The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-03-16
CONTINUED from page 81
THE RusTED KNIGHT.

NAMED, seated herself by church
door and begged. At night she slept
on the church steps. So she lived
day in and day out, and one gave her
a penny, another heller. Many, how
ever, gave her nothing but abuse as
the peasant had done. The hundred
gold guldens were coming very slow
ly. When she had begged a good
many months she had saved just one
gold gulden, and about the same time
there was born to her beautiful boy.
She named him "Docherloest," which
means, "Saved-at-last," because she
still hoped to be able to save her hus-
band. She tore stripe from the
bottom of her mantle, good ell wide,
80 that it only reached to her knee
now, wrapped her baby in this, took
it in her arms and went on begging.
And when the baby would not sleep
she rocked it in her arms and sang:
sleep soft within my bosom,
Thou hapless beggar child,
Thy father in a castle dwells-
Without the wind blows wild
He goes in silk and velvet,
Drinks and eats white bread;
Could he but look upon us
His grief would strike him dead
He need not for thee sorrow
For Graded soft thou art,
Alas! he is far poorer,
God change his sinful heart"
gazed at the poor young beggar wo-
man with the beautiful child, and
gave her more than formerly. She
was comforted, and did not cry as
much as she used to, because she
knew that her husband would be saw
ed if she only could hold out.
When his lady did not return, the
knight in his castle became very
much troubled. "She has noticed
everything, and therefore she has left
me-" thought he. He went first into
the forest to the hermit to find out
if she had gone to the chapel to
pray. The hermit was very strong
ly set against him, and said:
Have you not lived in riot and
revel? Have you not become proud
and hard against the poor? Has not
the good God for punishment allow
ed you to rust? Your wife did right
uJho11 che loft xyn1 CT ,o+
lay good and bad apple in the
same box, for the good one will also
become bad"
Then the knight sat down on the
bitterly. When the hermit say this
he became more friendly and said:
Nov I see that your heart is not
rusted so I will advise you: Do good
works and go into all the churches,
and SO you will again find your wife
Then the knight left his castle and
rode out into the wide world. Wherever
he found poor person he gave him
something and wherever he saw a
church he went in and prayed. But
his wife he did not find In this way
almost year had passed, and one
day he came into the city where his
wife sat by the church door and beg
ged, and his first step was to the
church. Already from afar his wife
knew him, for he was tall and stately,
and wore a golden helmet with a vul-
lures claw on top which shone all
around. She felt her heart sink, for
she had only gotten two golden gull
dens together so that she couldn't yet
save him. She drew her mantle over
her head SO that he would not recog.
nize her and covered down as small
as she could, so he might not see her
snow white feet, for the mantle only
went to her knees since she had torn
the strip off for her child. AS the
knight walked past her, he heard her
sobbing quietly, and as he saw her
rags and her patched mantle, and the
beautiful child in her bosom, he was
sorry to the heart. He stepped up to
her and asked what was the matter
Still the woman did not answer and
sobbed all the harder as she tried to
keep down her grief. Then the knight
drew out his purse, in which there
was much more than one hundred gold
guldens, laid it on her bosom and
said: 81 give you all I have, and !
shall beg my way home again" Just
then the mantle slipped off her head
and he saw that it was his own wed
ded wife, to whom he had given the
money.
In spite of her rags, he fell on hel
neck and kissed her, and when he be
came aware that the child was his
son, he Rugged and kissed him also
Then the wife took the knight by th<
hand, and led him into the church
and laid the money in the aims box
Then she said: II wanted to save