ARNOSCHMIDT
91
"Yes, she was feeble-minded, I suppose; but for the most part
very good-natured; and - unlike others of her kind - not in the
least fond of finery or gaudy outfits: she always wore her old shep–
herd's hat, the brim turned down; a durable moss-colored frock , her
blanket about her shoulders; in her hand a long staff, which she used
in the marsh to jump from hag to hag.
"She would tell her story to anyone who asked her: she claimed
she was the daughter of a well-to-do farmer and that she had fallen
in love with her father's shepherd. Her father, an ambitious as well
as an irascible man , shot him in the course of some argument; and
he died in Grete's lap ; he left her all his few small possessions - that
is, the sheep and his garb, which she donned without hesitation, and
left her father's house, never again to return to it.
"One day the bellwether, Hermann, strayed onto a meadow
where he didn't belong. The ill-tempered owner at once set loose his
dogs , who then ran the poor creature to death : for days Grete sat
beside the corpse on the meadow; until they finally coaxed her away
with the notion of a solemn funeral for him, which she agreed to with
great enthusiasm . We children were all present, and even today I
can still see that casket, fashioned from a crate and painted black,
and the bunches of grass and wild flowers that she had laid upon it.
With her hands she built a real funeral mound, pressed the sod firm,
and fenced it in with willow rods . Until she died, she would come
there several times a year and set things to rights. -
"In the winter she probably withdrew deeper into the forests;
but, except for perhaps in the worst blizzards, she scorned all shel–
ter. And many farmers would spontaneously give her hay for her
sheep and some soup for her bowl whenever she came by .
If
she were
teased too much, she could get nasty as well, and would then wish
such evil on her teasers that, after some of her curses had come true ,
people preferred to leave her be . "Once as she was passing through a
village some schoolboys tormented her so that she was at her wits'
end, and in desperation she retaliated with stones. Whereupon , with
loud halooings, the hooligans likewise began to throw things at her,
finally picked up some bricks, and literally stoned that poor
deranged creature to death. -
"And so this here is Tall Grete's grave ?" I asked, after an
appropriate pause.
"This here? Oh no," he replied dryly: "Hermann the ram lies
buried here . - The farmer who loosed his dogs on him drowned in
his own well 8 days later, of course ." He gave a dignified and
approving nod of his head : Justice must be served
!
