|
|
Sidonia The Sorceress
By William Mienhold
VOLUME II
BOOK III. Continued
CHAPTER IV.
How Dorothea Stettin is talked out of the sub-prioret by Sidonia, and the priest is prohibited from visiting the convent.
If Sidonia could not be the pastor's wife, she was determined at least to be sub-prioress, and commenced her preparations for this object by knitting a little pair of red hose for her cat. Then she sent for Dorothea Stettin, saying that she was weak and ill, and no one took pity on her.
When the good Dorothea came as she was asked, there lay my serpent on the bed in her nun's robes, groaning and moaning as if her last hour had come; and scarcely had the sub-prioress taken a seat near her, when my cat crept forth from under the bed, in his little red hose, mewing and rubbing himself up against the robe of the sub-prioress, as if praying her to remove this unwonted constraint from him, of the little red hose.
After Dorothea had inquired about her sickness, she looked at the cat, and asked wonderingly, what was the meaning of such a strange dress?
Illa.--"Ah, dear friend, it was dreadful to my feelings to see the little animal going about naked, therefore I knit little hose for him, as you see; indeed, I am often tempted to wonder how the Lord God could permit the poor animals to appear naked before us."
Hæc (extending her arms for joy, so that she almost tumbled back off the stool).--"Oh, God be praised and thanked, at last I have found one chaste soul in this wicked world! (sobs, throws up her eyes, falls upon Sidonia's neck, kisses her, and weeps over her:) ah yes, one chaste soul at last, like herself!"
Illa.--"True, Dorothea, there is no virtue so rare in this evil world as chastity. Ah, why has the Lord God placed such things before our eyes? I never can comprehend it, and never will. What a sight for a chaste virgin these naked animals! What did the dear sister think on the matter?"
Hæc.--"Ah, she knew not what to think, had asked the priest about it."
Illa.--"And what did he say?"
Hæc.--"He laughed at her."
Illa.--"Just like him, the lewd, hypocritical pharisee."
Hæc.--"Eh? she was too hard on the good priest. He was a pure and upright servant of God."
Illa.--"Ay, as Judas was. Had not sister Dorothea heard----"
Hæc.--"No; for God's sake, what? The dear sister frightened her already."
Illa.--"First, you confess that the priest laughed when you talked about chastity?"
Hæc.--"Yes, true, ah, indeed true."
Illa.--"Then you remember that he preached a sermon lately upon adul--upon adul--. No, she never could utter the word--the horrible word. Upon the seventh commandment, to the great scandal of the entire convent?"
Hæc.--"Ah yes, ah yes, she was there, and had to stop one ear with her finger, the other with her kerchief, not to hear all the strange and dreadful things he was saying."
Illa.--"And yet this was the man that ran in and out of the cloister daily at his pleasure, sent for or not--a young unmarried man--though the convent rules especially declared an oldman. Ah, if she were sub-prioress, this scandal should never be permitted."
Hæc.--"What could be done? it was a blessed thing to live in peace. Besides, the priest was such a pious man."
Illa.--"Pious? Heaven defend us from such piety! Why, had she not heard?--the whole convent talked about it."
Hæc.--"No, no; for God's sake, what had happened? tell her--she had been making sausages all the morning, and had heard nothing."
Illa.--"Then know, ah God, how it pained her to talk of it--she had heard a great noise in the kitchen in the morning, as if all the pots and pans were tumbled about, and when she ran in to see--there was the priest--oh, her chaste eyes never had seen such a sight--the pious priest making love to her old maid, Wolde."
Hæc.--"Impossible, impossible!--to her old maid, Wolde?"
Illa.-"Yea, and he was praying her for kisses, and praising her fat hand, and extolling her white hair. But as to what more she had seen----"
Hæc.--"For God's sake, sister, what more?"
Illa (sighing, and covering her face with both hands).--"No, no, that she could never bring her chaste lips to utter. Oh, that such wickedness should be in the world (weeping bitterly). But she would never enter the chapel again, and that priest there; nor receive the rites from him. But this was not all; the dear sister must hear how he revenged himself upon her, because she interrupted his toying with the old hag. It was truth, all truth! She (Sidonia) grew so ill with fright and horror that she was unable to disrobe, and threw herself on the bed just as she was, but growing weaker and weaker hour by hour, sent for the priest at last, to pray with her, and afterwards to offer up general supplication for her restoration, in the chapel with all the sisterhood; but only think, the shameless hypocrite refused to pray with her, because he spied an end of her black robe out of the bed, declaring she was not ill at all, that she was a base liar, all because she had lain down in her convent dress, and finally went his way cursing and swearing, without even saying one prayer, or uttering one word of comfort, as was his duty. And now, alas! she must die without priest or sacrament! To what a Sodom and Gomorrah she had come! But if an old hag like her maid was not safe from the shameless parson, how could she or any of them be safe? What was to be done? unless the dear sister, as sub-prioress, took the matter in her own hands, and brought him to task about it?"
