Die schwarze Spinne - 15 The black spider - 15

Als ob die Flamme aus ihrem Dache schlüge, eilten sie heim, aber Hülfe brachten sie keine; hier wie dort streckte der Tod das Vieh, Wehgeschrei von Menschen und Tieren erfüllte Berge und Täler, und die Sonne, welche das Tal so fröhlich verlassen, sah in entsetzlichen Jammer hinein. ||||||roof|struck|||||||||||||||||cries of pain|||||||||||||||||||||| They rushed home as if flames were leaping from their rooftops, but there was nothing they could do; on one farm as on another death laid low the cattle; cries of distress from man and beast filled hills and valleys, and the sun which had set leaving the valley so happy rose to gaze upon scenes of awful distress. Als die Sonne schien, sahen endlich die Menschen, wie es in den Ställen, in denen das Vieh gefallen war, wimmle von zahllosen schwarzen Spinnen. |||||||||||||||||||teemed|||| When the sun shone, people could at last see how the sheds where the cattle had been stricken were teeming with countless black spiders. Diese krochen über das Vieh, das Futter, und was sie berührten, war vergiftet, und was lebendig war, begann zu toben, ward bald vom Tode gestreckt. ||||||fodder||||touched||poisoned|||||||to rage||||| These creatures crawled over the cattle, and the cattle food which they touched became poisoned, and any living creature began to rage until soon it was felled by death. Von diesen Spinnen konnte man keinen Stall, in dem sie waren, säubern, es war, als wüchsen sie aus dem Boden herauf, konnte keinen Stall, in dem sie noch nicht waren, vor ihnen behüten, unversehens krochen sie aus allen Wänden, fielen haufenweise von der Diele. |||||||||||||||grow|||||||||||||||||protect|unseen|crawled|||||||||floor It was impossible to get rid of these spiders from any cattle shed where they had penetrated, it was as if they grew out of the ground itself; it was impossible to protect any shed where they had not yet entered from their invasion, for unexpectedly they started creeping out of all the walls and would fall in clusters from the threshing floor. Man trieb das Vieh auf die Weiden, man trieb es nur dem Tode in den Rachen. ||||||pastures|||||||||jaws The cattle were then driven out to pasture, but it was simply driving them into death’s jaws. Denn, wie eine Kuh auf eine Weide den Fuß setzte, so begann es lebendig zu werden am Boden, schwarze, langbeinige Spinnen sproßten auf, schreckliche Alpenblumen, krochen auf am Vieh, und ein fürchterlich wehlich Geschrei erscholl von den Bergen nieder zu Tale. |||||||||||||||||||long-legged||sprouted|||alpine flowers|||||||||||||||| For wherever a cow placed her foot onto grassland, the ground began to come to life: black, long-legged spiders sprouted up, horrible Alpine flowers which crawled onto the cattle and a fearful wailing could be heard from the hilltops down to the valley. Und alle diese Spinnen sahen der Spinne auf Christines Gesicht ähnlich wie Kinder der Mutter, und solche hatte man noch keine gesehen. ||||||||||||||mother||||||| And all these spiders resembled the spider on Christine’s face as children resemble their mother, and nobody had ever seen such before.

