Within the Rathhaus were a number of huge wild boars’ heads, preserved, and mounted on brackets along the wall; they bore inscriptions11 telling who killed them and how many hundred years ago it was done. One room in the building was devoted12 to the preservation13 of ancient archives. There they showed us no end of aged14 documents; some were signed by Popes, some by Tilly and other great generals, and one was a letter written and subscribed15 by Goetz von Berlichingen in Heilbronn in 1519 just after his release from the Square Tower.
This fine old robber-knight was a devoutly16 and sincerely religious man, hospitable17, charitable to the poor, fearless in fight, active, enterprising, and possessed18 of a large and generous nature. He had in him a quality of being able to overlook moderate injuries, and being able to forgive and forget mortal ones as soon as he had soundly trounced the authors of them. He was prompt to take up any poor devil’s quarrel and risk his neck to right him. The common folk held him dear, and his memory is still green in ballad19 and tradition. He used to go on the highway and rob rich wayfarers20; and other times he would swoop21 down from his high castle on the hills of the Neckar and capture passing cargoes22 of merchandise. In his memoirs23 he piously24 thanks the Giver of all Good for remembering him in his needs and delivering sundry25 such cargoes into his hands at times when only special providences could have relieved him. He was a doughty26 warrior27 and found a deep joy in battle. In an assault upon a stronghold in Bavaria when he was only twenty-three years old, his right hand was shot away, but he was so interested in the fight that he did not observe it for a while. He said that the iron hand which was made for him afterward28, and which he wore for more than half a century, was nearly as clever a member as the fleshy one had been. I was glad to get a facsimile of the letter written by this fine old German Robin29 Hood30, though I was not able to read it. He was a better artist with his sword than with his pen.
We went down by the river and saw the Square Tower. It was a very venerable structure, very strong, and very ornamental31. There was no opening near the ground. They had to use a ladder to get into it, no doubt.
We visited the principal church, also—a curious old structure, with a towerlike spire32 adorned with all sorts of grotesque33 images. The inner walls of the church were placarded with large mural tablets of copper34, bearing engraved35 inscriptions celebrating the merits of old Heilbronn worthies36 of two or three centuries ago, and also bearing rudely painted effigies37 of themselves and their families tricked out in the queer costumes of those days. The head of the family sat in the foreground, and beyond him extended a sharply receding38 and diminishing row of sons; facing him sat his wife, and beyond her extended a low row of diminishing daughters. The family was usually large, but the perspective bad.
Then we hired the hack39 and the horse which Goetz von Berlichingen used to use, and drove several miles into the country to visit the place called Weibertreu—Wife’s Fidelity40 I suppose it means. It was a feudal41 castle of the Middle Ages. When we reached its neighborhood we found it was beautifully situated43, but on top of a mound44, or hill, round and tolerably steep, and about two hundred feet high. Therefore, as the sun was blazing hot, we did not climb up there, but took the place on trust, and observed it from a distance while the horse leaned up against a fence and rested. The place has no interest except that which is lent it by its legend, which is a very pretty one—to this effect:
THE LEGEND
In the Middle Ages, a couple of young dukes, brothers, took opposite sides in one of the wars, the one fighting for the Emperor, the other against him. One of them owned the castle and village on top of the mound which I have been speaking of, and in his absence his brother came with his knights and soldiers and began a siege. It was a long and tedious business, for the people made a stubborn and faithful defense45. But at last their supplies ran out and starvation began its work; more fell by hunger than by the missiles of the enemy. They by and by surrendered, and begged for charitable terms. But the beleaguering46 prince was so incensed47 against them for their long resistance that he said he would spare none but the women and children—all men should be put to the sword without exception, and all their goods destroyed. Then the women came and fell on their knees and begged for the lives of their husbands.
“No,” said the prince, “not a man of them shall escape alive; you yourselves shall go with your children into houseless and friendless banishment48; but that you may not starve I grant you this one grace, that each woman may bear with her from this place as much of her most valuable property as she is able to carry.”
Very well, presently the gates swung open and out filed those women carrying their husbands on their shoulders. The besiegers, furious at the trick, rushed forward to slaughter49 the men, but the Duke stepped between and said:
“No, put up your swords—a prince’s word is inviolable.”
When we got back to the hotel, King Arthur’s Round Table was ready for us in its white drapery, and the head waiter and his first assistant, in swallow-tails and white cravats50, brought in the soup and the hot plates at once.
Mr. X had ordered the dinner, and when the wine came on, he picked up a bottle, glanced at the label, and then turned to the grave, the melancholy51, the sepulchral52 head waiter and said it was not the sort of wine he had asked for. The head waiter picked up the bottle, cast his undertaker-eye on it and said:
“It is true; I beg pardon.” Then he turned on his subordinate and calmly said, “Bring another label."
At the same time he slid the present label off with his hand and laid it aside; it had been newly put on, its paste was still wet. When the new label came, he put it on; our French wine being now turned into German wine, according to desire, the head waiter went blandly53 about his other duties, as if the working of this sort of miracle was a common and easy thing to him.
Mr. X said he had not known, before, that there were people honest enough to do this miracle in public, but he was aware that thousands upon thousands of labels were imported into America from Europe every year, to enable dealers54 to furnish to their customers in a quiet and inexpensive way all the different kinds of foreign wines they might require.
We took a turn around the town, after dinner, and found it fully42 as interesting in the moonlight as it had been in the daytime. The streets were narrow and roughly paved, and there was not a sidewalk or a street-lamp anywhere. The dwellings55 were centuries old, and vast enough for hotels. They widened all the way up; the stories projected further and further forward and aside as they ascended56, and the long rows of lighted windows, filled with little bits of panes57, curtained with figured white muslin and adorned outside with boxes of flowers, made a pretty effect.
The moon was bright, and the light and shadow very strong; and nothing could be more picturesque than those curving streets, with their rows of huge high gables leaning far over toward each other in a friendly gossiping way, and the crowds below drifting through the alternating blots58 of gloom and mellow59 bars of moonlight. Nearly everybody was abroad, chatting, singing, romping60, or massed in lazy comfortable attitudes in the doorways61.
In one place there was a public building which was fenced about with a thick, rusty chain, which sagged62 from post to post in a succession of low swings. The pavement, here, was made of heavy blocks of stone. In the glare of the moon a party of barefooted children were swinging on those chains and having a noisy good time. They were not the first ones who have done that; even their great-great-grandfathers had not been the first to do it when they were children. The strokes of the bare feet had worn grooves63 inches deep in the stone flags; it had taken many generations of swinging children to accomplish that.
Everywhere in the town were the mold and decay that go with antiquity64, and evidence of it; but I do not know that anything else gave us so vivid a sense of the old age of Heilbronn as those footworn grooves in the paving-stones.
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1
quaintest
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| adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 )；少见的，古怪的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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6
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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rams
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| n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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12
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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13
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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14
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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16
devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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18
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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21
swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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22
cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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23
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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24
piously
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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doughty
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| adj.勇猛的，坚强的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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30
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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31
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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32
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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33
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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35
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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36
worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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37
effigies
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| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
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38
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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39
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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40
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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41
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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42
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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43
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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44
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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45
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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46
beleaguering
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| v.围攻( beleaguer的现在分词 )；困扰；骚扰 | |
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47
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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48
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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49
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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50
cravats
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| n.（系在衬衫衣领里面的）男式围巾( cravat的名词复数 ) | |
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51
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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52
sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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53
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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54
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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55
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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56
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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58
blots
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| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
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59
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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60
romping
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| adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
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61
doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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62
sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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63
grooves
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| n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏 | |
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64
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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