At this proposal the other trembled like an aspen leaf, and seemed more dead than alive. She wept, wrung her hands--for God's sake what could she do? how could she talk on such a matter? Let the abbess see to it, if she chose.
Illa.--"Stuff, the old pussy--the less said of herthe better. Why, she was worse than the old maid, Wolde, herself."
Hæc.--"The abbess? why, the whole convent, and the whole world too, talked of her piety and virtue."
Illa.--"Very virtuous, truly, to have the priest locked up with her; and when some of the sisters wished to remain, suspecting that all was not right, the priest pushed them out at the door with his own hands, and bolted it after them, as many could testify to her had been done this very day. Oh, what a Sodom and Gomorrah she had been betrayed into! (weeping, sobbing, and falling upon Dorothea's neck.) I pray you, sister, for the sake of our heavenly bridegroom, bring this evil to an end, otherwise fire and brimstone will assuredly and justly be rained down upon our poor cloister."
Still the other maintained, "That the dear sister must err as regarded the abbess. It might be her chaste zeal that blinded her. True enough, probably, what she said of the priest; but the worthy abbess--no, never could she believe that."
Illa.--"Let her have proof then. It was not her custom to weaken innocence; call her maid, Wolde."
Then as Wolde entered, Sidonia made a sign, and bid her tell the sub-prioress all that the shameless priest had done.
Ancilla.--"He had asked her for little kisses, praised her hands and hair, and her beautiful limp, and had sat up close to her on the bench, then run after her into the kitchen, gave her money (shows the money), asked again for kisses, then----"
Sidonia screams--
"Hold your tongue; no more, no more; enough, enough!"
At this story, Dorothea Stettin nearly went into convulsions--she wrung her hands, crying--.
"How is it possible? O heaven, how is it possible?"
Illa.--"There is something more quite possible also; the hag shall tell you what she saw at the room door of the abbess."
Ancilla.-"When the scandalous priest left her, he went straight to the abbess, and there was taken with cramps, as she heard, upon which all the convent ran thither, and she with the rest. And he was lying stretched out on a bench, like one dead, no doubt from shame; but the shame soon went off, and then he got up, and bade them all leave the room. However, good Anna Apenborg did not choose to go, for she suspected evil. Whereupon he seized her by the hand, and put her out along with the others. She saw all this herself, for she was standing in the passage, waiting to speak to sister Anna. When, behold, she was pushed out, to her great surprise, in this way by the priest, and they heard the door bolted inside immediately after."
At this Dorothea Stettin fell upon Sidonia's bed, weeping, sobbing, and ready to die with grief; but Sidonia bade her not take on so; for perhaps, after all, the old hag had not told the truth, at least concerning the dear, worthy abbess; but two witnesses would be sufficient testimony. Whereupon she bid Wolde watch for Anna Apenborg from the window, and beckon to her to come in if she saw her going by.
And scarcely had Wolde stepped to the window, when she laughed and said--
"Truly, there stands Anna chatting with Agnes Kleist's maid at the well. Shall I run and call her?"
"Yes," said Sidonia.
In a little while Wolde returned with sister Anna. The girl looked wildly round at first, stared at the broom-sticks which lay crosswise under the table, and then asked, with a trembling voice, what the good sister wanted with her, while she took a seat on a trunk near the bed.
"My old maid," said Sidonia, "tells me that the reverend chaplain took you by the hand, and put you out of the abbess's room, after which he bolted the door. Is this true or not? Speak the whole truth."
So Anna related the whole story as Wolde had done; but, while talking, the curious damsel lifted up a corner of the quilt to peep under the bed, upon which my cat in his little red hose crept forth again, mewing and rubbing himself against Anna, at which she gave a shriek of horror and sprang out of the room, down the steps and into the courtyard, without ever once venturing to look behind her. And many think that this cat was Sidonia's evil spirit Chim. But Anna Apenborg saw afterwards a pair of terrible fiery eyes glaring at her from Sidonia's window; so others said, that must have been Chim. But we shall hear more of this same cat presently.
Summa.--Sidonia knew well enough what made the girl scream, but she turned to Dorothea, and said--
"Ah, see how this wickedness has shocked the poor young nun! Therefore, dear sister, you must, as sub-prioress, make an end of the scandal, and prohibit this false priest from visiting the convent; for, indeed, they who permitted him such freedom amongst the nuns were more to blame for his sins than he himself."
Poor Dorothea groaned forth in answer--
"Alas, alas! why did I ever accept the sub-prioret? For the couple of sacks of flour and the bit of corn which she got more than the others, it was not worth while to be plagued to death. It was all true about the priest. He must be dismissed. But then she loved peace. How could she right such matters? Oh, that some one would relieve her of this sub-prioret!"
