Castle Sooneck
The
Blind Archer
In his stronghold at Sooneck, Siebold, one of the
most
rapacious of the robber barons presided over a godless revel. Wanton
women
with showy apparel and painted cheeks lolled in the arms of tipsy
cavaliers.
The music blared, and to complete their carousal wine flowed freely.
The
lord of Sooneck flushed with drinking, and leering on the assembly with
evil-looking eyes spoke as follows:
"Noble ladies (drunken applause from his worthy
associates)
and much-married nobles (loudly giggled the shameless females), after
food
and drink, I, as your host will be pleased to entertain you by bringing
before
you a ferocious animal which I keep confined here."
While the ladies pretended to take shelter timidly
behind
their lords, and the men stared at their host expecting some further
explanation,
the doors of the room opened, and led by two servants a man in coarse
garments,
and with unkempt hair and beard stood before them. A suppressed whisper
passed
round the festive board and all eyes were fixed on the haggard
countenance
of the prisoner. When for a moment the weary eyelids were raised, two
ghastly
cavities were visible. Again, with the same tone of levity, the lord of
the
castle spoke, "Lovely ladies, and knightly companions, the best
marksman
on the Rhine was Hans Veit of Fürsteneck. Like ourselves he
was dreaded
far and near. He and I entered on a feud of life and death. He went
down."
"With broken brand and battered shield, bleeding from
numerous
wounds I lay prostrate before you awaiting manfully the death-thrust,"
murmured
the prisoner, and his voice sounded as if from the grave. "It pained me
to
finish him off," said Siebold flippantly, "I got his two eyes taken
out,
and thus added to my collection of rarities, the best archer on the
Rhine."
"My murdered eyes behold your scorn," said the prisoner
harshly. "But surely chivalry still flourishes on Sooneck" said the
lord
of the castle. "Understand then that my servants have informed me, that
even
blind, you can, guided only by sounds, hit a given mark with a bolt. If
you
come out of this ordeal successful, freedom shall be the reward".
Stormy
applause greeted these words.
"Death were dearer to me than life," murmured the blind
archer.
As he seized the crossbow however, a gleam of joy went over his
countenance
like a ray of sunshine over a sombre landscape. Crowded together in a
corner
of the room the guests watched the proceedings. The lord of Sooneck
seized
a goblet and ordered the prisoner to draw upon it, after hearing the
sound.
In the next moment the silver clang resounded, as the goblet fell on
the
floor.
"Shoot now," said Siebold of Sooneck, and
immediately
an arrow pierced his mouth. With a grunt like a slaughtered ox, Siebold
sank
among the rushes. Silent and motionless with the two eye-cavities
gaping,
stood the blind man. Then his shaggy head sank on his heaving breast.
Like
a flock of frightened crows the knights
and their paramours fled, and only
a few terrified squires and servants muttered prayers over the body of
the
lord of Sooneck.
Click
to go to the next
section of
the Legends of the Rhine
|