earful revels on the
Kreuzweg."

"For thirty years have I sat on the Holtermann and by the Linsenteich,
and crept at midnight into the Jettenhoehle, and have muttered all the
incantations taught me by my parents, but all remained still. Lately I
thought to see him, but it was only the miller's boy at his tricks."

"And you never went out there, to drink and to dance with the fiends,
and to whore with the Devil?"

"If I could do that would I be lying here?" said the old witch in a
tone of contempt. "I spake all the curses that are known. 'Here I stand
on the dung and deny Jesus Christ.' I sang his own song: 'Come, Come,
Satan, jump here, jump there, hop here, hop there, play here, play
there,' or 'Come out, come on, touch nowhere on, Hie up and out.' But
none availed. I have prayed to the Devil, and enticed the elves, but
nothing moved; it is all nonsense."

"Why did you not rather pray to God?"

"There is no God," said the old woman in the same apathetic tone.

"You blaspheme," said Paul angrily. "You will soon see, when they
stretch the fair Lydia out here, and scourge her with ropes, and burn
her with sulphur, whether He helps. And Erastus, and Xylander, and the
daughter of Pithopoeus, and Probus' wife, and Probus himself."

"What! have you named them all?"

"They are as guilty as I am. At first I remained silent and would not
answer, but they held my nose closed, so that I had to open my mouth to
breathe. Then they shoved an iron pear with a spring into my mouth,
which distended my jaws. I thought I should choke to death. One learns
to speak then."

"But what made you mention those names?"

"Well the gentlemen kept asking me questions one after the other, and I
thought they would torture me less if I said yes. I heard the Italian
with the yellow face say: 'notorious heretics may always be presumed to
be magicians,' and then they said 'Probus' yes, no, 'Xylander,'
'Pithopoeus,' no, not he, 'Erastus' and thus I snapped up the names. It
hurts to hang thus, and they kept putting on heavier weights to my
legs. You will find out how it hurts when they wrench the joints out of
their sockets. At length I noticed that they kept on as long as I gave
any answer, so at last I was silent and kept my eyes fixed on the
parson with the greenish hue. That was too much for him, so he left.
But the Italian was the worst, he ordered me to be stretched out here
and sulphur threads to be placed under my arms and round my finge