The Robbers Read online

  RAZ. Yes, yes, I must confess. I shall inscribe that lesson in letters of gold upon the tablet of my brain. Satan must know his people right well to have chosen you for his factor.

  SPIEGEL. Eh, brother? Eli? And if I help him to half a score of fellows he will, of course, let me off scot-free-publishers, you know, always give one copy in ten gratis to those who collect subscribers for them; why should the devil be more of a Jew? Razman, I smell powder.

  RAZ. Zounds! I smelt it long ago. You may depend upon it there has being something going forward hereabouts. Yes, yes! I can tell you, Spiegelberg, you will be welcome to our captain with your recruits; he, too, has got hold of some brave fellows.

  SPIEGEL. But look at mine! at mine here, bah!

  RAZ. Well, well! they may be tolerably expert in the finger department, but, I tell you, the fame of our captain has tempted even some honorable men to join his staff.

  SPIEGEL. So much the worse.

  RAZ. Without joking. And they are not ashamed to serve under such a leader. He does not commit murder as we do for the sake of plunder; and as to money, as soon as he had plenty of it at command, he did not seem to care a straw for it; and his third of the booty, which belongs to him of right, he gives away to orphans, or supports promising young men with it at college. But should he happen to get a country squire into his clutches who grinds down his peasants like cattle, or some gold-laced villain, who warps the law to his own purposes, and hoodwinks the eyes of justice with his gold, or any chap of that kidney; then, my boy, he is in his element, and rages like a very devil, as if every fibre in his body were a fury.

  SPIEGEL. Humph!

  RAZ. The other day we were told at a tavern that a rich count from Ratisbon was about to pass through, who had gained the day in a suit worth a million of money by the craftiness of his lawyer. The captain was just sitting down to a game of backgammon. "How many of us are there?" said he to me, rising in haste. I saw him bite his nether lip, which be never does except when he is very determined. "Not more than five," I replied. "That's enough," he said; threw his score on the table, left the wine he had ordered untouched, and off we went. The whole time he did not utter a syllable, but walked aloof and alone, only asking us from time to time whether we heard anything, and now and then desiring us to lay our ears to the ground. At last the count came in sight, his carriage heavily laden, the lawyer, seated by his side, an outrider in advance, and two horsemen riding behind. Then you should have seen the man. With a pistol in each hand he ran before us to the carriage,-and the voice with which he thundered, "Halt!" The coachman, who would not halt, was soon toppled from his box; the count fired out of the carriage and missed-the horseman fled. "Your money, rascal!" cried Moor, with his stentorian voice. The count lay like a bullock under the axe: "And are you the rogue who turns justice into a venal prostitute?" The lawyer shook till his teeth chattered again; and a dagger soon stuck in his body, like a stake in a vineyard. "I have done my part," cried the captain, turning proudly away; "the plunder is your affair." And with this he vanished into the forest.

  SPIEGEL. Hum! hum! Brother, what I told you just now remains between ourselves; there is no occasion for his knowing it. You understand me?

  RAZ. Yes, yes, I understand!

  SPIEGEL. You know the man! He has his own notions! You understand me?

  RAZ. Oh, I quite understand.

  (Enter SCHWARZ at full speed).

  Who's there? What is the matter? Any travellers in the forest?

  SCHWARZ. Quick, quick! Where are the others? Zounds! there you stand gossiping! Don't you know-do you know nothing of it?-that poor Roller-

  PAZ. What of him? What of him?

  SCHWARZ. He's hanged, that's all, and four others with him-

  RAz. Roller hanged? S'death! when? How do you know?

  SCHWARZ. He has been in limbo more than three weeks, and we knew nothing of it. He was brought up for examination three several days, and still we heard nothing. They put him to the rack to make him tell where the captain was to be found-but the brave fellow would not slip. Yesterday he got his sentence, and this morning was dispatched express to the devil!

  RAZ. Confound it! Does the captain know?

  SCHWARZ. He heard of it only yesterday. He foamed like a wild boar. You know that Roller was always an especial favorite; and then the rack! Ropes and scaling-ladders were conveyed to the prison, but in vain. Moor himself got access to him disguised as a Capuchin monk, and proposed to change clothes with him; but Roller absolutely refused; whereupon the captain swore an oath that made our very flesh creep. He vowed that he would light a funeral pile for him, such as had never yet graced the bier of royalty, one that should burn them all to cinders. I fear for the city. He has long owed it a grudge for its intolerable bigotry; and you know, when he says, "I'll do it," the thing is as good as done.

