ROPRECHT THE ROBBER.

PART III.

WITH that the whole city flocked out to see;
There Roprecht was on the triple tree,
Dead, past all doubt, as dead could be;

But fresh he was as if spells had charm'd him,
And neither wind nor weather had harm'd him.

While the multitude stood in a muse,

One said, I am sure he was hang'd in shoes!
In this the Hangman and all concurr'd;
But now, behold, he was booted and spurr'd!

Plainly therefore it was to be seen,

That somewhere on horseback he had been;
And at this the people marvelled more,
Than at any thing which had happened before.

For not in riding trim was he

When he disappeared from the triple tree;
And his suit of irons he still was in,

With the collar that clipp'd him under the chin.

With that this second thought befell,
That perhaps he had not died so well,
Nor had Saints perform'd the miracle;
But rather there was cause to fear,
That the foul Fiend had been busy here!

Roprecht the Robber had long been their curse,
And hanging had only made him worse;
For bad as he was when living, they said
They had rather meet him alive than dead.

What a horse must it be which he had ridden,
No earthly beast could be so bestridden;

And when by a hell-horse a dead rider was carried, The whole land would be fearfully harried!

So some were for digging a pit in the place,
And burying him there with a stone on his face;
And that hard on his body the earth should be press'd,
And exorcists be sent for to lay him at rest.

But others, whose knowledge was greater, opined
That this corpse was too strong to be confined;
No weight of earth which they could lay
Would hold him down a single day,

If he chose to get up and ride away.

There was no keeping Vampires under ground;

And bad as a Vampire he might be found,

Pests against whom it was understood

Exorcism never had done any good.

But fire, they said, had been proved to be
The only infallible remedy;

So they were for burning the body outright,
Which would put a stop to his riding by night.

Others were for searching the mystery out,
And setting a guard the gallows about,
Who should keep a careful watch, and see
Whether Witch or Devil it might be
That helped him down from the triple tree.

For that there were Witches in the land,
Was what all by this might understand ;
And they must not let the occasion slip
For detecting that cursed fellowship.

Some were for this, and some for that,
And some they could not tell for what :
And never was such commotion known
In that great city of Cologne.

ROPRECHT THE ROBBER.

PART IV.

PIETER SNOYE was a boor of good renown,
Who dwelt about an hour and a half from the town:
And he, while the people were all in debate,
Went quietly in at the city gate.

For Father Kijf he sought about,

His confessor, till he found him out;

But the Father Confessor wondered to see
The old man, and what his errand might be.

The good Priest did not wonder less

When Pieter said he was come to confess;

Why, Pieter, how can this be so?

I confessed thee some ten days ago!

Thy conscience, methinks, may be well at rest,
An honest man among the best;

I would that all my flock, like thee,

Kept clear accounts with Heaven and me!"

Always before, without confusion,
Being sure of easy absolution,

Pieter his little slips had summ'd;

But he hesitated now, and he haw'd, and humm'd.

And something so strange the Father saw
In Pieter's looks, and his hum and his haw,
That he began to doubt it was something more
Than a trifle omitted in last week's score.

At length it came out, that in the affair
Of Roprecht the Robber he had some share;
The Confessor then gave a start in fear -
"God grant there have been no witchcraft here!"

Pieter Snoye, who was looking down,

-

With something between a smile and a frown,

Felt that suspicion move his bile,

And look'd up with more of a frown than a smile.

"Fifty years I, Pieter Snoye,

Have lived in this country, man and boy,
And have always paid the Church her due,
And kept short scores with Heaven and you.

The Devil himself, though Devil he be,
Would not dare impute that sin to me;
He might charge me as well with heresy :
And if he did, here, in this place,
I'd call him liar, and spit in his face !"