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Page 5
Meanwhile I had to tell in what manner I had found the blessed manna
bread, wherein I neglected not again to exhort them to lay to heart this
great sign and wonder, how that God in his mercy had done to them as of
old to the prophet Elijah, to whom a raven brought bread in his great need
in the wilderness; as likewise this bread had been given to me by means of
a raven, which showed it to me, when otherwise I might have passed it by
in my heaviness without ever seeing it.
When we were satisfied with food, I said the thanksgiving from Luke xii.
24, where the Lord saith, "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor
reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them:
how much more are ye better than the fowls?" But our sins stank before
the Lord. For old Lizzie, as I afterwards heard, would not eat her
birds because she thought them unsavoury, but threw them among the
juniper-bushes; whereupon the wrath of the Lord was kindled against us as
of old against the people of Israel, and at night we found but seven birds
in the snares, and next morning but two. Neither did any raven come again
to give us bread. Wherefore I rebuked old Lizzie, and admonished the
people to take upon themselves willingly the righteous chastisement of the
Most High God, to pray without ceasing, to return to their desolate
dwellings, and to see whether the all-merciful God would peradventure give
them more on the sea. That I also would call upon him with prayer night
and day, remaining for a time in the cavern with my daughter and the maid
to watch the springes, and see whether his wrath might be turned from us.
That they should meanwhile put my manse to rights to the best of their
power, seeing that the cold was become very irksome to me. This they
promised me, and departed with many sighs. What a little flock! I counted
but twenty-five souls where there used to be above eighty: all the rest
had been slain by hunger, pestilence, or the sword. I then abode a while
alone and sorrowing in the cave, praying to God, and sent my daughter with
the maid into the village to see how things stood at the manse; _item_, to
gather together the books and papers, and also to bring me word whether
Hinze the carpenter, whom I had straightway sent back to the village, had
knocked together some coffins for the poor corpses, so that I might bury
them next day. I then went to look at the springes, but found only one
single little bird, whereby I saw that the wrath of God had not yet passed
away. Howbeit, I found a fine blackberry bush, from which I gathered
nearly a pint of berries, and put them, together with the bird, in Staffer
Zuter his pot, which the honest fellow had left with us for a while, and
set them on the fire for supper against my child and the maid should
return. It was not long before they came through the coppice and told me
of the fearful devastation which Satan had made in the village and manse
by the permission of all-righteous God. My child had gathered together a
few books, which she brought with her, above all, a _Virgilius_ and a
Greek Bible. And after she had told me that the carpenter would not have
done till next day, and we had satisfied the cravings of hunger, I made
her read to me again, for the greater strengthening of my faith, the
_locus_ about the blessed raven from the Greek of Luke, at the twelfth
chapter; also, the beautiful _locus parallelus_, Matt. vi. After which the
maid said the evening blessing, and we all went into the cave to rest for
the night. When I awoke next morning, just as the blessed sun rose out the
sea and peeped over the mountain, I heard my poor hungry child already
standing outside the cave reciting the beautiful verses about the joys of
paradise which St. Augustine wrote and I had taught her. She sobbed for
grief as she spoke the words:--
Uno pane vivunt cives utriusque patriae;
Avidi et semper pleni, quod habent desiderant.
Non sacietas fastidit, neque fames cruciat;
Inhiantes semper edunt, et edentes inhiant.
Flos perpetuus rosarum ver agit perpetuum;
Candent lilia, rubescit crocus, sudat balsamum,
Virent prata, vernant sata, rivi mellis influunt;
Pigmentorum spirat odor liquor et aromatum,
Pendent poma floridorum non lapsura nemorum.
Non alternat luna vices, sol vel cursus syderum.
Agnus est faelicis urbis lumen inocciduum.
At these words my own heart was melted; and when she ceased from speaking,
I asked, "What art thou doing, my child?" Whereupon she answered, "Father,
I am eating." Thereat my tears now indeed began to flow, and I praised her
for feeding her soul, as she had no meat for her body. I had not, however,
spoken long, before she cried to me to come and look at the great wonder
that had risen out of the sea, and already appeared over the cave. For
behold a cloud, in shape just like a cross, came over us, and let great
heavy drops, as big or bigger than large peas, fall on our heads, after
which it sank behind the coppice. I presently arose and ran up the
mountain with my daughter to look after it. It floated on towards the
Achterwater, where it spread itself out into a long blue streak, whereon
the sun shone so brightly that it seemed like a golden bridge on which, as
my child said, the blessed angels danced. I fell on my knees with her and
thanked the Lord that our cross had passed away from us; but, alas! our
cross was yet to come, as will be told hereafter.
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