Das Geschrei der armen Tiere war auch zum Schlosse gedrungen, und bald kamen ihm auch Hirten nach, verkündend, daß ihr Vieh gefallen von den giftigen Tieren, und in immer höherem Zorne vernahm der von Stoffeln, wie Herde um Herde verlorengegangen, vernahm, welchen Pacht man mit dem Grünen gehabt, wie man ihn zum zweiten Male betrogen und wie die Spinnen ähnlich seien, wie Kinder der Mutter, der Spinne in der Lindauerin Gesicht, die mit dem Grünen den Bund gemacht alleine und nie rechten Bericht darüber gegeben. |||||||||reached||||||shepherds||announcing||||||||||||||heard|||||||||heard||rent|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| The noise of the wretched animals had penetrated to the castle too, and soon shepherds followed with the news that their cattle had fallen because of the poisonous animals and von Stoffeln heard with ever increasing anger how herd upon herd had been lost; now he learnt what type of pact his peasants had made with the green huntsman, and how the huntsman had been deceived a second time, and how the spiders resembled, as children their mother, the spider on the face of the woman from Lindau who alone had made the compact with the green huntsman and had never given a proper account of what had happened. Da ritt der von Stoffeln in grimmem Zorn den Berg hinauf und donnerte die Armen an, daß er nicht um ihretwillen Herde und Herde verlieren wolle; was er geschädigt worden, müßten sie ersetzen, und was sie versprochen, das müßten sie halten, was sie freiwillig getan, das müßten sie tragen. ||||||fierce||||||||||||||their sake|||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Then von Stoffeln rode up the hill in fierce anger and roared at the peasants that he was not going to lose herd upon herd for their sake; they would have to keep any promises that they had made; what they had done of their own free will, they would have to put up with. Schaden leiden ihretwegen wolle er nicht, oder leide er, so müßten sie ihn büßen tausendfältig. He wasn’t going to suffer damage on their account, or if he did have to suffer, they would have to make it good to him a thousand times over. Sie könnten sich vorsehen. They would have to look out. So redete er zu ihnen, unbekümmert um das, was er ihnen zumutete; und daß er sie dazu getrieben, fiel ihm nicht bei, nur was sie getan, rechnete er ihnen zu. |||||||||||demanded|||||||||||||||||| In this way he spoke to them, indifferent to what it was he was expecting of them; it did not occur to him that he had driven them to it, for he only took account of what they had done.

Den meisten schon war es aufgedämmert, daß die Spinnen eine Plage des Bösen seien, eine Mahnung, den Pacht zu halten, und daß Christine Näheres darum wissen müßte, ihnen nicht alles gesagt hätte, was sie mit dem Grünen verhandelt. |||||dawned||||||||||||lease|||||||||||||||||||| It had already dawned upon most of the peasants that the spiders were a visitation of the evil one, a warning that they should keep the agreement; that Christine must know more about it, and that she had not told them all about her agreement with the green huntsman. Nun zitterten sie wieder vor dem Grünen, lachten seiner nicht mehr, zitterten vor ihrem weltlichen Herrn; wenn sie diese befriedigten, was sagte der geistliche Herr dazu, erlaubte er es, und hätte dann der keine Buße für sie? Now they all trembled again at the thought of the green huntsman and no longer laughed at him, and they trembled before their temporal lord; if they did placate their overlords, what would their spiritual lord say about it, would he allow this, and would he not then lay any penance upon them? So in der Angst versammelten sich die Angesehensten in einsamer Scheuer, und Christine mußte kommen und klaren Bescheid geben, was sie eigentlich verhandelt. ||||||||||barn|||||||||||| The leading peasants met in their fear in a solitary shed, and Christine was to come there and give a clear account of what exactly she had agreed with the green huntsman.

Christine kam, verwildert, rachedurstig, aufs neue von der wachsenden Spinne gefoltert. ||wild|thirsty for revenge||||||| Christine came, more savage, thirsting for revenge, again racked by the growing spider.