  RAZ. That is true! I know the captain. If he had pledged his word to the devil to go to hell he never would pray again, though half a pater- noster would take him to heaven. Alas! poor Roller!-poor Roller!

  SPIEGEL. /Memento mori/! But it does not concern me. (Hums a tune).

  Should I happen to pass the gallows stone,

  I shall just take a sight with one eye,

  And think to myself, you may dangle alone,

  Who now, sir, 's the fool, you or I?

  RAZ. (Jumping up). Hark! a shot! (Firing and noise is heard behind the scenes).

  SPIEGEL. Another!

  RAZ. And another! The captain!

  (Voices behind the scenes are heard singing).

  The Nurnbergers deem it the wisest plan,

  Never to hang till they've caught their man.

  /Da capo/.

  SCHWEITZER and ROLLER (behind the scenes). Holla, ho! Holla, ho!

  RAZ. Roller! by all the devils! Roller!

  SCHWEITZER and ROLLER (still behind the scenes). Razman! Schwarz! Spiegelberg! Razman!

  RAZ. Roller! Schweitzer! Thunder and lightning! Fire and fury ! (They run towards him.)

  Enter CHARLES VON MOOR (on horseback), SCHWEITZER, ROLLER, GRIMM, SCHUFTERLE, and a troop of ROBBERS covered with dust and mud.

  CHARLES (leaping from his horse) Liberty! Liberty!-Thou art on terra firma, Roller! Take my horse, Schweitzer, and wash him with wine. (Throws himself on the ground.) That was hot work!

  RAZ. (to ROLLER). Well, by the fires of Pluto! Art thou risen from the wheel?

  SCHWARZ. Art thou his ghost? or am I a fool? or art thou really the man?

  ROLLER (still breathless). The identical-alive-whole.-Where do you think I come from?

  SCHWARZ. It would puzzle a witch to tell! The staff was already broken over you.

  ROLLER. Ay, that it was, and more than that! I come straightway from the gallows. Only let me get my breath. Schweitzer will tell you all. Give me a glass of brandy! You there too, Spiegelberg! I thought we should have met again in another place. But give me a glass of brandy! my bones are tumbling to pieces. Oh, my captain! Where is my captain?

  SCHWARZ. Have patience, man, have patience. Just tell me-say-come, let's hear-how did you escape? In the name of wonder how came we to get you back again? My brain is bewildered. From the gallows, you say?

  ROLLER (swallows a flask of brandy). Ah, that is capital! that warms the inside! Straight from the gallows, I tell you. You stand there amid stare as if that was impossible. I can assure you, I was not more than three paces from that blessed ladder, on which I was to mount to Abraham's bosom-so near, so very near, that I was sold, skin and all, to the dissecting-room! The fee-simple of my life was not worth a pinch of snuff. To the captain I am indebted for breath, and liberty, and life.

  SCHWEITZER. It was a trick worth the telling. We had heard the day before, through our spies, that Roller was in the devil's own pickle; and unless the vault of heaven fell in suddenly he would, on the morrow -that is, to-day-go the way of all flesh. Up! says the captain, and follow me-what is not a friend worth? Whether we save him or not, we will at least light him up
a funeral pile such as never yet honored royalty; one which shall burn them black and blue. The whole troop was summoned. We sent Roller a trusty messenger, who conveyed the notice to him in a little billet, which he slipped into his porridge.

  ROLLER. I had but small hope of success.

  SCHWEITZER. We waited till the thoroughfares were clear. The whole town was out after the sight; equestrians, pedestrians, carriages, all pell-mell; the noise and the gibbet-psalm sounded far and wide. Now, says the captain, light up, light up! We all flew like darts; they set fire to the city in three-and-thirty places at once; threw burning firebrands on the powder-magazine, and into the churches and granaries. Morbleu! in less than a quarter of an hour a northeaster, which, like us, must have owed a grudge to the city, came seasonably to our aid, and helped to lift the flames up to the highest gables. Meanwhile we ran up and down the streets like furies, crying, fire! ho! fire! ho! in every direction. There was such howling-screaming-tumult-fire-bells tolling. And presently the powder-magazine blew up into the air with a crash as if the earth were rent in twain, heaven burst to shivers, and hell sunk ten thousand fathoms deeper.

