When the Sheriff heard this, he flung the pitcher which he held in his
hand to the ground, so that it flew in pieces, and cried, "The cursed
devil's whore! the constable shall make her squeak for this a good hour
longer"; with many more such things beside, which he said in his malice,
and which I have now forgotten; but he soon became quite gracious again,
and said, "She is foolish; do you go to her and see whether you cannot
persuade her to her own good as well as yours; the huntsman shall let you
in, and should the fellow listen, give him a good box on the ears in my
name; do you hear, reverend Abraham? Go now forthwith and bring me back an
answer as quickly as possible!" I therefore followed the huntsman, who led
me into a vault where was no light save what fell through a hole no bigger
than a crown-piece; and here my daughter sat upon her bed and wept. Any
one may guess that I straightway began to weep too, and was no better able
to speak than she. We thus lay mute in each other's arms for a long time,
until I at last begged her to forgive me for my letter, but of the Sheriff
his message I said nought, although I had purposed so to do. But before
long we heard the Sheriff himself call down into the vault from above,
"What (and here he gave me a heavy curse) are you doing there so long?
Come up this moment, reverend Johannes!" Thus I had scarce time to
give her one kiss before the huntsman came back with the keys and forced
us to part; albeit we had as yet scarcely spoken, save that I had told her
in a few words what had happened with old Lizzie. It would be hard to
believe into what grievous anger the Sheriff fell when I told him that my
daughter remained firm and would not hearken unto him; he struck me on the
breast, and said, "Go to the devil then, thou infamous parson!" and when I
turned myself away and would have gone, he pulled me back, and said, "If
thou breathest but one word of all that has passed, I will have thee burnt
too, thou grey-headed old father of a witch; so look to it!" Hereupon I
plucked up a heart, and answered that that would be the greatest joy to