Als sie das Zagen der Männer sah und keine Weiber, da erzählte sie punktum, was ihr begegnet: wie der Grüne sie schnell beim Worte genommen und ihr zum Pfande einen Kuß gegeben, den sie nicht mehr geachtet als andere; wie ihr jetzt auf selbigem Fleck die Spinne gewachsen sei unter Höllenpein vom Augenblick an, als man das erste Kind getauft; wie die Spinne, eben als man das zweite Kind getauft und den Grünen genarrt, unter Höllenwehen die Spinnen geboren in ungemeßner Zahl; denn narren lasse er sich nicht ungestraft, wie sie es fühle in tausendfachen Todesschmerzen. |||trembling||||||||||period|||||||||||||||pledge|||||||||||||||the same|||||||hellfire|||||||||||||||||||||||fooled||hellish pains|||||immeasurable||||||||||||||thousandfold|death pains When she saw the hesitation of the men and realized that there were no women there, she related exactly what had happened to her: how the green huntsman had quickly taken her at her word and had given her a kiss as a token to which she had not paid any attention any more than to other kisses; how the spider had now grown in hellish pain on that same spot from the moment onwards when the first child had been baptized; how the spider had given birth in hellish agonies to an innumerable host of spiders as soon as the second child had been born and the green huntsman had been fooled; for it was obvious that you could not fool him and get away with it, as she herself felt in her thousandfold pains of death. Jetzt wachse die Spinne wieder, die Pein mehre sich, und wenn das nächste Kind nicht des Grünen werde, so wisse niemand, wie gräßlich die einbrechende Plage sei, wie gräßlich des Ritters Rache. |||||||increase|||||||||||||||||||||||| Now the spider was growing again, she said, the pain was increasing, and if the next child were not given to the green huntsman, nobody could tell how horrible a calamity might break out upon them, and how horrible the knights vengeance must be.

So erzählte Christine, und die Herzen der Männer bebten, und lange wollte keiner reden. This is what Christine said, and the men’s hearts throbbed, and for a long time nobody was willing to speak. Nach und nach kamen aus den angstgepreßten Kehlen abgebrochene Laute hervor, und wenn man sie zusammensetzte, so meinten sie gerade, was Christine meinte, aber kein einzelner hatte seine Einwilligung gegeben in ihren Rat. ||||||anxiety-filled|||sounds||||||put together|||||||||||||consent|||| Gradually broken sounds pressed forth from their frightened throats, and when these sounds were pieced together, it was evident that the peasants thought exactly as Christine did, but they insisted that not one of them had given his consent to her action. Nur einer stund auf und redete kurz und deutlich: das Beste schiene ihm, Christine totzuschlagen, sei einmal die tot, so könnte der Grüne an der Toten sich halten, hätte keine Handhabe mehr an den Lebendigen. ||hour||||||||||||to kill||||||||||||||||handle|||| One of the men stood up and said shortly and sharply that it seemed to him that the best thing was to kill Christine, for once she was dead, the green huntsman could do as he pleased with her, but would have no further claim on the living. Da lachte Christine wild auf, trat ihm unter das Gesicht und sagte: er solle zuschlagen, ihr sei es recht, aber der Grüne wolle nicht sie, sondern ein ungetauft Kind, und wie er sie gezeichnet, ebensogut könne er die Hand zeichnen, die an ihr sich vergreife. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||molest Then Christine laughed wildly, stepped close up to him and said into his face that he could hit out at her, it was all the same to her, but the green huntsman wasn’t interested in her, but in an unbaptized child, and just as he had laid his mark on her, so he could mark the hand which wrongfully seized her. Da zuckte es in des Mannes Hand, der allein geredet, er setzte sich und hörte schweigend dem Rate der andern. Then there was a twitching in the hand of this one man who had spoken, he sat down and silently listened to the advice of the others. Und abgebrochen, wo keiner alles sagte, sondern jeder nur etwas, das wenig bedeuten sollte, kam man überein, das nächste Kind zu opfern, aber keiner wollte seine Hand bieten dazu, niemand das Kind an den Kilchstalden tragen, wo man die Buchen hingelegt hatte. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||beech|| In tentative, fragmentary phrases, of the type where nobody says everything but each speaker only says something that is intended to mean little, an agreement was made that the next child should be sacrificed; but nobody was willing to lend a hand here by carrying the child to the Kilchstalden where the beech-trees had been laid out. Zum allgemeinen Besten, wie sie meinten, den Teufel zu brauchen, hatte keiner sich gescheut, aber persönliche Bekanntschaft mit ihm zu machen, begehrte keiner. Nobody had been reluctant to use the Devil for what they considered to be the general good, but nobody wanted to meet him personally. Da erbot sich Christine willig dazu, denn hatte man einmal mit dem Teufel zu tun gehabt, so konnte es das zweitemal wenig mehr schaden. ||||||||||||||||||||second time||| Then Christine offered herself willing for this, for if one had to do with the devil on one occasion, it could do little further harm a second time. Man wußte wohl, wer das nächste Kind gebären sollte, aber man redete nichts davon, und der Vater desselben war nicht zugegen. ||||||||||||||||||||present It was known who was to give birth the next child, but nothing was said about it, and the father of the child was not present. Verständigt mit und ohne Worte, ging man auseinander. After making this agreement, which was both a spoken and an unspoken one, they dispersed.