  ROLLER. Now my guards looked behind them-there lay the city, like Sodom and Gomorrah-the whole horizon was one mass of fire, brimstone, and smoke; and forty hills echoed and reflected the infernal prank far and wide. A panic seized them all-I take advantage of the moment, and, quick as lightning-my fetters had been taken off, so nearly was my time come-while my guards were looking away petrified, like Lot's wife, I shot off-tore through the crowd-and away! After running some sixty paces I throw off my clothes, plunge into the river, and swim along under water till I think they have lost sight of me. My captain stood ready, with horses and clothes-and here I am. Moor! Moor ! I only wish that you may soon get into just such another scrape that I may requite you in like manner.

  RAZ. A brutal wish, for which you deserve to be hanged. It was a glorious prank, though.

  ROLLER. It was help in need; you cannot judge of it. You should have marched, like me, with a rope round your neck, travelling to your grave in the living body, and seen their horrid sacramental forms and hangman's ceremonies-and then, at every reluctant step, as the struggling feet were thrust forward, to see the infernal machine, on which I was to be elevated, glaring more and more hideously in the blaze of a noonday sun-and the hangman's rascallions watching for their prey -and the horrible psalm-singing-the cursed twang still rings in my ears-and the screeching hungry ravens, a whole flight of them, who were hovering over the half-rotten carcass of my predecessor. To see all this-ay, more, to have a foretaste of the blessedness which was in store for me! Brother, brother! And then, all of a sudden, the signal of deliverance. It was an explosion as if the vault of heaven were rent in twain. Hark ye, fellows! I tell you, if a man were to leap out of a fiery furnace into a freezing lake he could not feel the contrast half so strongly as I did when I gained the opposite shore.

  SPIEGEL. (Laughs.) Poor wretch! Well, you have got over it. (Pledges him). Here's to a happy regeneration!

  ROLLER (flings away his glass). No, by all the treasures of Mammon, I should not like to go through it a second time. Death is something more than a harlequin's leap, and its terrors are even worse than death itself.

  SPIEGEL. And the powder-magazine leaping into the air! Don't you see it now, Razman? That was the reason the air stunk so, for miles round, of brimstone, as if the whole wardrobe of Moloch was being aired under the open firmament. It was a master-stroke, captain! I envy you for it.

  SCHWEITZER. If the town makes it a holiday-treat to see our comrade killed by a baited hog, why the devil should we scruple to sacrifice the city for the rescue of our comrade? And, by the way, our fellows had the extra treat of being able to plunder worse than the old emperor. Tell me, what have you sacked?

  ONE OF THE TROOP. I crept into St. Stephen's church during the hubbub, and tore the gold lace from the altarcloth. The patron saint, thought I to myself, can make gold lace out of packthread.

  SCHWEITZER. 'Twas well done. What is the use of such rubbish in a church? They offer it to the Creator, who despises such trumpery, while they leave his creatures to die of hunger. And you, Sprazeler-where did you throw your net?

  A SECOND. I and Brizal broke into a merchant's store, and have brought stuffs enough with us to serve fifty men.

  A THIRD. I have filched two gold watches and a dozen silver spoons.

  SCHWEITZER. Well done, well done! And we have lighted them a bonfire that will take a fortnight to put out again. And, to get rid of the fire, they must ruin the city with water. Do you know, Schufterle, how many lives have been lost?

  SCHUF. Eighty-three, they say. The powder-magazine alone blew threescore to atoms.

  CHARLES (very seriously). Roller, thou art dearly bought.

  SCHUF. Bah! bah! What of that? If they had but been men it would have been another matter-but they were babes in swaddling clothes, and shrivelled old nurses that kept the flies from them, and dried-up stove- squatters who could not crawl to the door-patients whining for the doctor, who, with his stately gravity, was marching to the sport. All that had the use of their legs had gone forth in the sight, and nothing remained at home but the dregs of the city.

  CHARLES. Alas for the poor creatures! Sick people, sayest thou, old men and infants?

