condition, had granted to him to go with them to the land of Egypt.
For many and many a year had the Kubbelings brought falcons to the
Waldstromers, and whensoever my uncle needed such a bird, or if he had to
provide one for our lord constable and prince elector the Duke of
Bavaria, or any other great temporal or spiritual prince, it was to be
had from Seyfried--or Young Kubbeling. To be sure no man better knew
where to choose a fine bird, and while he journeyed between Brunswick,
Italy, and the Levant, his sons and brothers went as far as to Denmark,
and from thence to Iceland in the frozen Seas, where the royal falcon
breeds. Yet are there right noble kinds likewise to be found in the Harz
mountains, nigh to their native country.

The man who was ever Kubbeling's fellow, going with him to the Levant
now, as, erewhile to the far North, was Uhlwurm, who, albeit he had been
old Jordan's serving-man, was held by Seyfried as his equal; and whoso
would make one his guest must be fain to take the other into the bargain.
This was ever gladly done at the Forest-lodge; Uhlwurm was a man of few
words, and the hunting-lads and kennel-men held him to be a wise man, who
knew more than simply which side his bread was buttered. At any rate he
was learned in healing all sick creatures, and in especial falcons,
horses, and hounds, by means of whispered spells, the breath of his
mouth, potions, and electuaries; and I myself have seen him handle a
furious old she-wolf which had been caught in a trap, so that no man
dared go nigh her, as though it were a tame little dog. He was taller
than his master by a head and a half, and he was ever to be seen in a
hood, on which an owl's head with its beak and ears was set. Verily the
whole presence of the man minded me of that nightbird; and when I think
of his Master Seyfried, or Young Kubbeling, I often remember that he was
ever wont to wear three wild-cats' skins, which he laid on his breast and
on each leg, as a remedy against pains he had. And the falcon-seller,