Only near morning I dosed a little ; and when I rose the young 
 lord already sat in the next room with my child, who wore the 
 black silken gown which he had brought her, and, strange to say, 
 13
 
 178 THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. 
 
 she looked fresher than even when the Swedish king came, so 
 that I never in all my life saw her look fresher or fairer. Item, 
 the young lord wore his black doublet, and picked out for her 
 the best bits of myrtle for the wreath she was twisting. But 
 when she saw me, she straightway laid the wreath beside her 
 on the bench, folded her little hands, and said the morning 
 prayer, as she was ever wont to do, which, humility pleased the 
 young lord right well, and he begged her that in future she 
 would ever do the like with him, the which she promised. 
 
 Soon after we went to the blessed church to confession, and 
 all the folk stood gaping open-mouthed because the young lord 
 led my child on his arm. But they wondered far more when, 
 after the sermon, I first read to them in the vulgar tongue the 
 amende honorable to my child from his Princely Highness, to- 
 gether with the confirmation of the same by his Imperial Ma- 
 jesty, and after that my patent of nobility ; and, lastly, began 
 to publish the banns between my child and the young lord. 
 Dear reader, there arose a murmur throughout the church like 
 the buzzing of a swarm of bees. (N. B. These scripta' were 
 burnt in the fire which broke out in the castle a year ago, as I 
 shall hereafter relate, wherefore I cannot insert them here in 
 origine.) 
 
 Hereupon my dear children went together with much people 
 to the Lord's table, and after church nearly all the folks crowd- 
 ed round them and wished them joy. Item, old Paasch came to 
 our house again that afternoon, and once more besought my 
 daughter's forgiveness because that he had unwittingly offended 
 her ; that he would gladly give her a marriage-gift, but that he 
 now had nothing at all ; howbeit that his wife should set one of 
 her lii-iis in the spring, and he would take the chickens to her at 
 M ellenthin himself. This made us all to laugh, more especially 
 the young lord, who at last said : " As thou wilt bring me a 
 marriage-gift, thou must also be asked to the wedding, where- 
 fore thou mayest come to-morrow with the rest." 
 
 Whereupon my child said : " And your little Mary, my god- 
 child, shall come too, and be my bridemaiden, if my lord allows 
 it." Whereupon she began to tell the young lord all that had 
 befallen the child by the malice of Satan, and how they laid it
 
 CHAP, xxix.] THE AMBER WITCH. . 179 
 
 to her charge until such time as the all-righteous God brought 
 her innocence to light ; and she begged that since her dear lord 
 had commanded her to wear the same garments at her wedding 
 which she had worn to salute the Swedish king, and afterwards 
 to go to the stake, he would likewise suffer her to take for her 
 bridemaiden her little godchild, as indicium secundum of her 
 sorrows. 
 
 And when he had promised her this, she told old Paasch to 
 send hither his child to her, that she might fit a new gown upon 
 her which she had cut out for her a week ago, and which the 
 maid would finish sewing this very day. This so went to the 
 heart of the good old fellow that he began to weep aloud, 
 and at last said, she should not do all this for nothing, for 
 instead of the one hen his wife should set three for her in the 
 spring. 
 
 When he was gone, and the young lord did naught save talk 
 with his betrothed bride both in the vulgar and in the Latin 
 tongue, I did better namely, went up the mountain to pray, 
 wherein, moreover, I followed my child's example, and clomb 
 up upon the pile, there in loneliness to offer up my whole heart 
 to the Lord as an offering of thanksgiving, seeing that with this 
 sacrifice he is well pleased, as in Ps. li., 19, " The sacrifice of 
 God is a troubled spirit ; a broken and contrite heart, O God, 
 shalt thou not despise." 
 
 That night the young lord again lay in my room, but next 
 morning, when the sun had scarce risen 
 
 Here end these interesting communications, which I do not in- 
 tend to dilute with any additions of my own. My readers, more 
 especially those of the fair sex, can picture to themselves at 
 pleasure the future happiness of this excellent pair. 
 
 All further historical traces of their existence, as well as that 
 of the pastor, have disappeared, and nothing remains but a tablet 
 fixed in the wall of the Church at Mellenthin, on which the 
 incomparable lord, and his yet more incomparable wife, are 
 represented. On his faithful breast still hangs " the golden 
 chain, with the effigy of the Swedish King." They both seem 
 to have died within a short time of each other, and to have been
 
 180. THE AMBER WITCH. [CHAP. xxix. 
 
 buried in the same coffin. For in the vault under the church 
 there is still a large double coffin, in which, according to tradi- 
 tion, lies a chain of gold of incalculable value. Some twenty 
 years ago, the owner of Mellenthin, whose unequalled extrava- 
 gance had reduced him to the verge of beggary, attempted to 
 open the coffin in order to take out this precious relic, but he 
 was not able. It appeared as if some powerful spell held it 
 firmly together ; and it has remained unopened down to the 
 present time. May it remain so until the last awful day, and 
 may the impious hand of avarice or curiosity never desecrate 
 these holy ashes of holy beings ! 
 
 FINIS. 


 
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