  SCHUF. Ay, the devil go with them! And lying-in-women into the bargain; and women far gone with child, who were afraid of miscarrying under the gibbet; and young mothers, who thought the sight might do them a mischief, and mark the gallows upon the foreheads of their unborn babes-poor poets, without a shoe, because their only pair had been sent to the cobbler to mend-and other such vermin, not worth the trouble of mentioning. As I chanced to pass by a cottage I heard a great squalling inside. I looked in; and, when I came to examine, what do you think it was? Why, an infant-a plump and ruddy urchin-lying on the floor under a table which was just beginning to burn. Poor little wretch! said I, you will be cold there, and with that I threw it into the flames!

  CHARLES. Indeed, Schufterle? Then may those flames burn in thy bosom to all eternity! Avaunt, monster! Never let me see thee again in my troop! What! Do you murmur? Do you hesitate? Who dares hesitate when I command? Away with him, I say! And there are others among you ripe for my vengeance. I know thee, Spiegelberg. But I will step in among you ere long, and hold a fearful muster-roll.

  [Exeunt, trembling.]

  CHARLES (alone, walking up and down in great agitation). Hear them not, thou avenger in heaven! How can I avert it? Art thou to blame, great God, if thy engines, pestilence, and famine, and floods, overwhelm the just with the unjust? Who can stay the flame, which is kindled to destroy the hornet's nest, from extending to the blessed harvest? Oh! fie on the slaughter of women, and children, and the sick! How this deed weighs me down! It has poisoned my fairest achievements! There he stands, poor fool, abashed and disgraced in the sight of heaven; the boy that presumed to wield Jove's thunder, and overthrew pigmies when he should have crushed Titans. Go, go! 'tis not for thee, puny son of clay, to wield the avenging sword of sovereign justice! Thou didst fail at thy first essay. Here, then, I renounce the audacious scheme. I go to hide myself in some deep cleft of the earth, where no daylight will be witness of my shame. (He is about to fly.)

  Enter a ROBBER hurriedly.

  ROBBER. Look out, captain! There is mischief in the wind! Whole detachments of Bohemian cavalry are scouring the forests. That infernal bailiff must have betrayed us.

  Enter more ROBBERS.

  2D ROBBER. Captain! captain! they have tracked us! Some thousands of them are forming a cordon round the middle forest.

  Enter more ROBBERS again.

  3D ROBBER. Woe, woe, woe! we are all taken, hanged drawn, and quartered. Thousands of hussars, dragoons, and chasseurs are mustering on the heights, and guard all the passes.

  [Exit CHARLES VON MOOR.]

  Enter SCHWEITZER, GRIMM, ROLLER, SCHWARZ, SCHUFTERLE,

  SPIEGELBERG, RAZMAN,
and the whole troop.

  SCHWEITZER. Ha! Have we routed them out of their feather-beds at last? Come, be jolly, Roller! I have long wished to have a bout with those knights of the bread-basket. Where is the captain? Is the whole troop assembled? I hope we have powder enough?

  RAZ. Powder, I believe you; but we are only eighty in all and therefore scarcely one to twenty.

  SCHWEITZER. So much the better! And though there were fifty against my great toe-nail-fellows who have waited till we lit the straw under their very seats. Brother, brother, there is nothing to fear. They sell their lives for tenpence; and are we not fighting for our necks? We will pour into them like a deluge, and fire volleys upon their heads like crashes of thunder. But where the devil is the captain.

  SPIEGEL. He forsakes us in this extremity. Is there no hope of escape?

  SCHWEITZER. Escape?

  SPIEGEL. Oh, that I had tarried in Jerusalem!

  SCHWEITZER. I wish you were choked in a cesspool, you paltry coward! With defenceless nuns you are a mighty man; but at sight of a pair of fists a confirmed sneak! Now show your courage or you shall be sewn up alive in an ass's hide and baited to death with dogs.

  RAZ. The captain! the captain!

  Enter CHARLES (speaking slowly to himself).

  CHARLES. I have allowed them to be hemmed in on every side. Now they must fight with the energy of despair. (Aloud.) Now my boys! now for it! We must fight like wounded boars, or we are utterly lost!

  SCHWEITZER. Ha! I'll rip them open with my tusks, till their entrails protrude by the yard! Lead on, captain! we will follow you into the very jaws of death.

  CHARLES. Charge all your arms! You've plenty of powder, I hope?

  SCHWEITZER (with energy). Powder? ay, enough to blow the earth up to the moon.

  RAZ. Every one of us has five brace of pistols, ready loaded, and three carbines to boot.