Illa.--"That can be easily done if you will. Suppose you ask Anna Apenborg to take it?"
Hæc.--"No, no; Anna had not sense enough for that; but if the dear sister herself would take it, how happy she would feel."
Illa.--"She was too sick, probably going to die; who could tell?"
Hæc.--"No, no; she would pray for her. The dear sister could not be spared yet. Let her say yes (falling on her neck and weeping), only let her say yes."
Illa.--"Well, out of love to her she would say yes; and if the Lord raised her up from this sick bed, order and decorum should reign again in the convent."
Hæc (again embracing her with gratitude).--"No doubt they would. She knew well that no such pure-minded nun was in the convent as her dear sister Sidonia."
Illa.--"But, good Dorothea, in order to get rid of the priest as soon as possible, we had better send the porter immediately to summon the abbess and the entire sisterhood here, for you to tender your resignation in their presence."
Hæc.--"But sister Sidonia must promise not to complain of the priest or the abbess to the Prince."
Illa.--"No, no; I can settle the matter quietly, without laying a complaint before the Prince."
Hæc.--"All right, then. Everything, if possible, in peace."
Hereupon Sidonia despatched the porter to the abbess with a request that she and the whole convent would assemble in half-an-hour at the refectory, as she had somewhat to communicate. Meanwhile she instructed Dorothea in what she was to say, so as not to disgrace the poor abbess before the whole convent.
At the end of the half-hour, the abbess and the entire sisterhood appeared, but all with anger and mistrust depicted on their countenances. Sidonia then spake--
"Since ye and your priest refused to pray for me, I have prayed for myself, and the Lord hath heard me in my weakness, and made me strong enough to listen to the request of this good sister, Dorothea, and promise to fulfil it. Speak, sister Dorothea, what was your prayer?"
So Dorothea advanced, weeping and wringing her hands--
"Ah, God! she could no longer be sub-prioress. She loved peace too much. But there were bad doings in the convent--she would say no more--only they must end. Therefore she had earnestly prayed her dear sister Sidonia to relieve her from the duties of office, and become sub-prioress in her stead."
Here she loosed the veil, which differed from the others, by having a key embroidered in gold thereon--the abbess had two keys on her veil--and bound it on Sidonia, who had by this time risen from bed, taking Sidonia's veil for herself. Then leading the fatal sorceress forward, she said--
"Good mother and dear sisters--behold your sub-prioress!"
Thereupon the abbess and the whole convent remained quite mute, so great was their horror.
Then Sidonia asked--
"Have they aught to say against it? If so, let them speak."
But they all remained silent and trembling, till at last the abbess murmured--
"Is this done with your free-will, Dorothea?"
"Ah, yes, yes, truly," she answered. "I told you before with what earnest prayers I besought the dear sister to release me. God be thanked she has consented at last. Who can keep order and decorum so well throughout the convent?"
Then the abbess spoke again--
"Sister Sidonia, I have no opposition to make, as you know full well. So, if the Prince, and the sheriff, our worthy superintendent, consent, you shall be sub-prioress. Yet first you must render an account of your strange doings this past night, for things were seen and heard in your chamber which could not have been accomplished without the help of the great enemy himself."
Hereat Sidonia laughed as if she would die. She would tell them the whole trick. They all knew what a trouble to the convent was this Anna Apenborg from her curiosity--not once or twice, but ten times a day, running in and out with her chat and gossip. She had tried all means to prevent her, but in vain. Even in the middle of her prayers, the said Anna would come in to tell her what one sister was cooking, and another getting, or some follies even quite unfit for chaste ears. And that last night being very sick, she sent for the priest, upon which she heard Anna calling out from the window to the porter, "Will he come? will he come?" Item, she had then crept down to listen at the door. So after the priest went, notwithstanding all her weakness, she (Sidonia) determined to give her a good fright, and thus prevent her from spying and listening any more. Then she called Wolde, and bid her dance, while she muttered some words out of the cookery-book. But here Anna called out, "It is not true; there were three danced. Where is the carl with the deep bass voice? Who could this be at that midnight hour, but the devil bodily himself?"
At this, Sidonia laughed louder than before. It was her cat--her own cat, who was springing about the room, because for divers reasons she had put little red hose on him. On this she stoops under the bed, seizes my cat by the leg, who howls (that was the deep bass voice), and flings him into the middle of the room, where all the nuns, when they beheld his strange jumps and springs in the little hose, burst out into loud laughter, in which the abbess herself could not refrain from joining. So as there was no evidence against Sidonia, and Anna Apenborg was truly held of all as a most troublesome chatterbox and spy, the inquiry ended. And with somewhat more friendliness, putting the best face on a bad matter, they accepted Sidonia for their sub-prioress.