Das junge Weib, welches in jener grauenvollen Nacht, wo Christine Bericht vom Grünen brachte, gezaget und geweinet hatte, es wußte damals nicht, warum, erwartete nun das nächste Kind. ||||||||||||||quaked||||||||||||| The young woman who had trembled and wept without knowing why on that dreadful night when Christine had given her account of the green huntsman was now expecting the next child. Die frühern Vorgänge machten es nicht getrost und zuversichtlich, eine unnennbare Angst lag auf seinem Herzen, es konnte sie weder mit Beten noch Beichten wegbringen. |||||||||||||||||||||||confessing| What had happened in the previous cases did not make her feel cheerful and confident, an indefinable fear lay upon her hear which she could not remove either by prayer or confession. Ein verdächtiges Schweigen schien ihm ihns zu umringen, niemand sprach von der Spinne mehr, verdächtig schienen ihm alle Augen, die auf ihm ruhten, schienen ihm zu berechnen die Stunde, in welcher sie seines Kindes habhaft werden, den Teufel versöhnen könnten. |||||||surround|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| It seemed to her as if she were encircled by a conspiracy of silence, nobody spoke about the spider any more, all eyes which looked at her seemed to her suspicious, and seemed to be calculating the hour when they might seize upon her child in order to placate the Devil.

So einsam und verlassen fühlte es sich gegen die unheimliche Macht um sich; keinen Beistand hatte es als seine Schwiegermutter, eine fromme Frau, die zu ihm stund, aber was vermag eine alte Frau gegen eine wilde Menge? She felt so lonely and forlorn in face of the secret power around her; the only support she had was her mother-in-law, a pious woman who remained faithful to her, but what can an old woman do against a wild crowd? Es hatte seinen Mann, der hatte alles Gute wohl versprochen; aber wie jammerte der um sein Vieh und gedachte so wenig des armen Weibes Angst! She had her husband who had indeed promised all good things; but how he wailed about his cattle and how little he thought of his poor wife’s anxiety! Es hatte der Priester verheißen zu kommen, so schnell und so früh zu kommen, als man ihn verlange, aber was konnte begegnen vom Augenblicke an, da man gesandt, bis daß er kam; und das arme Weib hatte keinen zuverlässigen Boten als den eigenen Mann, der ihm Schutz und Wache sein sollte, und das arme Weibchen wohnte dazu noch mit Christine in einem Hause, und ihre Männer waren Brüder, und keine eigenen Verwandte hatte es, als Waise war es ins Haus gekommen! ||||promised|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| The priest had promised to come as quickly and as soon as they might ask, but what could happen during the period after he had been sent for and before he arrived? And the poor woman had no reliable messenger except her husband, who should be her protection and guard; and, what is more, the poor woman lived in one house with Christine, and their husbands were brothers, and she had no relations of her own, for she had come into the house as an orphan! Man kann sich des armen Weibes Herzensangst denken, nur im Beten mit der frommen Mutter fand es einiges Vertrauen, das alsobald wieder schwand, sobald es in die bösen Augen sah. |||||||||||||pious|||||||||||||||| You can imagine the poor woman’s anxiety of heart; she could find some confidence only when she prayed with her good mother-in-law, but this confidence at once disappeared again as soon as she saw the evil looks around her.