116 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
116 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
The Seven Swabians
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Seven Swabians were once together. The first was Master Schulz; the
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second, Jackli; the third, Marli; the fourth, Jergli; the fifth,
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Michal; the sixth, Hans; the seventh, Veitli: all seven had made up
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their minds to travel about the world to seek adventures, and perform
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great deeds. But in order that they might go in security and with arms
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in their hands, they thought it would be advisable that they should
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have one solitary, but very strong, and very long spear made for them.
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This spear all seven of them took in their hands at once; in front
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walked the boldest and bravest, and that was Master Schulz; all the
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others followed in a row, and Veitli was the last. Then it came to pass
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one day in the hay-making month (July), when they had walked a long
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distance, and still had a long way to go before they reached the
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village where they were to pass the night, that as they were in a
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meadow in the twilight a great beetle or hornet flew by them from
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behind a bush, and hummed in a menacing manner. Master Schulz was so
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terrified that he all but dropped the spear, and a cold perspiration
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broke out over his whole body. “Hark! hark!” cried he to his comrades,
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“Good heavens! I hear a drum.” Jackli, who was behind him holding the
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spear, and who perceived some kind of a smell, said, “Something is most
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certainly going on, for I taste powder and matches.” At these words
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Master Schulz began to take to flight, and in a trice jumped over a
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hedge, but as he just happened to jump on to the teeth of a rake which
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had been left lying there after the hay-making, the handle of it struck
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against his face and gave him a tremendous blow. “Oh dear! Oh dear!”
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screamed Master Schulz. “Take me prisoner; I surrender! I surrender!”
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The other six all leapt over, one on the top of the other, crying, “If
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you surrender, I surrender too! If you surrender, I surrender too!” At
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length, as no enemy was there to bind and take them away, they saw that
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they had been mistaken, and in order that the story might not be known,
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and they be treated as fools and ridiculed, they all swore to each
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other to hold their peace about it until one of them accidentally spoke
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of it. Then they journeyed onwards. The second danger which they
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survived cannot be compared with the first. Some days afterwards, their
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path led them through a fallow-field where a hare was sitting sleeping
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in the sun. Her ears were standing straight up, and her great glassy
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eyes were wide open. All of them were alarmed at the sight of the
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horrible wild beast, and they consulted together as to what it would be
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the least dangerous to do. For if they were to run away, they knew that
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the monster would pursue and swallow them whole. So they said, “We must
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go through a great and dangerous struggle. Boldly ventured, is half
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won,” and all seven grasped the spear, Master Schulz in front, and
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Veitli behind. Master Schulz was always trying to keep the spear back,
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but Veitli had become quite brave while behind, and wanted to dash
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forward and cried,
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“Strike home, in every Swabian’s name,
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Or else I wish ye may be lame.”
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But Hans knew how to meet this, and said,
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“Thunder and lightning, it’s fine to prate,
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But for dragon-hunting thou’rt aye too late.”
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Michal cried,
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“Nothing is wanting, not even a hair,
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Be sure the Devil himself is there.”
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Then it was Jergli’s turn to speak,
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“If it be not, it’s at least his mother,
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Or else it’s the Devil’s own step-brother.”
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And now Marli had a bright thought, and said to Veitli,
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“Advance, Veitli, advance, advance,
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And I behind will hold the lance.”
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Veitli, however, did not attend to that, and Jackli said,
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“Tis Schulz’s place the first to be,
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No one deserves that honor but he.”
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Then Master Schulz plucked up his courage, and said, gravely,
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“Then let us boldly advance to the fight,
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And thus we shall show our valour and might.”
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Hereupon they all together set on the dragon. Master Schulz crossed
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himself and prayed for God’s assistance, but as all this was of no
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avail, and he was getting nearer and nearer to the enemy, he screamed
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“Oho! oho! ho! ho! ho!” in the greatest anguish. This awakened the
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hare, which in great alarm darted swiftly away. When Master Schulz saw
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her thus flying from the field of battle, he cried in his joy.
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“Quick, Veitli, quick, look there, look there,
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The monster’s nothing but a hare!”
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But the Swabian allies went in search of further adventures, and came
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to the Moselle, a mossy, quiet, deep river, over which there are few
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bridges, and which in many places people have to cross in boats. As the
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seven Swabians did not know this, they called to a man who was working
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on the opposite side of the river, to know how people contrived to get
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across. The distance and their way of speaking made the man unable to
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understand what they wanted, and he said “What? what?” in the way
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people speak in the neighborhood of Treves. Master Schulz thought he
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was saying, “Wade, wade through the water,” and as he was the first,
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began to set out and went into the moselle. It was not long before he
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sank in the mud and the deep waves which drove against him, but his hat
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was blown on the opposite shore by the wind, and a frog sat down beside
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it, and croaked “Wat, wat, wat.” The other six on the opposite side
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heard that, and said, “Oho, comrades, Master Schulz is calling us; if
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he can wade across, why cannot we?” So they all jumped into the water
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together in a great hurry, and were drowned, and thus one frog took the
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lives of all six of them, and not one of the Swabian allies ever
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reached home again.
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